Who are your energisers?

Who are your energisers?

Who are your energisers?

The people who you love to spend time with?

The friends who leave you feeling lit up after being in their company?

Where there is a natural reciprocity - of sharing and listening, of give and take, of uplifting and supporting?

I’m just back from a walk and talk with coffee in the park with someone who I feel this way about.

She’s a relatively new friend, from a short overlap in a volunteering role, and we meet up every few months.

We spent the whole time chatting away about everything and anything. I feel happy and connected and energised, and ready to take that into the rest of my day.

What a gift.

Have you met your Future Self?

Have you met your Future Self?

Have you met your future self?

The older, wiser version of you?

The you that’s waiting to emerge over time?

The calm, clear, quiet voice of wisdom we all have within us?

In a powerful yoga session, the brilliant Roisin spoke about making choices that day that our future selves would be grateful for.

They were words that snagged in my brain - and those of other people in the class too. Lots of us gathered round her at the end to ask her to repeat the words.

They were wise words.

And useful ones too.

It’s why visualising our future self - who we will become in 20 years or more - can be a powerful thing to do.

How do you love to learn?

How do you love to learn?

I’ve realised recently that I love to learn by listening.

Preferably outside and walking as I do it.

It’s a rather astonishing discovery!

For years I have sat down at a desk and taken notes as I absorbed information. Lots of notes.

I’ve also read a lot, and taken a lot of notes.

And it’s worked in lots of ways. It’s got me here.

But now it’s my least favourite way to take on information and get insight.

So what’s changed?

Have I changed?

Or have I been able to test out different ways of learning and found ones that work better?

#ThisLittleGirlIsMe

#ThisLittleGirlIsMe

This little girl is about to head off for her first day at school. She loves to read and learn, and so it’s exciting - as well as a bit overwhelming - to be starting something new.

At school she will work hard, follow all the things that interest her, and have some brilliant teachers who bring out the best in her.

She will also learn how to be a perfect pupil.

To learn that there’s always a right answer, and that it’s important to get that answer right.

A big part of her identity will be being the clever one who always does well and rarely makes a mistake – which will come with some pros and a good few cons.

 

This little girl is me, and the advice I would give my younger self is that it’s OK not to be a perfect pupil.

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.