We’re having a very January January throughout the City Girl Network. Alcohol Free drinks recommendation posts across our social media channels are 65% higher than any other month. Advice for finding the safest and most inclusive gyms are hot topic. The hunt to find higher paid and better supported jobs has been turned right up.

And our events are nearly all sold out. That includes our book clubs, cowork clubs, yoga lessons, craft clubs, fitness classes, walks, coffee meet ups, art classes, and drinks evenings.

*Taken by Charlotte Hickmott at the Brighton Girl Creatives Event last November*

Then there’s the wanderlust and deep need for a luxurious treat. Where’s the best place for Winter Sun in Europe? Which UK cities feel the cosiest this time of year? Where should I do a retreat this year? Find me a Spa Hotel with incredible views!

A very January January.

I hard relate to the business owners wanting to make this year “their year” where their bottom line is thriving and their operations are super slick. We’re on a journey with that here at City Girl HQ – shout out to Xero, Dext, Slack, Google Workspace, Squarespace, Zapier, Campaign Monitor and Canva for keeping this show on the road.

Then there’s the overall pull of everyday professionals wanting to be more productive, more attentive and more impactful. That can be the darker side of January, if you let the want for self-improvement evolve into a need for self-shaming – a very fine-line to wobble along.

Personally, I’m leaning in to January with bells and whistles. Dry January. 30 days of Yoga with Adrienne. Three swim workouts a week. “Air baths” in the morning (a.k.a. stepping outside into the fresh cold air). Journalling day and night, following Dr Chatterjee’s method. Reorganising my house. No takeaways. New Social Media boundaries. All the self-improvement podcasts. I’m more into it than ever before.

Where 2023 was the year that I finally took the deeply terrifying “plunge” into working full-time for the City Girl Network, 2024 is the year that I allow myself to live an ordinary life doing an extraordinary job.

I want the “9-5” balance with an early Friday finish, the weekends off, and the utter normality of taking holiday time without guilt. I’ve spent 13 years of my adult life chasing this extraordinary career and, now that I have it, I want to live it. Just like every incredible, ambitious, high-potential, thriving career woman I have had the pleasure of meeting across the City Girl Network.

*Me and Scruffy (the CGN office dog) taken by Holly Abigail*

I welcome the ordinary nature of the occasional overtime and business events. It’s the desperate need to work every hour I can to prove my worthiness that I’m no longer up for. And all the other bad habits I picked up from living my twenties in the “girlboss hustle era”.

The tagline for the City Girl Network recently changed to Belong Where You Are, reflecting our mission to help all women across the UK to feel a deeper sense of connection, safety and happiness with their lives. And it’s very much a phrase that I’m living by this month (and life).

Belonging in my concoction of January challenges. Belonging at the Rural Sussex Girl Walk on Saturday 14th January across Devils Dyke. Belonging as a City Girl.

Happy New Year,

Pippa x

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