I used to think the “new term” feeling belonged to children. New shoes, new pencil case, that particular mix of nerves and possibility. Then I got older and realised adults get it too, we just do not have a bell to mark it, or a uniform to signal that something is beginning.
That September feeling was the theme for this week’s Gathering Space: fresh starts, whether or not anyone in your house is actually going back to school. Many of us prefer this start to the new year January feeling.
People arrived busy. Juggling conflicting priorities, tired from the general effort of holding it all together, and genuinely looking forward to an hour that was just theirs. Not to add another task to the list. To recharge, and to refocus.
We spent a lot of the hour on “why”. Not the big, aspirational kind of why, but the specific kind: why does each of your current priorities actually matter to you, and what do you need in order to meet it. It is a different question to “what is on my list”, and a far more useful one. A list tells you what to do. A why tells you whether it is worth doing, and what you need from yourself to get there.
We also talked, honestly, about the guilt that shows up when you put yourself first. The sense that looking after yourself, even something as ordinary as going for a run, is somehow selfish. What came through clearly in the room is that it is not. When you back yourself, even in a small way, the effect ripples outward. To your family. To the people you lead. To the people around you. It becomes bigger than the thing itself.
Investing in yourself is not an indulgence you have to justify. And being accountable for the change you want, rather than waiting for it to arrive, is what actually moves things. Being in the driving seat, not the passenger seat, of your own life.
Partway through, I read “The Invitation” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. If you do not know it, it is worth five minutes of your time, and you can read it on her own page here: http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/
It asks what actually matters, not your job title or your CV, and it is a poem I keep coming back to for exactly that reason.
If a space like this sounds like something you would find useful, we have taster sessions running throughout September and October, open to anyone in or curious about the She Leads Change community. You can see what is coming up and register here: bejourney.app/events/slctaster26
And if you are ready for something deeper, Leading From Within, our flagship leadership programme, starts on 3 November. There are still spaces. Get in touch for a 20-minute chat about whether it is right for you, or email lead@sheleadschange.org if you would rather just find out more first.