Hello 2023!!!!!!

Happy January! Each month we strive to provide you with a variety of helpful resources, tips, and practices to support your continued success, both personally and professionally. Because we work with a diverse demographic of clients, industries, and backgrounds, we aim to provide content equally as diverse. If a particular section doesn't resonate with you, that's okay! Our hope is that everyone can find at least one gold nugget per issue. 

Below, you will find information on this month's article from Crum Consulting, this month's development challenge, as well as general wellness reminders. We have a number of knowledge-forward articles available that explore a variety of professional and personal topics, all of which will challenge your current perspective, and push your continued growth. Each month, we aim to provide you with a new challenge to help facilitate your ongoing growth. These challenges will range in topics and applications, in an effort to focus on a variety of aspects of your life. If you are a recurring client with us, we will be following up on this month's challenge with you in session. If you don't currently have any sessions set up with us, and would like to discuss this challenge and others like it, please feel free to reach out to schedule a session with us! You can reply directly here if we have worked together in the past. If you are a new client, please click here to fill out a consultation form, and we will be in touch to schedule a session with you. We also provide new wellness reminders in the form of our stretch of the month, and wellness tip. Regardless of your background, these reminders will help improve your day to day health and wellness.

January Article: This month's article is: Reset, Refresh, Renew. As we enter a new year, we cannot help but to already start looking forward; visualize a twelve month path laid out in front of you, and you’re standing on day one. Too often, we forget to start where we are, and instead jump out ahead of our present reality. Being proactive by looking ahead and planning is a wonderful behavior to practice regularly, so long as your vision starts where you are presently. If you have any questions surrounding this month's article, or would like to further explore opportunities, please feel free to reach out to schedule a session with us! You can reply directly here if we have worked together in the past. If you are a new client, please click here to fill out a consultation form, and we will be in touch to schedule a session with you.

As we are coming into a new year, we are offering a bonus challenge this month!! If you are interested in more content on these topics, we recommend reading our The Role of a Business Owner article.

January Challenge #1: I challenge you to a Wellness Check!

→Honoring the 7 types of rest

• Physical; napping, yoga, stretching, massage, sleeping

• Mental; 10 minute breaks every 2 hours, notepads everywhere to help filter your thoughts, quiet time, breathwork, meditate

• Social; spend some alone time, visit with people that you don't have to be "on" for, social media cleanse, DND phone hours

• Creative; hike, walk, meditate, sit outdoors, go for a drive, take a bath, go to an art museum, go to a bazaar or craft fair, volunteer, have a conversation, people watch

• Emotional; therapy, life coach, journaling, watch a tear jerker movie, self-discovery activities, affirmations, validations

• Spiritual; grounding exercises, gardening, working with your hands, meditate, volunteer, give back, random act of kindness, active listening

• Sensory; close your eyes for 3 minutes once an hour, sit outside, walk, breathwork, sensory deprivation activities

• Here's a great short clip about the power of silence, impact of noise, and the effects both have on our listening abilities.

→Self time scheduled, at least once a month. Self time can include a wide range of activities; spa day, going for a hike, working on that novel you started a couple years ago, writing a new song, painting, reading, meditating, having a movie marathon, and so on. The important thing to focus on is that you take time dedicated to only YOU. Spend some time with yourself alone; give yourself space, love, and time. 

→Ensure you take a minimum of 2 days off a week. This may seem like common sense to most people, but life has a way of completely consuming our time when we need the break the most. 

→Family & spouse time scheduled at least once a month. For your spouse, or significant other, it is important to schedule at least one date night (out of the house, or kid-free in the house) a month to reconnect with each other beyond the daily roles you both have to embody, and back to the roles of your relationship. For your family, blood or chosen, it is important to carve out time to stay connected, and rejuvenate your relationships regularly. Family is a privilege, not a right. Nurture these dynamics with everything you’ve got, because they are the ones that will lift you up and carry you through your hardest moments.

January Challenge #2: I challenge you to establish one give-back event for this year.
→So long as your concept is assembled and completed by the end of this year, you’re on track. Take your time in considering what cause or organization you would like to give back to; choose something that is near and dear to your heart, and/or your brand.
→Events could include: volunteering, a community event, running a cross-promotion, or a non-profit fundraiser, to name a few.

Stretch of the month: Gate pose - this stretch improves posture and counteracts the effects of sitting for extended periods of time. It also strengthens your side body, including the obliques as well as the intercostal muscles. It also stretches large back muscles, including the latissimus dorsi, and the muscles alongside your spine, including the erector spinae. It also strengthens the ankles and feet. Click the (external) link to learn more, or simply google "gate pose"!

Wellness tip of the month: Perspective is everything. Failure is growth. Success is complacency. As a society, we have been conditioned to fear failure; to feel shame, regret, and remorse. Yet, without failure, we cannot grow. Failure challenges our current perspectives, as we have an unyielding drive to survive and thrive. We cannot simply roll over and accept the failure, but instead must learn how to overcome and push forward, ever stronger. These are the moments that build us, from our core all the way through every action we take and interaction we experience. The next time you experience a failure, challenge your perspective in the moment: how can you grow from this experience?, how will this experience improve your life, or the lives of others, moving forward?, how can you apply what you've learned?, how can you make a difference in someone else's life with what you've learned?. Strive to fail, strive to grow, and relish in every moment of it.

"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -Peter F. Drucker

Thank you for being a pivotal part of our journey here at Crum Consulting. We would be nothing without you, and your continued support. Please feel free to share our content with others to pay it forward. We relish in receiving feedback, so if you have any suggestions or if you'd like to share your opinion on any of the content we have provided here, please let us know! If you have any questions about anything we covered here, or if you'd like to explore potential opportunities with Crum Consulting, we are here for you! Reach out anytime!

Until we meet again, take care of yourself, and others. Thank you.