Learning to let go
Autumn is officially here, and here in the northern hemisphere, Mother Nature is letting go. The crops have borne their harvests, the trees are losing their leaves, and the daylight hours are slowly slipping away.
It’s a beautiful time, rich with colour and tradition and nostalgia. And it’s also the perfect time to remember that in order for new life to bloom and blossom, we have to let go of some of the weight we’re carrying and say goodbye to the things that are no longer serving us.
I’ve found in my work that so often, it’s not ability or ambition or resources that hold us back from achieving our goals. It’s the way we cling so fiercely to our habits, the way we masterfully avoid change. But sometimes, we have to let go to move forward. We have to have autumn, with all of it’s goodbyes and releases, in order to get to spring.
And so today, I wanted to write about some things you might want to let go of this autumn. These gentle shifts and changes might help you to create more time and energy to focus on what’s truly important to you.
Let go of comparison
We’ve all heard the phrase “comparison is the thief of joy”, and yet so many of us still hold ourselves up to impossible ideals or the achievements of others. The truth is, we will never live our biggest, boldest, most authentic lives while we are consumed by what everybody else is doing, so this autumn, make a promise to yourself to let go of comparison.
If you need some help and guidance to get you started, this blog post should help, or check out the brilliant Lucy Sheridan, who is the world’s first comparison coach, on Instagram.
Let go of self sabotage
Since training as a coach, what I’ve been most surprised to find is just how prevalent self sabotage is. Maybe you’re overscheduling your diary, maybe your self talk is filled with phrases like “I shouldn’t” or “I couldn’t”, or maybe you’re just not showing yourself and your goals the same sort of attention and energy that you give to others.
If you commit to let go of just one thing this season, make it self sabotage. I say this because once you do, you’ll realise just how much you’re capable of. And if you’re looking for some advice on how to break that self sabotage habit, this podcast episode will help.
Let go of the goals that no longer serve you
Finally, the last thing to let go of this autumn is those goals that no longer serve you. I’m talking about those goals that you set yourself because you believe that you “should”. Maybe it’s an income target or a weight loss goal, perhaps it’s a job promotion or an impressive award. Whatever it is, unless it seriously lights you up inside, you need to get it off your list ASAP.
When we let go of the goals that no longer serve us, we open up more time, energy and positivity for the goals that really set us on fire. But perhaps even more importantly than that, we remind ourselves that the dreams and ambitions we hold for our lives are more important than those that society, our friends or our parents hold for us.
What are you letting go of this autumn?
