Hi Reader,
The first of September. Spring has sprung!
I love this time of year. The mornings are getting lighter, the days a little longer, and there’s the promise of summer and warmer days to come.
Spring seems to put a little pep in your step.
Suddenly we're walking in the mornings again, getting back to the gym.
Or perhaps it's spring cleaning, clearing out cupboards, sorting out the garden, opening the windows and making plans.
Lately I’ve also noticed a different kind of spring clean happening.
People are letting go of things that no longer seem to fit. Big things.
Relationships. Homes. Jobs. Career paths. Ideas about what life is supposed to look like.
"I just don’t want to do this anymore".
I’ve heard quite a few versions of this recently.
Myself included.
Late last year, I made the decision that I didn’t want to be an accountant anymore.
I was done.
Twenty years of professional experience, years of formal education, and that sought-after designation, Chartered Accountant. I was proud of that title.
It took months for the decision to percolate and eventually crystallise. Only recently, I finally hung up my accounting boots and resigned as a Chartered Accountant. My husband still thinks I’m crazy to let it go.
But making the decision to step away and actually letting it go turned out to be two quite different things.
For months afterwards, I would still tell people I was an accountant. It was like a default setting or a reflex. But also, what else would I tell them?
If I'm not an accountant, what am I? Who am I?
Identity is a strange thing.
It took a surprisingly long time for mine to catch up.
Perhaps that's one of the less obvious parts of a new beginning.
We tend to focus on what we're going to start. The new habit. The new job. The new house. The new project.
But beginnings often involve an ending too.
Sometimes we have to clear something out. Let something go. Question something we've always done, or even something we've always believed ourselves to be.
And that's not always easy, particularly when we've invested heavily in the thing we're letting go of. Time. Resources. Money. Education. Relationships.
Sometimes the people around us don't understand it either. And it's very easy to be pulled back towards what's familiar.
For me, there was another problem.
I knew what I was moving away from, but I didn't yet know what I was moving towards.
I was taking away accountant, but I didn't have anything to put in its place.
Often, we know what needs to end long before we know what comes next.
I think I finally figured it out.
Just recently, I changed my title in my phone from Chartered Accountant to Writer & Creator.
Such a small administrative change. But after years of automatically answering I'm an accountant whenever someone asked what I did, it felt like a big deal.
And it still feels weird. Like I'm playing at something.
But perhaps that's what a beginning feels like when you've spent a long time being something else.
So September feels like a particularly good month to think about beginnings.
What we're starting. What we're leaving behind. And perhaps most interestingly, who we're becoming next.
FUN FACT
Did you know?
In one study, people who spent 12 weeks imagining themselves doing bicep curls, without actually doing them, increased their strength by 13.5%
Researchers found that the mental training appeared to improve the brain's ability to activate the muscles.
Apparently, thinking about going to the gym isn't completely useless. 😆
Read the study →
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ARTICLE
On changing who we think we are
It turns out I've been thinking about identity quite a bit lately.
Because changing what we do can get complicated when what we do has become part of who we think we are.
I wrote about this recently from a completely different angle: what happens when someone who has always thought of themselves as a wine person decides they want to drink less?
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READ
This Kingdom will Not Kill Me
by Ilona Andrews
Robin Rating: ★★★★★
If you're one of the Horde, you already know.
Solid gold. Great for a weekend in.
Book one of a brand-new series by one of my favourite authors.
Fantasy, adventure, plenty of villains and triumphs of good over evil. And magical creatures (very important).
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WATCH
Ted Lasso
Season 1-4 | Apple TV
Robin Rating: ★★★★★
Easily one of my top ten shows of all time. Actually, top three.
I thought it was done, but through some divine intervention, we’ve been gifted a fourth season. Yay!
Obviously, I’m rewatching from the beginning.
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LISTEN
How to Get 1% Better Every Day
Mel Robbins interviews James Clear
A great interview with James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. If you're trying to start a new habit, this is a great place to start.
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WHAT I'M WORKING ON
Back to You
A six-week journey to drink less and reconnect with yourself
This is a big part of what I've been working on recently.
Back to You is a thoughtful, guided email journey designed to help you understand your relationship with alcohol, change some of the habits around it, and make more room for the things you want in your life.
It's also one of the reasons I've been thinking so much about habits, identity and what we're moving towards when we decide to change something.
And, to celebrate the launch, Back to You is available free throughout September.
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Be curious, keep learning, choose kindness.
With gratitude,
Ash Robin
...Human in Progress.
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