So here we are, in February after what felt like the longest January ever. 2018 has been a productive month for me so far.

I wanted to build on the momentum of the last few months of 2017 where I was lucky enough to collaborate with a few dream brands. So at the start of this year I started to write down weekly and monthly goals. This includes tracking my sleep, my mood and work. One thing which I have made priority is self-care and doing what I enjoy, both personally and professionally. Over the last few years of blogging I have made some contacts but I have always been to shy to approach them about new projects. My lack of self-belief is something which has held me back, so having clear goals, writing them and down and then being able to look back on them is something which has helped me immensely over the past month alone.

I have been quietly researching Life Coaching over the last few months, spending time with new associates over a coffee discussing their lives, problems and goals and finally decided to look into doing a Life Coaching Diploma, which I have now started.

To be honest this is a natural transition for me. I had my very first retail management role 11 years ago and motivating and training my staff was always something which I absolutely loved and this has continued throughout every job I’ve had. I’m always the person in the office or in the shop who people confide in and I’m always my friends number one cheerleader. I love nothing more than seeing people do well and achieve their goals.

I also worked in a HR role for Wood Group, one of the world’s biggest oil companies and it was interesting to get the experience of contract negotiable and dealing with grievances. Once again even as a new member of staff I was seen as someone who was a people’s person and who could see things from an employees point of view. I found my feet very quickly even in such a strong male-dominated company.

Coaching is such a complex career in terms of what to specialise in, the logical choice would be to specialise in business coaching due to my experience in retail management and HR, however my passion is body positivity, health and self-care and I would love to work with kids who are suffering with the above. Studying Psychology alongside Life Coaching will no doubt help me get an idea of what to specialise in.

One thing which I have learned this past month is that investing in yourself does pay off and you can turn dreams into reality. I was quite apprehensive about talking to friends about my wish to study Coaching and I was pleasantly surprised and how many of them said to me that it was a no-brainer and something which I should have done years ago.

Continuing on with the subject of investing in yourself I have treated myself to some new incense sticks for my daily meditation sessions and I have joined a new gym, not necessarily to lose weight but to meet new people and try some new classes. I’m also going to see Russell Brand at the end of this month which I am so excited for.

What are your goals for 2018?