How You Feel Reveals Who You Are

To kick the year off I'm delving into the value of feeling your feelings.

Having grown up in a family where difficult emotions were mostly covered up, ignored and brushed under the carpet, it's not been a topic I've felt particularly comfortable exploring.

How to Handle Difficult Questions

Are you heading off to a family and friends gathering this Christmas and rather than being excited about the prospect, you’re dreading the conversation?

If so, here’s a tool that will assist you handle difficult questions with power and grace.

Embracing Your Superpower

I loved super-heroes growing up.

Wonder Woman, Cat Woman and Superman were some of my favourites. While I enjoyed dressing up and pretending to be one I never thought I'd actually meet one - until last week.

Connect to Your Purpose

Last week I ran a poll on social media asking people "what's the main barrier that stops you speaking up at work?"

The most popular response was worrying what other people will think. If you can relate, here’s how to stop.

Expand Yourself by Challenging Your Beliefs

If you're committed to leading your best life, always learning and growing, then one of the challenges you may brush up against is the power of your beliefs.

Beliefs are the filters you see the world through. They shape your reality and are powerful influencers of how you experience your life.

Everyday Daring as a Strategy for Action

Do you often find yourself wanting to do something and then find you don't take action? Despite your best intentions, when the time comes to act, you retreat, rather than move forward? Perhaps the thing you want to do feels hard - it brings up feelings of discomfort so rather than leaning into it, you pull back?

Know, Trust & Listen to Yourself

Have you ever been told to "just be yourself"? Or to "turn up as yourself and everyone will love you"? or to "bring more of yourself to the table"? or similar phrases that imply the more you can simply be yourself, the better off you will be?

Why Personal Power is Key in the Long Run.

If you've ever held back from speaking up and then shared your experience with someone, you may have been told "perhaps you just need more courage." Or maybe you've tried giving yourself a pep talk or adopting the Nike approach of 'just do it!' to propel yourself to take action.

It's common wisdom that effectively managing your emotions is critical for being your best everyday. However, despite this, it's easy to let our feelings get the better of us. Taking the time to communicate your boundaries can help keep you centred and at your best.

Unmuting yourself to speak up in online meetings can have you feel a bit like a rabbit in the headlights. However contributing in an online environment is something we need to get used to. By growing your confidence to speak up you also demonstrate your leadership readiness.

I was excited recently to come across the work of Dr Kristin Neff, a world renowned expert in the area of self compassion.

In a talk she gave in 2013, Dr Neff makes an important distinction between self compassion and self esteem - one that is highly relevant when it comes to speaking up and effectively managing the voice in your head.

About a decade ago I found myself in a style rut.

I was wearing the same things over again and felt a need for a more planned approach to my wardrobe. So I enrolled in an evening course to learn some basic principles. One of the key things I learnt was never to wear apologetic jewellery.

I love listening to great speeches.

For me, they really highlight the power of words to shift our emotional state, to create a sense of inspiration and to challenge our thinking.

I'm a big fan of multi-tasking. Getting two things done at once gives me a great sense of satisfaction. When I go to the gym AND listen to a book my inner voice says "aren't you good - you're so productive - you're exercising AND reading at the same time."

I was in my hometown of Adelaide recently for a family celebration and had the opportunity to enjoy some quality time with my 10 year old niece Sophie by taking her shopping for a wardrobe update.

The year 2020 presented many challenges for businesses and organisations, including the growing expectation for leaders to speak to inspire.