As my birthday rolls around this year, I’ve been thinking about how people feel about their birthday arriving and whether they treat it like a celebration or not. I have friends who feel it’s nothing special and prefer to ignore it, others who acknowledge it but don’t like being made a fuss of, and then others who love an excuse to take the day ... Read On
How to really get the juice out of gratitude
I’ll never forget the first time I saw the beautiful images of frozen water crystals in Masaru Emoto’s book, The Hidden Messages in Water. The one for ‘love and appreciation’ was so stunning I think it’s been etched on my visual cortex forever. Anytime I think of this it reminds me how powerful the act of doing gratitude is. It has an energy and ... Read On
Hope is always there, even when it feels lost
I’ve lost hope before. When I’ve been ill. Alone. Broke. Sad. Angry. Grieving. I realised recently that as I made my way through those times and came out the other side, even though I may have given up hope at times, it was still there. It's really not easy to see when you're in the thick of it. Maybe you've given up. Perhaps you're in ... Read On
Comfort Can Kill Your Spirit
I’ve been super inspired by a number of clients recently who have opted out of their current jobs because of poor leadership, limited opportunities, or a crappy culture. They’ve defined their ideal role or next step and then gone and got it. So good! This is on the back of thinking a lot lately about how attached we can become to the comfort of ... Read On
When was the last time you were kind to yourself?
And why does it even matter? Can you recall the last time you were kind to yourself? Was it so recently, even today, that it immediately comes to mind? Or are you searching through your memory banks to see if you can find something? And what do I mean by kindness? I’m talking about treating yourself kindly in the same small and big ways you ... Read On
Whole Happy Well
I’ve been thinking a lot a lot lately about how many of our patterns and behaviours are driven by a sense of needing to be available for others and to ‘perform’. Historically my motivation for getting a good night's sleep was so that I could work hard (usually for someone else). I was motivated to eat healthily and keep my weight at a good ... Read On
Your inner alignment is your super-power
As some of my community will be aware, I’ve had a rather protracted health journey over the last almost 10 years or so. I recall lying in bed one day near the beginning of that journey, bowled over with glandular fever and unable to work. It was mid-afternoon and I was reading a book about healing the body and the importance of knowing why you want ... Read On
Our unresolved stuff can be a sneaky little energy drain
Do you recall the sensation of finally getting something off your chest or resolving a situation with a friend? Of how much of a relief it was and how much lighter you felt afterwards? Isn’t it funny how often it’s only with retrospect that we realise how much that situation was taking up space within us? How heavy it was on our shoulders? This ... Read On
Start With You Means Having Sovereignty Over Yourself
When I rebranded my business to Start With You back in 2015, it was after a lot of exploring and soul-searching, primarily about why I do what I do and what it’s really about. (I can highly recommend Simon Sinek’s book “Start With Why” and his online resources to help with this process, by the way. Oh, and it wasn’t until the following day after ... Read On
How those work challenges help you step up as a human
A number of years ago I wrote an article about how our work journey is part of our spiritual journey, and partly what I was saying is that the work challenges we face are often growing us not just professionally but personally too. These days, for me, separating out our personal and professional selves is virtually impossible. I believe the whole ... Read On