What’s in your way of really setting goals and dreams for how your life will go? Declaring what they actually want in life is one of the biggest blocks that my coaching clients come to work with me to overcome. And one of the tools I use to open up a new conversation around that is to have them reconnect with their inner child and the permission to dream. What would yours tell you?

There are many reasons - or excuses - that we all have for not actually being in action to work towards the things we really want in life. But sometimes we’re all out of excuses and find ourselves saying “I dunno, I guess I just need to do it.” But even then that still doesn’t always work. So, what structures can you put in place to be more reliable and accountable for doing the thing that you’ve declared you want to do.

Play Boost is an at home retreat to help kick start you experiencing more constant play and joy in your life. The programme will launch in December and to help co-create the final materials, I’m inviting 20 lucky people to have free access over the weekend of 27th - 30th November.

I often speak to people face to face about my own experience of coaching and how it changed my life and how I see myself. But I’ve never really shared about it more widely. I thought I’d do that today. So, here’s my own story, and how having the structure of coaching in my life gave me purpose, balance and even more success.

Putting our wellbeing first is one of the most empowered and empowering choices that you can make. And yet many of us are stuck in the story that we “can’t” do it. Not only are we allowing ourselves to be victim to our circumstances, but we’re also held stuck in the loop of back-filling our wellbeing because society profits so much from us doing this (coffee chains, I’m looking at you). What if - instead - we start with wellbeing?

Finding our sense of purpose in life can feel overwhelm. We’re often so stuck in the pressure of needing to get it “right” or the belief that we can only have purpose in one area of our life - career or family or service or friendship or or or. - that we limit the belief that we can find purpose and meaning in a way that is ever-present across our whole life. In this post I explore what constancy of purpose - sourced from our being, not our doing - can generate.

Life is full of limiting beliefs that often has us stopped in our tracks. It should be this way. I can’t do that. I don’t know how. I’ll fail. That’s not the right way… and so on. This blog post is a story about eggs and our lives. What are the limiting beliefs that have you stopped in life?

During pandemic lockdown I’m hearing so many people utter that they can’t make choices or decisions, and can’t plan for the future because the future is uncertain. But the future is always uncertain. Pandemic didn’t change that. It’s just amplified how we each individually relate to uncertainty, dreaming and planning. So, I argue that this - and any time - is the perfect time to lean into the ultimate game make believe as a means of taking ownership for the future that your imagination creates.

We’ve already explored in a previous post the benefits of us grown ups having play in our lives. In this post we explore the different forms that play can take, and give examples of each. The important thing is just to be in the moment and doing it just for the joy of doing it.

Finding the right coach for you is really important. You’ll be making an investment in yourself, and not every coach is going to be for you. So, don’t be afraid to “try before you buy” and hunt around for a great match. In this post I share a few things that you should watch out for.

As we get older our relationship with play can become limited and restricted. With judgements that play is “childish” we can even generate a sense of shame in our desires to be playful and free. But play has a serious role in our lives, from boosting creativity and problem-solving, to improving brain function, to enhancing our social connectedness. So, perhaps it’s time to get serious about play.

Fear is design to protect us and to ensure our survival. As we ride out a global pandemic it’s inevitable - perhaps sometimes even useful - to feel fear. But having ourselves controlled by fear isn’t always so helpful. In this post we explore how to be with fear and then step outside of it. 

When problems present themselves we can often relate to them as just that: problems. But for every problem, there is in equal measure an opportunity. And all it takes to get there is a shift in how we are relating to the circumstances of our life: problem or opportunity. In this post we explore how to see problems as opportunities.

Once you’ve identified what your needs really are, how can you go about having others support you in meeting them. In this post we explore the value in asking for support, and list some ideas for ways in which you can be supported by other people.

When we get triggered, angry, anxious, sad… our tendency is to look outwardly and try to fix the thing that we see to be causing this. Instead we might choose to take a moment to consider what this tells us about our unmet needs, and to look at getting supported with those. 

While we might not always be able to change the circumstances of our life at any given moment in time, we can however change how we relate to those circumstances. In this post we discuss what it means to change how we relate to life’s challenges, and the beautiful opportunity that creates for lessening stress and worry.

Are you already in action working towards building your dream life. Or are you waiting for “that thing” to be different before you can swing into action and live the life you want to live? All too often we put barriers in the way to creating the life we want, and in doing so we kick the can down the road. So, what’s really holding you back?

With the demands of being a leader, how do you also balance making sure that you take care of yourself? And in particular, how do you create that balance when you’re in the midst of physical or mental illness? This post seeks to explore how to see those moments as a space for opportunity in strengthening your leadership while also getting your wellness needs met.

Coaching and therapy can be easily confused. Sometimes one can feel like the other. But each serves a different purpose. And when experienced simultaneously, they create a powerful partnership in transforming our lives. 

What happens when Summer ends? All around social media I see celebrations of a wonderful Summer, and woes that it’s now all over as we get back on the hamster wheel of day to day life. What if the joy of Summer - the togetherness and permission to play - weren’t a moment in time, but instead a constant state of being? How would your life look different?

In a break from the usual blog posts that focus on transformations you can make in your life, this week I instead offer a glimpse into what actually happens in a coaching session. How do we tackle the issues that really matter to you? And how is my style of coaching designed to help you make breakthroughs that last instead of just patching over the cracks.

How often do you stop yourself from saying “no” to something that you really want to say no to because of all of the stories you carry in your head about what will happen if you do say no? I suspect this is a recurring theme in many of our lives, including my own. In this post we recognise that saying no doesn’t just serve us, it also serves others.

How do you serve your well-being? Do you take a walk? Take a bath? Go dancing? Are all of your well-being practices actually about “doing” something? And could they be in service not of well-being, but instead of trying to fix things in your life? In this post we explore well-being and well-doing, and share ideas for practices that blend both in service of making once-and-for-all transformations in your life.

When it comes to building high performing teams, nothing is more important that establishing a culture of trust. And for my team at Pickle Jar Communications, the practice of weekly acknowledgement of self and others makes a huge different in empowering that culture of trust.

A lack of confidence is one of the biggest barriers I, as coach, see to people living fulfilled lives and pursuing their dreams. At its worst it becomes full-blown imposter syndrome. To achieve confidence, we put in place a world of conditions: “I’ll be confident when…”. We make confidence hard work. Instead, there might be another way…

With so much value placed on constantly “doing” and achieving, how can we instead find value - and even productivity - from simply doing nothing and just “being”? In this post we consider a value to doing nothing that goes far far beyond simply resting and recovering. 

Do you ever feel like people are going to find out that you’re not as smart as they think you are? Or do you feel like you don’t stack up and don’t belong? If so, you’re probably experiencing imposter syndrome and it is absolutely holding you back from living your best life. It might be time to make a change.

When someone asks “how are you?”, how do you answer? Do you answer with a judgement (“I’m good” thanks) or an insight (“I’m really happy today”)? In this post we explore how this often flippantly placed question can actually disempower our true being, or empower deeper relationships with others when we allow honest answers to be shared.