Q2: Review & Reset

There’s a lot of fresh energy at the start of Jan. Rightly so - we have a collective break and a calendarised fresh start.

But for me, the real gold is in the quarterly fresh starts, and each one brings seasonal riches. Q2 has to be one of the best - Spring energy in the natural world is so spectacular, it’s hard not to feel awakened in mind and body.

Having worked on many people’s goals over the years, I’ve seen that the people who tend to get the kind of year they really hoped for in Jan aren’t the ones who front-load everything into January.

They’re the ones who redistribute that energy across Q2 and Q3 and take time for some recalibrations at each point. For me this year, it happened quite naturally.

I had a university reunion and then a few days away over Easter followed by kids hols - probably just an Easter timing thing, but it ended up giving me a natural marker for the end of the quarter - a chance to break up the routine and reset.

I think we have a tendency to rush these moments.

A week off can start to feel like it’s already “eating into” the next quarter. There’s a pull to get going again to not lose momentum.

However, I think this is where we have to hold our nerve and luxuriate in it.

To:

• take a proper break

• switch off

• celebrate what’s just happened

• break up the routine and habit

• and actually give yourself the space to reset properly

This is very ‘12 Week Year’ which talks about taking the 13th week off for rejuvenation before starting up again.

I have quite a process for this, but in reality it takes about one coffee to do.

Every month, I keep a simple ‘ta-da list’.

Not a to-do list but rather a record of small wins and nice things:

• a client win

• a coffee with someone

• a kid thing

• any small progress point that would otherwise go unnoticed

It takes about 10 minutes. I go through my calendar and jot things down, and usually a few extra things come back to me that weren’t on the calendar.

Every time, I’m surprised by how much has actually happened.

Without it, I would massively underestimate the month.

For this reset, I pulled together January, February and March, ran it through ChatGPT, and then refined the summary.

What came out was a much richer picture of the quarter than I would have had in my head.

For example, I’d been telling myself it was quite an ‘inward’ quarter which was sort of true. I deliberately didn’t over-socialise, I spent more time at home, and it felt quieter.

But when I looked at it properly, there were loads of social coffees and walks alongside consistent progress on work and lots of small wins that added up

It’s great to see it all in one place. Rather than me asking myself ‘what went well this month?’ with the natural bias and emotionality of that, it’s more data-like.

With all this fantastic ‘data’ in front of me, here’s the question I used to set my Q2 Goals:

For Q2 to be another outstanding quarter, what would have happened (in work, health, relationships, hobbies / fun..etc)?

The beauty of this question is that it is not bogged down in today. It elevates to a more vision-like level, which cuts through any stagnation and gives slightly more inspired goals. It also slightly removes us from the equation - helps us get out of our own way.

This helped me get a solid 5-7 goals for Q2 that felt exciting and fun rather than just ‘doable’.

As part of the review process here are a few things I have noticed:

In Q1, I had a daily photo deletion habit. That’s already dropped off by Q2.

Spring has started, the garden is back, the calendar fills up, and my version of pottering is now outside rather than wanting a job on my phone.

So it makes sense that it doesn’t fit in the same way. But what has stayed is that I’m much quicker now to:

• favourite the good video out of the 10 skimming videos my son made me take

• delete the rest immediately

So the habit hasn’t continued in its original form but it is impacting my daily photo accumulation. And I can already see that it’s something I’ll lean into again in the darker months.

Strength training has been consistent and is working well - I am doing 3 sessions a week and I think I missed one only when I thought I was getting ill.

But I don’t underestimate the nature of progressive overload.

With something like walking, running, swimming you can lose yourself in it. Your brain can step back.

With progressive overload strength work, you’re always operating at the edge of what you’ve done before:

• one more rep

• slightly heavier

• slightly harder

There’s nothing therapeutic about that. You can’t just zone out listening to a podcast and going through the motions or chat through it. On the days I train by myself, I can feel that moment of gearing up, a bit of dread / not wanting to do it, before I start.

Therefore I feel much more relaxed on the days I am not strength training! Three sessions a week feels like the right balance for me. Enough to progress, with enough space to recover.

This is probably the biggest shift for me. (I say this at a time when one of my goals for this quarter is launching Refreshing Leadership). I don’t feel that same level of drive I used to have.

Not the all-in, slightly obsessive energy that I’ve had in previous phases.

A few years ago, I would have questioned that. I would have taken it as a sign that something was off, that I needed to rethink things or find the motivation again.

Now I see it differently. It feels much more like a phase of life. I don’t have that same raw drive anymore, but I also don’t need it in the same way.

Because I have:

• a clear vision

• a strong sense of what my work is and how it works for my clients

• and the right support around me (especially my online business manager Kayleigh)

So progress isn’t coming from intensity or my motivation. It’s coming from structure, clarity, and follow-through. And that feels in some ways more reliable.

I used to operate like if something matters, it should feel intense. But now I see that you can care deeply about something. You can still want to build something excellent.

Without it feeling like that early-stage, high-energy, ‘passionate’ drive.

I think that’s a useful distinction.

Let me know if you do a Q2 Reset!

Your Executive Coach

Maya