The presenter stood stock still – smiling at the faces in front of them. They were poised, calm and ready to move people, like they had never moved them before. 2 weeks earlier this would never have happened - they would not have agreed to present, they would have sat, judging and jealous in the audience

The presenter knew the audience were feeling low, knew they were off their game, knew they had lost belief in what they were doing and why. So the presenter gave it all they had. And all they had was a lot more than even they knew they were capable of giving

The audience sat up straighter. And their eyes shone brighter. Maybe they could do it after all, maybe there were different perspectives, different ways of doing things, which they had not been aware of. And they believed - just a little bit more - in what they were doing

So they gave a bit more than they had been giving

And everyone surprised themselves just a little bit – by being more capable than they thought they were

Her...

According to Harvard, recent research confirms what the Ancient Greeks already knew - the practice of self-reflection may well be the secret super power you never knew you needed

We agree, in fact we believe the practice of purposeful self-reflection is a key foundation stone on which a life of progress is built – so we can make progress in all areas of our life – at work, at home, our whole life 

We all know that to succeed in the 21^st century of work, soft skills are key. Soft skills are what make us human, soft skills allow us to connect, to innovate, to be agile and are what differentiates us from artificial intelligence and ultimately – like love – do in fact make our world go round

But the one soft skill which beats all others in the game we call life – is purposeful self-reflection

This is because it is about looking backwards and learning from our experiences and then looking forwards, making a conscious decision to take action based on this reflection. It could be repeatin...

A lot of us are struggling with what is happening in the world right now

Both mainstream and social media are full of harrowing stories and images of physical and emotional pain, and destruction on apocalyptic levels. For a lot of us it feels almost impossible to work out our response without feeling futile, fearful and frankly hopeless

What is a worthwhile, courageous and hope-fueled response to so much unimaginable suffering?

In the face of suffering and destruction, our natural instinct is to work out what needs to be done to make the suffering stop. Sometimes there is an obvious thing we can personally do, for example, to share our resources with people who need them more than we do to survive the tragic circumstances they find themselves in, or to repair and rescue things which have been destroyed or are at risk of extinction

Yet should we do more than this?

For example, does it genuinely support others by posting things on social media? These are sometimes complex situations...

One thing is for sure, if you aren’t actively looking after your mental wellbeing, you are probably not feeling great in today’s world...

Which very probably means you are not showing up for your loved ones, your work and your world, right when they need you most

Believe me, I know this may be the last thing you want to hear right now, but I am afraid to say, it is most probably true. There is so much very real uncertainty and anxiety in the world, it is almost impossible to live well, making positive contributions to our world and society, being inspiring, strong and supportive for our family and friends, bringing lightness where there is dark – if we are not actually doing something each day to support our own mental wellness

Wellness – according to Merriam Webster is, 'the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind especially as the result of a deliberate effort'

So what should that deliberate effort actually be?

The good news is we have options. As we race from one tas...

On first sight, I thought I was looking at a pile of rock

– the ocean backdrop so hypnotic with it’s crashing waves, the cliffs so mesmerising it was hard to see the iconic outdoor theatre

And yet – there in full sight was the Minack theatre, the extraordinary legacy of Rowena Cade. The story of how this rocky Cornish headland transformed into a world-famous theatre is a story of one woman’s creative vision, fearless dedication, and sheer hard graft

Rowena Cade was born in 1893 and moved to Cornwall where she built her home, Minack house on the Minack headland, following World War 1 and the death of her father

Rowena was passionate about theatre and offered her garden to a local production company who wanted to stage Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. To help them, she decided to create a stage and somewhere for people to sit. What is incredible, is that Rowena didn’t use heavy machinery to create the seating area and the stage, she and her gardener - Billy Rawlings - used hand tools and...

Remember being eleven? In 2022, are your year 7 classmates happy and content or burnt out and overwhelmed?

