Aussie – Our Guide for Moving to London

A Fresh Start: New Year as an Opportunity for Growth Human beings aren’t known for their love of change. Indeed, we’re almost always hearing about how hard we find it to accept change, much less deliberately seek it out. But perhaps it’s time to challenge this widely-believed idea; after all, our moving habits tell a completely different story. At many junctures in our lives, we willingly submit ourselves to the upheaval of packing everything up and resuming our lives elsewhere. And no matter how positive our move might be (a nicer area; a bigger property), it still requires huge effort, patience, stamina and hard work. So are we really as bad at handling change as we’re reputed to be? Or are we, in fact, an exceptionally adaptable species, capable of much more than we realise? Let’s assume we are - in which case, the new year provides the perfect time to identify other areas where change could flourish in our lives. As moving house shows, change can be invigorating and transformative. The benefits of the growth and renewal that come from making a change easily outweigh the drawbacks. So let’s assess the ways in which we might be able to rejuvenate our lives in 2025. Real Resolutions Good Habits Ongoing Personal Development Bad Habits Changing Your Environment Keeping Going with Confidence The Ultimate Change: Moving House with Aussie Real Resolutions The notion of the New Year’s resolution has become a groan-inducing portent of imminent failure. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We don’t have to set resolutions that are doomed. Instead, we can do something positive and inspiring, whether that’s learning a new skill, making a small, manageable lifestyle change, or taking on a project. One way to avoid the failure for which New Year’s resolutions are so infamous is to avoid picking one that’s all about eliminating something. So instead of framing our resolution in the language of abstention (“I’ll stop eating hamburgers”), we can look at it another way (“I’ll eat more salad and vegetables”). Putting a resolution in positive rather than negative terms is just one step towards making it more do-able. We can also take care to make the resolution realistic and specific. Resolutions like “get fit” or “be a better person” are far too imprecise. If we do, indeed, want to get more physically fit, we’re better off making a specific, trackable commitment such as “three exercise classes per week”. The other way to keep a resolution on track is to recognise and acknowledge milestones. If we’ve kept it in place for a week, then we should celebrate that. And if we break it, it’s important not to think, ‘Oh, well, there’s no point - it’s all ruined now’. We shouldn’t be asking perfection of ourselves. In the event that a resolution is dropped for a week, we can resume it the next one. Good Habits A resolution is one thing; but cultivating good habits can turn a single resolution into something even longer-lasting, ensuring that positive change lasts longer than just the month of January. Again, the key here is staying manageable and realistic. There’s no harm in starting small. So if your goal is to read more, then commit to five minutes a day and build it up in increments. If you’re opting to get fitter, use a running app that starts you off on 1K and breaks up the kilometre into sections of walking and sections of running. By keep your good habit small, you won’t be courting failure and will get a sense of growing confidence as you tick off one success after another. Of course, habits requires repetition. You may find that it helps to emphasise the repetition factor by performing the new habit at the same time each day. And, as with resolutions, you can stay motivated by marking the milestones, whether via an app or your diary Ongoing Personal Development Resolutions and good habits are just the start; the new year is also the perfect time to invest in ourselves and unlock more of our potential. It’s so easy, given how busy life gets, to let some form of stasis occur. We can be stuck in a treading-water way of life and forget the importance of growth, accomplishment and learning. Bolstering our personal growth needn’t require a towering achievement; we can simply register for a course, join a group, take up a new hobby or research a subject we’ve always been interested in. Our minds will be kept active and we’ll also create new social connections. But if it’s not the right time for you to learn something new, then there’s no shortage of other routes to development. You could go down a more spiritual path by consciously practising gratitude, something usually done via a daily list and deliberate moments of contemplation. Few things are as embittering as viewing oneself as unfairly short-changed by life; this can be kept at bay with a gratitude list (as simple as three things per day), shifting our focus and broadening our outlook. There’s also grounds for personal growth in our social connections. If you’ve been a bit withdrawn (entirely possible ever since the Covid era), then re-nurturing your friendships and connections needn’t be an uphill task; you can arrange more meet-ups, check in more often via messages and calls and also practise more conscious listening. Bad Habits While we’ve taken pains to stay focussed on the positive, there’s one area for change where the bad has to be confronted. It’s important to do this in a measured way, so that we acknowledge our bad habits without indulging in self-flagellation or self-hate. To let go of a bad habit, it helps if we replace it with something. If, for example, we’ve got into a pattern of doom-scrolling on our phones in bed at night, then replacing it with a book or a meditation is the way to go. It won’t feel punitive in the way that simply banning ourselves from a habit can feel. Patience and forbearance are also important here: we may well encounter setbacks and relapses with our letting go of bad habits. Don’t come down on yourself like a ton of bricks if/when this happens. Just begin again the next day. Changing Your Environment Many of us find that positive change comes much harder if we’re surrounded by the visual evidence of our staying the same, especially if what we’re looking at is a chaotic and cluttered living space. While this doesn’t apply to everyone, it’s also true that we can find it impossible to think clearly unless what we’re looking at is reasonably ordered and tidy. So this is the right time for organising our belongings, clearing out drawers and cupboards and restoring order. Not only that, but after our decluttering, we can emphasise feelings of renewal by adding something new to the space, whether it’s an item of furniture, a throw, or a new framed photo. Keeping Going with Confidence Of course, the new year and the idea of deliberate change are both daunting. But let’s try to think of it in terms of excitement; we’re going to leave behind that which doesn’t serve us in 2024 and embrace personal development and opportunities for all kinds of creative satisfaction and happiness. Every forward step is a form of progress. We’re going to cultivate an attitude of curiosity and optimism. Here’s to a 2025 bursting with possibility and meaningful change. The Ultimate Change: Moving House with Aussie If you’re taking the plunge this year and going ahead with that most exciting of changes - moving house - then we’re here to make it go swiftly and smoothly. We offer all kinds of moving packages, including man & van for smaller moves, and our removals service for larger ones. We have over two decades of experience and a reputation built on customer service, good value and our “can-do”, problem-solving attitude.

If you’re busy preparing for a move to London, it’s an excellent place to live and you have plenty of exciting times ahead. You’ll need to stay grounded and plan every aspect of your relocation thoroughly because this will all add up to a successful move. It’s always a good idea to have lots of […]

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