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Acknowledge your wins and celebrate them!
Here we are at the end of another year! Before you start thinking about New Year’s resolutions or goal setting, take a moment to look back, reflect on how this year has been and consider what you are taking away from it. In the process of doing this, it is important to recognise the successes you have had, to acknowledge the effort and positive decisions you have made, to take the time to give yourself a well-earned pat on the back, and express gratitude to those who have supported you along the way. Read on to find out why you should make a habit of celebrating your wins, not just…
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Keeping your cool at Christmas time
Now that the shops have had all the Christmas gear out for a good few months, and we are well and truly in the run up to the ‘big day’, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on how I have prepared for Christmas in the past so that I can take a few of the lessons that I have learned from those moments and aim for a more chilled experience this time around! I want to be able to kick back and relax come 25th December so, as a bit of a ‘note to self’, here are some of the points I am going to bear…
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Make your day work for you!
Sometimes it seems like we are at the mercy of the day’s events! We might start off with the best of intentions, that we are going to have a highly productive day, breeze through our tasks and bask in that wonderful feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment by the end of it…. Yet we find ourselves having to sort out an array of issues that pop out of nowhere and just seem to get sidetracked and distracted throughout the day. By the time we manage to put our feet up, we realise that we have done very little of what we actually needed (or wanted) to do! While we are not…
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Unearth your creativity (and discover yourself in the process!)
Review of The Artist’s Way* by Julia Cameron The ability to be creative is not just reserved for the artists of this world, it is within us all and can be expressed in a multitude of ways in our lives. Personally, I have always craved some kind of creative outlet but found that I had dropped many of the creative activities that I enjoyed in my younger years while continuing my education, getting a ‘proper job’, and raising my family. When my children came along, exploring my creative side mainly meant running around and engaging in imaginary play with them and doing the odd bit of Playdoh or finger painting!…
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Time for your mid-year check-in! How to review your goals and keep yourself on track
Remember those goals that you set back in January when you were full of that ‘New Year, New You’ enthusiasm? Well, hopefully you do! How are you doing now that we are six months into the year? Taking the time to do a mid-year review of your goals will give you a chance to check that whatever you are working towards is still relevant and right for you. Even though you might really want to make some changes in your life it is so easy to get distracted and completely sidetracked. If you have lost track of your ‘why’ then reviewing your goals will remind you of the reason you set out…
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Managing Work and Study Successfully
Have you been mulling over the prospect of undertaking some further study to develop your knowledge and skills and make the next move in your career? Before you start searching and applying for suitable courses, you may be wondering how on earth you will balance your existing workload with study and all your other personal commitments?! Perhaps you have already enrolled on a course and have been intending to complete it but life just seems to keep getting in the way? Well, I have been there…many times! I have always had a strong passion for learning therefore work and study have often gone hand in hand during my career. I…
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Approaching life with a growth mindset
Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right. Henry Ford Our mindset, which is generally defined as our ‘way of thinking’ (Cambridge English Dictionary), influences how we interpret and approach different life events and situations. The core beliefs that we hold, and the attitude that we adopt, as we set out to achieve our goals are important factors in whether we persevere through challenges and succeed with our objectives or end up quitting and failing. Renowned psychologist, Carol Dweck, has identified two mindsets that we commonly adopt as we go about our day to day lives and these form the main topic of her book, Mindset:…
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Help! I don’t love my job anymore!
Do you catch yourself watching the clock at work? Are you tired of the same daily tasks and feeling utterly bored? Got that Sunday evening feeling of dread lurking in the pit of your stomach? We all have our ups and downs at work, but when this happens week after week it soon takes its toll, and can leave us feeling frustrated, irritable and completely unfulfilled. The job that you thought would be interesting and stimulating may not be living up to its initial promise, you may feel that you have outgrown your role, or maybe something significant has changed in your life or at work. Your job may be…
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How can thinking like a monk improve your life and career?
Review of Think Like a Monk: Train your mind for peace and purpose every day by Jay Shetty (2020, Thorsons, 352 pages) As I have been aiming to create more ‘zen’ in my life through daily meditation and mindfulness, I have become increasingly curious about the underlying philosophy behind such practices. This is why I was initially drawn to Jay Shetty’s book, Think Like a Monk*, which promises to teach us how to move away from the preoccupied, fearful and ego-driven ‘monkey mind’ and to step into the monk mindset which, in contrast, is calm, focused, purposeful and service-driven. *Disclosure: If you buy books linked to my site, I may…
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How to build a daily mindfulness practice
That special time of year is creeping upon us and while quality time with loved ones, showing our generosity, and having a good old knees-up is lovely it can also be a bit hectic as we prepare for the festivities, finish up work projects, and respond to all the requests from school which seem to multiply towards the end of the autumn term. Pass me the mulled wine and a few mince pies quick! Of course, it’s not only this time of year that can leave us feeling a bit frazzled. We can get so caught up in the everyday busyness of life: the daily stressors, running here and there…
