With news of recession spiralling and global inflation rising – a lot of us are feeling anxious. We are searching for ways to recession proof our businesses, our household finances – yet what may be even more valuable to us, may be to recession proof our minds 

To not just survive a recession, but to make progress, to thrive, Darwinian theory tells us what is key is having the ability to to swap our feelings of anxiety and overwhelm for feeling strong, poised, curious and open. Then we can see opportunities as they arise and adapt our approach to make the most of them. As Darwin said,

'It's not the strongest species which survives, nor the most intelligent, but, the one most responsive to change'

How to swap feelings of anxiety and overwhelm for feelings of strength and curiosity - so your mind is a great place to be and you can keep making progress? 

A lot of you may already know the answer - it's about having really affirming and releasing beliefs, behaviours and mind-sets. OK, b...

According to Harvard’s recent publication, where they reference Gartner's research with the same findings - Wellbeing is one of the top 10 trends for businesses in 2022

Yet both publications highlight that even though leaders and HR departments are trying their best, neither existing offers in the marketplace, nor the existing offers made by companies for their staff, are engaging employees. In reality, take up is slim 

So, if we know Wellbeing is so important that even companies are now starting to have it as a key metric - the enlightened ones anyway - why are we missing the mark when it comes to actually offering things that can help? If Wellbeing solutions are so needed, why are they not being taken up, when they are offered?

For a lot of us, the idea of having our Wellbeing ‘measured’ via an App - with the stats visible to the board alongside revenue and profit targets, or that the new key performance indicator when bumping into board members in the corridors, being the width a...

Have you ever wondered, I mean really wondered – without your baggage, just with curiosity – how much potential you actually have? How high you can actually soar?

The thing is, a lot of us have a very limited perspective on what we can achieve, what our capabilities are … ‘I can’t dance, I can’t do detail, I can’t focus, I am rubbish with numbers’. Jo has an expression she uses all the time, "Get rid of the nonsense in your head, it’s a lie! Delete it. It is a waste of your energy. Instead focus on what is true”

In reality we are all much more capable than we think we are – the thing is, discovering our potential does require courage – it doesn’t just happen. A quote we really love from the Nobel prize winning poet TS Eliot is, "only those who will risk going far, can possibly find out how far one can go”

So what’s the risk? Why does fulfilling our potential require courage?

Well – it’s about feedback…

Having either coached or facilitated over 14,000 plus global senior executi...

“Poor mental wellbeing in our key employees is probably a bigger risk to our business than increasing inflation rates right now” a CEO of a design company said to me last week

“The thing is, as a business we are doing really well, but our lead designer has just been signed off for burnout, our clients are being really understanding, and we are supporting him as best we can, so we are OK – but really, employee wellbeing is becoming our top priority"

This successful CEO is not alone...

Looking after wellbeing is now on all our to-do lists. All employees are asking for it and super smart CEOs, and CPOs know that if you are really interested in wellbeing for your staff, then what makes a real difference, is to do something to set them up, so they can handle difficult situations, live their best lives, and essentially thrive during changing times

From finance directors of large corporations to the owner of your local artisanal bakery - everyone is now in agreement that wellbeing is impo...

Today, when you meet your friends and family and ask how they are, how likely are you to get a sense from the energy they give off that they are feeling genuinely confident, happy and content?

It's true that in today's world feeling strong, poised, curious and open is pretty rare

If you are like us, you will find that most people you meet are feeling unsure, burned out, anxious and/or stressed. Even after fabulous holidays and weekends spent laughing in the sunshine - most of us don't seem to feel strong, poised and full of self-belief right now. The thing is, that is a real shame because in truth, this means a lot of us are wasting our talents - just at a point in time when the world needs our talents more than ever

A lot of us lack self-assurance because we are not aware of, yet alone using our talents and strengths

Choosing Confidence is about learning how to gain self-assurance, poise and self-belief. Learning how to trust yourself and know you are enough 

People who are prog...

Most of us have heard the well known saying, "80% of success is Showing Up", yet if this is true, why is it that so few of us actually do Show Up?

Let's start with what we mean by Showing Up

Showing Up is about allowing ourselves to be seen. Courage and vulnerability are the essence of what we are doing when we reveal ourself, we are being open - being open about our commitments, our accountabilities, where we are weak and where we are strong

This is Showing Up

If you think through people you know, at home and at work, you can probably come up with very few examples of people who really do Show Up who are consistent, who do what they say will do and are accountable for their actions, 100% of the time

The thing is, often the reason we aren't really truly, consistently Showing Up, is because we are not starting with Showing Up for ourselves first

Particularly if we see ourselves as 'high performers' - we will talk proudly about how we Show Up at work, and equally - if we see oursel...

If you are anything like me, then you may well find 'change' a bit of a tricky concept...

On the one hand we are surrounded by evidence that change is the only way forwards, on the other hand it can be pretty overwhelming and is often one of the reasons we feel stressed and frazzled on a regular basis

Here's the thing about change, most people - especially people who call themselves high performers, will talk confidently about how they are open to change. We are keen to be on the project teams, keen to be in the new roles, keen to not be left behind. And yet - when it actually comes down to doing things differently, working in completely new ways, with new people, new systems, new processes - very few of us actually welcome change

What's more, from Jo's experience, whenever she speaks about building change muscles in business 99% of people say they are agile, they are up for it, they are open to change yet once she actually delves a bit deeper the truth becomes patently clear. Ofte...

Countless studies prove that journaling is an extremely powerful way to boost our mental wellbeing, reduce depression and anxiety, and make us more content, productive and all-around happier with our lives

Boosting our ability to cope with intrusive and avoidant thoughts is one of the key benefits cited. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that students who wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings (handwritten or digital) in the month leading up to a big exam had fewer depressive symptoms because they didn’t dwell as much on their intrusive thoughts. What’s more, a  2018 study from the National Library of Medicine found that adults who completed a 15-minute online journaling session three days a week for 12 weeks were less likely to ruminate on their anxious thoughts and better able to move past them

Improving working memory, sleep, increasing creativity, and reducing stress, are all sizeable benefits of journaling...

...according to a ...

As so-called high performers we often define our success as being promoted into positions of leadership

Finally we get to do the things which other leaders before us, failed to get done

When the first few promotions come, we excitedly check the increase in our bank account. We 'accept' the invitations to the ‘important meetings,’ previously above our pay grade. We lean forward in our chairs, relishing the intellectual challenge of new projects and responsibilities. We thrive with the opportunity to lead our team and prove our collective value

Then the reality of our leadership roles kick in and we can often feel 'stuck', sapped of energy and overwhelmed with the task in front of us

Change is constant, targets are tougher, yet the cash and resource often required to hit those targets is constantly cut. and I haven’t even mentioned the politics, goodness the politics!

When we have a catch up with our boss - what we need is momentum, energy, insight - what we often get is 30 minutes ...

Nearly all successful adults, it seems, tend to be weighed down by the responsibilities of work and life ...

We have forgotten the joy, the delight, the wonder, and awe that we had as children - we have forgotten how to be playful

Have you ever stopped to think about the impact of this on your life, and not just your own life, also that of you children and loved ones? How much fun and joy we miss out on, because we have become 'stuck' - forgetting the joys of being playful, flexible, adaptable

Being Playful is often a huge mind-set shift for people. We tend to be more restricted by our past experiences, than being optimistic about our future because we don’t see ourselves as a work in progress. Our brain is most agile when we approach life seeing ourselves as a work in progress

Re-learning how to be open and see everything as a work in progress is supremely important

Choosing to be optimistic is something that all of us can benefit from, it adds a childlike curiosity, a wonder and...