During the last 6 days we travelled in a motor-home, you think it was big enough for the 3 of us, as it really sleeps 6. Yet I found myself feeling claustrophobic and battered from sitting in the back seat with our toddler. I had different expectations of our little mini holiday, just the 3 of us before our newest member joins us in less than 2 months time. Visions of relaxing by the campsite, reading, playing with our little one, having lots of naps and long sleeps. Yes I was delusional to say the least. Alexa didn’t like sitting in the toddler seat behind the driver, so I sat next to her, she didn’t like the constant change of scenery and her routine was out of synch.   She was extra clingy and this has been the case before we went away, so this went to the next level being in new surroundings and seeing different things. She cried a lot, and as it turned out, so did I. You get tested when you have children I am just learning this lesson. Sure I am also emotional as I appr...

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Many people are searching; for a better life, more opportunities, war-free living, work-life balance, career progression, relationship harmony, creating a family and lots of holidays and fun. Yet this becomes the goal = once attaining this happiness will arrive. Well I am here to tell you that this may not be the case, happiness doesn’t come magically at the end of your journey, happiness is part of the path. You need to be ready to find joy and happiness will just appear as you have created the space in your life. Many yogis will say that once you open your heart, happiness can come in, if you remain closed and cynical happiness has no place, you are too busy with other energies. I remember earlier in my quest to find my soul mate, I thought that I would just know which would be THE ONE, and gave myself so easily to the notion of love and connection, thinking that happiness would follow. This journey took me several years to decipher that this wasn’t necessarily the case. I needed to...

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De-stress your Success by Sacha Crouch Here is a book that is both inspiring and practical. It gives you some great real-life examples how people have overcome their own obstacles in managing their stress levels. The real bonus in my opinion is that the author shares with you her learnings, tips and offers suggestions to get your life back on track. The 6 Elements that are covered: 1)      Chapter 1: Solidify Your Priorities. What is important to you, what are your values and your big picture? What defines your happiness?   2)      Chapter 2: Choose Freedom over Approval. You cannot have approval and freedom at the same time. If you crave others to validate what you do, then you are limiting your own freedom as you place constraints on your success. What is perfection anyway? It is just your perception of what perfect is, and others will vary in opinion. So spend less energy and stress wanting to gain others approval.   ...

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You would need to be living like a hermit not to have heard about the 33 rescued Chilean Miners. This story is a true story of survival and endurance, a personal test for each miner trapped 650meters below. When I first heard of their fate, we were visiting my parents in Chile, and like most people you feared the worst, waiting for the bodies to be recovered, especially as the days rolled into weeks. Then just as we were coming back home to Australia, word got out that in fact they had all survived 17 days buried down below. This was amazing, sure they had lost weight and mentally some were not as strong as others. Now the biggest question was the rescue. As many would know they all surfaced safely to the fresh air a few days ago, to their families and the world media. This story has moved many, including me. As the human spirit is tested on many levels: physically, mentally and spiritually. How each person endures this test is a very personal triumph and journey that only they can te...

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Let’s admit it, life is like a constant current, always moving and changing. So we crave routine to make our lives have meaning and purpose, we are working towards a bigger picture. For some this is simply to have a good paying job, a comfortable home and happy family. For others they need adventure in their daily lives and must have some kind of spontaneity in their day. Take a friend I know he is the main breadwinner and has a stressful and demanding  job, he does it so on his time off he can climb mountains and go cross country by motorbike. All the while his wife stays home with the children and he conquers different continents. He loves the escape and freedom this provides and then he comes home to his loving family. He is doing what he needs to do to keep his life in balance. We evolve in different ways; this friend pushes his personal limits on his holidays and comes back refreshed. I on the other hand, enjoy watching movies based on true stories, and I learn about ano...

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The most important relationship you have is the one you have with yourself.  The quality of the relationship that you have with yourself will determine the quality of relationship that you have with other areas of your life i.e. health, finances, relationships, career, emotions and spirituality.   It is vital therefore that you be a ‘best friend’ to yourself. Being a ‘best friend’ to yourself allows you to receive goodness in your life.   When we have a poor relationship with ourselves and we don’t feel good about the person we are, we choose behaviours that self-sabotage and ‘shut the gates’ to happiness and success entering our life.   So, what are some ways that you can proactively nourish the relationship that you have with yourself. The following are some suggestions.   Love Who You Are   Be happy with and love the person that you are. Remind yourself and focus daily on your positive qualities, strengths, achievements and positive comments ...

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Don’t Believe All Your Thoughts! I have come to see over the years of supporting people create the life they want that one of the biggest obstacles to changing your life can be your thoughts. As soon as you decide on a change up surge all the limiting thoughts beliefs and decisions you have made about yourself, the world, the employment market, anything to do with your career, your relationships, what you can and can’t do, any limitation you can come up with.   A while ago one client I had said the most powerful thing she had learnt through coaching was not to believe her thoughts! I recently went on a nine-day retreat called The School of The Work with Byron Katie and it was all about questioning any thought that gave you stress.  It is a simple process and you can find out about it on her website. (www.thework.com)  It is basically four questions that ask you to question the validity of the thought, what believing the thought does to you and how it governs how ...

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Passion, The Signpost to a Fulfilled Life Passion is such a buzzword right now, so many times I have people come and say to me, if I only knew what my passion was I could change my life and be happy.  It is like they are some big secret, something that is hidden from them that if they could only see everything would be great. Having specifically worked with passions for a while now I have to reveal a secret – your passions are not something that are hidden away from you, something to be discovered that you haven’t previously allowed yourself to see.  One person I was talking with said that when she wrote down her passions nothing new came to mind.  How could it?  We can only be passionate about what we know, or we think we know, we want.  You can’t be passionate about something you don’t know.  But you can, and many people are, not be focused on your passions or even dismiss them because they are so obvious. When I work with clients who want to make cha...

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Communication can be confusing and often times can lead to misunderstandings, especially if you only communicate via email. Words do not have intonation, like in the spoken tongue. Even if you are specific there is room for interpretation. That is why if you can speak on the phone or in person that gives you the entire picture, as you get a feeling for what the caller is conveying to you. Just the other day one of my clients emailed me; naturally I responded however it would have been better if we spoke about her situation as emailing was just one dimensional in my opinion. I attempted to cover as much as I could yet; if we could clarify on the phone then the response would have been more tailored to her needs. You find examples of vague communication all over the place, this is so you fill in the blanks with your own interpretation and this way the blanket message covers a wider audience. Billboards, slogans and even on television you will find some kind of ambiguity in the...

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Tomorrow we are attending a funeral, someone I knew for a long time, he succummed to cancer and naturally his passing makes me stop and think about what life means to people. As a coach I sincerely believe that we get one chance to live authentically, this life. Whatever you believe in faith-wise I get that however for me it is THIS life that matters. You live according to what is the important to you, share time with people you really care about and indulge in the pleasures that make you feel wonderful and special. The gentleman who passed away had a simple yet rewarding life he enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, his partner and he loved the horse races. I will remember him always having a radio ear piece stuck in his ear attentively listening to the current race. This was his absolute passion. Glad he got to enjoy it so much. That is why it is never too late to really go for it, if you have a fear of something and wonder what it would be like, then you are preventing...

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