I’m in my recovery era

Almost a year ago, I joined a goal-setting workshop called 'Get Your Shit Together'.

I knew it’d be brilliant - the host and facilitator was the incredible Caitlin Rozario, one of the most refreshing minds on LinkedIn (and now, I’m very lucky to say, a friend and collaborator).

I was in a particularly miserable rut at the time - licking my wounds from a fresh breakup, sheltering at my parents, and questioning literally every aspect of my life.

So, yes, I needed a little motivation.

What I left with changed me deeply.

And funnily enough, it wasn’t a mind-blowing list of goals.

Although, for the record, Caitlin’s approach to goal-setting is one of the best I’ve ever come across, and as a recovering-productivity-hoe with ADHD, who’s tried every journal and planner under the goddamn British sun (clouds?), that’s saying something.

Early in the session, Caitlin asked us a question that almost floored me:

“What phase do you need this year to be?”
​​
🌱 Growth - I’m ready to push for more
🌾 Maintenance - I’m happy where I am and want to make sure it stays that way
🍂 Recovery - I need to be gentle with myself

This question stopped me in my tracks.

What do you mean there are options other than growth?

I stared at “recovery” and felt tears prickle. It was a permission slip I didn’t know I needed.

I was burnt out, sad, and completely out of steam.

So I proudly declared: I’m in a recovery year.

And it felt powerful.

I even shared it with my cofounder a few days later, offering her the same permission slip.

Because capitalism would have us believe that everything must always be growing.

“Growth at all costs,” scream the tech bros. It’s nonsense.

We’re not machines; we’re nature. And nature moves in seasons.

Some seasons are for expansion. Some are for maintaining (and enjoying) what you’ve built. Some are for curling up and tending to yourself. All of them are valid.

I remember from my BA Economics degree learning about the “economics of happiness” - how the more we gain, the less impact each new thing has on our joy. We just keep wanting more. Ew. No thank you.

So this year, I let myself recover.

One of the biggest shifts I made was how I set goals.

I’ve never been one for five-year plans, mainly because I like to reinvent my entire personality every two.

But seriously: one of my core values is freedom, and rigid long-term plans make me itchy. Working in quarters and looking only one year ahead helps me stay adaptable.

I know that doesn’t work for everyone, especially parents, whose worlds run on longer cycles, but I do think there’s something liberating about loosening the grip and the guilt around “five-year vision boards.”

My old quarterly goal list used to have at least ten achievements per quarter (classic me).

This year, it became a humble list of one to three.

Some quarters were all about personal goals; others were work-focused.

When I stripped everything back, I realised how much joy and pride there is in doing fewer things, and doing them really well.

As I reach the end of this recovery year, I feel like I’ve achieved more than I did in my last three “growth years” combined.

Here’s what I’m celebrating 👇

• Q1 2025 (Jan-Mar)
  ​✅ Launched this newsletter

• Q2 2025 (Apr-Jun)
  ​✅ Sold my house

• Q3 2025 (Jul-Sep)
  ​✅ Relearnt to drive
  ✅ Bought a car
  ✅ Stepped away from my business

• Q4 2025 (Oct-Dec)
  ​✅ Enrolled in my coaching accreditation
  🧘‍♀️ Sabbatical (in progress)
  💪 Established a self-care + exercise routine (in progress)

Next year, I’m ready for a gentle growth year, but I’m taking this approach with me.

Keeping it simple. Not overloading. Doing less, but better (shoutout to Greg McKeown’s Essentialism, one of my favourite reads.)

Here’s what 2026 is looking like so far:

• Q1 2026 (Jan-Mar)​
  🌐 Launch my website + services

• Q2 2026 (Apr-Jun)
  🎓 Complete coaching course​
  💼 Stabilise MMR income

• Q3 2026 (Jul-Sep)
  📜 Achieve Level 1 ICF Accreditation​
  🏡 Move back to London

• Q4 2026 (Oct-Dec)​
  🎓 Achieve Postgrad Certification

As we slide into goal-setting season for the new year, here’s my invitation for you:

✨ What would your year look like if you stripped it back to the most important one to three things each quarter?

Not the most impressive.
Not the ones that make for a LinkedIn brag post.
The most impactful.

Try it. You might be amazed at how much more you achieve when you stop trying to do it all.

With love and lots of rest,
Nat xx