What a year it has been! No-one could have predicted what would unfold in 2020. I hope you have weathered the storm and are doing OK. I wonder how you are feeling about Christmas this year? Perhaps you are looking forward to it more than ever, given all that has gone on this year? Perhaps you are dreading yet more stress and financial pressure, after the tough times you have already been through? Perhaps you are unsure how you will spend it, given the COVID restrictions, and any related health concerns. Perhaps you really need connection after a lot of time feeling isolated this year. Whatever you want and need from Christmas this year, I hope you will find ideas for it in Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year, which is published in the US and Canada on October 20, 2020.
*FREE 2021 DIGITAL PLANNER WITH EVERY COPY OF CALM CHRISTMAS*
For the vast majority of us this past year, our plans have gone out of the window, travel has been halted, work has been impacted, our health has been at risk and much that we thought we could rely on suddenly stood on shaky ground. There was much about it which was tough, and for planners like us, it was disconcerting and destabilising in many ways. Our ‘perfectly planned’ version of 2020 vanished, and suddenly, like never before, there were gaping holes in our schedules and all sorts of new challenges in our lives.
Given all that has happened, is there actually any point in trying to plan for 2021? Well, I think so, because planning can be a creative and motivating act, as well as giving some kind of shape to our dreams, making them feel more tangible and possible. But perhaps this year there is value in doing it in more of a light-touch way – more like a hopeful visioning, whilst knowing that many things may or not work out as we expect.
The truth is, the uncertainty we have all felt so viscerally this year has always been there. It’s just that we built structures and routines and habits that make us think otherwise. The pandemic exploded so many of our assumptions, and revealed the truth that we never really know what is going to happen next. But that doesn’t mean there is no value in thinking through the choices we are making now, to make the best of things in the present and support ourselves in the future, whatever that future may hold.
Perhaps 2020 taught you a few things about what really matters to you, and about what doesn’t matter so much, after all. Perhaps it made you realise that life is short, and it’s not worth wasting it in a career you don’t enjoy. Perhaps it made you feel financially vulnerable, and you want to do something about that. Perhaps it brought your health into question, and you realised you need to take better care of yourself. Perhaps it made you realise what pace of life suits you best. Whatever you learnt this year, this is the perfect time to reflect on that, and use that information to inform your choices about the way you enter 2021.
To help you reflect on 2020 and look ahead to 2021, I have created a special digital planner for you, which is free with any purchase of Calm Christmas. ‘My Perfectly Imperfect 2021 Planner’ is a beautifully designed interactive PDF, full of thought-provoking questions to help you reflect on 2020 and look ahead to 2021. If you’re a paper lover like me, you can print it out, pop in a binder and take it with you to a favourite café. There are even three different designs to choose from!
It’s not just your usual ‘set your goals for next year, then break them down into doable steps’ kind of thing. It’s more deep and soulful than that, and it recognizes how so many of us had our carefully laid plans decimated in 2020. It encourages a more dreamy, floaty and fluid kind of planning for 2021, which inspires and motivates, but also leaves room for things changing, as they so often do.
To get your free planner, just order a copy of Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year from any online or physical bookstore, in hardback, ebook or audiobook, then go to bethkempton.com/Christmas and pop your receipt details in the short form there. You’ll be able to download your planner immediately, and start reflecting, dreaming and scheming right away. Let me know how you get on – you can find me on Instagram @bethkempton #perfectlyimperfect2021
