We can't change the past, but if we do something now, we can change our future

Have you ever wondered, what is one of the biggest things you can do now to change your future?

When we think about "choosing to do something today that our future self will thank us for", as actor Sean Patrick Flanery encourages - typically we think of improving our health, sorting out a pension, gaining a qualification. We very rarely think of leaning in, living more fully in the moment, and letting go of our baggage

The truth is, one of the biggest ways we can improve our futures, is by dealing with the rubbish that a lot of us carry around in our heads today

We spend our entire lives in our minds, yet very few of us ensure they are a great place to be by carrying out a regular practice of tidying up, chucking out and organising what is in there

This means most of us spend our lives with messy, complex, unfounded lies which we tell ourselves about who we are, what we are capable of and even what we s...

Ever wondered why a lot of us give up on New Year's Resolutions, year after year going round and round in circles, coming back to the same New Year's Resolution a year later?

One of the most profound and important things to take on board when we decide we want to switch it up and make some big changes in our lives - and goodness knows that is definitely what a lot of us are going for at this time of year - is that whilst we are all potential of achieving so much more in our lives, we are in fact already enough, just as we are

It's tricky this, because on the one hand, real change is created by newfound determination, new routines, new beliefs, behaviours, and mind-sets - and above all new motivation (the dictionary definition of 'new motivation' being a reason to act or behave in a particular new way)

Yet unless we start from a position of really, truly accepting where we are starting from - who we are and why we are the way we are - we are not able to deal with the root cause of th...

Illustration: @ljmlondon2014

For some of us, this year has definitely been overwhelming - a lot of us are now looking towards 2022 not quite sure how and where we will find the positive energy to relish the ride which is no doubt still ahead

Wrung out and bone dry, exhausted with the constant uncertainty of what we can and can't do, what is and isn't dangerous for our friends and family, the blurring of lines between home and work, the loneliness and boredom of self-isolation, the mind-bending juggling of zoom calls with stressed colleagues and squabbling children  

Stuck clinging on a pendulum, swinging wildly between overwhelm and scrabbling desperately for a 'secure new normal' - neither trusting authority (the parties were the final straw of hypocrisy) nor secure and confident in our ever changing daily routines

We are overwhelmed and burnt out because we feel so completely out of control of our lives

So for many of us, our way to take some of the control back - has been to qu...

Illustration: @ljmlondon2014

Shut your eyes and imagine what you really, really want for Christmas …

For most of us, when we really think about this, we move from more obvious choices of the latest gizmo from Apple, a massage gun or a designer hoody - to wanting to feel happy - confident and secure about our futures, knowing we have our own purpose, meaning and sense of who we are and the direction we are headed in

Look around and you can see that most of us are feeling pretty intrepid as we head into the holiday season, because actually after all the overwhelming drama of 2021, what we really want is to be able to relax and enjoy life. For at least the second year  in a row, this seems almost impossible with all the volatility in the world right now

And yet…

What if we could receive a gift which actually does make a difference to our lives? Something which unlocks our potential and helps us progress in ways we never thought possible? Now that truly would be a great gift

So what ...

Goodness it's hard to be upbeat sometimes isn't it? The news - seriously - it's tough!

The thing is, if you are anything like me - you will thrive, your energy and your ability to get more done - will often be linked to feeling upbeat and positive. Am I right?

This is where I am lucky working with Jo  - what I love about working with Jo (who is incidentally a super humble hermit and despite regular attempts to get her onto the global stage - she happily remains quietly incognito) - is that she does not only have the most determined strength of mind and intellectual horsepower I have ever come across - crammed into what is, let's face it, quite a small body - but she is also great fun - she has an infectious giggle and an ability to see the light side in almost any situation - so because she has taught me a few tips and tools - despite external pressures and having busy lives - we get a lot done! 

In fact, positive feedback for Jo over 25 years has consistently highlighted two seemi...

Passionate about design? Obsessed with interiors? What about your inner world?

