Before You Choose a Direction, Choose What Holds You

An invitation to anchor before you act

Issue 1

Zaidee Jackson Coach January 6th 2026

There is a quiet exhaustion I’ve been noticing lately.

Not the kind that comes from doing too much but the kind that comes from holding everything together without anything holding you.

Many people arrive at the edge of a new year, a new season, or a new chapter asking the same question:

What should I do next?

But beneath that question is another one, rarely spoken out loud:

What will steady me when the doing begins?

We are encouraged to plan, optimise, set intentions, and move forward with clarity.And yet, clarity doesn’t always arrive through motion.

Sometimes, it arrives through stillness.

The Missing Step We Skip Too Quickly

Before goals.Before resolutions.Before strategies and calendars.

There is a step that often goes unnamed: Choosing what steadies you.

Not a goal to achieve.Not a version of yourself to become.But something quieter. Deeper.

More faithful.

An anchor.

An anchor is not something you strive for.It’s something you return to.

The poet David Whyte writes:“You know the greatest thing is not to live with the answers, but to live with the questions.”

An anchor allows us to stay with the questions without being pulled under by them.

Why Goals Aren’t Enough (And Never Really Were)

Goals are most effective when they provide clarity, structure, and direction not pressure or perfection.

This is where the SMART principle matters.

SMART goals help you define what you are doing and when.Anchors support how you stay connected when motivation fades or conditions change.

Goals give direction.Anchors provide steadiness.

When used together, they create change that is both intentional and humane.

When goals are vague, they rely heavily on motivation.

When they are well-defined, they create momentum.

What SMART Goals Do Well

S — Specific Clear goals reduce decision fatigue.Instead of “do better” or “try harder,” a specific goal names exactly what you are committing to.

Not: “I want to be healthier.”But: “I will walk for 20 minutes, three times a week.”

Specificity turns intention into action.

M — Measurable Measurement creates feedback — not judgment.

When progress can be observed, it becomes easier to stay engaged and adjust without self-criticism.

Not: “I want to improve my work–life balance.”But: “I will finish work by 5:30 pm at least three days a week.”

What gets measured can be supported.

A — Achievable Goals should stretch you — not exhaust you.

An achievable goal respects your current capacity, not an idealised version of yourself.

Not: “I will completely change my routine overnight.”But: “I will make one consistent change I can realistically maintain.”

Sustainable change begins where you are.

R — Relevant Relevance is where goals connect to meaning.

A goal is more likely to last when it aligns with what matters to you — your values, priorities, and season of life.

Ask: “Why does this matter now?”

When a goal resonates emotionally, commitment deepens.

T — Time-bound Time creates focus.

Without a timeframe, goals drift. With one, they gain shape and urgency — without becoming overwhelming.

Example: “For the next 30 days…” or “By the end of March…”

Time-bound goals invite review, reflection, and recalibration.

Where Anchors Fit

Without an anchor, even the most meaningful goals can feel brittle.We reach them tired. Or we abandon them quietly.Or we achieve them and still feel untethered.

Psychologist Carl Jung once said: “People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls.”

But this work is not about avoidance.It’s about meeting yourself gently, before the world makes its demands.

What an Anchor Actually Is

An anchor might be a word.

A felt sense.

A quality of being.

Calm.

Spaciousness.

Courage.

Integrity.

Gentleness.

Truth.

It is not aspirational.It is relational.

Your anchor already exists within you —the work is simply remembering it.

An inspiration and educator Brené Brown reminds us: “We don’t have to do all of it alone. We were never meant to.”

An anchor is not about self-sufficiency.It’s about self-trust.

Why This Matters Now

We are living in a time of constant stimulation, rapid change, and invisible pressure.Even those who appear “fine” are often carrying a quiet sense of dislocation.

Many of us are functioning but not anchored.

And without an anchor, life begins to feel like a series of reactions rather than choices.

Viktor Frankl wrote: “Between stimulus and response there is a space.In that space is our power to choose our response.”

An anchor helps you find that space again.

This Is Not a Productivity Practice

Let me be clear about what this is not.

This is not:

• A goal-setting framework

• A performance upgrade

• A self-improvement checklist

This is a re-orientation.

It is choosing something to come home to again and again when things feel loud, uncertain, or demanding.

It is choosing steadiness over striving.

An Invitation, Not an Instruction

I created the Choose Your Anchor reflection as a gentle place to begin.

Not because you need fixing.Not because you’re behind.But because you deserve to move forward held, not hurried.

As the writer Adrienne Maree Brown says: “What you pay attention to grows.”

An anchor helps you choose what receives your attention — even when life is busy.

If You’re Not Ready Yet

That’s okay.

You don’t need to download anything to sit with this question:

What steadies me when things feel uncertain?

Even asking it begins the work.

And if you feel ready to explore more deeply, the reflection is there — waiting, without urgency.

A Closing Thought

You don’t need to know the whole path.

You don’t need a five-year plan.

You don’t even need certainty.

You only need something steady enough to stand on while you take the next honest step.

That is the work of anchoring.And it is an act of self-respect.

With steadiness,

Zaidee x

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