Listen Now

This week I’m sharing how after a few weeks of contemplation, I’m pressing pause on several aspects of my business including my weekly podcast. I’ve had to put my hand up and concede that I need a rest. In this very personal episode, my final one before I take what I’m calling a practical sabbatical, I share the question that prompted this reassessment. We’ve all been through so much and sometimes a pause is needed, not just to reassess direction, but to take a breath to rebalance and resource ourselves. If you’re feeling lost, stuck, or know some change is trying to take place in your life or work, know you are not alone. I’m walking the path too.

What are you investing in? We don’t just invest money, we invest our time and energy too. This week I look at 6 different aspects of life including physical and mental health, relationships, career, and future security, and ask how am I investing my time, energy, and resources. I focus on the idea of investing in our dreams and look at the challenges we have to navigate, especially the voice of the inner saboteur. I also recount a story about how I invested in my dream of running my own business and the unexpected dividends I reaped when I committed to taking action.

This week on my podcast I’m taking a moment to acknowledge and celebrate the 200th edition of my monthly community ezine Next Steps. Over the last 17 years, I’ve written and distributed my newsletter to my clients and contacts every month for 200 consecutive months. That’s over 600 articles and book reviews. It’s said consistency is key with any marketing initiative, so I certainly adhered to that! Expanding on the theme of recognising achievements, this week I delve into why it is important to celebrate successes and why we can be reluctant to do so. Also having taken time out to review old editions of my ezine I’ve noticed common themes have emerged. I’ll be sharing these too.  

For those of us blessed with good hearing listening is a primary sense, it’s how we interpret the audible environment. There are times when we can be very bad listeners. Poor listening skills are the number one marker of poor leadership and poor communication skills. All conflict and complaints arise because someone doesn’t feel listened to or understood. Attentive listening shows that we care, it’s the simplest way to recognise and appreciate others. It’s what makes a good friend. This week, in addition to some practical listening tips, I explain why listening is not a passive exercise. I also take you through the 12 barriers to listening as well as recounting a workshop I attended a few years ago that transformed my listening skills.

Self-care is more than pampering or shopping, everything that is marketed under the banner of ‘I deserve it.’ In this week’s episode, I’ll be looking at the tough love side of self-love and how self-care is finding a way to be gentle with our precious heart in the midst of life’s challenges and messiness. It’s an area many of us can struggle with, myself included. Whilst cosseting and pampering is balm for the mind, body, and soul, it’s a small part of self-care and sometimes can distract from the real work of caring for the self.

This week I’m joined by Bernie Rogers an experienced, coach, trainer, and facilitator. Bernie ran the NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) courses I attended in the past. We speak about how we personally benefited from NLP and how NLP tools and techniques underpin so much of our work with clients. I was fascinated when Bernie spoke about mBit (multiple brain integration techniques) and how to align the wisdom of the head, heart, and gut, something that is very new in the personal development world. For more about Bernie and the NLP and mBit courses she runs, check out www.nlptraininginstitute.com

We’ve all heard the adage about not wishing you spent more time in the office as you lie on your deathbed. With offices reopening this autumn, the sentiment is relevant for many people. For some, it’s Sunday night syndrome multiplied by ten, like that dread of the new school year we had as children. For others, it’s ‘JORTO’ the joy of returning to the office. In this week’s episode, I’ll be exploring some of the issues we are all grappling with as we navigate this uncharted territory. I also share triage self-care tips for those times when we feel overwhelmed.  

Over the years I’ve developed a morning routine that sets me up for the day ahead. In this week’s episode, (the last for two weeks as I take a summer holiday) I share the menu of options I use to allow me to go into the day as the best of myself.  In today’s busy, noisy, fearful world we all want to respond to events not react to them, to feel proactive, grounded, aligned, and in control of how we engage with the world. My morning routine is my handrail for doing this. I’m not rigid when it comes to this self-care practice, I like to mix it up, but I find the 30-60 minutes of investment in myself repays me tenfold throughout the day.   

The theme this week aligns with one of my key intentions with my podcast, which is to present you with an opportunity to pause, reflect and connect with your inner wisdom. This week’s episode is built around 6 questions. They are an invitation for your to take a trip down memory lane, to acknowledge how far you’ve come, and to reconnect with your sources of inspiration. From favorite journeys, gifts received and goals achieved there’s plenty of food for thought. I’ll be sharing my responses to the questions too. If you journal, this week’s episode will have to reaching for your notebook and pen.

Most of us are fully paid up members of the tough on ourselves club, so this week I’m suggesting that you are probably doing better than you give yourself credit for. So often we run the pattern that there is something wrong with us that needs to be fixed, but remember we can be both perfectly ourselves and still be works in progress. This week’s episode is a reality check, a time to take stock and to acknowledge how far you’ve come. I share 15 signs that you are doing fairly ok. I close with a short reflection, powerful words that shift perspective and give us permission to be a little more gentle with ourselves.

Did you know that on average we will attend 42 interviews over the course of our careers? This week I’m delving into a topic that is a core part of my business and that’s interview skills coaching. If you have an interview on the horizon this week’s episode will cover all the basics of quality preparation. The themes of communication and influencing skills and promoting what you do are relevant in many other situations too, from sales and presentations to running effective meetings. As I say to my clients, being offered the job, the contract, or the place on the course, is outside of your control so the focus is on controlling what you can control. I share tips for banishing common misconceptions about interviews, how to respond to probably questions, as well as key distinctions when it comes to giving examples to illustrate competencies.

