Today being 1st January 2014, I wanted to wish you all a very happy New Year 2014. May this year be everything you could wish for.

At this time of year I find it useful to reflect – on what’s happened in the year just gone, and what I want to happen in the year to come. We’re past the solstice, so the days are lengthening, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. While it’s not quite true to say that Spring is around the corner, it’s a great time to feel optimistic.

2013 has been a year of recovery for me. I had a very difficult time with my Mum, who  finally died in 2012, and I hand’t realised quite how much it had knocked the stuffing out of me. So I’ve been rebuilding the business, slowly but surely, learning new skills (in particular how to use video more effectively), and developing my first online programme, which I’ll be launching in a couple of weeks, once we’ve got the technology sorted out! I’ve also started doing some business consulting, alongside my coaching. I spent about 10 years as a management consultant, so it’s drawing on old skills – and I am amazed to find they are still every bit as relevant today as they were 15 years ago.

I lost 2 friends – both of them young. In both cases, their death was a shock, but the funerals were real celebrations of 2 very different, but both very special guys, with lots of music. Dave and Ken, we miss you.

And I spent a fabulous 6 weeks in Hawai’i, teaching and attending a Huna seminar (which I do twice a year anyway) and then travelling around the islands, and getting deeply involved in helping out with the Merrie Monarch festival. This festival celebrates Hawai’ian culture through the Hula, and it’s an amazing experience. I helped make leis (adornments) for one of the Hula schools competing in the competition, which is a rare privilege. I helped ‘dress’ an exhibition stand for one of the leading feather lei makers, who makes the most stunning leis out of feathers, and I got to help create and then dress the winning horse team in the Saturday parade. And along the way I met some wonderful people and had such fun.

And now I am preparing to launch the new programme – How To Have A Career That Really Works, set up a Joint Venture with an Australian business partner, and do some more consulting. I’ll be teaching and studying Huna in Hawai’i, and I will be running some Huna workshops in UK. Huna has been a life-saver for me, and I want to share it with anyone who is suffering from depression, or anxiety, or stress, or who just wants to live a more purposeful life.

So I am going to be busy!

I’d love to know what you’ll be up to. Do leave a comment in the comment box below, and I look forward to talking to you in 2014.