Tag: Purpose

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E#234 The Connoisseur of Time: An Invitation to Presence with Dr Joel Bennett

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This episode is about the connoisseur of time: an invitation to presence with Dr Joel Bennett

If you’re racing through your day struggling to manage your appointments and be present with your clients; if you’re stuck in your head worrying if you have enough clients, or whether you know enough; if you’re trying to get a lot done and procrastinating or experiencing overwhelm, then this episode is for you. 

I’m interviewing Dr Joel Bennett, PhD, CWP, CEO of Organizational Wellness & Learning Systems (OWLS), whose mission is to catalyse healthy cultures and communities from the inside out with science. OWLS programs, many tested in clinical trials, have reached over 250,000 workers.  

In this episode, I’ll talk about 
* The inspiration for the book: The Connoisseur of Time
* How changing your relationship with time supports better coaching and business growth
* How being present creates more satisfying relationships

Dr Bennett’s programs, shown to reduce behavioural health risks and improve the work climate, have been recognized as effective by the US Surgeon General. Dr Bennett is the author/co-author of over 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles and seven books, including “The Connoisseur of Time: An Invitation to Presence” (available for free at www.presencequest.life). He lives in Texas with his wife Jan and relishes mysticism. 

Summary 

If you’d like to connect with Dr Joel, please visit: 

Becoming present: www.presencequest.life 

Resilience Coach Training Certification: https://organizationalwellness.com/pages/resilience-coach-and-consultant-certification 

Stress management tools and toolkits: https://organizationalwellness.com/collections/toolkits-1  

https://anchor.fm/dashboard 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/habitology-success-habits-made-easy/id1449277541 

Ready to get clarity on your pathway to success?

Understanding who you are and what you need will allow your business to thrive! If you’re truly ready to break old habits and get out of the rut I encourage you to check out the Habitology membership.

Learn more here:

Learn More

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E#230 Finding Your Mid-Life Purpose

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This episode is about finding your mid-life purpose

If you’re into your mid-30s to mid-50s and are feeling a bit restless, let me say this – your life is about to change. It’s a time is a culmination of many things in your life and a curiosity about the future – away from the hustle and grind, what is your true purpose in life? To help you ease into this transition, I will share some of my tips to find your mid-life purpose more easily. And although it might not seem like it, this episode is the second in my season about business and revenue growth, and we’ll talk about that, too. 

There comes a point in life where you wonder what the point of it all is. Often, it’s when you reach your late 30’s, 40’s or 50’s. From hormones to work and empty nesting, everything is up for discussion. You’ve had a wealth of experience in a career, and you may be entering menopause or andropause.  

In this episode, I’ll talk about 
* Step 1 – Skills, Strengths and Bucket Lists
* Step 2 – Discover your Needs
* Step 3 – How to Live or Work Purposefully

There’s a new chapter of life ahead, and it makes sense that you might question who you are and what you’re meant to be doing – your purpose. 

If you’re in this age group, you’re probably thinking about the years ahead – about your personal and financial security, how much money you need to retire, and how to build your assets. 

For a lot of people, the shift involves taking your foot off the pedal and enjoying life more. You might be thinking about working smarter, working less or going part-time. And that raises a bunch of questions about how you will fill your days, or how to create a new lifestyle with more balance and financial security. 

Aside from the amount of time at work, you might also be looking to switch to a new career where the work is more meaningful. You might be considering starting a lifestyle business or going to a completely different vocation – but giving back is often the key. It could be mentoring others around certain skills that you have or finding a way to help others in a way that uses your skill while giving you leveraged or passive income. 

Why does purpose matter? A study by the University of Michigan found that people who had higher levels of purpose had better physical agility than their less-purposeful counterparts. Further, Washington University’s Purpose, Aging, Transitions and Health Lab found that more purposeful adults enjoy better cognitive function and greater longevity, and better self-care. 

There are three themes emerging here. Mid-life purpose involves seeking greater freedom of time and money, and more purposeful work. The result is better quality of life, health and longevity.  

I went through this at 35. After 15 years of hard work and burnout, I reinvented myself and stepped away from running a medium-sized business into a small business with no employees, working less and doing more meaningful and impactful work. Now, 16 years later, I am running a lifestyle business that gives back and affords me time off to be in nature and explore other avenues of joy. 

The thing is, as you get older, your past behaviours can catch up with you and may result in health issues. I want to take action now and avoid health issues caused by any unhelpful or unhealthy beliefs, thoughts or actions, so I can live an exceptional and joyful life. 

If any of this is resonating, then let’s look at a process of exploring your mid-life purpose, so that you can align your abilities and strengths with your aspirations for the future.  

I want to share my process with you as an example of how you might explore your own mid-life purpose and figure out what’s next for you. 

Step 1 – Skills, Strengths and Bucket Lists 

Amidst a busy work and family life, it can be easy to lose your identity. Your work (or role in the family) can end up defining you. 

This happened to me. I was a Director and General Manager of a medium sized business and because I became consumed by the role, my self-worth was pinned to it. When I moved to NSW in 2007, I felt like I was a nobody with nothing to offer. 

To reinvent myself and craft a new identity, career and lifestyle, I had to explore my purpose – what mattered to me, and how I wanted to contribute. 

An easy way to do this is to write down a list of all the things you love to do – or would like to learn how to do – but don’t seem to have enough time for. 

Next, think about everything that’s on your bucket list of things to do before you die.  

If you feel stuck, look to your past and your leisure time for clues. Consider what you loved doing as a child, what you do to relax, or what you do that comes easily but others find hard. 

Think about the role models in your life and what they’ve done, that you would like to do, too. 

Please put your fears and obstacles aside when you do this. Let your brain come up with all the crazy ideas unfettered and build a big list. 

You might also like to do a strengths test, personality quizzes, or anything that helps you identify and acknowledge your skills and character traits. 

It’s just a list!  But it’s also a starting point for change. 

When I did this exercise, I realised that I was passionate about health and fitness, I loved being near the beach and being in nature. I liked deep conversations with the right kinds of people. I loved personal growth, psychology and leadership and listening to understand others. I enjoyed puzzles, mysteries and solving problems. I also realised I wanted to run a business on my own, not in partnership. 

All of this led me to start looking at health-related business options, and then I stumbled across coaching as the methodology that combined many of my desires in one vocation. 

Now it’s your turn. Block out some time to create YOUR list! 

Step 2 – Discover Your Needs 

Tony Robbins’ model of the 6 human needs explores core needs that affect what we do each day, and why we do it. In other words, every thought we have and resultant action we take is driven by one or more of these needs. 

Robbins says that dysfunctional behaviours come from our inability to consistently meet these needs – but that they are also behind the good things that we can accomplish. 

By understanding your core needs, you might discover a starting point for the next part of your life or identify areas that you’d like to work on to improve the quality of the rest of your life. 

When I took this test, Uncertainty was high on my needs list – which means I tend to seek variety and excitement. This is true, but I know that at times, my need for variety and excitement means I get bored easily and delay finishing tasks, or I might take on too much, or be impulsive or rash when making decisions. That explains the burnout I experienced years ago – and thankfully I have developed strategies to reduce or avoid the negative side of Uncertainty. 

For me, taking this test is about fine-tuning and going to the next level, as I am pursuing growth. 

My recommendations were to focus on Growth and Contribution. These are definitely coming up as needs for my next stage of life.  

My goal is to change my business model, so I am creating more impact and giving more, while working less and maintaining income, partly through leverage or passive income sources. With more free time, I can work on personal growth. I can also devote more time to spirituality, physical health, mental health, and socialising, which have been a bit neglected in the past 5 years. 

I encourage you to take this test and see what is driving you, and any areas for improvement. It gives you some recommendations of what you can focus on to counteract any negatives that might show up in your behaviour. 

And with your list of skills and strengths and needs, you are in a position to pull it all together and see what shakes out. 

You’ll see some common themes in what you want, what matters to you, who you are, and how you work. So then, what do you do with all that? 

Well, since we are on the topic of business and revenue growth in this season, I want to finish this episode with a couple of final points in that direction to help you explore options for how you work on purpose. 

Step 3 – How to Live or Work Purposefully 

How do you feel about working a job for someone else? 

Your working hours are defined, and your remuneration is capped. Maybe you’re fine with it and it is a safe, secure and comfortable way for you to live your life. In this case, maybe your purpose is explored and expressed outside of work, via hobbies, charitable work, or simply being more involved in your community or in volunteer organisations. Great! Go explore those things. 

For some of us with a more entrepreneurial mindset, we feel that our work is our best opportunity to give back and make an impact. We are the people who want to step away from working for others or in roles that feel constrained, or lacking in purpose.  

We are the people seeking time and money freedom, creative expression, and an opportunity to do more purposeful work.   