For many of us, when we think of where we spend our lives – we tend to think about our homes and when we think about improving our lives – our thoughts often turn to improving our homes and our health

Ask the average person what they would do if they won the lottery and often buying a fabulous new home is the first thing on the list

In fact according to the 2020 Renovation Nation Report by money.co.uk - UK homeowners invested an average of £4,035 each on home improvements since the lockdown began in March 2020

It makes complete sense – as we spend more time in our homes, so we dream of well-designed spaces -  a beautiful place to hang out, play and chill during uncertainty

Spending time in a good environment is good for us – somewhere safe, secure and comfortable with the right level of stimulus or entertainment is a good place to be

Here’s the thing though… have you ever walked along a street of dream...

Do you have a secret ? A unique private vision for your life - yet are wilfully blind to your own potential?

We find this shocking, and frankly heart-breakingly wasteful

Many of us create private, internal visons for who we want to be, how we want to live and what we want to achieve – at work, at home, in our whole life, yet choose, sometimes consciously but mostly not, to remain unseeing in situations where in order to achieve our vision. We could know, and should know, but don’t know. Because we believe it makes us feel better not to know

And so our unique vision for what a great life would look like fades into ‘normal’, into ‘fine’ into ‘I’m good, thanks’ – and a weak smile. We know we could learn new skills at work, but don’t. We know we could improve our communication skills to benefit all our relationships, especially those with our loved ones. But don’t. We know to be happier, better people - we could let go of internal baggage. But don’t. We know we could learn new skills in...

Do you feel in control of your own life?

Nope? Not many of us do - introducing the life enhancing game-changer you probably have never heard of

I don’t know about you, but I am over being told how to live my life – look around and there is plenty of evidence that a lot of people are making poor life decisions right now – and yet the advice just keeps coming doesn’t it?

The truth is – in today’s world – it’s quite hard to separate out what we really truly want to do with our life – from what society or our peers, our friends and family - even podcasts - think we should do with our life!

What this means is that we often feel buffeted about by life, we make decisions based on other people’s ideas of what success looks like and 5 years later, wonder why we don’t feel quite as fabulous as we thought we might, given everything we have achieved 

Guess what – we have something to share with you which might help

Have you ever heard of  ‘Congruence’ – I mean, outside of the maths class? M...

Guess what? If you are feeling stuck and wonky - you probably don’t play enough!

Good news eh? As adults we can get so bogged down in how ‘stressed’ or ‘busy’ we are - for most of us, the last thing on our minds is how we can play more!

The thing is, we know it’s important for kids to play, but it is actually even more important for adults. This is because, often one of the reasons we are so anxious and wound up in the first place, is because we get stuck in our ways - as George Bernard Shaw famously said,

"We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing"

While our current beliefs, behaviours and mind-sets may be useful in some ways, they are certainly comforting and familiar - they often stop us from growing, adapting and unlocking our potential. Sadly, they can be the main cause of a lot of our anxiety, lack of energy and our feeling of being stuck and wonky

A secret solution for this feeling of being stuck and feeling sad - is Being Playful!

We ...

The laptop falls to the kitchen floor – “that’s IT! I’m DONE! I’m OFF!”

This is pretty much a regular scenario now in homes across the world ...

Overwhelm. The great resignation. We are leaving sour relationships, unfulfilling jobs, toxic work environments in our millions. Left, right and centre, over the last 18 months an overarching theme of overwhelm is leading us to reflect, reconsider, and re-evaluate our lives

We are picking different choices in an attempt to rid ourselves of this feeling of overwhelm – and often the choices we start with are the obvious ones – new job, new partner, new routine, (new laptop!)

What we often don’t start with, when we feel so overwhelmed – is building our mental strength

Which is ironic really – because actually – when we start our new job, our new relationship, our new routine – wouldn’t we want to start from a position of mental strength?

Because if we don’t – guess what – in 6 months time, that feeling of overwhelm might just still be there...