Are you juggling with plastic or glass? How to decide what to prioritise and what to let go
If your life were a circus act, what would it be? The ringmaster taming a lion? Knife throwing? Or maybe you sometimes want to trill, “send in the clowns!” Mine would probably be the act where a woman walks across a tightrope while juggling flaming skittles. It is the perfect metaphor for the challenge of […]
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 […]
Lessons in life from our children
I was recently regaling a close (and willing!) friend with a few stories of funny things my children have said and done of late. For example, my seven-year-old daughter who loves to read Dog Man has taken to exclaiming “Oh boy, this is gonna be great”, which is hilarious given her cut-glass English accent. I […]
Managing transitions: taking a leaf out of nature’s book
This summer, one of my dearest friends (let’s call her Jennifer) fulfilled her dream of moving from Paris to Annecy, where she can ski to her heart’s content for almost half the year. Ex-pats get used to having friends come and go – it is part of the job description. I have many overseas friends […]
Read yourself to greater fulfilment, 5 books in the personal development genre
5 books in the personal development genre to feed your mind and soul this summer Four Thousand Weeks Oliver Burkeman is my find of the year. I gobbled up his latest offering, Four Thousand Weeks – Time Management for Mortals, then proceeded to read through his entire oeuvre. The title refers to the fact that […]
Be the master, not the slave, of your to-do list
What does your to-do list look like today? Is it long, short, detailed, written down, in your head? I generally have two going at any one time – one for personal tasks (on a post-it), the other for work-related items (currently experimenting with Trello). I love lists in general, as I find they give me […]
Identify your values to honour your identity
“This above all: to thine own self be true And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” So concludes Polonius’ famous soundbite-filled monologue to his son Laertes in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In other words: know yourself and follow your own counsel. This is sage advice indeed […]
