Cuff Coaching

 A new year is upon us - let's hope that this year will be significantly better than 2020. However, whilst we dealt with COVID  (and many countries are still in the midst of it) we do have to acknowledge to ourselves the things that were positive for us - it gave us a chance to reflect on what is really important to us and then to start making those changes. But how long did it take before we fell back into the same rut as before? Did we create any new habits and actually sustain them - or did life get in the way and we found ourselves back doing the same thing over and over.  Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is something we have all heard of. In fact the saying usually has the word "Insanity" at the start. If we truly want to change something we actually have to do something straight way to make it happen. We can't just accept that it will happen for us - we need to practice it and put the time into it. For instance if we want a job...

I started writing this post a number of weeks ago - and due to just pure exhaustion and the daily end of year grind it came to a complete halt. This was let down for myself as I have tried to make it a habit - but as the stressors of the end of the end of year started to impact it was important to let some things be idle and accept that this is what is was for the time being. Everytime I began to write I had a block - which is my indication that my brain was struggling to be creative.  It was a full on term, with so many new challenges along the way. Not just with getting things done but with problem solving different situations with a variety of people. One of the many things that we can easily forget in all our stressors is that how we see things is completely different to how others perceive things. For instance we may feel that we have communicated clearly but the person hearing it can take it and turn it around on to hear in a number of different ways. This can then have flow ...

 Recently I have been reading more work from Brene Brown - The Gifts of Imperfection. I've read and followed Brene now for a number of years and really enjoyed this particular book. One thing that really resonated with me was her chapter on Meaningful work. Interestingly enough I had just finished reading this chapter when my daughter, who is extremely creative, said to me "Aren't you lucky to have someone who can bake so well (she's decorates and makes cakes in her spare time), play the piano and teach dance? I'm just amazing..."  And it really made me stop and think - yes she is pretty amazing.  I was bought up in the era of one job for life...and as we know now that isn't the case. But what got me from that conversation with my daughter was the ability for her to transfer all her skills across a number of work opportunities and make meaning of what she does. She makes little money off her cake decorating - for her it's her meaningful work. She does ...

What a crazy, busy short week it has been! I'm writing this post after having just been to the gym - writing this late is not what I normally do and a few factors have led to me now sitting down in some peace and quiet so that I actually have time to think and reflect.  Training later in the day is not a habit for me - I'm usually up at the crack of dawn, in the gym, home to eat, get changed and head off to work. But knowing I had three big days at work (one of them going until 9pm at night) I reorganised myself so that I trained in the afternoon. Please note that no matter how crazy things get training is always done. That's one of my habits. For me training helps me reset myself and spend some time giving something back to me - especially in days where I feel like all I have done is give to others all day (we all know how that feels). The other habit is to get this blog out on a Thursday during school term time.  So as a coach I've had to think about what can I do to ...

 It's been a pretty crazy, chaotic couple of weeks! I've been juggling lots both personally and professionally and trying to stay positive throughout it. I do have a habit of usually looking at the positive side of things - in fact my kids usually tell me that (my saying tends to be...but on the positive side ...) In fact I think I wrote that in a text message this morning.  The power of positive thinking has been heavily researched throughout the last ten years. We know that positive thinking makes us happier, more successful and brings our anxiety levels down. We know that positive thinking changes the way that we approach our relationships and our workplace and we also know that through positive thinking we can turn things around for ourselves in numerous ways. We also know from the research that negative thoughts cause us to go into the fight or flight mode. Our breathing and heartbeats increase, our cortisol levels increase, our brains go into impulsive thinking patterns....

 It's been a couple of weeks since my last post due to the break with school. Our school non contact time is always such an important time to refresh, to repair ourselves and usually to catch up with all those other things that we tend to let go during term time. This break was a particularly hard one with a bereavement.  However, along with this was the time to get away for a few days, have a few laughs, take some time with loved ones and reflect on all the great things that make life so fulfilling.  One thing that I have been focusing on is how to include more ways to develop more spiritual practices within my daily life. I have used tai chi, chi gong, yoga and other breathing practices but never really connected with them deep enough. I like to go for a walk, but even then find it hard to slow it down and really just appreciate all that is around me. However, over the break I made one  discovery, which led to a conversation with my girlfriend who was staying with ...