Here’s a thing - think about the kids who were in top set, who were striving for scholarships, crazy competitive on the sports fields – the ones fighting for success, obsessed with achievements, studying like ninjas

Do you know any of them now? Maybe it’s you? How did it work out?

Take a look around and you may see that a lot of the big themes we see around us – the burnout, the great resignation, the overwhelm - are themes often driven by feelings of deep insecurity, a striving for perfection and a lack of understanding of how to build real mental strength. Feelings and behaviour which started in year 7 (or even before)

Scratch our shiny surface and underneath, many of us, even if we are so-called successful, are in truth attacked by deep insecurity - a wicked imposter syndrome which started when we were small, often alongside a lack of tools to build mental strength. Indeed,...

It’s the time of year when it is normal for a lot of us to feel a bit disillusioned, a bit lost and a bit stuck 

It’s a tough feeling

We are stuck in the gap between the deep understanding and New Year’s optimism of our own and life’s potential and the hard drudge of the first months of the year

We know we are capable of more. More fun, more achievements, living life more the way we want to live it – hence why we so confidently and purposefully made our New Year’s resolutions

Yet, once the fresh sparkle of hope and optimism of the first few weeks has worn off and the harder slog of embedding our new habits kicks in, we notice procrastination also sneaking in. We are starting to put things off, stay a bit longer in bed rather than go for that run, we are breaking our promises to ourselves and so we feel disillusioned and stuck. What’s worse, we are then beating ourselves up, seeing this as evidence that we are not worth the effort improvement takes

A quick glance through news and s...

Just before Christmas I met a guy at a party in Brighton

A super smart MD of a sizeable company headquartered in the city of London. We soon got on to the hot topic of employee Wellbeing. "The thing is," he said, "today we all need tools to navigate the chaos in our world - at work and at home. I have even got 4 super talented employees on suicide watch. I have advice from not only my own HR department, but also brilliant external psychologists and consultants, yet nothing, no MBA out there - prepares you for that," he said, with tears in his eyes – yup, MD’s have feelings of overwhelm too…

"Honestly, I am not sure a lot of the solutions we have are working", he continued. "We need Wellbeing solutions which work on an everyday basis and help prevent people getting to the stage where they want to quit their jobs, let alone the most desperate of situations"

He is certainly not alone in his dilemma and frustration to do the right thing to support employee Wellbeing

According to Harvar...

Very few people start their new role with a meaningful, insightful plan, structure or tools, to guide their success – all are essential to accelerate and move forward in their new roles

Even the highest performers don’t have an actionable plan to ensure they are successful after their first 100 days 

Buck the trend and experience our radical masterclass - New role? New first-rate you! All for only £50

We guide you through the ups & downs, zigs & zags of the 100 day adventure so you can smash it! 

• Pre-recorded video and audio (private podcast) content, divided into bite-sized chunks

• 2-3 hours of content made up of sparky deep insights, simple practical frameworks and handy transforming tools designed to help you smash your First 100 days!

• Purposeful self-reflection exercises for you to focus your energy & effort 

• Practical 30+ page downloadable Workbook for your notes & insights

• On-going access to all materials on any device so you can continuously be full of...

If Roald Dahl hung out with Charles Darwin, what advice would they give us today?

They would say that sometimes, when the going gets tough, the best thing we can do is lighten up and play a little!

I don't know about you, but it's still all a bit much isn't it?  This time of year is always a bit tricky, often with cold, flat grey mornings, the festivities over, New Years resolutions less of an exciting new start to a new you and now either in the bin or proving a bit more of a grind than most of us optimistically signed up to on the 1st of January - and don't let's get started on 'the Covid' as the postman refers to the unrepentant global disruptor which seems to ruthlessly bring heartbreaking tragedy on one hand or a mild cough on the other. For some of us, it's hard to find a chink of light when we gaze uncertainly out of our windows each morning

What both Roald Dahl and Charles Darwin would recommend is, the ultimate rebellion; the real disruptive solution when faced with so much...