    This is me, and I have created this in my business. I work in three key areas – teaching, business strategy and business coaching – and am on the board of our industry association. This gives me the variety and excitement I want. It allows me to work purposefully and provides the income and lifestyle I desire. I am now looking at leverage, so I can help more people and work less, give money to charitable causes and pursue personal health goals to set me up for a strong, healthy future. 

    Here are some ways that you can transition from where you are now, to start working more purposefully. They are all about you working in a way that you give incredible value to the people you work with. 

    By focusing on the value of what you do and your passion for it, you can usually ask for higher fees. 

    And depending on how you set things up, you can earn a regular income or a leveraged or passive income from any of these options.  

    The regular income version is simply having regular clients. 

    The leveraged version is working with groups. 

    The passive version is developing online training courses, new technologies or physical products. If you want, you can offer add-on services to these. 

    I want to share an example of how this can look, via copywriter Jay ‘Crisp’ Crow. 

    Freelancing or Consulting 

    Some people move away from their careers but then end up consulting back to the organisation they used to work for – or others like them. 

    This is a great way to stay in touch with your skills but pick the work you love to do best. It also means that you work with a few clients and get paid well to do high-level work that recognises the specific value you offer.  

    Just ask Jay Crisp Crow. Her first career was working in private school communications. She took a leap of faith into starting a business that was essentially a consulting business.  

    She wrote copy for small businesses so they could create exceptional landing pages and websites. And she was soooo good, she went viral, and she started upping her prices as the value of her work was realised and shared. At this point in time, she charges $6,000 per single sales page on a website. 

    Mentoring or Coaching  

    If your career has led you to be highly skilled in one or more areas, you have a great opportunity to give back to others. 

    Personal mentoring as an unpaid venture, or professional mentoring as a lifestyle business, are two ways that you can leave the 9 – 5 grind behind and give back to the rising professionals in your industry. 

    Either way, the joy of teaching others and helping them with their struggles can be super rewarding and fulfilling. 

    With her services being more expensive, Jay Crisp Crow created a coaching service to help people do it themselves, with her guidance.  

    At this point in time, a 1:1 session with Jay is $550 per hour. And these days, it’s application only.

    Online Courses (or Products) 

    If you wish to reach more people or build more revenue, then online courses (or products) are a great way to do that. 

    The OTHER side of online courses is that if your coaching fees are a bit high for some people, then your courses offer a lower cost option to get your support. This is great if you want to scale your business. 

    Jay Crisp Crow developed a bunch of copywriting resources that are free or low cost, and she also has a DIY program option for $750, full of teaching modules and masterclass recordings. 

    If you’re a coach and wondering how an online course works – it’s simply you focussing on a topic and asking people a bunch of questions to guide them through self-inquiry. 

    That’s a topic for another day. 

    Summary 

    Wow, what a jam-packed discussion this was today. 

    We talked about why people in their mid-30s to mid-50s get restless and start wondering ‘what’s next?’ 

    It’s a time of reflection and anticipation of your future identity, and real purpose in life. 

    I shared some tips to get clarity on what’s next: 

    • List and review your skills, strengths and bucket lists 
    • Discover your needs – what’s driving you 
    • Review those things and see what shakes out 
    • Decide on whether you will live your purpose either 
      • outside of work through hobbies, charity, volunteering or community participation, or 
      • through your work, via freelancing or consulting, mentoring or coaching, or online courses. 

    There are a LOT of options here. I explored them in depth not to blow your mind, but to help you see the options you have and give you a sense of how to navigate them. 

    Now, over to you. What’s ahead? What will you do next? 

    I can’t wait to see. Let me know! 

      

    https://anchor.fm/dashboard 

    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/habitology-success-habits-made-easy/id1449277541 

    Ready to get clarity on your pathway to success?

    Understanding who you are and what you need will allow your business to thrive! If you’re truly ready to break old habits and get out of the rut I encourage you to check out the Habitology membership.

    Learn more here:

    Learn More

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    E#190 Fear Vs Faith-Based Business

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    This episode is about fear vs faith-based business

    Today I want to talk to you about running your business from a position of fear versus a position of faith. This is such an important conversation to have. If you’re operating from a place of fear, it can really hurt your business. But if you can switch that and operate from a position of faith that you’ll succeed, of optimism, and hope, then it’s a totally different ball game.

    If you’re a new coach, if you have just graduated with your qualification, and you are getting ready to start your coaching business or practice, it’s a really exciting time. You have so much opportunity ahead of you!

    You have so much enthusiasm about making a difference in the world!

    But for a lot people starting out as a coach in business, there is this challenge around self-confidence self-worth and self-value.

    In this episode, I’ll talk about 
    * What a fear-based business looks like
    * HFlipping the Switch
    * What a faith-based business looks like

    Impostor syndrome is incredibly common.

    And that’s why today I want to talk about the impact of starting your coaching business from a position of fear, verses starting your coaching business from a position of faith.

    I want to give you some practical tips and tools to help you come from a better place, so that you can build your coaching business easily more quickly and to be more successful.

    What a Fear-Based Business Looks Like

    I want to start here so that you can see the impact of having this fear-based mindset on both your ability as a coach, and on your business.

    From a business perspective, a fear-based approach reduces your ability to make money, attract clients, and get ahead.

    A fear-based mentality is a little bit like a circular reference. It might start with impostor syndrome – who am I to coach? I’ve never run a business before – how will I ever succeed?

    You might be comparing yourself to others who have spent 10 years of blood, sweat and tears to build their business.

    And as a result, you feel like you won’t get things right, or you’ll fail or you won’t be able to find enough clients, or you won’t be good enough.

    That puts you into this repeating cycle of not taking action and worrying about the action that you do take – giving your brain the proof it needs that you’re not good enough.

    There is a confounding factor in this cycle that I want to alert you to.

    Here is a pro tip – If you start working with practice or paid clients who are ready, willing and able to change – even desperate to change – chances are they will love coaching with you and get great results.

    A lot of coaches starting out with this fear-based mentality want to find anyone with a pulse!!

    But, if the client is not ready, willing and able, they’ll probably be resistant, disinterested, unfocused and uncommitted.

    The kicker is that YOU will feel like the failure, but it’s actually probably not you!

    See how this fear-based ‘I need any clients I can get!’ mentality is hurting your self-value and self-efficacy – and your business?

    The fear-based approach sets you up to start looking for – and finding – evidence of failure. In other words, if focus on your fear of failing, then all you will see is the evidence that this is true.

    How does this kind of mindset affect your ability to start marketing your business?

    What happens to your ability to proactively go out to meet new people, talk about what you do with confidence, or become a specialist in a particular niche area if your head is full of this negative stuff?

    I know that when I started my own coaching business, even though I had been incredibly successful in other businesses, I had that same mindset.

    I kept asking myself questions like, where will I find clients, and what if they don’t get very good results, and what if I can’t make a living out of this, and what if I’m no good at this, how would I ever know?

    What happened is that I started to get more and more agitated and wound up about not succeeding, and I started to doubt myself, and feel threatened and judged by everybody around me who knew what I was trying to do.

    I felt disheartened. For the most part what was going on for me was that I didn’t have a specific enough niche, so people didn’t understand my messaging, and I wasn’t going to the right places therefore to find the people who I wanted to work with.

    If this sounds like you, then stick with me because now I’m going to talk about flipping the switch and having a more faith in yourself, and having a more positive attitude to your business so that you can start attracting clients more easily and becoming a better coach more quickly, and make more money.

    Flipping the Switch

    A turning point for me was doing some research to find out that there was a need and I want in my community. Identifying a need isn’t enough. After all, lots of people need help, but not many are

    ready, willing, and able to seek and pay for help. So I had to find those people who were motivated to change and were willing to pay to get my help.

    As soon as I did this, everything changed. And it’s a story I have seen time and time again with other coaches who have been successful.

    As soon as they committed to one thing that they knew people were willing to pay for, everything changed.

    If you do that, you create an upward spiral of thinking and acting positively – and this is how that can play out for you.

    My second pro-tip for this episode is to create a little roadmap of how to beat the imposter and get started. Here’s how.

    First of all, find some practice clients to work with who REALLY want to change and are ready to do so.

    Then, invite interest to be part of a pilot program, which is a safe, confidential environment for you to be imperfect, for them not to expect the world, and to get their honest feedback without too many expectations upfront.

    Be vulnerable and let them know it is a test for both of you, and that their opinion and feedback will really help you to help others in exactly the right way.

    If you get that combination right – the right people and a test environment – then invariably those first pilot clients will stick with your program and finish it, and then, they will more likely to succeed.

    And THEN, they will refer others to you!

    Imagine how you would feel having coached a handful of people who really wanted to change, and then were able to succeed and feel and look amazing?

    What would your mind be telling you in that situation?

    Would it be telling you that you were a failure or that you weren’t any good or that your results weren’t worth the money or anything like that?