This week I’m joined by Roly Miller who is eLearning & Digital Media Manager with Jobcare. Established in 1994 Jobcare is a charity that provides training, resource services and transitional work programmes to equip unemployed people with the skills to secure and sustain work. What I particularly admire about Jobcare is their ethos that ‘Working Matters,’ that everyone has the right to a form of employment, ensuring people are not left behind. In addition to discussing the services Jobcare provide, Roly speaks about the unforeseen benefits people get from their free programmes. We chat about how they successfully pivoted their services online at the start of the Covid crisis. I also share my experiences of volunteering with them for many years. If you find yourself between jobs, or are interested in volunteering your services to such a worthy cause, be sure to tune in. www.jobcare.ie

This week I’m delighted to be joined by Des Canning, a counselor, and psychotherapist. I was a client of Des’s earlier this year and I’m a huge fan of his work. In an open and frank conversation, we chat about how men can still be reluctant to discuss mental health and to reach out for assistance. I share some of the ways receiving counseling has benefited me. Des speaks about his journey from working in telecoms to following his passion and establishing his own counseling practice. Other themes of our conversation include, how we can be our own worst enemies, acknowledging that we do our best, and seeing ourselves as others see us. Des also shares some beautiful and profound quotes that really spoke to me. An episode not to be missed. 

Inspired by all the great sport on TV, and with the Olympics just around the corner, this week I’m exploring the topic of high performance. What does it mean, how do we recognise it and how do we attain it. I define high performance as achieving above and beyond expected results in a sustainable way over the long term. In this episode I’ll take you through what I refer to as the 7 disciples of high performance, including the mindset as well as the personal qualities that all high performers draw upon, irrespective of their field of endeavor.

Are you a corporate mystic? That’s the question I’m posing this week. The word mystic might conjure up a guru living in a cave, or even Yoda from Star Wars. For me, a corporate mystic is an enlightened leader, someone who is comfortable harnessing the wisdom of both head and heart and who inspires and is inspiring. Integrity is a value espoused in every organisation, but integrity is not just the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, it’s also the state of being whole and undivided. So this week I’m exploring why companies need corporate mystics as well as the qualities of corporate mystics. Maybe you will recognise yourself in the description?

I’m joined this week by Georgina Durcan an Intuitive Therapist who is affectionately known as the ‘Soul Whisperer.’ In her work, Georgina points the way for her clients to come home to who they truly are. I so enjoyed our conversation and I think you will too. Georgina shared her story, how a breakdown led to a breakthrough, and to her own soul calling. She also speaks about how she helps her clients connect with their internal guidance system, a practice that always leads to our highest good and greatest joy. She tells us about her own self-care practice and the importance of carving moments of joy. She lets us in on the story behind her new Soul Side Up Mantra Card deck, a fantastic resource that I’ve been using every day. It was such an uplifting conversation. Find out more about Georgina and her work by visiting www.georginadurcan.com 

Imposter syndrome, that sense of not being good enough, feeling like a fraud, and having the fear of being found out, is the topic I’m delving into this week. If we are honest, it’s something we can all relate to. I believe that imposter syndrome is part of our human make-up, it’s in our DNA, so we can’t remove it, but we can learn to diminish it, so it doesn’t prevent us from reaching for our potential and living the truest expression of ourselves. So in this episode, as well as sharing tips and practices for overcoming imposter syndrome I’ll be exploring the underlining beliefs that fuel this habit of fear-based thinking. I’ll also speak about my experiences with imposter syndrome and what I do to combat it.

This week I’m delighted to be joined by Eileen Hopkins an experienced Psychotherapist, Life, Career & Public Speaking Coach and Certified Trainer. Having worked in nursing and nurse management for many years, Eileen has a passion for emotional health, self-care, resilience, personal development, pain management, education, and empowering change. I so enjoyed our wide-ranging conversation where we explored topics including fear of change, compassionate inquiry, our experiences of psychotherapy and having the courage to be vulnerable. As an award-winning toastmaster, Eileen also shared some tips for speaking in public.

As well as sharing what I hope is thought-provoking, maybe even inspiring content and conversations, a key intention with my podcast is to give you an opportunity to take some time out of your busy schedule and reconnect with yourself and your inner wisdom. This week’s episode is based around 5 questions that encourage us to pause, connect with a sense of gratitude, and maybe even have a little trip down memory lane. If you journal, this week’s episode will have you reaching for your pen and notebook.

This week I’m exploring what work life balance means today. No longer do we have the physical environment as a distinguishing factor as technology means we can carry our work and networks around with us. In metaphysics, balance is a point between opposing forces, but I don’t like the idea of work and life being in opposition. Equally, what’s the point in having work and personal life balanced, if you are not feeling fulfilled. For me, it’s simply about balance and overall quality of life. It’s also about forging a path through competing tensions, the commitments you have to others, and the commitments you have to yourself and your family. As I explore what balance might look like, or more importantly, feel like, I also share tips and distinctions and as usual pose plenty of questions for you to reflect upon.