Paying it Forward

To pay it forward means that instead of paying someone back for a good deed, you do a good deed for someone else. Paying it forward inspires generosity, empathy, concern and compassion. Whilst we are often chastised for thinking of others more than ourselves, or putting others first before ourselves, and encouraged to put ourselves first more, paying it forward is more about how we can help ourselves feel better by giving. We know it’s better to give than to receive. Focusing on others rather than ourselves, particularly when things aren’t so good can help our mental health and our emotional wellbeing. Paying it forward helps others and us! When we help others we get a euphoric feeling afterwards, giving us that ‘feel good factor’. This feeling generates loads of positive things in our brain making us feel so much better. Sometimes doing something for another person might just be

Changing Habits – for the better..

What is it about habits? The ones we want to introduce (i.e. the good habits) into our lives we can’t seem to embed and find difficult to introduce, and the ones we don’t want to adopt (i.e. the bad habits), we seem to find no problem keeping them and which are unable to shake off!! Why? Murphy’s Law? Or is there a strategy we can use? You might find some of the tips below helpful to use to lose those bad habits and adopt those good habits. Firstly, let’s look at what a habit is. The meaning of the word is ‘a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up’. As I mentioned earlier, ‘hard to give up’, which explains why we are unable to drop our bad habits. ‘settled or regular tendency or practice’ explains why good habits are so hard to introduce,

How serious you are about setting your goals?

I hear you already! Goals! I have no time to write goals! I write them down but don’t look at them! I try to achieve them, but stuff gets in the way! I understand ALL of the reasons and have heard of them all over the years. However, if we don’t have a goal we don’t have a direction. Perhaps you could carry out the FIVE steps below and see if you can pass the test! Please do let me know how you get on! (adapted from coaching tools) STEP 1 - The Simple COMMITMENT Test How committed are you to achieving your goals?On a scale of 1 – 10 what do you score?If your score is less than 8, what is getting in your way?How can you address the obstacle?Then score again and repeat STEP 2 - The NOW Test! How much do you really want your goal?If you

Choosing your Niche

It can be really hard when you’re in business either as a soul trader or limited company, particularly when starting as a single-person enterprise or ‘one-person band’ to try and show your point of difference, unique selling point or niche. You might find the points below helpful in working through the steps to identify how you can stand out from your prospective, potential or current competitors. Even if you’re looking to set up a hobby business you might find these steps useful also. Something that you're interested inFirstly you need to identify where your passion lies and what you spend most of your time doing. What is it you totally obsess about and don’t stop talking about? What is it that gets you most excited that you talk to others the most about? Something that addresses a market needIt’s all very well having a passion for something but is what