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Setting fears to rest

Setting fears to rest: sheep whose shadow is a wolf
What phrases did you inherit that have created your ‘rules of life’? Mine include dad’s “always think positively”, mum’s “look after your things and they’ll last longer” (I still have a Sindy caravan in it’s box!), and their shared...

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6 reasons to keep your CV updated

The keys C and V highlighted blue on a white keyboard as a reminder to update your CV.
Picture the scene: it’s your school reunion. 🍸 You’ve got past the awkward hellos when your brain is in overdrive trying to remember long forgotten names; you’ve done the whole ‘where do you live and with whom’ bit; and now you’re onto careers stuff. ...

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Give the gift of appreciative feedback

Giving appreciative feedback represented by a woman opening a red gift box and releasing a shower of golden lights.
“Are you OK?” I asked, looking concerned for Clare. Usually so bubbly, she was strangely quiet and pensive.  “Not really.” she replied, a little distractedly. “Are you worried about the assessment?”  In just a few hours, we’d be demonstrating...

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Learn to stop and recognise the fruits of your labours

Fruits of our labour at our allotment: fruit, vegetables and flowers.
Picking beans has to be one of my favourite allotment jobs. Firstly, you don’t have to bend down which is rare for allotment jobs, and secondly because of their incredible abundance. Hunting among the tangle of twisting stems and palm-sized leaves, you find the slim, silky pods hanging...

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How confident are you talking about mental health?

Celia Clark, career development coach at Inspires Coaching, proudly wearing her Mental Health First Aider lanyard.
It’s June and the sun’s out so that can only mean one thing – it’s exam season! If your household is in the middle of exams, I hope they are going smoothly and the end is in sight. I’ve often thought how useful a GCSE in life skills would’ve been. Ya’...

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A question in service to others

Boy with a lightbulb idea among many questions, helping decide how can I best serve this person?
Was there a subject that seemed irrelevant at school but fascinates you now? For me, it’s history: the place to look for reasons behind many of today’s events. So I enjoyed watching the King’s Coronation last weekend and learning which parts of the service would have been...

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Why your why is so important

An adult and child on a woodland walk sharing why something is important to them.
Every week I get an email from the folks at the back strengthening programme I’m doing. Despite being super informative they tend to end up in my ‘read later’ folder (surely I’m not alone in this optimism?) but one arrived recently that I read straight away. It was a...

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Give yourself the gift of reflection

Whilst brushing my teeth the other day, my gaze flicked to the poem Desiderata hanging on our bathroom wall. It has so much wisdom in it but the phrase that jumped out at me this time was “enjoy your achievements as well as your plans”.  Now, I’m a...

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Why we avoid dealing with stuff

scared child trying to avoid the eyes glowing under their bed
What do you put off at work? For some of us, there are jobs we’d rather kick into next week but we grit our teeth and get on with them. For others, avoidance is a habit of a lifetime that really gets in the way. Of the ten unhelpful patterns of behaviour that sabotage us, procrastination...

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How to respond sensitively to loss and grief

tulips and a thinking of you message in times of loss or grief
I imagine we’ve all had times when life events take over and work is pushed aside: a cancer diagnosis, a flood at home, a phone call from school. How do you respond and what can you say or do for others going through an experience of loss or grief? For many of us, the death of HM Queen...

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