My end of year...

I am officially on holiday. Summer holidays with my eldest (our first one) and we are also taking a family holiday in January (January in Australia is the equivalent of August in Europe).  So with all this combined and the end of year approaching it feels natural to be somewhat reflective.

There have been a lot of highs, lows, and everything in between over the last 6 months of living in Australia. Couldn’t have done it without the support of the people around me…

The lows…

I thought I would have a job by now…before I left the UK I said I would take 3 months off, 3 months has very easily turned into 6. What a privilege of course, it's been a very welcomed break.  The first half of the year was incredibly busy with work and the move down under.  It’s been really great to get myself and the family settled into our new life here, but in the new year I will have to focus on securing a new role.

The referendum result here in Australia really put me on such a downer. I came here full of hope about moving to a kinder country and thought it was an incredible opportunity for Australia. What I learned was that the lack of compassion for others is everywhere and right now that is a daily reminder.  

If you want change, you don’t get it by wishing for something, you have to be fully engaged and active. I've met some incredible people who have demonstrated how they show up despite resistance, and in a really beautiful way. That makes me feel so motivated to do more to create change within our society. I have signed up to the ally pledge which calls out what you can do beyond the referendum, if you are interested you can find out more information here; www.allypledge.com.au

The highs…

Spending time on myself - the first was to get fit, and I've never been fitter. The Australian sunshine certainly helps with getting up and out and I’ve clocked up 50KM of running just in November alone. The second thing was to broaden my mind. I had a lot of business books that had been collecting dust so I've spent some time getting back into reading which has been wonderful. And the third was to write more. I've been focusing on growing the Keep Good Company community space, and writing a bit more regularly with blog posts.  Writing is a muscle, the more you do it, the easier it is.

Making connections has been a top priority for me, it’s hard to start from scratch so I've invested some time in building a new network.  Having my own board of Directors has been pretty awesome, a group of women that I met (virtually) in Australia has been rather life changing. in addition Ive been really getting out there going to events, creating my own. It takes effort, but I've realized I love meeting new people, and it's given me a new sense of confidence.  Meeting people on my own terms, not through a previous friend or connection, but through my proactive approach has been quite a wonderful thing to acknowledge. And making new friends to boot, double yah!

Working with a coach has been a new thing for me and it's been really huge. Through my coach I learnt about the wonderful Gallup Strengths, which explained so much about how I work and my leadership style.  It's also been awesome to talk through ideas with someone and focus my direction. I've been very lucky to have met Angie. Her style and approach really suits me, and I come away feeling inspired and motivated.  I'm looking forward to doing more planning over the next year. If you are looking for a coach, can’t recommend Angie enough

Thank-you to so many people that have supported me this year. It's been a big one for me and my family, full of change, and am looking forward to getting stuck into 2024!