Your Time To Grow

Today we're diving into the question of 'what if I were to do it?' and my counter question as a coach which is "what is your biggest worry if you were to do it?".

What would you say if I said that 100% of our experiences come from our thoughts? Today I'm going to explore this idea.

This week I'm diving into the idea of creating yourself into being - and what that means!

Today I'll be exploring how to trust your intuition and tap into its wisdom

I find it really hard to slow down and in this episode I share two things I've learnt about why I find it so hard to slow down and the steps I'm taking to release the guilty feelings I have around resting

Have you ever been told you're too much? I have and I told myself a story that being myself made me unacceptable...so here's how I'm challenging that story

How do you receive a compliment? Compliments are gifts freely given, expressions of admiration, recognition, and appreciation. They have the power to uplift our spirits and boost our self-esteem. Yet, far too often, we find ourselves stumbling when faced with a genuine compliment. We deflect, downplay, or even reject them altogether. But why is this?

In this week's episode I talk about the profound impact of being coached and how I found new perspective on having a missing piece of my own puzzle

We all fall into the victim mindset sometimes (not to be confused with experiencing a traumatic event) and the key thing is recognising it and making a difference choice. In this week's episode I go through an exercise to help you get out of the victim mindset.

In our fast-paced, constantly-connected world, it can be difficult to slow down and live in the moment. We are always rushing to the next thing, and as a result, we miss out on a lot of the joys that life has to offer, and sure, sometimes, busy is best...but, do we always have to exert effort? Is that a prerequisite for success? What if we could take effortless action?

Today, we're going to be talking about the difference that makes the difference. The what? I hear you ask! Yeah, when I heard someone say that in a workshop the other day I was intrigued, confused and strangely understanding. In my head, it conjures an idea of two people standing opposite each other with space in between and it is in that space where the difference is, where the magic happens and so it is the difference that makes the difference.

Life is full of situations that can make us feel uneasy, whether it's stepping outside of our comfort zone, having difficult conversations, or taking on new challenges. But instead of avoiding discomfort, what if we learned to embrace it and use it as a tool for growth?

In this week's episode there's an apology for being sporadic and an insight into what it means and takes to create yourself

Mental tripwires are a tool that gets triggered in advance to help us make better choices

I've been receiving signs from the universe on the middle path and using it to create a more balanced life and I felt like it's important that I share it with you.

In this episode I'm noticing that my focus is waning and I explore why that might happen.

A question asked by my coach which got me thinking about how we do/don't take responsibility for our actions

In today's episode I talk about how you step into your authentic leadership through self-awareness and self-reflection and aligning your values, behaviours and leadership vision.

Humans are emotional creatures and it's hard for us to keep a lid on our emotions...but should we? I believe that EQ is an important part our awareness and there's a difference between being vulnerable and authentic and losing our temper with a colleague or worrying over every little step. In this episode I talk about strategies you can use to keep your emotions appropriate at work.

In this episode I talk about the five stages we must move through before making any changes in our lives. We so often blame our willpower, motivation and even ourselves for not meeting our goals but what if you just aren't ready yet?

In our final episode on distorted thoughts I explore 5 techniques that help to retrain the brain so we can more effectively challenge our distorted thinking.

Following on from last week's episode today I explore more distorted thoughts and why we have them including personalisation; illusion of control; fairness fallacy; blaming; emotional reasoning; illusion of change; global labelling and always being right.

Today I'm thinking about distorted thoughts and I'll be splitting this topic over three episodes as it's a big one. In this one I'm covering all or nothing thinking; mental filtering; over generalisation: discounting the positive; jumping to conclusions and catastrophising. There will be more next week.

Some folks are full of energy all day (and night) and others have a few productive hours in a day. I am most productive in the morning, in fact, I would say between 5 am and 7 am and then again 10 am - 12 pm. Your energy cycles are dependent on everything from your natural rhythms to the ways in which you take care of yourself.

During lockdown I remember walking along the street, a friend went by and she asked me as she passed by "how's it going, you know?". I knew what she meant. Of course I knew. It's all any of us were talking about. Lockdown learning. "Yeah, it's going well" I said, "better than last time, the learning is more structured which works better for us".

She couldn't feign her surprise. "Really??" She said quietly, "it's worse for us. We've had more meltdowns than ever and it's only day two". "Still", she said, "could be worse. I keep thinking that, when I'm in the bathroom streaming. There's always someone worse off than me". I could see her eyes filling with tears. She was trying to hold it in.

"Yes, that's true," I said, "there's always someone worse off, but that doesn't mean your feelings aren't valid. It doesn't diminish your feelings right now".

I don't think she believed me.

As a career coach I spend a fair amount of time supporting people who have no idea what they want to do. But what about those of you who do? What if you know where you want to be, you're just not quite sure how you're going to do it. This is where acting up can help...

I'm often asked about my career story when I give workshops and webinars so I thought I'd explain a little more how I got to where I am. I've experienced redundancy, career change, returning to work, all of which make me the coach I am today.