    Of course not. And that’s the whole point.

    Once you start working with the right people and getting some initial results and focusing on them rather than your fears and inadequacies – a totally different region of your brain lights up.

    It’s the region associated with positive emotions, optimism, and hope.

    What a Faith-based Business Looks Like

    For me when I started my coaching business, as soon as I got those clients that were successful initially, I started wondering where can I find more of those people, and how can I share those wonderful results, and how can I help those people to continue to succeed?

    The initial results that my first successful clients got totally shifted the language in my head. And instead of focusing on me and my supposed shortcomings, I started to focus on the possibilities of change in my business.

    And pretty soon, most of my language was very different.

    Instead of asking why can’t I? I started asking how can I?

    I had the confidence that what I was doing was working. And I started to look for more opportunities. Everything just unfolded as it was meant to because I was moving forward in my mind.

    I was believing in what was possible based on some initial results. And I was totally focused on pursuing opportunities knowing that I had something of value to offer, rather than being frightened of speaking to anybody in case I couldn’t figure out the words to describe what I was doing or in case I couldn’t prove my results.

    This is such an important episode. It takes courage and a bit of confidence to take those first steps into your profession, once you get those couple of important wins on the board it gives you the confidence to gain momentum to keep going and getting traction and continue taking action in the right direction.

    Your brain will switch from how will I ever do it, into where do I go next?

    Of course you will probably need support to face and work on your fears, and probably your own personal and/or business coach.

    But please know this – as Henry Ford said – If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re probably right.

    Summary

    Today I covered the difference between a fear-based versus a faith-based coaching business.

    One involves getting bogged down in everything you can’t possibly do or succeed in, and keeps you stuck there. And unless things change, you’ll probably fail in your business and as a coach.

    But, if you commit to a more faith-based approach, where you develop faith in your method and in your ability to succeed, and you put your clients first and find the right people, it will flick the switch in your brain and reveal a positive path of traction, momentum and success.

    Today, I walked you through a simple plan to develop a faith-based coaching business.

    What are you waiting for? Go out and get started.

    Ready to get clarity on your pathway to success?

    Understanding who you are and what you need will allow your business to thrive! If you’re truly ready to break old habits and get out of the rut I encourage you to check out the Habitology membership.

    Learn more here:

    Learn More
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    E#189 How to boost your professional credibility

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    This episode is about how to boost your professional credibility

    When you start a new profession, one of the most important parts of marketing is developing professional credibility and a good reputation. Today I’d like to share a golden opportunity for you as a professional health and wellness coach, to do just that in June 2022.

    Starting out in your health and wellness coaching business is exciting and challenging. And initially, you need to put in a lot of work to become seen, known, liked and trusted.

    Further to that, you want to be more than just known – you want to be seen as a reputable professional who is properly qualified and who is confident in what they’re doing.

    In this episode, I’ll talk about 
    * 7 Reasons Why the Conference is a Must Attend Event
    * How This Event Can Rocket Fuel Your Coaching Business
    * Why We All Have a Role in Putting Health and Wellness Coaching on the Map

    How do you do that?

    Well, there are many ways, and I want to talk about one specific golden opportunity for you to boost your professional credibility if you are a health and wellness coach in Australia or New Zealand.

    This opportunity is the HCANZA conference, being held on the Gold Coast on 2 – 3 June 2022. The conference is called Health and Wellness Coaching Conference – Breaking Through – Health and Wellness Coaching in a Post-Pandemic World.

    Before we unpack this, I’d like to say that any professional conference attendance gives you similar opportunities, but this particular conference gives you a one-time-only opportunity to be seen, heard and recognised as a professional.

    7 Reasons Why the HCANZA 2022 Conference is a Must-Attend Event

    There are several reasons why this is such an important event and such a significant opportunity for you as an individual health and wellness coach.

    Not in the least, is the fact that the world we know, our workforce, what’s important to us, the awareness of health and the willingness to change have been irrevoc

    Now more than ever, coaching is a viable career option, and it’s a golden opportunity to put Health and Wellness Coaching on the map as an important part of navigating health and wellbeing into the future.

    1. Showcasing Health and Wellness Coaching as a Reputable Industry

    This inaugural conference provides the opportunity for our industry association and its members to showcase the skills and the breadth in-depth of knowledge and experience that health and wellness coaches have and share those with the world.

    We have global experts Zooming in or attending live to speak at this event. Some of them are founders of the industry and have played a significant role in building our profession from the ground up over the past 20-odd years.

    With global key opinion leaders together in the room, it gives a huge weight of credibility and reputation that we can promote and advertise to medical professionals, allied health professionals and the general public to promote ourselves as an evidence-based, high calibre profession.

    This alone puts health and wellness coaching squarely on the map.

    2. Showing the Value of Health and Wellness Coaching, and Where it Fits

    This conference is our chance to explain our scope of practice and highlight how we complement other health professionals so that their clients and patients can achieve better health outcomes more easily and in a shorter time.

    We show our value with case studies, storytelling and real-life examples of business and client success.

    We’ll share how coaches and coaching organisations have changed lives by working in a complementary way with other health professionals, giving everyone who attends a clear understanding of exactly how and where coaching adds value to existing health professionals and treatment frameworks, and independent businesses.

    Remember, this is the first time in Australia and New Zealand that such a conference has been held, and it’s our opportunity to share these facts and success stories for huge media coverage and collective recognition.

    3. Clearly Explaining How We Work

    Have you ever had trouble describing what you do and how you work?

    The stories, case studies and expert presentations at this conference will equip you, the attendee, with clear insights and anecdotes to share with prospective clients, partners and advocates in your own practice when you get home to explain clearly how you work with people and what sorts of results and outcomes are possible.

    You will learn how to describe your profession and skill set in a more succinct way.

    You will develop a confident spiel about the important conditions for change such as self-awareness as an essential first step, and how health and Wallace coaching empowers self-responsibility, which saves the health system and the individual billions of dollars each year.

    4. Improve Networking Skills and Confidence

    Another great reason to attend this conference is that it gives you skills, experience and confidence in networking.

    Networking with other health professionals pretty much an essential part of fast-tracking your marketing and gaining success in your business.

    By attending this conference, you will get to polish up your skills of breaking the ice, having friendly conversations, making your contacts, and starting conversations that lead somewhere, with like-minded people.

    How will you feel, having brushed up your networking skills in a safe environment with trusted colleagues?

    How much easier will the next conference or networking event be?

    What impact will that have on your business or coaching practice?

    5. Build Important, Business Building Alliances

    I’ve just touched on the skills of networking, but have you considered what they might lead to?

    If you think about it, conferences are networking events that offer business-building opportunities.

    The #1 challenge coaches tell me they have is running their business in isolation, feeling alone, with nobody to bounce ideas off.

    Attending this conference in person gives you a more personal connection with other coaches that you’ve only ever met online. That live meeting will cement your relationships and help them grow.

    Through those conversations, you might even find some opportunities and leads to help you in your business.

    Think of how you’re going to feel after walking out of a conference with a handful of really great contacts that you can stay in touch with and possibly even collaborate with or get help from to grow your practice?

    Or finding someone who is doing complementary work and you find an opportunity to help each other?

    Or simply being inspired by one of the speakers and discovering strategies that you can apply right away to your own business?

    One way or another, you have the chance to learn some important skills and develop some strong support networks and alliances.

    6. Increased Confidence, Belief and Action-taking

    How are you feeling so far, having thought about all these benefits?

    I bet you are feeling pretty pumped up. And that leads me to my next point – this conference is essential to your business development, your confidence, and your personal and professional growth.

    You might hear that and think, “well that’s a pretty big claim to make”.

    Yes, it is – but it’s 100% true.

    Think back to the last time you attended a conference or event – how did you feel?

    If you have ever been to any sort of sizeable event, you probably remember the huge buzz, sense of enthusiasm, inspiration, energy, confidence, optimism and hope that you felt.

    You probably left that session on a high, with so much belief and a readiness to take action based on what you learned or discovered.

    There is a saying that we are the average of the five people closest to us. In a professional context, it’s important that you are rubbing shoulders with people who have more experience, more knowledge, and a greater sense of conviction about what is possible with your modality, so that you can continue to hope, believe, and create success that you wish for in your profession.

    Listening to professional coaches speaking gives you the sense of what’s possible for you. It makes your discipline in your profession relatable and within your reach. And it gives you the opportunity for some personal growth and to identify what you need to focus on in order to keep moving forward and growing as a coach and as a person.

    Remember that we are in the relationship building industry, and your ability to be self-confident is critical to your success. You can learn how other people have built their own self-confidence and their skill as a coach so that you create a roadmap to get there yourself.

    That leads me to my last point on why attending this conference is so important.

    7. The Ripple Effect

    The final benefit of this conference that I want to talk about is the ripple effect.

