Feeling like a square peg in a round hole? Don't forget to try and find your agency So, you've braced yourself for change, stepped out of that comfort zone and said yes to a new opportunity. But you're finding it tricky to adapt to all the newness and your system, on every level, is slamming on the brakes. You're stressed, reactive and the internal messages are strong saying "this isn't right for me", "it'll never work", "I'm not good [...]
Using a beginner's mind might be the key to overcoming resistance to change How many times do you reject the idea of something because you've done it, or something similar, before? Where you think there's no point because you know it, it didn't work, you won't get anything new? Or you're doing something familiar on autopilot and not getting the same benefit as you used to?I know I'm terrible for this! But I also know that means I can miss out [...]
Are you slamming on the brakes? Change is hard. Did you know we are hard-wired to resist it? Our wonderful amygdala, the part of our brain responsible for our survival instinct, perceives familiarity as safety and difference as danger. And it therefore activates the body's fear responses when there's something new. So new things; different things can induce resistance. And that's what I've been talking about this week with those who have been noticing this cropping up (sometimes in [...]
It was Random Acts of Kindness Day on Monday (17 Feb). I'm not a fan of these arbitrary days but there's definitely something in the idea of kindness. The world feels very tribal right now. Many people are full of fear, feeling defensive and separate from those around them. It feels like we've lost a a shared sense of community, even humanity. I really believe that the antidote to this is kindness and connection. And the added bonus is that the [...]
In traditional life coaching, there is a great emphasis on self-improvement, sometimes it seems at any cost. And I truly believe that we are at our best when we develop, learn and grow, at all ages. But recently I've been having conversations about finding balance in the quest for change. Because if the root of that desire for improvement is self-hatred, or a need to annihilate huge parts of who we are, then that doesn't feel like improvement at all. [...]
I've had a heavy week of copywriting this week - it sometimes works out that way. Along with my holistic life coaching, I provide business coaching for solepreneurs, helping - amongst other things - these talented people to tune into their uniqueness as the basis for all of their marketing positioning. I also do some “do-it-for-you” services for these same people, writing new websites and creating social media strategies (even building the odd website here and there!). As part of [...]
I'm aware that I often talk here about a softly, softly approach when it comes to overcoming procrastination and stretching our comfort zone. I'm very much of the Start-Small-and-Build Brigade when it comes to working with "my people", most of whom are sensitive souls (like me!). And I do this because it works! But that doesn't mean we think small. My work is all about helping professionals and entrepreneurs ditch the imposter syndrome to take their place and embrace their big ambitions. [...]
When you're stressed, do you nourish or numb? We often unconsciously use activities which soothe the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This is the non-conscious part of our brain and body that is responsible for our survival (on a basic level, it's the flight or fight response). These activities help us to come back towards regulation - a calmer, more conscious Ventral state where we can choose how we act rather than react. (BTW, I'm using the language of Polyvagal Theory [...]
I adore my clients and am fascinated by their lives, their stories, their dreams and ambitions. And, of course, they are all wonderfully unique. But you'd be amazed by how similar the themes are in our coaching sessions. Topics that I bang on here regularly, like: being stressed, frazzled and trapped on a hamster wheel never feeling good enough being stuck, procrastinating and spinning on the spot being the "imposter", about to be caught out at any minute negative [...]
Prefer to listen rather than read? You can hear an AI-generated voiceover of this blog here: Wow, my little blog on confidence has become a series, and it feels like we're still just touching the surface! But we're doing great things, and it feels like the next logical step is to start looking at how we can tune into what we're great at (and our Zone of Genius). This also means considering what [...]