Why might we engage in behaviours that are not helpful to us? I believe it's when we are feeling overwhelmed and we don't know how to soothe ourselves. When we are feeling stressed or overwhelmed we look for ways to feel better, but sometimes, we slip into poor habits and techniques. In today's episode l talk about the self-sabotage I engage in when I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed and how I've learned to self-soothe.

Today, with a client I was discussing the idea that women have moved into positions of leadership by adopting men's conditioning, seeing it as the best way to lead and have influence. as Nancy Kline once said:
“This is not progress. Women have been encouraged to be like men when actually the best thing for men in society would be to encourage men to be more like women.”
So is it true that women are better leaders than men?

Take a ramble with me as I reflect in Mabon, blackberries and the cycles in Nature allowing us to let go, find new perspective and refocus.

Welcome to episode 115. I talk with my clients about inner strength. This phrase is used fairly widely within the coaching sector but it is open to interpretation. I thought I might explain what I mean when I talk about tapping into your inner strength.

I recorded this in the middle of the summer holidays as I literally rambled through some fields.

In this episode I talk about how we motivate others, leadership styles and why our values are integral to both

The summer holidays are almost upon us - a time I find fills me with excitement and trepidation! One of the reasons I look forward to my kids going to school/childminder/preschool is not just for their own benefit, but for mine too. I find it hard to switch off my Mummy mode and get into work mode when the kids are at home. I find it frustrating not being able to work in the way I want to and feel guilty when I do work and they need me.

It’s taken me a few years (and a few more lockdowns) to realise that a) we needed a routine and b) that I make this work during the school holidays and I can adapt that plan. So, we're on day three of learning at home and day ten of not leaving the house. So here are my tips for staying motivated and my tips for working from home with the kids.

I was chatting with someone in my network the other day who is at a director level. We were talking about the barriers that women face in their leadership journey. Still, in 2022 male leaders are still the majority - by a long way. Whilst over the last 30 years or so there is more gender balance in middle management, there is still work to be done at the executive level (and above).

When we are first in a role which requires leadership skills, we often feel unsure - yes we want it but we’re not sure how best to go about it. I know I felt this way, but as I sat and reflected I realised I wanted to be more visible. In order to grow and realise your full potential others need to see you working your magic too.

Are you thinking about investing in yourself? I have found in many cases that when we consider investing in ourselves we come up with excuses not to. So I wonder if you would say this to a friend...

I have been thinking about what leadership means recently. Triggered in part by a question I was asked: how do you know if you're a leader?

How do you stay accountable for your goals? I've been thinking about my own goals this week and in order to understand why I’ve stalled in my goals, I spent some time looking backwards. I reflected on my previous success and how I'd achieved my past goals. Two things stood out. First, I had a plan. Second, I had accountability.

87% of workers feel disengaged in the workplace. While there are many reasons for this high level of disengagement, employee complaints about employers not listening to them certainly ranks high on the list. In fact, a recent study revealed that more than 33% believes that their employers do not listen to their ideas. Not only can showing your workforce that you are really listening to them, improve employee engagement levels, but it also can boost workplace morale, job satisfaction rates and overall retention. As a leader, you will spend a large proportion of your time managing your team. By listening to your team you can turn your understanding of what they want into meaningful opportunities to connect with them.

We have hundreds of habits, and they can help us out a lot, helping us feel safe and comfortable. This is brilliant if you use it as part of a well thought out journey but what if you've been on cruise control a while? What if you've fallen into habitual actions and thinking that no longer serve you? If this sounds like you, listen on for some tips to help your habits help you.

I remember a time when I was looking for a new job. I knew what I had to do - find job roles that looked interesting, research the company and send in my application(s). The problem was, I was already employed. So I wanted to keep my job search secret. This is a really common situation so here are my five tips for keeping your job search a secret.

Kindness is one of my core values and that means it permeates my whole life, including how I lead. For me, kindness is a strength, so why not make it part of my leadership strategy? What would kindness look like for you in your leadership strategy?

We all seek validation sometimes, it's an innate drive to be accepted and for the most part, it's ok. But when it becomes a habit we can fall into thinking we're not good enough unless we're validated and approved by others. We trust other people's opinions of ourselves rather than our own. Here's how to let go of the habit of seeking approval and validation from others.

One of the most important life lessons I have had to date is that of being myself. It sounds easy but in reality there are years of 'shoulds' and 'what ifs' to acknowledge. This isn't about giving ourselves more work to do but about removing the expectations we set ourselves and living a more effortless and satisfying existence.

Strap yourself in folks, this is something I've been processing over the last couple of weeks! Let me tell you a story about how I learnt to trust myself. It's a bit of a ramble as I celebrate episode 100!

A change to my normal approach as I give an unedited, free flowing ramble into my thoughts on this year's International Women's Day topic #BreakingTheBias