    For this inaugural conference to really help to put our profession on the map, we need to sell all the tickets and speak to everyone we know about it.

    If it’s down to the HCANZA board and few members to do this, we’re not going to get very much media coverage or excitement or visibility.

    But if the conference is a sell out and we’re all sharing the word and the success stories, it is a totally different ball game.

    It shows that there is a strong collective of coaches who are qualified and who uphold a standard of practice, and who stand together as a united voice to speak about the benefits and opportunities that health and wellness coaching provides.

    And at a larger scale, the success of our industry depends on the commitment of every person who is certified and working in the capacity of a health and wellness coach, to find their voice and speak up about the profession, this event, and every one that follows.

    It’s not something that a few people can do on their own. For this to work we need to have everybody putting their hand up turning up and being part of something that is bigger than the individual, and which has the potential to create a significant impact on our health systems, longevity and quality of life.

    Yes, the number of people attending the conference and telling everyone about it, is important for our profession.

    But it’s also important at the other end of the conference long after it’s finished. Because you’re going to walk away feeling inspired and enthusiastic and excited, and you’re going to have a head full of new knowledge, ideas and cutting edge information.

    And what’s going to happen to that information?

    You’re going to be excited to share it with everybody you know.

    You’re going to be equipped with information and words that will help you to network with other health professionals, reach potential clients, find collaborative partners, and find cross referral opportunities.

    The more people that attend and promote this conference at the same time, the bigger the visibility and impact we can have.

    This really is a critical time and event in the development of our industry.

    Summary

    Today, I got pretty ranty about boosting your professional credibility, and more specifically, using the inaugural Health and Wellness Coaching Conference – Breaking Through – Health and Wellness Coaching in a Post-Pandemic World – as a vehicle to really showcase our profession.

    I outlined just seven of the many benefits of attending.

    In summary there are so many opportunities for personal and professional growth at this conference. So much rich content, information and relationships to be found in this conference. All you need to do is attend. https://www.conference.hcanza.org/?_ga=2.5600117.73171265.1650423249-552347760.1650423249

    Ready to get clarity on your pathway to success?

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    E#187 How Exercise Improves Mental Health with Zac Jefcoate

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    This episode is about how exercise improves mental health with Zac Jefcoate

    Today, I interview exercise physiologist and health and wellness coach, Zac Jeffcoate to discuss the links between exercise and mental health, the cost of prevention versus injury management, and how the powerful combination of individualised exercise and coaching can empower improvements, save money and improve quality of life at the individual and workforce level.

    MW: I’m pretty interested to start by hearing a bit about what you’re really passionate about.

    In this episode, I’ll talk about 
    * The links between exercise and mental health
    * Why changes are difficult, and how to overcome resistance
    *  How individualised coaching and exercise programs can improve health and save money
    * The importance of simple steps

    ZJ: Well, firstly, that question gets asked a lot, and the way I answer that is, the passion for me is providing exercise and movement. Initially in my career as an exercise physiologist, we can impact people’s lives really positively. And as I progressed in my career, I found that it’s not so much what exercise does, but it’s more the fact of what exercise, obviously, how it improves the quality of life, and how people actually fit that into their day to essentially get to an outcome.

    So my passion is actually educating people on the benefits of exercise my solution and what I kind of not sell them what solution is that exercise is a modality that fits into their lifestyle.

    And it’s really important that we look at how diet, sleep, exercise, relaxation, and meditation fit into a physical mental model. My passion is really the profession, I’ll be honest with you. It is exercise physiology. And beyond that, it’s obviously providing education to anyone who wants to hear.

    MW: Wow. And it sounds like you have quite a broad experience. We were talking just before we started this conversation about all of the things that you’ve done. Can you give us a quick recap of your world tour of Australia?

    ZJ: Yeah, well, just I mean, I’ve, I’ve got a bit of ADHD probably. So I do a lot of different things.

    Initially, when I graduated in 2008, I was offered a job in mining. Unfortunately, I turned up and I tried a uniform on and the guy said, Sorry, Zac, there’s no work here. We’ve lost the contract that’s mining.

    It was a humbling experience. My rejection was the redirection to go on a journey, and I set up two AP clinics in medical centres. They’re a great company so did that for about five years. At that time, I was an ABC radio host, and had a skit on ABC.

    I then worked in Surf Lifesaving as a performance coach and as a Cert IV lecturer in fitness. Then, after five years, I went into the Northern Territory in Tennant Creek, and I worked over there for about three months with a company called Body Fit. We provided access to exercise physiology in remote and rural indigenous communities. That was a great eye-opener.

    And then after that, I went to Melbourne for a number of years and work down with Angelo and the team in Melbourne, in rehab, and then I had come back to Perth, to take on the role in rehab services.

    MW: Wow, you’ve seen a lot of the country and by the sound of things, a lot of different sorts of people in different contexts regarding exercise.

    ZJ: Yeah. And it’s the same message. And I guess the challenge is what you know, the message that you’re trying to portray, it’s about linking that to your target audience, or linking that in terms of value. So how does someone who’s recovering from kidney disease take your message, as opposed to someone who’s just been guys diagnosed with anxiety and depression?

    So how do you as an AP, or as a health professional, essentially get buy-in or trust with the client? And that’s a hard skill, to be honest with you.

    MW: I guess that’s where the coaching approach comes in for you.

    ZJ: Definitely. Yeah. And the coaching principles. More importantly, that the client-centred approach is you really have to understand that putting yourself in the other person’s shoes, essentially, the empathetic approach. Second to that, what is it about what you’re offering do they think they need?

    I mean, I’ll be honest with you, a lifestyle change is hard. And this is why it’s about the clients we have the range on the spectrum in terms of their levels of health. And it’s really important that when you coach them through each week or each session, they understand that your guiding principle of coaching is really important because of how you do your initial assessment, how you do your follow-ups, and then essentially how you educate them all comes down to that kind of format and modality that needs to really be targeted to them.

    MW: I can hear that it’s very personalized, even down to the level of each individual client. That’s what you’re saying?

    ZJ: Yeah, a tailored approach. So we don’t do cookie-cutter assessments. You can have two of the same people come in with the exact same diagnosis or a similar history and you need to treat them differently. The approach of, well, for example, the One-Stop approach doesn’t work, especially in coaching and health and wellness, the individuality.

    So it’s really important that you understand, this is essentially going through the need to understand the biomedical markers of the person, you could ask them the physiology, and you have to understand the drive and direction in their psychology behind their motivation and their habits. You have to break this down, because what your intervention and what you’re trying to provide a solution won’t necessarily hit the mark if you can address those factors.

    MW: It sounds like you have to be across a lot of stuff, generally. And then as well, on top of that the individual needs of the person or being able to identify those and be client-centred at the same time.

    ZJ: Yeah, it’s difficult. And I’ve been doing it for 14 years, and I probably am still learning a lot, it probably took me at least a number of years to actually understand how to relate, also understand how to say what, when, and also how to formulate a plan to best suit my client. And this is life experience, number one. Number two, it’s understanding your trade, knowing what you can offer and also really having a thirst or a passion to continue to keep learning.

    MW: It’s so important. Absolutely. I wonder if we could talk a bit about mental health because really, in this spotlight at the moment, there’s obviously a link between exercise and mental health. But I’m not sure that a lot of people really understand that link very well. So could you talk to us a little bit about that?

    ZJ: Well, I mean, the link, over let’s put it this way, it’s definitely gotten a lot better in terms of the awareness, I think we have to be mindful with exercise and mental health, that there’s a component that they actually go hand in hand. But remember physical health, mental health, what comes first.

    I think the main thing is understanding that from a, I guess from a medical model, so for example, in the GP, it’s about providing the lifestyle change. And then from a health coaching, and from a wellness perspective, you’re not just focusing on one part.

    So the link between exercise and mental health is actually quite been studied a lot in the last probably three to four years, the rates of depression, anxiety, in particular, schizophrenia, and bipolar.

    Also, there’s a lot of evidence in relation to exercise and how it modulates the brain improves, obviously, the feel-good hormone reduces cortisol, which essentially over time, what it does, it gives it a more locus of control, or competence to the client, about what they can and can’t do.

    I’ll talk to you from a purely physiological point of view from the way the body responds. It improves oxygen. That’s the first point of Go.

    So as we improve oxygen, when hemoglobin, obviously, blood flows for the body, that increases natural feel-good hormones, you need to do that in certain way over time to get a benefit. And the first thing I look at with mental health is called dose-response.

    For example, you go walking for 10 minutes, get enough response for your body and change. It’s no different than medication now, where you’ve been diagnosed with depression, and you have 25 milligrams of sertraline or Zoloft. Does that do anything for the body? So it’s this it’s no different.

