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  • Blog, Home, Manifesting, mindset

    I had this on my vision board for the longest time

    I don’t know about you, but I love a vision board, and have used one for years.

    That said, I’m not really into cutting out pictures of what I want as I’m not actually a very visual person. Instead I have a notebook that every time I think of something I want to Be, Do or Have that’s a bit out of reach I write it in.

    The cool thing about this is that I can see what I’ve wanted over the years so when it pops up and actually happens I always have a mini melt down of ‘OMG that’s on my list!!’

    And that’s exactly what happened recently.

    Years ago I wrote…’perform at Edinburgh Fringe’ on my list.

    If you don’t know what this is, it’s a big comedy and performance festival that’s held in Edinburgh, Scotland, every single year and it’s globally famous. People come from far and wide to perform and watch all the acts.

    Now, at the time I wrote this on my list I’d just done a bit of stand up comedy and loved it, so maybe that’s where that came from…I’m not all that sure…but it was on there. Written in magic pen!

    The other thing that’s worth mentioning is that I’m in a choir. Something that I absolutely love to do. I’m not a solo singer by any stretch, but singing with a group of fab people is totally my jam.

    Anyway, at the beginning of the year it was announced that our choir’s tour would be performing this year at the Edinburgh Fringe!

    Yep, I had a mini melt down!

    So, that’s what’s happening this weekend. YAY!!!!

    I’m beyond excited that something that’s been on my list is coming to fruition and just goes to show that even though you might not see immediate results, it doesn’t mean that its not going to happen. Sometimes things just take a while.

    Like chess pieces moving around a board.​

    This is how I visualise manifesting. The universe needs time to move the pieces to line everything up with whatever you want – and often there are a lot of moving pieces to consider, especially when we keep changing things too.

    So, the lesson here is, keep taking action, focus on your goal and don’t lose faith that what you want is on it’s way to you.

    If you’re interested in seeing what mischief I get up to at Edinburgh Fringe I’ll be posting it on my Instagram stories so click here to follow along.​

     

  • Business, Home, mindset, Podcast

    How to get unstuck and get the momentum you want

    You know that feeling of being stuck, where it just seems like you’re taking one step forwards and one back and you can’t seem to make the progress that you want no matter what you try?

    If so, this is exactly what I’m talking about today on this weeks podcast

    I’m sharing

    – How to get yourself back on track and starting afresh

    – How to stop yourself falling into the same traps as before

    – And how to maintain your momentum when it starts

    and if you’d like to the E-book so you can learn the 5 sneaky ways you’re holding yourself back and what to do about them, click here.

     

  • Blog, Business, Home, mindset, Podcast

    5 powerful life changing questions

    I’ve been called ‘the Queen of powerful questions’ more than once because one thing I know for sure, when we ask ourselves deep questions we get great answers.

    It’s actually something we do on a regular basis in the Smash Your Own Ceiling world, so today I’d love to gift you some questions that the SYOC Community have loved!!

    All you need to do is get yourself your favourite drink, a notebook and a pen and write the question at the top of the page and answer it. There’s no right or wrong answer with how you do this, just answer the question and see what comes up.

    Have a listen and let me know which one spoke to you the most.

     

    I’d love to know what your favourite question is (and any light bulb moments that you might have had.) Let me know by hitting reply in the comments and if you’re ready to join the Smash Your Own Ceiling Community click here

  • Business, Home, mindset, Podcast

    How to make friends with fear

    Have this ever happened to you?

    You were happily doing your thing, feeling good about what you were about to do, when….suddenly…fear strikes…and your thoughts turned to things like…

    ‘What will other people think?’

    ‘This isn’t good enough’

    ‘I’m going to fail’

    And so on….

    If so, this week’s podcast is for you as I share tips on How to make friends with fear*

    Now you might be reading this thinking…why on Earth would I want to do that?

    Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but your fear is here to stay….and it’s always going to be popping up when you least want it to, stopping us in our tracks.

    Our job is not to avoid fear, but to learn to move through it so we keep taking action and we keep growing, and to know that fear is actually a sign that we’re growing.

    I share:

    What fear is really doing and why

    Practical tips to move through fear

    How to feel the fear and keep moving forwards.

     

    and if you’re ready for some support click here to see how I can help.

  • Blog, Business, Home, mindset

    What would you do if you were really brave?

    This question made me think this week…

    What would you do in your business or career if you were really, really brave?

    It was a text back and forth with one of my friends and even though I’d asked the question, it really made me think for a couple of reasons.

    1) All of the things I wrote down were things I could actually do now

    But most importantly

    2) The next question that came up pretty much straight away was…why aren’t I doing them?

    Cue a list of excuses…

    The thing is excuses are sneaky little blighters as they feel like actual real life reasons…but they’re not.

    I know this because of a game I lovingly called the ‘Million pound drop’

    Here’s how it goes…

    Think of something that you’d do in your business / career if you were brave.

    Got it?

    Now think of why you can’t do it.

    OK…would you do it if I was going to give you £1 million??

    If the answer is yes you’ve just caught yourself an excuse.

    Because all the ‘reasons’ why you weren’t doing them have just literally vanished.

    Give it a go, then see whether you can have a go at the things on your first list.

