Tag: resilience

Where coaching fits around therapies

Posted LisaPosted in Awakening, Coaching, Online Training, Resilience

Sometimes people aren’t sure where coaching fits around clinical therapies. One of the first things we as coaches are required to do when a client approaches us for information about coaching, is to explain the difference between coaching and other therapies. Coaching is future focused – identifying where a client is now, where they want to be in the future and filling the gaps between now and then with a sustainable plan, clear steps, ongoing support and accountability.  Coaching is not the same as counselling, psychotherapy, mentoring or training.  Counselling and psychotherapy deal with problems, often from the past.  Mentoring and training are instructional interventions, where the client is taught how to do something. Sometimes there is an overlap, for example, we all have had bad things happen to us in the past and if these come up in coaching that’s perfectly fine because it helps the client and the […]

Hopeful Activities

Posted LisaPosted in Awakening, Business Coaching, Coaching, Nurse Leadership, Nurses, Online Training, Parenting, Resilience

One of the tools we can use to build and maintain our resilience is a set of what I call ‘Hopeful Activities’. What do I mean by ‘Hopeful Activities’? Well, these are some go-to-actions that we can do when we’re feeling stuck or even feeling a little down or challenged. In the Resilience Hub this week is a new video with some examples to help you, or even help you think of some hopeful activities of your own. If you are sick with worry about something I invite you to find at least one ‘hopeful activity’ that you can do. It creates hope. It distracts you and gives you something to focus on. Until next week, take care of yourself, Lisa

Capturing moments of gratitude

Posted LisaPosted in Awakening, Business Coaching, Coaching, Online Training, Parenting, Resilience

Benjamin Disreali said “Nurture your minds with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes.” If you make a consistent and sustained effort to think positive thoughts, and to reframe every situation in a positive light, you can retrain your brain over time so that positive thought processes become more natural, more of a habit and easier to do. I often talk about the value of gratitude for reframing challenging situations and making them easier to bear.  One of the most common tips (and I use this often myself as a tip and as a habit) is to keep a gratitude journal where you write regularly – preferably every day – several things that you are grateful for. I recently came across an interesting alternative, just to mix things up or if you just can’t create the habit of writing every day. There are so many apps now that […]

The Benefits of Music for our Mental Health

Posted LisaPosted in Awakening, Coaching, Resilience

If you have ever felt energised by a song, or indeed soothed by a song, you will agree that music can affect or change our mood in an instant.  We choose music to listen to depending on whether we want to feel better, calmer, invigorated or motivated. But did you know there are other benefits of listening to music? Research has shown that music improves our cognitive function.  Upbeat music improves the speed at which we think and slower music improves our memory. Music has been shown to change our physiological reaction to stress, particularly the autonomic responses or reflex responses that happen without our conscious control.  Music helps people to recover from stress more quickly. Another study showed that soft music and dim lights caused people to eat more slowly and therefore eat less because it takes a few minutes after eating for us to notice and feel full […]

Is your mindset ‘Open for Business’ for developing resilience?

Posted LisaPosted in Business Coaching, Coaching, Online Training, Resilience

The importance of mindset in developing resilience can’t be overstated.  It’s one of the most important pillars of a resilient life and it features in my Resilience Framework – the one I designed based on years as a nurse and as a coach, and that I use regularly to help my 1:1 clients identify what’s working well and what needs more attention.   Luckily, like many of the other pillars, mindset is something you have control over.  It’s doesn’t rely on anyone else.  It’s within your power to improve it. To develop your level of resilience, your mindset must be programmed so that you are ‘Open for Business‘ in terms of personal growth. Experiences (both good and bad) are a wasted opportunity for personal growth if you don’t reflect on them and identify what you have learned from them. In the Resilience Hub this week there is a new video with […]

How does a Resilience Coach start the day?

Posted LisaPosted in Coaching, Resilience

How do you start your day?  Do you provide your fabulously faithful and loyal body with the fuel it needs for the day ahead? I have wondered how to write this post without it sounding ‘preachy’ because I definitely do not want that.  So suffice to say what I’m sharing with you is just that – sharing – in case it helps point the way for someone towards better health as a cornerstone of a resilient life.  It’s as difficult for me, (a healthcare professional turned Resilience Coach!), to follow healthy habits as it is for anyone else.  My personal challenge is my sugar/chocolate addiction requires constant intervention and attention. Everyone has their own challenges and their own ways to manage or overcome them. One habit that I have successfully put in place is what I eat for breakfast. Every single morning, no matter what, I eat porridge with banana, strawberries and […]

Look after yourself so you can look after others

Posted LisaPosted in Awakening, Business Coaching, Clinical Leadership, Coaching, Nurse Leadership, Nurses, Online Training, Parenting, Resilience

Have you spent the last few weeks running around, looking after everyone else’s needs and making things happen? When is the last time you set aside time to look at your own needs and wants? You can’t look after them until you look after yourself first. You know this makes sense! Can you put it into action though? What do you need to do, as a starter, for yourself? What action can YOU take, that isn’t dependent on the actions or will of others? We can’t control others, but we can exert (or take back!) control of our thoughts, behaviours and actions. Even though you might have multiple responsibilities, you must find space for YOU. Just one slice, every day, of what fuels your soul. Why not put one small new action in place today and then check back in with me in 7 days time (you will find me […]

The benefits of knowing your true values

Posted LisaPosted in Awakening, Business Coaching, Coaching, Resilience

One of the things that fuels a happy life is knowing what our values are. But when you are living or working with people who do not share the same values as you, that can be stressful, so it’s important to either try to avoid those situations or find a way to live with them or compensate for them. One of the reasons some people find holidays like Christmas so difficult is that they may be spending more time than they would like with people who don’t share the same values as them. In this case, there are three choices: Get stressed or even end up in an argument with someone. Options 2 and 3 are better than this! Change the situation if you can. Say no when you can.  Make contingency plans.  Arrange to do something completely different. If you really can’t change the situation, change your attitude to […]

The steps towards change

Posted LisaPosted in Awakening, Business Coaching, Coaching, exams, Online Training, Parenting, Resilience

In last week’s blog we looked at making preparations for change – a change in behaviour or habit – maybe something that will form part of a New Year’s Resolution. This week I’m going to introduce you to a model for behaviour change that’s used in healthcare for people who need to overhaul their lifestyle in order to achieve better health. It’s based on a formula that breaks down the steps we all take when change is needed. They are: Pre-contemplation. Contemplation. Preparation. Action. Maintenance. This model will help you to easily spot the stage where you tend to falter or fall back into old habits, and when you know where that hurdle is you can better prepare for it and ultimately be more successful at putting your new healthier or better habit in place. The model is explained in more detail in The Resilience Hub – just log in […]

Sleep – that elusive energy source

Posted LisaPosted in Coaching, Online Training, Resilience

Now that we are in the darkest months of the year in the northern hemisphere, many of us are feeling the effects of sleep deprivation because we are sleeping the same number of hours as we do during the summer – and possibly this is even less than we actually need. Aside from the natural world being different at this time of year, some of what disturbs our sleep is self-inflicted.  We don’t allow ourselves adequate time to wind down in the evening, we take on or retain too much worrying and problem-solving, we gaze at bright screens well into the darkness hours and we often don’t ensure we have an environment that helps us get at least 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Sleep deprivation causes us to lose focus, concentration and memory.  It causes ill-health and even hallucinations.  It was a factor that contributed to the nuclear disasters in […]