    The second thing is looking at what is it about physical health that when you’re faced with a mental health condition or concern, why does that always go on the back burner? What is it about exercise and movement and eating? Well, so why does that always go to the bottom? And this is the crux of understanding that we need to break the relationship down so people can see the value.

    Liking what you read so far? Listen to the whole interview by clicking the links above.

    Ready to get clarity on your pathway to success?

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    E#177 Tragic Optimism

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    This episode is about tragic optimism 

    Are you sick of the relentless stream of drama and bad news and just wish you could find something positive to read and share? 

    Then you might be interested in tragic optimism and the opportunities it might bring you to feel more positive and purposeful in these challenging times.

    What is Tragic Optimism? 

    If you’ve read the book Man’s Search for Meaning by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, you will know that he discusses this concept through the lens of life in a concentration camp.  

    He talks about making suffering meaningful, seeing guilt as a chance to improve ourselves, and interpreting life’s fragility and unpredictability as motivation to find meaning.  

    In this episode, I’ll talk about 
    * What Tragic Optimism means, and the research behind it
    * Avoiding the ‘happiness trap’

    He found a way to transcend suffering through his own inner decision-making. 

    Frankl defined ‘tragic optimism’ as a state of optimism in the face of tragedy and in view of the human potential which, at its best, always allows for: 

    1. turning suffering into a human achievement and accomplishment 
    2. out of guilt, defining the opportunity to change oneself for the better, and 
    3. out of life’s transitoriness, defining an incentive to take responsible action. 

    He doesn’t claim that we must suffer to discover meaning, but rather, that meaning can be found despite or because of suffering. 

    Where does real happiness come from? 

    Frankl says it comes from finding meaning in our lives because this is what provides our reason to be happy.  

    More recently with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, research by Anna Gotlib (1) backs Viktor Frankl’s concept of tragic optimism.  

    Her study indicates that people who cope better in crisis can do so because they can acknowledge suffering without being pulled under by it.  

    Gotlib says it’s not about finding happiness or even distraction from sadness. It is about repairing our narratives and our lives – about learning to let go of the stories around isolation, defeat, loss of control and worthlessness – and to create new narratives and recast a more meaningful future where hope exists. 

    I would consider myself to be a tragic optimist in many ways. I believe that the negative stories we tell ourselves are instructions on how to act. It is only when we define new stories that we provide clear instructions to our bodies and brains on how to step into our future selves and flourish. 

    Let’s be clear – this is not a ‘don’t’ worry, be happy’ concept. 

    It is about honouring uncertainty and encouraging hopefulness. It is about recognising that we can turn inwards to find new words, ideas and valuations, and then share them outwardly and begin again. 

    So, how do we do this?

    Avoiding The Happiness Trap 

    Well, for starters, we can avoid the Happiness Trap. 

    What is that? Well, it’s a concept offered by Dr Russ Harris (2).  

    In his book of the same name, Russ describes an empirically supported model known as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an effective model that can help you to address suffering and find meaning. 

    And sure, there are many ways and disciplines that can help you to tackle suffering and find meaning, such as self-compassion, mindfulness and cognitive behaviour therapy. 

    ACT includes aspects of all of these and more.  

    Rather than focussing on striving for happiness, it teaches you to undermine struggle, avoidance and loss using mindfulness, acceptance, cognitive defusion and a focus on values-based living. 

    ACT has over 35 years of evidence in treating conditions from anxiety and chronic pain to weight loss and performance enhancement, and over 300 randomised controlled trials that support the efficacy of ACT in alleviating suffering and promoting human flourishing.

    Isn’t it amazing to think that by changing your relationship with your thoughts and feelings, you can transcend both physical and emotional pain? 

    In my opinion, if you want to find meaning and become a tragic optimist whose life is based on meaning and fulfilment, I think Russ is the best person to help. 

    He teaches you how to blow your own mind, so to speak, by naming your stories and becoming a better storyteller, by separating yourself from unhelpful thoughts, and by learning simple tricks and techniques to defusing those thoughts and find true acceptance. 

    By doing this, you can stop chasing happiness (which is the trap he describes) and transform your relationship with painful thoughts and feelings to lessen their impact and influence over your life. 

    In turn, you create space for a rich and meaningful life, a sense of vitality and fulfilment that is satisfying and long lasting.   

    Now I know that some people might rail at the thought of having to ‘accept’ things.  

    But have you considered the true definition of acceptance? 

    It’s not tolerating or putting up with things – it literally means taking what is offered. It is opening yourself up to what is happening right now.   

    And it is your first firm foothold to stop suffering and to start taking action toward more of what you want in life. 

    Summary

    In these uncertain times, it can be hard to feel positive or find hope in the difficult circumstances that are affecting us all. 

    But there are pioneers and researchers such as Viktor Frankl, Anna Gotlib and Russell Harris who have done great work to prove that we can rise above the painful thoughts and feelings we have, to become tragic optimists – people who are able to transcend the unhelpful thought loops and re-craft stories that give us more meaning, purpose and ultimately, freedom. 

    References 

    1. Gotlib A. Letting Go of Familiar Narratives as Tragic Optimism in the Era of COVID-19. J Med Humanit. 2021;42(1):81-101. doi:10.1007/s10912-021-09680-8 
    1. Harris, Russell. The Science. The Happiness Trap Website accessed 26.1.22. https://thehappinesstrap.com/the-science/ 

    Ready to get clarity on your pathway to success?

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    E#170 4 Ways to Beat Imposter Syndrome

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    This episode is about 4 ways to beat imposter syndrome

    Imposter syndrome has been a hot topic lately and I have decided to talk about it again in this episode. 

    I have worked with several clients in the last year who have been struggling with imposter syndrome. And through the process of coaching conversations, I have seen a few things that have been really effective in helping people to beat impostor syndrome.

    The thing with impostor syndrome is that it creates an unhelpful downward spiral. If you are plugging negative thoughts into your head, then your brain takes that as an instruction and starts looking for evidence to prove the thoughts right.

    In this episode, I’ll talk about 
    * What is impostor syndrome?
    * How to overcome impostor syndrome?
    * What are the methods that I can use to overcome impostor syndrome?

    That’s how our brains work. So you definitely need to learn some skills to manage those impostor thoughts and feelings.

    Sure, there is no magical quick fix for imposter syndrome. But there are habits that you can form that will help to diminish impostor syndrome and keep it at bay. They’re things that anyone can use, and benefit from.

    What is impostor syndrome?

    Healthline defines impostor syndrome as follows:

    Imposter syndrome, also called perceived fraudulence, involves feelings of self-doubt and personal incompetence that persist despite your education, experience, and accomplishments.

    They say that Impostor syndrome may manifest as perfectionism, struggling to deal with anything that doesn’t come easily, the belief that you should be able to do things on your own, believing you should have all the answers and be an expert, or linking your competence to success in all areas of life.

    In clients I’ve worked with, these patterns come up in conversation along with a sense that they will be judged or criticised if they don’t succeed, achieve perfection or have all the answers. 

    If any of this sounds familiar, then you might have a bit of imposter syndrome going on. 

    I want to point something out before we go any further. If you are learning anything new in your life, you know that there is going to be a steep learning curve. There is a period where you feel like you have no idea what you’re doing, because you haven’t had enough time to practice your new craft. 

    I see this a lot in  my work as in business startups and coach training within a health and wellness coach training school. I work mostly with mature adults who are going through a career change and have a lot of past success and knowledge – but who see their foray into a new career as challenging and disheartening. They are so used to feeling competent and now, suddenly, they are inexperienced newbies!

    Enter the impostor syndrome.

    Never mind! It is 100% normal to feel insecure when you are learning new things, to doubt yourself, and to feel like you don’t know enough, or aren’t doing it well enough. That’s called learning.

    Just like a small child learning to walk, falling down and then getting up to determinedly try again, you can learn to develop new skills and persist without feeling like a failure.

    How do you do that? Well, I’ve rustled up some of the ways that you can move past impostor syndrome more easily.

    I want to share four methods that have come up in coaching conversations with my clients that have been really effective in helping and overcome imposter syndrome. These are not one-time use methods – they need to be done consistently.

    Method #1 – Schedule time to recognise success 

    Self efficacy is a key part of beating impostor syndrome. Self-efficacy means that you have a sense of competence around your ability to do certain tasks or activities.

    For example, maybe you know that you are a good ballroom dancer, or that you are good at making cakes.

    Knowing that you have skills and strengths in a particular area confers a level of self-confidence.

    That’s why method #1 for beating impostor syndrome involves reflecting on wins in your daily life, or your progress with learning a skill.

    Here are a few ways you can do that.

    Firstly, if you are a coach, you can start working with practice clients and develop a self-reflective practice to implement after each coaching session that you do. Focus on being objective and non-emotive in your feedback, using neutral language. 

    Note what went well or not so well based on the client’s behaviour and feedback, what you feel went well, and what you might have done differently and why.

