Practicing what I preach is HARD

Oh my goodness. Is it really more than a year since I posted a blog here? Unfortunately and fortunately, yes... yes it is.

Both unfortunate and fortunate, Krystyna? Do explain.

Sure Krystyna, I'd love to. (Eh, it's late on a Friday night and my subtle sense of humour has abandoned ship and left the ridiculous one in command! ;) )

It's unfortunate because it simply means I haven't been keeping up with regular injection of tips and ideas for you all here, which is what this blog was for, right? It's hard because I committed to this - and bailed.

So what have I been doing? I've been focusing on doing other stuff that matters, when it matters, for the people who matter. (Such as in Exhibit A - my daughters playing with their cousins in a "shipwreck" over the Keppel Islands during a recent family celebration. This was the day we got so caught up in our auntie's 70th birthday my husband and I forgot it was also our 17th wedding anniversary! Ooops!)

Those of you who follow me on Facebook probably are well aware of some of the stuff I've been up to. Last year I launched the Paraclete Initiative, the ministry niche of my practice. I've started actively running retreats and seminars - even interstate at major national conferences - on mastering the mental load and burnout and ministry sustainability and self-care.

At Christmas I released another Stressmas Advent Calendar, delivering helpful ideas and resources straight to peoples' inboxes every day of Advent. It was a hard slog to write but worth every moment and every word. I got feedback like "thanks so much for this, Krystyna - your posts have helped me get a little more grounded in the lead up to the silly season", "thank you so much for this blessing, I've been challenged and had my eyes opened to strategies I can use now and in the future". And this one made me laugh and do a little happy dance: "This is the only thing in my junk mail box I want to read! Well done!" I do think that the entries every day were a little hard for some people to keep up with, so I'm thinking through what I can do with it this year to make it a bit easier for you all. If you've got any suggestions, I've love to hear them!

And then over New Years (and quite a bit later...) I was working on a series of videos about New Years Resolutions and how ridiculously stressful they are and how to make changes really stick even when your mind keeps tripping you up. Over about half an hour's worth of content, we talked about things like how to use language that lifts you, why you need to make yourself a measuring stick, and the secret sauce you need to give you 95% chance to succeed - I even sing! I'd love you to pop over to my YouTube channel to check them out.

I've been meeting with people. Yes, those funny things who wander around on two legs (or four, sometimes, apparently, like my daughter who can manage to put holes in the knees of endless pairs of leggings within a week of purchase... HOW???). You precious people are the reason why I do what I do. In the last 12 months I've worked with parents, pastors, writers, speakers, managers and CEOs, coming alongside and noticing with them that while the content of their stresses is all different, the commonalities and fundamentals are all pretty much the same. And since that's the level I work at - the fundamental whys and how people do what they do - I've been privileged to see lots of changes being made and maintained. Relationships shifting, communication improving, self-worth lifting, sense of focus and purpose returning.... oh, my job is glorious, and I am so thankful for each of you who let me journey with you.

I've been learning. The online world is a difficult place but it is also a marvelous one, full of opportunities to reach out and learn and support others. It's a great place to meet and discover stress mastery together - and I've been doing a lot of study and learning and discovery on how to deliver my stress mastery resources online in all sorts of different ways and formats that will suit the time-poor, financially stressed and/or the far-away. I've been discovering how to create an online course that actually delivers the transformation it promises, how to support people in an ongoing way in an online community, how to deliver a free 7 day workshop on Facebook that is fun, engaging, and gloriously practical.... so please, keep watching this space!

I've been looking after myself and my family - husband, daughters, mother - actively planning to move out of our flat and townhouse and create a multi-generational home with all of us together. (Along the way, I have discovered that three house inspections in one day will trigger a fatigue crash in the next. Who knew?) It's so terrifically exciting - and I will, God willing, finally have an office of my own! And ferrets. I'm looking forward to being a ferrant! (And no, that is not short for feral parent, thank you very much! ;) Ferret-parent, yes?) One thing's for sure - once I have the office space I shall be bouncing around and showing you all my progress in setting it up and inviting you to join me for face-to-face and virtual coaching and training in all sorts of ways... oh, soooo many ideas.... (And perhaps #FerretFridays should be a thing...)

So that's just a snapshot summary of what I've been up to. It's been hard leaving the blog idle - but I know that what I have been doing - all of it matters, and I am so thankful to have been able to do it all.