{"id":6220,"date":"2015-01-17T05:45:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-17T10:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newvinegrowing.wordpress.com\/?p=6220"},"modified":"2019-06-07T13:38:45","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T17:38:45","slug":"how-to-take-the-suckiness-out-of-january-and-get-your-groove-back-guest-post-by-katie-goodman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/newvinegrowing\/how-to-take-the-suckiness-out-of-january-and-get-your-groove-back-guest-post-by-katie-goodman\/","title":{"rendered":"How to take the suckiness out of January and get your groove back: Guest post by Katie Goodman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Katie Goodman is an award-winning musical comic, actress, author, speaker, creative coach, corporate consultant and social activist. She has been seen on Showtime<\/a> on The Green Room With Paul Provenza, is a featured blogger for The Huffington Post<\/a>, has contributed to O, The Oprah Magazine<\/a> and is the author of \u201cImprovisation For The Spirit<\/a>.\u201d She has been a keynote speaker and led break-out session workshops as well as staff retreats for corporations and conventions using the tools of improv comedy for innovation, self-confidence, and communication. \u00a0<\/em>
\nShe\u00a0is the creator and headliner of \u201cBroad Comedy,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0an internationally touring satirical musical show that she and her husband, Soren Kisiel, write and direct. Her solo show is playing in New York City<\/a>. Katie and Soren were\u00a0nominated for the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant for their extensive work in theatre, and were also nominated for The EPIC Award from The White House Project for emerging artists.<\/em>
\nShe’s also one of my new marketing clients, and as part of our mutual admiration society, she gave me a glowing recommendation<\/a> and wrote this guest post for Newvine Growing to help you kick off 2015 right.<\/em>
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\"Katie
Katie Goodman is an award-winning musical comic, actress, author, speaker, creative coach, corporate consultant and social activist. She’s also a guest blogger on Newvine Growing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThis time of year, it\u2019s easy to hole up, reassess everything a little TOO much and generally be a drag to everyone — even your kids\u2019 hamsters. I mean really, when you are snuggling a hamster and telling it how well it understands you, it\u2019s time to do a little check-in.
\n(Um\u2026 Is this just me?)
\nYou probably just came off a fall full\u00a0of stuff. Then you spent too much time with in-laws over the holidays who ask what they think are benign questions but really the CIA would be impressed with such tactics. And now, you\u2019re looking at a looming winter ahead: cold, dark and possibly not sure if you\u2019re really doing what you want.
\nYou ain\u2019t alone, kid.
\nWhat seems like a good time to reassess can also bring us to a screeching halt, energy wise.
\nFirst of all, if you feel you have to or want to do New Year\u2019s resolutions, read this book: The Year I Will, by MJ Ryan<\/a>. I work with MJ and she is brilliant. She has done her homework about the studies on keeping resolutions and making changes. Don\u2019t do resolutions ever again without reading this. They don\u2019t work the way you think they do. Check it out. You\u2019ll succeed this time.
\nNext, if you are assessing EVERYthing too much (if you\u2019re not sure, just ask your spouse or best friend who will happily tell you if you are!), you might find you are only ruminating and getting nowhere fast. A better way to get a grip on whether your life is heading in the right direction is to try a few of these exercises:
\n1. GET LOST: Allow yourself to BE lost\u2026 but only for a very set period of time. I recommend an hour or less in a book store perusing the racks without telling yourself what is OK\u00a0or normal for you.
\nBrowse something like Pinterest or cookbooks or look at a list of documentaries available online -\u2013 but make sure that you don\u2019t judge or analyze what you pick. This is the most important part. Just let your eye wander, pick something and then experience it. It might be something you\u2019ve never even thought interested you. Or something you think shouldn\u2019t interest you based on how you perceive yourself. Just experience it and then you can analyze or think about it afterwards. But BE LOST IN IT.
\nIt\u2019s hard to allow yourself to grow if you confine yourself to only things you\u2019ve done before. This is the space to do that. But whatever you pick, set a time limit. You\u2019re not actually trying to encourage feelings of sadness or confusion. This should be enlivening and fun. This is exploratory, with a goal of information-gathering, not a dastardly slink downward into the \u201cyawning black hole of meaningless existence\u201d \u2026as my comedy song \u201cMy Mid-Life Crisis Song\u201d says.
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