    A second way to build self-efficacy is to collect external feedback.

    If you are a coach, this would involve reading through testimonials and feedback surveys from your clients on a regular basis to remind yourself of the value of what you do. 

    This implies that you need to be collecting feedback after every coaching session as part of your business ‘habits’ or processes.

    Outside of coaching or your business, external feedback involves asking friends what they think your strengths are, or what they like about you. Ask for candid feedback from people you trust. It might feel a little uncomfortable, but you will probably be surprised about what comes back…..and delighted!

    Other than these ideas, you may have access to customer or colleague feedback at work, performance review feedback or simply the kind words of a compassionate friend who always champions you.

    A third way to build self-efficacy is to reflect on the value of what you do in your life.

    You could consider any area of your life. For example, the importance of being a parent. What is possible for your child because you care for them, house them, feed them and get them to school?

    What is possible if you continue to run your business or do your job – what good can that create in the world? Who can you help? And, by doing that work and helping those people – what will THEY be able to do?

    If you are new to coaching and are concerned about the value of your services, consider what is possible if your client gets to the end of their program and has made changes in a specific area of life? And THEN what is possible for them? And what else?

    In other words – use the big picture coaching questions toward the client who shows up and does their work, to see what is possible because of their work with you.

    Hopefully you can see that with a few questions and reflections, it is possible to recognise skills and strengths that you have, and to acknowledge how those things can have a bigger impact in your own life, or someone else’s. 

    Method #2 – Say I don’t know

    My husband recently told me a story about one of his first jobs in Australia. 

    He moved here from California and had no connections. Moving into a new job, he felt such pressure to have all of the answers and was really impacting him. 

    One day he was asked a question in a work meeting and he said simply, “I don’t know but I’ll get the answer and come back to you.” 

    He describes the sense that a huge weight was lifted from him because he could be totally honest (one of his strengths), he could go away and learn something, and he could still fulfill the request and gain probably more respect than if he had tried to bumble through an answer, as if he knew what he was talking about.

    I found the courage to do this a long time ago, and it was liberating.

    Think about it – nobody ever has all of the answers all of the time. If you can learn to be ok with that, you can remove at least some of the weight of expectation that you have placed on yourself. 

    To get a sense of this, see if you can recall a time where someone gave you an answer that you knew was a fake. How did it feel? What did you think about that person at the time?

    Now, imagine if they had been honest and told you they didn’t know, but would find out?

    I’m sure you can see the difference. And if we want to be really pointy about this – in those two versions of the situation, only one is an imposter – and it’s not the one telling the truth.

    Method #3 – Tap into your purpose 

    What I notice with all of my clients – literally all of them – is that when they feel like an imposter, they turn inward and focus on themselves and their own inadequacies.

    It becomes an emotional and sometimes judgemental conversation in their head that plays on repeat. And as I  mentioned earlier, when you are plugging those sorts of thoughts into your head, your brain takes that as an instruction and starts looking for evidence to prove the thoughts right.

    That’s how our brains work.

    So a way to flip that and get out of the unhelpful thought loops is to tap into your purpose.

    If you are a coach and/or a business owner, then your impostor syndrome might be around your ability to give value to your clients. It becomes a conversation all about you and your inadequacies. 

    But coaching is all about the client! By flipping this, you can get back into that client-centric mindset and start delivering value. 

    Reflect on some of those big picture, brain-opening questions.

    Why does my work matter to the world?

    What could this much-needed skill change in my community?

    What will happen when I become masterful – how will it help me and my clients?

    Why do I want to make a difference in people’s lives?

    As you can see, honing your purpose is a great way to pull away from the useless impostor thought loop and to re-focus on the big picture – your why behind it all.

    Method #4 – Accept yourself as a learner 

    Finally, if you feel like an impostor, it might be that your expectations are greater than what is realistic or possible right now.

    Being honest and objective with yourself and getting external feedback allows you to see clearly where you are at in the learning continuum.

    And sure, you might really wish you were further along – but maybe it’s time to step back and accept yourself as someone who doesn’t have all the answers, can’t do it perfectly, and is on the journey toward becoming masterful.

    This is the growth mindset!

    Accepting yourself as a learner gives you permission to make mistakes, be curious, learn from your challenges and build strength.

    Another perspective is this – they say it takes 10.000 hours or 10 years to truly master something.

    Consider where you are on that timeline. Yes, it can be sobering. But also, it’s a good reminder that your persistence in doing something you love will lead to a good outcome and, persistence in itself is part of winning in a world where so many people give up.

    Summary

    After several conversations about impostor syndrome, I wanted to share some insights on how to move through it more easily.

    Firstly, you can start scheduling time to recognise success. This could involve self-reflection on performance, reading client testimonials, asking friends for feedback, or reflecting on the downstream value or ripple effect of what you are doing.

    Secondly, you can practice saying I don’t know, but I’ll find out and get back to you. This single act will gain you respect and will ease the pressure you’ve been putting on yourself.

    Thirdly, you can tap into your purpose. Stop focussing inwards on your flaws, and start focussing outward on the bigger benefits and impacts of what you are doing.

    Fourth, you can accept yourself as a learner, on a journey to mastery, which takes 10,000 hours or 10 years – whatever comes first.

    Hopefully you are feeling better equipped to tackle your impostor syndrome.

    I’d love to know – which one of these methods will you try first?

    Ready to get clarity on your pathway to success?

    Understanding who you are and what you need will allow your business to thrive! If you’re truly ready to break old habits and get out of the rut I encourage you to check out the Habitology membership.

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    E#169 50-Day Program Results

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    This episode is about 50-day program results

    Have you ever started any sort of a health change program and wondered why you couldn’t stick to it? today I’m giving you an update on my 50 day program results and what I’ve had to do to stick with it.

    Backstory

    Around 44 days ago I got a bee in my bonnet and decided that I would make a transformation in my health. I was sick and tired of putting up with menopause symptoms including anxiety and insomnia feeling like I was on the coffee roller coaster and just wanting to clean up my body.

    I have experienced changes in my thinking, my energy, my sleep, and it’s all because I’ve developed better habits around drinking water, eating cleaner and with less snacking, drinking less coffee, and setting some boundaries.

    In this episode, I’ll talk about 
    * The progress of my 50-day program
    * The backstory behind the program
    * What does extending mean?

    Despite the good start, I do love a challenge and I have decided that, 44 days in, I am going to the next level in this program.

    Before I tell you about that I’m just going to recap on some of my key results so far.

    FIrstly, I have a great eating and supplementation routine and I am no longer bloated and I am energized. I’m feeling calmer and more relaxed than I have in a long time. My digestive system, liver and nervous systems are having a good rest.

    Secondly, instead of trying to flog myself with exercise, I’m working (right now) on gentler forms of movement that are more in keeping with what I need right now. 

    My sleep has improved dramatically. I feel more positive and hopeful. I have a clearer and more focused mind.

    My skin looks better – clear, soft and dewy.

    My clothes fit better.

    I am clearly seeing the thoughts and beliefs I had attached to eating and drinking for what they are – not serving me, and inaccurate.

    I have let go of things that are unhealthy for me with surprising ease.

    It’s probably because I”ve committed to myself and given enough focus on what’s important to me, to make this difference.

    And now, as I have a few days left to go – I have decided to extend my program.

    What does extending mean?

    Extending means I will continue and deepen my journey for another month at least.

    I am giving myself four more weeks to truly understand my newly refined and tuned up body and mind, to become familiar with them, and to get comfortable here.

    I don’t want to go back to my old habits, so I am setting myself a new milestone to aim for and that is giving me the period of focus that I need to learn more about myself – most importantly, how to remain consistent and committed – so I don’t slip into old habits.

    In other words, I”m working on strengthening my WHY behind this.

    With several sick family members right now, I know how things can go sour. It doesn’t happen overnight though, it creeps up gradually. 

    That is why I am continuing on this journey.

    This was a QUICK update – but I’ll be sharing some more insights soon, including some secrets to my success, and some of the things that YOU can do for yourself.

    Ready to get clarity on your pathway to success?

    Understanding who you are and what you need will allow your business to thrive! If you’re truly ready to break old habits and get out of the rut I encourage you to check out the Habitology membership.

    Learn more here:

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    E#161 Sleep Hacking

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    This episode is about sleep hacking

    Today I want to share a bit of my journey around sleep hacking to overcome insomnia.

    I’ve had insomnia for most of my life off and on, and for me there is a clear correlation with the amount of stress that’s going on in my life. But with the onset of perimenopause, that has ramped up and there are other things that are also causing insomnia such as night sweats and even certain things that I’ve eaten or drunk.

    So I’ve been on a mission to hack my sleep. 

    I’m going back to my roots.

    That is, biohacking is something I’ve done for many years, but I just haven’t spoken about it much in the last couple of years.

