Gratitude practice changed my life I’ve written a lot previously about how gratitude practice changed my life. It turned me from perpetually being a ‘grey sky thinker’ to seeing the positives in life. I had gone through life feeling like the odds were stacked against me. Good fortune and luck were things that happened to other people. I was great at seeing the negatives in any situation which…
Stop being a victim Confession time: I was the world’s biggest victim. I felt everything was stacked against me. The reason why my relationships failed? That was down to my turbulent childhood and not having good role models. Why I never got promoted at work? That was because no one appreciated my efforts. If someone spoke down to me, well, that was because there was something about me…
It might seem bizarre that I’m writing about why self-doubt isn’t always a bad thing given that it’s plagued me my whole life. Self-doubt has affected my decision-making, stopped me from pursuing potential opportunities and held me back no end. I spend a considerable amount of time second-guessing myself and overthinking to the point that it can be exhausting. I’d like to give you a happy ending here…
What are neural pathways? Our nervous system consists of neurons (nerve cells) that transmit nerve signals or messages to and from the brain. The path which this information travels along is called a neural pathway. Our neural pathways are developed from childhood. As a baby, we learn to smile through our parents or caregivers smiling at us. We learn not to touch a hot pan from being burnt…
Boundaries are fundamental when it comes to taking care of ourselves. They enable us to recognise what we need and develop the right techniques and language to achieve them. Boundaries help us create less stressful lives, better physical wellbeing and healthy respectful relationships. For some people, setting boundaries is a skill they learn growing up. They have seen adults articulate and set boundaries and understand they are a…
Being brave At the beginning of the year, I thought about changes I wanted to make in my life and to stop letting fear stand in my way. I realised I was going to need to start becoming brave if I was going to live a more authentic life. Part of transitioning from my 20s into my 30s and beyond has been to recognise that actions have consequences and…
I first started my gratitude practice about five years ago. I’d got stuck in a bit of rut, tended to focus on the negative and had a blamey attitude. I got frustrated easily and often felt like the world was conspiring against me. I decided to keep a gratitude diary and each morning wrote down ten things that were making me happy and the reasons why. It completely…
After my Dad died, it hit me how life was short and I shouldn’t let anything stop me from living my dreams. My Dad had retired at 55 and spent the next 12 years of his life working as a walking guide across Europe. He took a chance – admittedly one with a final salary pension – and lived the rest of his days doing something he loved.…
I’m an over-thinker at the best of times, but add in a stressful situation and I quickly spiral into a pattern of negative thinking. My brain will turn a bad day at work into losing my job and never being able to get another one, all in the space of 60 seconds. I tend to fall into very black and white thinking patterns and leap to worse case…
