Hello 2025!
Welcome, everyone, to a brand new year! It promises to be interesting, if nothing else. As we embark on this next journey around the sun, I think about what possibilities lie ahead. January can feel like a particularly dark month. The nights are long and cold. The days are short. The excitement of the holidays has now passed, and we are left living the consequences of our good times.
And yet, I am excited to see what opportunities 2025 offers in the arenas of growth and learning.
Looking Back
The chaos at the end of 2024 had me reflecting on how much can change in a year. As I compare this year to last, I am in awe of the similarities and differences. I started last year with a new baby. I started this year in a new house, in a new city.
Both new years brought with them significant change, and it sometimes had me questioning just how much change one person could handle. I took a moment to be thankful for my ability to adapt to change, and then I couldn't help but wonder what skills I would need for this year ahead.
Looking Forward
I started 2024 on maternity leave, while this year, I am looking to grow and expand my business in different directions. I will open up availability, allowing me to take on additional clients for individual counselling. While I develop my skill set by taking a somatic therapy course, I will also resume my role as a health educator as I branch out into mental health education.
Launching later this year, my online self-directed short courses will target busy moms but will be helpful to almost everyone.
New skills, new clients, new programming. Yikes. I can't wait to see what skills I get to use, what I get to acquire, and in what direction I will go.
New Business
Because one service is tax exempt and the other not, i have decided to launch a separate health education business, LAH Wellness. It will be under LAH Wellness that i will begin to offer well-ness workshops and online courses.Â
New Programming: Healthy Relationships
In-person Wellness Workshops
Delivering this information for moms on relationships will occur in 2 formats (initially). The first is in-person wellness workshops delivered to groups, allowing people to learn about relationship skills in the presence of others.
Self-Directed Online Courses
Later this year, I plan to launch my first online course. This series will be self-directed so you can access it on your schedule. Each course will contain a series of weekly modules that take about 15 minutes to complete.
New Blog Posts
First and foremost, 2025 will bring many more blog posts. Last year, I tried to write one a week, but that was not sustainable as a self-employed Registered Nurse, wife and mother of 2 young boys. I set a goal of writing monthly posts, and while I won't get this one out in January, I made sure to at least start it. (on January 30). Following this post, I will resume my series on Emotion Regulation. The next topic will be behavioural skills, after having already discussed foundational and cognitive skills. Focusing on behaviours can be fun because it is more active than the cognitive skills described previously. To be notified when it is released, subscribe here.
New Focus
Healthy Relationships
While reflecting on last December, I asked myself what single topic people would most benefit from learning about. I landed on healthy relationships. I can't think of a problem not made better by having a supportive friend. And I can't think of a problem not made worse by feeling alone.
But relationship skills are not universal. Unless we had a variety of role models to demonstrate healthy relationship dynamics, there is a good chance we grew up lacking strong interpersonal skills. We may have no clue why we get on well with some people and have only conflict with others. We may not be aware of how others perceive our communication style. Focusing on a few skills central to maintaining healthy relationship dynamics was the most efficient way to address one of our biggest problems: disconnection.
Moms and Parents
Whenever creating something, we must consider the question: who is the intended audience? Be specific. So, while I want my material to help everyone, my target audience is mothers and parents.
The idea is to make my programming short enough to be manageable by some of the world's hardest-working people but also contentful enough to be helpful in the practical world.
Another motivation for targeting mothers and parents is their responsibility for raising children.
Frederick Douglass once said: It is easier to grow/build strong children than repair broken men.
If we fix our relationship behaviours, we can help ensure our child learn the correct ones and don't have to spend their adult lives suffering so much in dysfunctional relationships.
2 generations with one program? Efficient.
2025, Here We Come!
Well, that wraps up our first blog post of 2025.
With the year's first month already at the end, it might feel like we are off to a slow start, and the amount I want to accomplish feels daunting.
But the first day of spring is only 6 weeks away, a time of rapid change and growth. Now is the time to rest, reflect, and plan our next moves.
Breathe in and enjoy the quiet solitude that winter brings.
Breathe out and release any tension you are carrying. You've carried it far enough.
Thank you for being part of this community, and I look forward to what's to come. Happy New Year!
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