    Biohacking is where you make small tweaks to your daily habit to improve certain areas of your health or your life.

    In this episode, I’ll talk about 
    * What approach does one needs to take to remedy sleep?
    * What you can take to supplement your need to sleep?
    * What other factors affect our sleep?

    I want to share with you what I’ve been doing, what I’m doing next, and how it’s all working, so that you can get your own ideas for hacking sleep for yourself or perhaps for the clients that you’re working with. 

    Remember that everybody is different and has their own individual formula for improving sleep or any other area of well-being. So what’s working for me may not work for you, but it could be worth trying

    The approach you take to remedy sleep and the hacks you decide to use will depend on what’s causing your lack of sleep.

    Things changed

    My catalyst to get back into biohacking was the onset of perimenopause around 18 months ago, when a lot of things changed for me. 

    One of the first things I noticed was that my anxiety increased, and I developed insomnia again after many years without a hitch, and I had night sweats.

    Through self-observation, I realised these things were related and they tended to make each other worse. The more anxious I became the less I slept, and the less I slept the more prone to anxiety I was, and the worse my night sweats, the less I slept.

    Obviously none of these things are very good for mental well-being or productivity or health so I was motivated to experiment and make some changes. 

    Lack of sleep tends to make you grumpy, it tends to make you crave sweet foods, and to feel too lethargic to exercise.

    And all of that started happening to me.

    So here’s how I worked things out.

    Supplements

    I actually started the process of unpacking by experimenting with some supplements. The reason I started here is because it was the easiest and fastest way to effect change. 

    Firstly, I got back into a routine of taking a high grade multivitamin and mineral formulation that I have used on and off for years, because the research is clear that the more stress your body is under, the more that stress robs nutrients from your body (oxidative damage). 

    I won’t go into the complex biology in this episode and will save that for later.

    That was my baseline, and I also consulted a naturopath to get some specific supplements for my perimenopause symptoms. She gave me an Ashwaghanda formulation, a magnesium, vitamin B and zinc formula, and a herbal preparation to help with night sweats. 

    As a result, I got fairly rapid relief from stress to the point where I was able to sleep better, and I also felt calmer during the day. That took about three weeks.

    Before supplementing, I was waking up around five or six times at night with a hot flush that caused me to wake up and then stay awake. Falling asleep was not the issue, it was staying asleep, and particularly at that critical time of 1 to 3am. 

    After supplementing, my sleep was more regular, I had fewer flushes, and I was staying asleep better or more easily falling back to sleep.

    Stress – workload

    At the time all of this was going on, the pandemic hit and I had anticipated a downturn in workload through my contracting roles. As a result I decided to take on some new private clients running a pilot program. 

    What actually happened was that both of my contracting roles got a lot busier, so I was juggling too much busier contract roles in addition to my own clients. 

    The other thing was that with my own clients, it wasn’t a set and forget, rinse and repeat program that I had run before. It was developmental work and consideration to get what I was doing right. I believe that creativity is the opposite of stress. When you are feeling stressed and under pressure then your ability to think creatively is compromised.

    Also, going through menopause makes you realise that your capacity to do things is diminished. It’s a combination of brain fog, fatigue, and of course the insomnia and anxiety.

    That’s what happened to me. 

    So what I had to do was to reach out to my contract roles and talk about changing my roles, doing less of the detailed stuff that doesn’t light me up and which I find draining, and that took a load off.

    Switching off at 5 pm was also a critical part of this formula for me. 

    It was a hack that was well worth it. Switching off at 5 pm, I was finishing my screen time at that critical period around sunset where we want to decrease cortisol levels rather than keep them pumped up with artificial light.

    This helped me to wind down, reduce anxiety and sleep better.

    Before that, I was prone to catastrophizing and making everything seem worse or more urgent than it was.

    By lowering my workload and switching off earlier, I had time to unwind, relax and ‘de-focus’ so I could sleep better each night.

    I’ve since noticed that if I have to teach at night or if I watch an intense or scary movie, or read a thriller novel, it pushes up my anxiety levels enough that I go back to 1am wake ups.

    Food and Drink

    A bit of research and some experimenting on my own helped me to realise that certain things would trigger night sweats, or even hot flushes during the day. 

    For me these triggers included portion size, alcohol, sugar, or more than 2 cups of coffee per day.

    With portion size, I’ve worked out that if I eat after 7pm and/or if I have a meal that’s too big, I won’t fall asleep easily or stay asleep. I tend to sleep better if I’ve had a small serve of complex carbohydrate, plenty of veggies and lean protein for dinner. 

    Anything that’s salty, fatty, sugary or too starchy (like a risotto) will wake me up at an odd hour, either starving, with heartburn or thirsty.

    With alcohol, I have found that champagne, certain spicy spirits like cinnamon whisky, and some wines, will cause me to wake at 1 – 3am or to have night sweats. It seems related to the amount of sugar.

    Having one white wine with dinner, or a white spirit, seems to be ok. But regardless of the alcohol I drink, there is definitely a pattern of increased sweating and I wake at least twice per night with this and struggle to sleep again.

    I am still experimenting with sugar, but have found that evening chocolate or dessert might be a trigger for poor sleep, in the absence of alcohol, late work or other triggers. 

    It’s well known that when you are a bit depressed you crave carbs, and that is related to an increase in tryptophan and therefore serotonin which improves mood – in the absence of protein which can block this pathway. I have many more experiments ahead on this, so I’ll come back to you on it.

    With caffeine, I’ve worked out that I can have 1 – 2 espressos per day (I make mine with oat milk) and be ok and sleep well if I have them before 12pm.

    But, there are some exceptions to this rule. 

    If I’ve been awake since about 3 am and haven’t been able to get back to sleep, or if I am waking up tired and have two coffees on an empty stomach at a time when I have a lot of stress in my life, then those two coffees don’t help anything and I tend to have a peak and then a crash, followed by a jittery day and/or a restless or sleepless night.

    I remember one day waking up after having a terrible night sleep, where I perhaps only had three hours of sleep. I had coffee in the morning and I had a rocket fuel boost of energy followed by a big crash and I felt listless all day.

    What I’ve learned is that I have a tipping point for caffeine and I need to be careful not to cross the tipping point. If I am a bit fragile or tired or stressed and my capacity to cope with caffeine is lower and it has an amplified effect on anxiety, mood, sleep and energy levels.

    The optimum time to have caffeine is 60-90 minutes after waking or around 10am. The reason is that when you wake up in the morning your cortisol levels naturally increase in response to sunlight. If you inject caffeine into that equation then it prevents your body from creating its own natural energy at that time.

    Exercise

    I am yet to do any experimenting with exercise specifically – remember that good science means one thing at a time. 

    But for now, I wanted to say that I’ve always been somebody that likes exercising in the afternoon. As a personal trainer, I know that exercise done too late can be overstimulating and affect your ability to fall asleep or stay asleep. 

    I will come back to you on this one.

    Summary

    At different stages of life, we experience hormonal and physiological changes that tilt your world on its axis.

    When that happens, what used to work for you in terms of your biology and physiology might change such that you need to revisit things.

    With the onset of menopause, I’ve started experimenting with my body – biohacking – to help me understand my triggers for insomnia and anxiety. 

    So far, I’ve worked out some important things about supplements, stress, and food and drink so I’m much more aware of nights that I AM sleeping well.

    The real benefit of this experimentation is that I am super clear on my own personal formula for a good night’s sleep. I am following my own coaching framework to figure this out. 

    Working with a coach can be so helpful because they can help you to work out what to experiment with, and to focus for a long enough period of time to uncover your blind spots and reveal your own secret formula for healthy sleep, weight loss, stress reduction or any other challenge that you’re facing.

    If you’re looking for a coach and need a referral, please reach out and let me know.

    Ready to get clarity on your pathway to success?

    Understanding who you are and what you need will allow your business to thrive! If you’re truly ready to break old habits and get out of the rut I encourage you to check out the Habitology membership.

    Learn more here:

    Learn More
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    E#145 Overcoming Purpose Blocks

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    This episode is about overcoming purpose blocks

    A lot of people say that they want to find their purpose. They start the journey but end up getting stuck. Why is that? What do we actually need to do to find purpose? 

    Today I want to talk about some blocks that a lot of people face. They might be blocks that are stopping YOU from finding your purpose. I’m going to talk to you about how to work through them so you can finally find your purpose.

    In this episode, I’ll talk about 
    * Finding your locus of control
    * Pleasing yourself and not other people
    * Finding yourself

    What Is Your Locus of Control?

    If you are struggling to find or define your purpose, check your locus of control. 

    Your locus of control is the degree to which you believe that you have control over your life, as opposed to external forces that are beyond your influence. 

    Conceptually, this ‘locus’ is either internal – a belief that you can control your own life, or external – a belief that your life is controlled by outside factors which you can’t influence – that things are all down to fate or chance.

