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My 2020 Annual Review

1. What went well this year?

Adaptive Coaching 
I graduated as a “Ignite Your Spirit” therapist and launched Adaptive Coaching and its website. 
As of December 22nd, 2020, I

    • Gave 70 individual healings.

    • Gave free healings as a service to people in need.

    • Donated 2% of what I earned to a not for profit called Green Sakthi.

    • Exchanged approximately 60 healing sessions with a close friend I studied with.

    • Recorded and published 4 meditations on Insight Timer.

    • One of them, “Permission To Let Go & Rest”, has been listened more than 20.7k times.

    • Wrote and published two long articles, on sleep and cold & flu.

    • Wrote and recorded 15 short meditations that I called “15-days going inward journey”. I haven’t published them, yet.

Deepening of Personal Relationships

I did a relationships and values inventory following which I focused on deepening and investing in the relationships that really matter - with people whom I share values with.
I celebrated one year being married and I became the mum of a four legged fur-baby boxer. 
I have grown closer with my sister than ever before even though we haven’t seen each other since 2019.
I wrote and sent postcards to the people I really care about. 
I scheduled regular calls to stay in touch with family and friends. 
I made a conscious effort to be a better communicator in my personal life. 

Healthier Diet

I went plant based for half of the year quite seriously and less strictly for the second part of the year. Despite my lack of physical activity, I kept my weight within a 4kg range throughout the year. 

Bye Facebook & Co, Hello Privacy

I left Facebook and WhatsApp. Mainly, for privacy, values and ethical reasons. 
I still have Instagram mostly for Adaptive Coaching and random mindless browsing. 
I pruned LinkedIn and removed the app from my phone. 
I don’t use any other social media outside of Reddit for geeky stuff. 
I stopped using Chrome and swapped for Brave across all devices. 
I limited my usage of cloud services to the bare minimum. 

Spirituality & On-Going Training 

I dedicated a lot of time and energy to my spiritual practice throughout the year. 
I did a lot of focused online / home study - narrow and deep work, not wide and spread.

Decluttering & Simplifying

Like a lot of people this year, I spent a lot of time at home. 
I donated a lot of things I wasn’t using or didn’t need anymore. Including a bed, clothes, shoes,  bags, glasses, kitchen and house stuff, books, crystals, etc. I tried to make it a mindful process where these pre-loved items would find a good home and make someone happy. 
I rearranged the space at home and pruned the garden to make them both more spacious. 
I typed all my hand-written notes - all of them - and organised them. 

2. What didn’t go so well this year?

No Travel - Due to covid and travel ban restrictions applied in Australia, I haven’t seen my family, in laws and friends since 2019 - except for my mum who visited early this year before the pandemic. I did two short trips in NSW, near Byron Bay and near Soldier Point. The nature, landscapes and the coast line were stunning, the rest was truly disappointing - no exaggeration. 

Endings - I lost two family members and I couldn’t be there to say goodbye, attend the funerals or be present to support my family in a practical way. I also made the choice to move away from a few relationships. Endings in relationships are a process and I gave myself plenty of time and space to go through it all. 

No Business Development - I didn’t do any proper and consistent business development for Adaptive Coaching. I felt blocked, I procrastinated, I made excuses. Though I love what I do, I find difficult to promote myself, my work, my services. As a result, a lot of people in my own life still don’t know that I am a therapist, that I have actually been studying what I practice for the last ten years, let alone that I have a business called Adaptive Coaching.  

Exercise - I had a very sedentary year until my dog arrived home. I definitely didn’t do enough physical exercise. 

Writing - I hardly did any solid writing (in French or English) even though I took a workshop on writing a book. 

Reading - I purchased 18 kindles and 19 audiobooks and at least 6 hard cover books. In reality I partially read 6 kindle books, finished 2, I fully listened to 6 audiobooks and fully finished 2 books. I was also slack on keeping up with some of the podcasts I love.

Headphones - It’s a weird one. Every year I end up buying a new pair of headphones, of one type or another, cheap or not, and 90% of the time, it is a disappointment. This year was no exception. 

3. What did I learn this year?

Making Space & Clearing The Space - As everything was getting tighter in 2020, the more clarity and spaciousness I was creating and maintaining around me, the better I felt within myself. It was like an “outside-in” process. 

There Is No Place To Hide - Shadow work, seeking discernment and accurate perception in all areas of life are important to me. I make it a priority in my day to day life. Also, reality checks are necessary even when it hurts, even when the truth is inconvenient. One of mine has been to admit to myself that: Australia doesn’t feel like “home” anymore. 
Australia is governed by corrupted, entitled, self-serving and racist individuals - mostly. At the time of writing, they forbid Australian residents and citizens to travel from one state to another or overseas, unless they have a permit - think of North Korea and Australia is right behind. They arrested people for protesting or intending to protest. They sanctioned journalists and stole their computers in an attempt to silence freedom of speech. They have abandoned their citizens overseas during the pandemic and didn’t send enough planes to bring them home. As of December 2020, more than 30,000 Australians are still stranded abroad. Australian leaders and decision makers do not respect their own country and apply a lot of effort to destroy its ecosystem, nature, ancestors. The list goes on. 

Values & Relationships Go Hand In Hand - I spent some time reviewing and diving into my values and prioritising relationships that were aligned with them. Values evolve over time. I realised that going against them was a form of self-betrayal and self-abandonment. 
Relationships are part of life. The moment there is relationships, there is a need for boundaries. I make sure I work towards having solid boundaries in place. There is no magic pill here, it takes practice and repetition. 

I Love Being A Dog Mum - How to look after a puppy and how to play with a puppy isn’t innate when you’ve never had one. I prepared for months. I made it a project in itself. I read books, did some research, I put way too much pressure on myself to get it “right”. I asked a lot of questions and worried unnecessarily about too many things. It took me some time to trust myself, relax and simply enjoy it. 
My take on raising a pup so far: Take it seriously or don’t do it. It’s an investment which will bring return in joy currency really fast if you’re willing to put in the time, effort, consistency, routine, training, fun, love, care, commitment, repetition, patience, budget, from the get go, and for ever.
Like any relationship, dogs are like a mirror. They reflect back at you and bring up what you need to look at and don’t want to. Happy days. 

Be Caring With The Visible. Be Caring With The Invisible - Self care is important. Caring for others is important. Caring for Nature, the ecosystem and the Earth is important. Caring for the invisible and the sacred is no less important. Honouring it and showing reverence to it.  

Post Scriptum: After writing this review, I wondered if it was appropriate to publish. I decided yes after answering these two questions: 

  1. Who did I write it for? It’s personal, I wrote it for myself and for anyone interested in this kind of process.

  2. Why did I write it? I wrote it because I like the concise format and how the review in its concept conveys humanity, transparency, honesty, accountability, self inquiry and reflection - these are all topics that I spend time digging and working with myself and with my clients. It aligns with how I work within Adaptive Coaching.

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