A professional, accredited Coach can be the Catalyst of Change.
These days in almost every coaching session, I find that my client wants to discuss or focus on general wellbeing, and that sometimes elusive work/life balance. As I am often asked for tips, I thought I’d collate my top 10 and share them here.
Top Tip
First you need to find your WHY. Bestselling author of “Start with Why”, Simon Sinek asks us to imagine a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every day inspired, feel safe wherever they are and end the day fulfilled by the work they do*. It is definitely achievable, it takes time, effort, and focus, but once achieved, everything else just falls into place.
10 more tips
1. Deep restorative sleep – it’s the time when our brain rests, and our body can rejuvenate. I put it first because it’s the basis for everything else. A sound sleep routine is an important habit.
2. Mindset – Staying in the moment and being truly present can support a healthier mood, minimise regret over the past, and concern or anxiety, for the future.
3. Task clarity – Establishing and adhering to a system for; how you set up your workspace, how you manage your workflow, and how you prioritise and execute your work.
4. Coaching – Working with a qualified and accredited coach who can meet with you in a non-judgemental space, focussed only on you, your goals, and supporting you to achieve them.
5. Breathing space – Find time in your day to pause. Daily stress/ back-to-back meetings/ constantly checking your laptop/ iPad and iPhone for messages/ emails etc is not healthy, nor is it productive. Finding time to pause/ breathe and reset is absolutely vital for mental and physical health.
6. Physical exertion – Move your body/ walk/ run/ skip/ cycle/ do yoga/ pilates/ swim/ go to the gym, dance, whatever you enjoy – do it for at least 20 minutes every day. Your body and mind will thank you.
7. Clean Eating – You are what you eat, so make conscious choices about what you put into your digestive system. Limit daily intake of sugary drinks/ alcohol/ tobacco/ illegal and prescription drugs. Increase fruit/ vegetables/ nuts – eat some raw every day.
8. Laugh out aloud – Whatever makes you laugh, find it, enjoy it, and make sure that once a day you laugh. It feels so good to laugh, it releases happy endorphins and it can instantly lighten your mood.
9. Resilience – If the task ahead seems overwhelming, pause, remember other times when you did hard things and survived. It’s life’s highs and lows that build resilience and strength of character. Draw on your own internal strength, dig deep, you have it within you to deal with whatever comes your way. Believe that.
10. Gratitude – Shift focus from all that is wrong/ has been wrong/ and could go wrong. Instead take time to be truly grateful for the small and huge positives in your life. Use a journal, social media, tell a friend, whatever you feel comfortable doing – just do it. Be grateful, when you are, it lightens your load and shows on your face.
*Source: Start with Why Simon Sinek