February: Renewing Your Professional Energy
After the long slog through the winter months, February can feel like the end of the line, even for counsellors. While, traditionally, we are encouraged to look to the coming year and plan our next steps and goals in January, this can be difficult when we are still in the throes of cold, dark weather. In February, however, we start to see snowdrops and other signs of returning life. What better time to take a deep breath and look to the future? A few small actions now can refresh our professional energy for the months ahead and, by taking time to pause, reflect and reconnect with our motivations and purpose, we can move forward more purposefully.
Reflecting on your “why”
Setting aside some time to reflect on why we became a counsellor can be a powerful way to reconnect to the values, purpose and motivation that first drove us on this journey. By revisiting the experiences, beliefs and moments that drew us to this work, we can reignite our passion and highlight for ourselves what matters for us within our practice. Through this reflection we can reconnect with the meaning and commitment we sought when we were starting out, finding renewed awareness, taking stock of where we are now and planning our next steps. Ultimately, moving forward with renewed confidence and intention.
Setting achievable goals
Change is inevitable and moving with the times helps us to maintain a sense of control. A way to ensure this movement is purposeful and useful is to know where we are going. While having some time to consolidate the position we have got to in our practice can feel like having some space to breathe, it is also sensible to choose one or two small professional goals for the next few months that support us as we develop in our career. These can be simple activities, we can identify a skill we would like to learn or develop, find a workshop or event we would like to attend or take some time to review how we are using supervision to support our ongoing practice.
Mindful check-ins
As counsellors, we are very good at sharing how the addition of simple practices can support our clients’ recovery and ongoing wellbeing and often neglect to make use of them ourselves. By regularly taking the opportunity to check in with ourselves, we can maintain a clear focus on our goals, identify the steps that have been helpful to continue with them and those that have not, before we are significantly derailed. This can be with a brief daily reflection, or longer weekly one, and can incorporate assessing our energy levels and motivation. On a personal level, few of us are unaware of the benefits that can be gained from a regular journaling practice or engaging in simple mindfulness exercises. Incorporating these into daily or weekly life help us to know ourselves better, making noticing a dip in motivation or energy easier to identify.
Conclusion
By taking the opportunity that February’s natural pause point offers us, we get to reconnect with our reason and purpose for doing this role. With no need for grand resolutions, we can identify and incorporate small, meaningful practices that help up to remain focused on the now with an eye to the future, while honouring the past. Meaning we can ensure we respect the work we do and the people we are within. Using reflection to renew our forward motion we can develop steadier energy, clearer purpose and deeper commitment to both our clients and ourselves.
If you would like to engage in our local community, feel free to follow our Facebook Page or join us on our Facebook group, maybe you could share a step you’re taking to renew your professional energy.
