Happy New Year!! Welcome 2024! 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: Hiding in Plain Sight - Part II. At any given moment, you could be overlooking top talent and lifelong investments that are hiding in plain sight. Don’t miss out on these opportunities for your business. Ensure that the core values of your business are woven into the core of the business, and that you set the right people up for success with the right role for them. Your next all-star could already be hiding in plain sight. 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.

January Challenge: 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.

Stretch of the month: Mountain Pose - this pose improves your postural and body awareness. It helps you find alignment by asking you to stack your shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles. And it can counter the effects of prolonged sitting at a computer by reminding you what it feels like to release your shoulders away from your ears. Click the (external) link to learn more, or simply google "mountain pose"!

Wellness tip of the month: Bring nature to you with houseplants! I often speak about the substantial benefits of nature, but we all face days/weeks/months where the weather just won't cooperate. In those periods, bring nature to you by loading up your house with houseplants! The benefits of houseplants are similar to those of nature. They are therapeutic, lifting your mood and outlook. They add warmth and a calming effect. They give you an opportunity to play in the dirt during those moments the weather is less than ideal. They also improve the quality of the air inside, operating as mini natural air filters for you, and you repay the favor by providing the carbon dioxide it needs to grow! January 10th is Houseplant Appreciation Day, just in case you needed a little extra incentive to deck out your house.

"Those moments you think will break you, are actually meant to shape you." - Cole Crum, Crum Consulting Founder

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.