On Friday 16th
September I travelled down to Alresford, near Winchester, to take part in a
personal development course. Written by Jane Woods of Changing People and
delivered by specialist trainers across the country, RenewYou is a one day
course that promises to last for a whole year.
I first found out about RenewYou
when I started reading Psychologies
magazine back in 2013. At the time I had just started a new job and was in a
new relationship too so there were a lot of changes going on in my life. I
really wanted to do the course, but money was a problem as was trying to find a
course that was happening near me on a date that I could make.
Fast forward to summer 2016 and I
was determined to find a course. This year has seen as many changes as 2013
(albeit of a different kind) and I felt the time was right. I looked on Jane’s
website and found there was one coming up in September. OK, so Alresford seemed
a bit far away, but it would be nice to have a day out and it was something I’d
wanted to do for about three years so I went for it. I contacted Felicity Dwyer, one of the above-mentioned specialist trainers, to find out more and
booked on to the course.
There were only two of us on the
course which was lovely as it meant that we received a lot more coaching from
Felicity during the day. As it turned out the other lady lives not too far from
me so we decided early on that we would try to catch up and hold each other
accountable for our goal setting over the next year.
I won’t go into the content of
the course too much as I don’t want to spoil it if you choose to attend one,
but the aim of the day is very much about reflection and goal setting. We
looked back at the last year before looking forward to the year ahead. During
the first part of the day I realised that this year I have started to live in
the now much more. I have always loved making plans, but the disappointment and
heartache that I experience if they don’t come to pass has put me off. As we
talked though I understood that I should make plans for me alone and not ones
that rely on other people being there or doing something.
One of the things that I found particularly
interesting was developing the concept of comfort zones. You may often be
encouraged to step outside your comfort zone, but how far should you actually go?
I learnt that you should think of it as three separate zones; your comfort
zone, your stretch zone and the panic zone. By going into your stretch zone,
you will gradually increase your comfort zone. However if you push yourself too
far and go into the panic zone then you are at risk of making your comfort zone
smaller.
We also looked at the labels we
have had throughout our lives. I was amazed at how long the list was and I am
sure that it would have been longer if I’d given myself more time. We looked at
what labels we wanted to keep and what ones we didn’t. For the labels we didn’t
like we looked at why they made us feel the way we do and how we could change
that.
One of the activities we did was
not from the RenewYou course, but I really enjoyed it and want to find a way to
use it in my Girlguiding trainings. Felicity had a set of Chiji Cards which contains 48 images designed to “help participants create their own
metaphors and gain more insight into the session or activity”. Of course I was
immediately drawn to the owl. Once upon a time it would simply have been
because I love owls, but this time there was more to it. When I had a tarot
reading in Spain there was one card with an owl as part of the image. Curious
to see if my love of owls had happened for a reason I asked what it
represented. The lady doing the reading explained that it represent the wisdom
gained from a situation, be it good or bad. I found that both comforting and
empowering. It seemed fitting for the day.
When you attend the course you
receive a copy of the RenewYou journal. It was much bigger than I was expecting
and when you see what’s packed into it, you understand why. The journal is
split into three parts. The first is used on the day and is full of exercises
and plenty of space to record your answers, ideas and thoughts. I’m a neat
freak so I used a notebook on the day and plan to transfer everything over to
the journal when I get a free moment. The second part contains 52 short
articles about your ongoing personal development designed to be read each week
in the year following your course. The third section contains 13 interviews
with inspiring women (it was originally going to be one for each month, but
Jane states that she couldn’t choose which to include so added a bonus).
I would recommend this course particularly
if you feel you are at a crossroads and need some direction. The trainer will
not give you the answer, but help you to realise what’s important to you and
trust your inner voice. I’m really glad there was just two of us that took, but
I’m I would have still benefitted for the experience in a larger group. I’m
looking forward to the next year and reading the different articles that Jane
has written.
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