Keeping On Track During The Winter

Now that the clocks have gone back and it getting darker earlier than ever – or at least that’s how it feels in rainy Manchester – it is more  important than ever to try and stay on track with your goals. Now that its dark before I leave the house for work in the morning and before I’ve left the office at night too, it is easy to want to crawl into bed as soon as I get home, but instead, I’m trying my best to stay positive and aligned. Here’s a few tips that will hopefully help you, too.

Keep on communicating

This includes continuously communicating with your partner, family, and friends. Especially during the Winter months, its easy to feel isolated. In these uncertain, post-lockdown but still unstable social times, it can be hard to know what your personal boundaries are and what you feel comfortable doing, social-life wise. It can be incredibly intimidating, but it’s best to just go ahead and stay open. Be open to communicating with people. Try to keep in touch with everyone and let them know about your feelings.

Find the right people

While it’s important to stay open to communicating, it’s also incredibly important to find a social group that is right for you. These can be a group of people that are in the same situation as you, those who are like-minded or maybe has the same hobbies. Whatever it may be, it’s best to just go ahead and begin looking into finding your people. Yes, it can be uncomfortable reaching out to strangers, but thankfully nowadays it’s easier now more than ever.

You can attend a church (if you’re religious), join a club, local sports team, maybe volunteer, look into ex-pat groups on Facebook, the Meet Ups website, Inter Nations, and there are probably plenty of more options too. What if there is a language barrier? What if there is a cultural barrier? Don’t let these sorts of questions get to you! So what if there are minor barriers, if you like someone, and they like you, there will be an effort to communicate.

Take care of yourself

Being in semi-lockdown during the Winter is incredibly stressful. This stress can manifest into something worse. A healthy body equals a healthy mind and vice versa. So it’s very important to take care of yourself. This includes regularly exercising, practicing gratitude, taking time to enjoy things yourself, and allowing yourself to feel the emotions that you’re experiencing. You don’t want to confide, nor would you want to hold any sort of resentment towards yourself or your partner. Just take care of yourself, you matter, what you did was amazing, and you just need to keep on treading through.

Gain a new skill

One way to practice self-care is through learning something new. This can even lead to untapped talents! The Winter is the perfect time to try out something new that you’ve never done before. This can include picking up a second language, being a part of a program, joining a cultural society, or so much more. You need to be willing to embrace your situation and try to make the best out of the situation. Gaining new skills leads to getting out of your comfort zone and even finding a community where you can fit in.

Look into possible resources

Sometimes you just need an extra helping hand – I know I often do. Even if you find it difficult to reach out for help, sometimes there are special resources to give you support in whatever you need such as, workshops, online counselling and local social groups groups. Getting access to resources is vital and it’s much needed. So try and look around to see what may be offered.

Figure out whether you’re happy where you are

Are you happy where you are? Not just in life, but location-wise.

Sometimes you might need a change of scene, and knowing if a move is temporary can help you thrive. Alternatively, if you know your location doesn’t make you happy and you are looking for a new location long-term or permanently, it could be beneficial to just go ahead and look into the steps to receive citizenship for somewhere entirely new altogether. Although it might seem drastic to move to the other side of the world, if you’re sure a big change if for you then it’s best to look into Citizenshipaustralian.com.

You’ll be able to get prepared for citizenship and learn some things along the way. In general, it’s best to figure out whether this move is going to be long-term or temporary. Having this grey area of not knowing the time, and staying uncertain isn’t going to help keep you at ease.

Immerse yourself in the culture

Even if you just moved across the country, there is still going to be the local culture that you’re not accustomed to. Embrace it! This includes the cuisine, the language, dialect, and the surroundings as a whole. Even try to go to places on weekends to learn more about this location such as national parks, museums, and even tour groups.

Find your calling

Only you can make your calling and find it. Maybe you’d like to try out blogging? Being a YouTuber? Artist? Freelance photographer? Children’s author? Whatever you’d like to try, just try it! It’s the perfect opportunity to focus on yourself and make some incredible achievements.