     

    FREE DOWNLOAD – Get your copy of 20 powerful questions to get you from where you are now, to where you want to be

  • Business, Home, mindset, Podcast

    Healing the Mother Wound with Brooke Bownes

    This week I’m excited to share a conversation with the fantastic Brooke Bownes.
    Brooke is an accredited trauma coach, therapist & global No.1 bestselling author. She works with midlife women who struggle with mother wounds and want to heal those wounds, find their power, confidence and release their trauma so they can go for their goals. 
    She’s passionate about this as she once felt powerless and was scared to show up in the world as herself, she then started working on her mindset, she discovered who she was & love the feeling of inner contentment and confidence. She went from scared to speaking on stage.
    She is an introvert that discovered how to rewire her brain and regulate her nervous system, release my trauma so she could achieve the dreams she wanted to achieve and now she helps people do the same.
    She can hand on heart say ‘I know it can be done, she has walked in similar shoes to yours, she has felt your fears, she has been frustrated by blocks.
    A bit about her background, she had an abusive relationship growing up with a narcissist mother, she then moved on to two abusive relationships, she’s been homeless, she’s brought up 4 children single handed, she has a unique way of understanding people where they are at andhelping them to find their power.
    She now lives in a beautiful house with my husband and run a successful business whilst having fun on adventures in their camper van.
    In this episode we talk about:
     – What is the Mother Wound
     – How to tell if you have a narcissistic mother
     – The effects that you might experience as an adult
     
    You can find Brooke here:
    brooke@brookebownes.com
    FB free group
    Instagram
     
  • Business, Home, mindset, Podcast

    How to set goals that work

    In this episode I take you through my goal setting process so get your notebook, and pen at the ready and let’s get started.

    I share:

    The missing piece in goal setting that makes all the difference

    The step by step process for setting goals

    How and why you should even bother

    Listen in here

  • Blog, Business, Home, mindset, time

    How creating space in your diary can help when something unexpected happens

    Life happens sometimes!

    At the end of last year my eldest daughter got ill and had to go into hospital for a few days

    So, I did what any mum would do. I dropped everything, completely cleared my diary and focused on her and being a mum, because this is actually the reason I resigned from my corporate life back in 2010…and it’s something I have never ever lost sight of.

    I’m a mum first!

    I know how real the juggle is!!

    My diary was full to the brim on this particular week as I was trying to clear things off before the holidays…so there was a lot of emails saying we had to push back to the New Year and it reminded me of something that I fiercely protect.

    SPACE!!!

    I learnt this skill from my corporate life and from working with hundreds of CEO’s, Managing Directors and Senior Leaders…

    SPACE IS QUEEN!!!

    When you consciously protect space in your diary, you can nudge things around if you need to without frantically searching for a day or even an hour to have that call that you needed to re-arrange.

    And when you cultivate space, you have time to think, reflect, or even take the afternoon off for a cheeky coffee and cake date with your best friend that you haven’t seen in ages.

    So,  take a glance at your diary and add in some space.

    Add in the school holidays or just normal holidays

    Add in dates with your other half (even if they end up being dates with yourself ?)

    Add in thinking and planning and strategy days

    And add in just the odd day here and there for unexpected fun.

    Creating space is magic!!

     

     

    DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE GUIDE – 20 POWERFUL QUESTIONS TO GET YOU FROM WHERE YOU ARE NOW TO WHERE YOU WANT TO BE

  • Blog, Home

    How to stop zoning in on the negatives

    The other day I was reminded of something that happened about twelve years ago when my eldest daughter was about seven. Her class at school were raising money for charity and had decided to do a sponsored spell of a hundred words. No mean feat for a child of that age.

    The day came and at the end of the school day my little girl ran out of the school gates excited to tell me that they’d had their spelling test and she’d got ninety-nine right. Fantastic…but you can guess what’s coming next…

    I said “That’s amazing. Which one did you get wrong?”

    Ninety-nine right and I zoomed straight in on the one she got wrong?! What was all that about?

    Not my best parenting moment – but something that happens all the time at work. How often have you ignored the many things that go right and are done well to focus on that one mistake?

    Yes there’s the argument that says that we want everything to be right, that there are standards to uphold – but it’s also a great motivator to celebrate success and see what’s going well.

    So how do we make the switch?

    1. Spend some time each day looking for the positives

    For some reason we seem to be hardwired to look for that one blip, and that one mistake. Instead try to (as Ken Blanchard says) ‘catch someone doing something right’ and look for the positives. What’s going well and where someone’s really gone that extra mile.

    2. Praise

    Everyone loves to be told when they’re doing a great job. It’s a great motivator and re-enforces the behaviour that you want. So, don’t wait – instead praise as soon as you can after the event.

    3. Communicate the positives

    It’s easy to focus on the missed targets, and the drop in sales when briefing your teams. Hearing messages like this day in day out can soon lead to an attitude of ‘what’s the point?’ so communicate the great stuff too, and celebrate success.

    Bonus Book Worm Tip: – Whale Done by Ken Blanchard is a great read if you want to learn more.

    I’d love to hear your ideas and experiences of where you’ve motivated your team and switched from focusing on the negatives to focusing on the positives. Let me know by leaving a comment.