    If your locus of control is largely external, you tend to think things like:

    “It’s too hard to succeed.”

    “The market is saturated, I can’t stand out.”

    If your locus of control is more internal, you tend to think things like:

    “I can learn how to become successful.”

    “I can learn how to become attractive to others.”

    Notice the difference in the language – internal control is signified by sentences that begin with the letter “I”!!

    If your locus of control is largely external, then you have probably always left your purpose to chance or fate, or blocked yourself from considering the notion that you could succeed on your own terms.

    Consequently, you may not have given much thought to what your purpose could be – perhaps your focus has always been on what it couldn’t be.

    According to Psychology Today, researchers found that of more than 7,500 British adults who were followed since birth, those who had shown an internal locus of control at the age of ten were less likely to be overweight at age thirty, less likely to describe their health as poor, or show high levels of psychological stress. The major explanation for these findings was that children with a more internal locus of control behave more healthily as adults because they have greater confidence in their ability to influence outcomes through their own actions. They may also have higher self-esteem.

    What could this mean for finding your purpose?

    There is something you can do right now. You can start watching your thoughts and changing the language to what you can do, rather than what’s stopping you.

    This takes daily work but is worth it!

    It’s going to take a few months, but over time, changing this dialogue will make so much difference to the way you see the world, and possibilities will start to show themselves because you have shifted your focus.

    Try it and see for yourself.

    Create a dedicated practice of intentionally pursuing your future and letting go of the internal dialogue that it’s out of your control.

    Notice what changes when you do this.

    Hire a coach to help you with this if you need to. This is a long game and it is life changing but you might need some support along the way.

    Are You a People Pleaser?

    People I’ve coached who like to put others first often have very little idea of who they are and what they stand for, and consequently what they want.

    If you’ve spent many years trying to fit in, trying to please other people, wanting to be liked, then please know that those things are more outward focused. 

    And if you are trying to find your purpose, it can be pretty difficult if all you have ever done is worry about other people and what interests them and what they value.

    Knowing that this can be a block to finding your purpose is a great thing, because it frees you up to finally start paying attention to what’s important to you, and to what you value, so that you can finally find your purpose.

    Putting others first often means being busy all the time, not sitting still to be mindful and present, and both are great ways of avoiding getting to know and understand yourself.

    The first step – Finding yourself

    Before you can identify your purpose, you need to go on the journey of finding yourself. 

    This is a scary but very interesting and rewarding journey . It is an enriching journey where you get to learn what you like and don’t like, what you do and don’t want, and what’s important to you and what you value.

    You will invariably feel some discomfort as you start to realise that there are people and things in your life that no longer serve you.

    There will be some pushback from people who don’t like the new you, or who are affronted by the fact that you won’t be so focused on them and their needs anymore.

    That’s ok.

    Be prepared.

    If you want to find your purpose, you need to clear away everything that doesn’t serve you in order to find what does. 

    You need to create the space and stop being busy and stop attending to everybody else’s needs so that you can focus on what it is that you want for your life.

    Then, you can truly start to find your purpose!

    Summary

    If you’re stuck finding your purpose and don’t know why, or how to move forward, I invite you to consider some things that might be getting in the way:

    1. Shifting your locus of control to a more internal and empowering state
    2. Pleasing others less and yourself more (get a good balance!)
    3. Start working out what you do and don’t like – who you really are

    If you would like help with finding yourself, I’ll be developing a short course on this later in the year. Hit me up on my contact page if you’d like to be notified of the release.

    Ready to get clarity on your pathway to success?

    Understanding who you are and what you need will allow your business to thrive! If you’re truly ready to break old habits and get out of the rut I encourage you to check out the Habitology membership.

    Learn more here:

    Learn More
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    Episode 104: Purpose Case Studies

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    These case studies present a more organic approach to finding your purpose – an alternative to the method described in episode 102.

    Today I want to continue the conversation about purpose. I would like to invite you to do some deep thinking work about what matters to you, where you come from, what your journey has been and why you do what you do.

    I talked about purpose in episode 102 and walked through a process for discovering your purpose. 

    Perhaps you will see yourself in this journey. Perhaps you will be clearer by the end of this episode about what is most important to you and what your contribution to the world really is.

    The first thing that I want to say is that unless you already know what you want to do and are clear on that, a big part of discovering your purpose is discovering yourself. It’s a process of self-awareness and self reflection. 

    So if you want to get really clear on your purpose, you’ll need to spend some time thinking about where you’ve come from, what you’ve achieved, what you love to do and what’s most important to you.

    Here are a few examples of how that could play out.

    The first story is about someone who is super good at organising and planning. This person was trying to figure out her purpose and her niche. 

    What she has come from is a life of needing to help out in the family and get siblings and family members organised. She’s come from a place of needing to be self-sufficient with her schooling and study. So organisation is a natural strength and skill that she has.

    Through a process of being organised, this person has been able to juggle work and study, family commitments, and to start up and run a business. People come to her when they’re stuck and not sure where to turn, she helps him to get clarity and to make a plan to start taking action – normally starting with getting organised first.

    What she loves to do is see the relief on people‘s faces when they get stuff sorted out. And what’s most important to her is having a great routine for her own self care and well-being – in other words being self organised – so that she can show up with energy, confidence, and a sense of calmness.

    Example number two is somebody who comes from a public service background, and who has had a lot to do with project management. She comes from a very formal work environment, working for the government, and is very familiar with the policies and procedures.

    She was recognised among her peers as one of the best project managers in the division, largely because of her great attention to detail and love of doing things properly and finishing things in a high-quality way. She loved doing that type of work but not necessarily the role that she was in. 

    She wanted to start her own business because that’s what she loved – the creativity of building a business and the control that she could have by owning the business rather than working for someone else.

    So her purpose is to bring that detailed focus, high-quality and finishing aspects to helping people get their business admin sorted out in a really professional and structured way.  She does tasks for you as a VA and holds you accountable to getting your stuff delivered so she can do her job of making you look really good.

    If you want to get really clear on your purpose, you’ll need to spend some time thinking about where you’ve come from, what you’ve achieved, what you love to do and what’s most important to you.

    Example number three is somebody who really values spirituality and connection, is very honest and values driven, and comes from a religious background.

    She’s become known in her community as a connector as an empathetic listener, and has a wonderful support.

    She loves maintaining a spiritual practice of her own and she loves helping others to do the same. What’s important to her is creating peace and calm in the world and a sense of connection with people supporting each other.

    So it’s really clear that her purpose is to coach people in groups around their spiritual practice and the impact that they can have on others by being in a place of calmness, self-care and resilience.

    Example number four is somebody who has lost over 50 kg. She has had a journey with food, her body and her emotions over many years and has struggled with her weight. 

    She has been through cycles of weight loss and then re-gain, and finally realised that her secret to moving forward into a permanent healthy weight situation was simply to manage her mindset – in other words her thoughts and beliefs about herself and food.

    What’s important to her is family, relationships, creativity, freedom of expression. Food and weight and her challenges with mindset was stifling those things for her.

    What she loves to do is help other women who are busy, ambitious and overcommitted, to do less, be more organised, reduce stress, and find healthy ways to manage their emotions.

    Her purpose is to help women to stop over eating and to start living their lives so that they can show up for their loved ones in a really present connected way.

    Example number five is somebody who has always loved cooking, even as a little kid. She was always creatively experimenting with food, trying out new ideas. She also spent many years battling low-grade health issues and anxiety. She realised that her gut health was an issue and that she was feeling sluggish and tired because she wasn’t always making healthy choices or cooking the healthiest food.

    She experienced a significant improvement in her health by following a plant based diet. And as a result of this and her love of cooking she realised that she loves interacting with people and helping them to avoid chronic disease and take control of their health by eating more plants.

    What’s important to her as a value is health, and also spirituality. She regularly meditates and practices yoga and this fits really well with her beliefs about food and health in a holistic sense.

    She feels passionate about helping people realise that a disease diagnosis is not a life sentence, and that they can make significant improvements simply by eating more plants more often.

    So she feels that her purpose is to educate people about healthy eating, and to coach them around adopting lifestyle habits that will help them to feel more connected to themselves, but also to nip any looming health issues in the bud.

    As I work through these examples I realise that I have many hundreds of stories like this. Of people who have figured out their own journey, their own values, what lights them up and what’s important to them in the world.

    The stories are shortened and simplified. They don’t reflect the many years of searching or wondering what they’re here for.

    What I can say is that if you zoom out from your life and you look at the major highlights, the struggles, and the lowlights, you might see some things that help you to get closer to defining what your purpose is.

    Ready to find your purpose?

    Finding a way to use your strengths to do something you love can be a life changing! If you’re truly ready to break old habits and get out of the rut I encourage you to check out the Habitology membership.

    Learn more here:

    Learn More