The Freedom Paradox
If you read my last blog post, you’ll remember I’ve been reading Eleanor Roosevelt’s You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life. At that point I’d only read to chapter 4, but now I’ve not only finished the whole book but reread a good chunk of...
Simple Advice on How to Be Productive
For my birthday this year I was lucky enough to be bought some beautiful, useful and indulgent gifts by my thoughtful friends and family, including a number of books that have been sitting on my ‘wishlist’. My brother-in-law bought me Eleanor Roosevelt’s You Learn by...
Why Does Happiness Matter?
Over the last 8 years or so I’ve found I’ve been strongly drawn to seeking to understand, as well as experience, happiness. I don’t believe happiness is something trivial, fluffy or a ‘nice to have’. It’s more than just an antidote to the pain and suffering we can...
Happiness vs Meaning in Life
You may remember I mentioned I’m studying the Science of Happiness through a course created by University of California Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Centre. I’ve only just started the course, but it’s already stimulating me to think about happiness in a much deeper...
Why It’s OK to Not Have Ourselves ‘Sorted’!
Have you ever met anyone who was perfectly happy with every aspect of themselves, their lives or relationships, with no desire for anything to be different? I don’t believe I ever have! The desire for change and improvement seems natural and part of being a human...
A Simple and Powerful Self-Compassion Method
With luck, I may be sunning myself on the beautiful Island of Mallorca as you read this. So as I’m on holiday I feel no guilt in bring in another ‘guest post’ from Leo Babauta of www.zenhabits.net. Of course he actually doesn’t know he’s done a guest post, but as he...
Finding Motivation on Important But Non-Urgent Tasks
So, it’s family holiday time for me again – a full lovely fortnight away with the four people nearest and dearest to me. I find it very compelling to have the deadline of a holiday to ‘clear the decks’ so I can go away with an easy mind – it makes it easy to connect...
Finding Your Purpose – Why Does It Matter?
2013 and 2014 were both challenging years for me and my family, with big, unplanned, painful and uncontrollable events; if you’re a regular reader you’ll know I broke my leg quite badly in 2013, and the following year was dominated by my Mum’s illness and death....
How Lucky I Am – Lessons from Chernobyl’s Child Part 2
If you’ve read last week’s blog post, you’ll already know how we came to become a host family for Friends of Chernobyl’s Children. We’d asked to host a little girl and only received a little information about her before the visit. We knew her name is Valya. She’s 7...
How Lucky I Am – Lessons from Chernobyl’s Child Part 1
I’ve been asked to share my experiences as a Friends of Chernobyl’s Children host family in an article for a coaching newsletter. When I started to write, it became much more than an article and I wanted to share the story here with you. I’ve split it into two parts –...
Ten Key Steps to Living a Happier Life
You may know that I’m a huge supporter of Action for Happiness. For everyone who signs up on my website and completes my e-course I donate £1 to Action for Happiness and later this week I’m going to be making the donation for the past year; I’m delighted that at the...
How We Talk to Children and Their Inner Critics
The other day I saw this Peggy O’Mara quote and picture on the Action for Happiness website, and it really got me thinking. I saw it just after I’d been talking with a coaching client who had reflected that her sense of never being ‘good enough’ started from a very...