Do you need to speed up or slow down?

Do you need to speed up or slow down?

When I’m coaching with someone - and when I’m being coached - there can often be a sense of stuckness.

We know what we need to do to move forward.

To get closer to where we want to be.

And yet, we don’t do it.

Sometimes we can be stuck with our foot on the brake, teetering on the edge of a step. Worried about making a mistake or going in the wrong direction.

Sometimes we can be stuck with our foot on the accelerator, not daring to slow down because we think we don’t have time. Scared that if we stop things could fall apart.

In the worst cases, it’s both. Pulling us in different directions and adding to the overwhelm.

It’s so easy to find ourselves here. Stuck between speeding up, and slowing down.

Celebrating a year of Morning Pages

Celebrating a year of Morning Pages

I never thought I’d be a person who wrote Morning Pages.

I had always heard about people doing them and thought it wasn’t for me. 3 pages of A4 felt an awful lot, and I didn’t think I had the time.

Even after I bought The Artist’s Way it sat on my bookshelf for at least 2 years. Committing to the whole 12 week plan felt overwhelming.

And yet….

Since September 22nd last year, I’ve filled 7 note books with my (pretty illegible) handwriting.

Every morning for the last 369 days I’ve woken up, opened my notebook, and emptied my head.

Sometimes it’s simply a list of things I’m doing that day, and what I want to remember.

Sometimes there’s a thought in my head that needs to come up.

Some days I’m full of inspiration, other days I write about what the dog is doing at the end of the bed.

And now I can’t imagine missing a day.

How do you feel about changing your mind?

How do you feel about changing your mind?

How do you feel about changing your mind?

About unravelling a decision.

About saying no to something that felt like a wholehearted yes when you started? Or vice versa?

It can be hard to reverse a decision that once felt good.

And yet it’s really important to pay attention to where you are now, rather than where you were when you started.

Because circumstances can change. And so can you.

If only we’d had a conversation beforehand…

If only we’d had a conversation beforehand…

If only we’d had a conversation beforehand…

Almost 18 years ago Stu and I went on holiday to the Lake District.

It was one of our last times away before having our first child. I was 6 months pregnant.

We thought it would be lots of fun to cycle from where we were to Keswick. Not far away at all said Stu…

If you know him, you know that he is a brilliant, strong, capable cyclist who absolutely loves being on his bike. Me? Not so much.

What's your plan?

What's your plan?

Does it feel like you need to have a detailed plan when you’re at the start of a new adventure?

Perhaps a switch of career, or a new job, or a sabbatical, maybe even a gap year.

So you don’t have to sit with the uncertainty.

And so other people don’t worry about you?

When we think about what we want to create in our lives, and how we can get there, it can be super tempting to try and create a straight line between here and there.

If we can’t see all the steps it can feel like we’re not going to make it.

And so our brain really wants to decide on on a plan, and stick to it.

To create it all before we start.

It’s a really common way to help us feel safe and in control. And yet…it’s impossible to do.

Are you having enough fun?

Are you having enough fun?

We’ve just returned from a 2-week trip to visit family in the States.

It’s always a special time.

We live in different countries and it’s lovely to see each other, catch up with where we are, see how everyone has grown and changed, and generally be a part of each others lives for a while.

There are everyday moments of connection - the simple pleasures of going to the supermarket together. Running errands, making meals, watching Netflix, walking their dog, putting coffee on.

And there are the sparkly, memory making, moments where we had fun and played together.

Where am I???

Where am I???

Recently I was lost in Houston.

On a morning walk I got completely disoriented and couldn’t find my way back to my sister’s house. I saw the bridge of the freeway and my heart sank!

This is not the first time I have got lost.

I have a terrible sense of direction, and on holiday it’s at its worst without my trusty safety net of Maps.

Ironic as I spend my days focusing on finding direction in life and work!

Do you need to design in some rest weeks?

Do you need to design in some rest weeks?

How does your energy work over time?

Do you wake up every day, every week, of every year with the same amount of it?

Or does it ebb and flow?

With times when you feel you could take on anything, times when you need to curl up and hibernate, and times when you just want to get outside and play?

Like the seasons of the year, most of us vary. We don’t all have access to the same amount of energy all the time.

And yet we can expect that we ‘should’, and feel surprised that we’re not operating at our ‘usual’ capacity.

This is me right now. Really ready for a hammock!

What gives you a sense of purpose?

What gives you a sense of purpose?

When I work with people around purpose the biggest emotion is often a sense of relief.

That I’m not going to ask them to find their ‘one thing’.

That our goal isn’t a mythical quest that they have to strive to work on for the rest of their lives.

That it’s not (always) about saving the whole world.

Instead it’s about connecting with how we show up, and the impact we have, when we feel a sense of purpose - when we feel ‘on purpose’.