Every day is a new beginning. Every day a new year begins. The first of January and the days that follow are by far the period of the year in which we feel the urge to make a fresh start. And that is a good thing. We make plans, tell our friends about them and set off on our plan full of enthusiasm. After a few weeks we notice that our zeal is fading and we fall back into our well-worn habits. If that is the case, you may have overlooked a few things.

The courage to leave the worn-out cart track.

It is not enough to have a vague plan in order to make a fresh start. You need insight into your habits, your way of thinking and the patterns you keep going. Whether you want better health, a new relationship, more income, better skin, a more interesting career or a new hobby, first ask yourself what has been holding you back so far. Take a look at the track you have formed over the years. A track you could compare to a cart that has worn grooves into a sandy road for years on end. The cart makes the same little journey every day and therefore ends up in the same place too. A cart track may look idyllic during a romantic walk, but as a daily road it is unclear, you come across all kinds of obstacles and it offers no alternative outcome. It takes courage to leave your bumpy, worn-in cart track and walk a new path.

Follow your feet. They know the way.

The past two years were quite challenging for my business, as they were for many others, because of the far-reaching measures we had to deal with. I felt the need to make a new beginning pressing itself upon me. What new beginning? Where? When? How? In what form? It was not clear to me. I had no idea. Vague impressions, yes. But nothing concrete. I observed my familiar path. It no longer brought me the results that made me happy. It was time to shift the direction my feet were pointing in. It is not the first time I have done that, which fortunately means I carry a kind of embedded trust with me.

It is more fun outside your comfort zone than inside it.

Turning your feet in a different direction is quite exciting. You cross the dreaded border of the comfort zone. You have no choice but to leave behind the habits you carry out every day as a routine or a ritual. People are afraid to leave that comfort zone. Wrongly so, in my opinion. It often resembles a far too narrow circle with strict rules, in which life has to be lived to a minimum and in which anything new is experienced as threatening or frightening. The comfort zone has become a limiting, uncomfortable cage. From experience I know that the playing field outside the comfort zone is far more fun, more colourful and more alive.

Breaking free of the past is a condition for a new beginning.

I took months to move my feet. My gaze then automatically turned towards a different playing field. I surrendered to not-knowing and to shaking my dear head empty. Every time you want to make a fresh start, the past tugs at your sleeve. It does not like to see you go. It takes courage to let go of certain things, situations and people that have weighed on your shoulders in the past. Every time you do, order, space and breathing room come into being. It then becomes easier to move those feet and take steps forward in a new direction. The first steps for your new plan have been taken. First release and let go, then you can go on.

I could not have wished for better timing.

I thoroughly enjoyed those months in which I did not have to know what I should do next, what actions I should take, what the result should be. I threw all the ‘shoulds’ into the wastepaper basket and went sniffing curiously at the encounters, angles and experiments that presented themselves. I began to put things in order, both inside myself and in practical matters. Not that my surroundings are such a muddle, but a different kind of order was asking for my attention. And I followed the track. The beginning of a new track. It made me happy. Just like that, spontaneously happy. Around the bend in the road, another new order was waiting for me. And another. And another. And then all of a sudden, when I was not expecting it at all, everything fell into place with crystal clarity on 1 January 2022. I could not have wished for happier timing. The hints and the insights formed one whole. The sun is now shining on the new path.

Let go of the result.

For the next six months, or perhaps a year, I am going to immerse myself completely in getting to know this new and, for me, genuinely challenging path. I am letting go of the result. In business coaching people say you should keep a clear goal or result in mind. That has never worked for me. What does work for me is that I enjoy every step on the path and open myself to a beautiful result. What I then receive is often far wider than anything I could have set out as a result beforehand. Some of my clients want to know the outcome before they are even willing to set off. The consequence is that they never leave and go on dreaming of a new beginning.

I understand that you want to know what my new path involves. Allow me to explore it and get to know it first in full intimacy and with the dedication that is my own. Undoubtedly a visible result will come out of it at some point. Which one? I do not (entirely) know yet. I am setting off on a journey along the road of my new challenge. We are only a few days past 1 January and I have already learned a great deal. Step by step I am shaping my journey. I feel an intense gratitude at seeing an unknown world open up before me at the age of sixty.

A new outfit for the journey of your dreams.

Dear reader, in 2022 step beyond your limiting circle. Throw into the bin whatever no longer serves you. Get yourself a new outfit. Take one last look behind you and follow the adventure of your dream. And love yourself dearly while you do. And remember to feel deep gratitude for the wonders of life. I wish you a far-reaching and enriching 2022.

With a zest-for-life greeting

Hilde Van Bulck.

Consciousness architect — Speaker — Writer — Systemic constellation facilitator and advisor
AMI Activator — Motivator — Inspirer