Don’t mistake the flowers for weeds: when a source of joy becomes a source of stress

Unseasonably hot weather and a spring resolution to make better use of the garden have resulted in my husband and I enjoying our breakfast in the sunshine a lot of late. We sip our coffee while the kids run about and water the vegetable patch, and for the joy we feel in that half hour, […]

Set the bar low to get things done

If you want to make things happen in your life, set the bar low. That’s my advice. While you should definitely define your goals based on the kind of motivational posters that have text-against-sunset images exhorting you to dream big and reach for the stars, when you’re hatching the real-world, day-to-day plan for how actually […]

Three remedies for broken resolutions

Be honest. As we enter the second half of January, how many of your new year’s resolutions are still going strong? Reported statistics vary, but according to a recent study by Columbia University, while nearly half of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, when January ends, only about 25% are still committed to them. I read […]

You are enough: when it’s time to say no to self-improvement

It may seem at best counter-intuitive and at worst blasphemous for a coach to say this, but lately I’ve been pondering question of whether, at some point, we should say enough is enough when it comes to self-improvement and personal development. I’m surely thinking these subversive thoughts in part because the end of the year […]

Stop shoulding on yourself: how to break the habit

Do you ever should on yourself? I sometimes do. It goes something like this. That colleague is getting a new certification. I should do that. That family is going to Lapland for Christmas. We should do that. Maybe I should be using Instagram. Maybe I shouldn’t have left Twitter. That woman looks great with bright […]

Six little words: balancing the pursuit of excellence and enjoyment

Before every exam, test, performance or interview I have ever had, my mother said just six words: “Do your best, and enjoy it”. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? No “good luck” or “it’ll be fine”, and I don’t think many parents tell their kids to try to enjoy an exam. But that simple advice has successfully […]

Think before you binge – whether its food or film

One lazy evening this summer, feeling headachy due to a storm brewing, I came across the very first season of the television series ER on one of the platforms we use. No prizes for guessing what happened next. Yes, for the following two hours it was just me, some major medical trauma and, of course, […]

An intercultural summer reading list

In the first half of 2024, I worked with more than 80 clients with intercultural profiles who were either moving abroad or stepping into roles with a strong multicultural management component. Increasingly, high-achieving executives are enjoying at least one assignment in a foreign country during their careers, and even more leaders find themselves managing teams […]

From rushed to relaxed: how to slow down on vacation

Here in France, despite the media frenzy around the recent elections and the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, the hottest topic on most people’s minds is currently the summer holidays. The schools have now broken up for the next two months; I can feel my clients winding down after a frantic June; and all the magazine […]

Get fully present to make some memories

Recently, my children have become totally obsessed with ancient Egypt. At the ages of five and eight, they are understandably (but perhaps slightly morbidly?) intrigued by pyramids, sphynxes and, most of all, mummies. Faced with such fascination, there is only one place any self-respecting Parisian Mummy (sorry, that’s the first and last one, promise) can […]