Rest, Recover, Repeat.

I am an advocate for rest and work with many of my clients to support them to address overwhelm, stress, and burnout, through establishing clear boundaries and putting strategies in place to enable rest and recovery. However, I know that this is  an area that I personally struggle with, and which I can always be better at. Being an authentic coach with integrity, and who is credible, is critically important to me, and so I recognise that I need to walk my talk. This has been more prominent recently while I’ve been juggling multiple priorities in my life; house refurbishment project in the UK, move to South Africa, work, growing my business, and navigating some health challenges. I am guilty of always wanting it all - and believing vehemently that I can have it all, all of the time - and so I don’t allow myself to slow down or to stop. This is always at the detriment of my wellbeing and can be self-destructive.

It’s not unusual for ambitious, driven individuals to struggle to rest. Being ambitious and driven is a strength but like all strengths, unmanaged these can become our weaknesses, and actually stop us from achieving what we wanted in the first place. I’ve also found that I don’t give time to being, and celebrating, the present because I’m too focused on what’s coming next.

So how do we address this? Here are just 3 things I’m trying to do consistently - and I’m still learning to be better at this remember!

• Build a habit to acknowledge your achievements - no matter the size. I record my achievements, and my progress daily using the Stickies application on my Mac

• Book time off in your diary in advance and protect it. I try to take every Friday afternoon off. I have also started to block out weeks in my diary in advance for when I plan to take holidays.

• Reduce social media time to avoid unhelpful, and unhealthy, comparisons and to aid my brain to switch off - morning and night

Drop me an email if I can support you to rest, recover, and repeat - [email protected]

Stuck in The Middle

I heard this 70's classic the other day and it literally has not left my mind! Mainly because it's so irritatingly catchy, but also because it reminded me so much of how I felt when I was in a middle management position!

☑ Stuck in the middle - juggling my priorities as a leader, the needs of my team, the needs of my frontline people, my customer's needs, my stakeholders, my senior management team, my line manager (manage up!), my objectives, my development goals, my future, my home life. Plus the many conflicts this presented, constantly!

☑ Wondering what I should do - where do I bloody start...!! Who shall I try and sort out or please first?!

☑ Losing control, I'm all over the place - I really struggled at times with overwhelm, imposter syndrome, lack of self belief, and low confidence. This accumulated over time and started to make me feel really unwell. And I was miserable.

☑ Clowns to the left of me - oh, there were plenty of those...!

☑ Jokers to the right - oh, and them too!I'm no longer a middle manager, and no longer juggling so many clowns or jokers, and instead focus on supporting other middle managers to dodge the 💩 and enjoy, and succeed, in their roles.

If this sounds like something you want to learn more about, then email me [email protected]

What Kind of Middle Manager Are You?

Which are you?

🏃🏻‍♂️ The Accelerator 🏃🏻‍♀️

📣 The Cheerleader 📣

🤝 The Musketeer 🤝

⏱ The Accurist ⏱

Want to know which kind of manager you are? Take my 5 minute quiz now! https://middlemanager.scoreapp.com.

What I've Been Up To

What. A. Month!

So in June I headed back to the UK for a jam-packed 3 week trip. During this time I had the pleasure of working with Stephen Adams from Inspirational Coaching Limited to support him to deliver his ILM L5 Coaching & Mentoring Training. It was a brilliant 2 days spent with some wonderful individuals beginning their coaching journies and learning how to effectively utilise this powerful skill. The following day I jumped back on the train and spent the day in London at the Future of Utilities Summit in Westminster. This is a key event in the Utilities diary and I loved representing the Womens Utilities Network while catching up with old energy colleagues, and learning about the changes, innovations, and challenges in the industry.

A big reason for returning to the UK in June was to attend the inaugural Women in Utility Awards hosted by the Womens Utilities Network and Utility Week. I was honoured to be a judge for this very first. year and it was a special day celebrating the many amazing women contributing and growing this important industry. I am so excited for 2025's even bigger, and better, awards!

Personal Energy & Performance with The Coaching Cast

We need personal energy to fuel our day to day, to propel us to fulfil our actions, tasks, and activities, which begin from the moment our alarm clock sounds, to the moment we get into bed. But this energy doesn't come from an endless source. Our energy needs to be fed, managed, and maintained to be sustainable.

Tony Schwartz is the founder and CEO of The Energy Project, an organisation dedicated to helping companies and individuals achieve sustainable high performance by managing their energy more effectively. Schwartz outlines four primary sources of energy: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. By optimizing these areas, we can create a more balanced and productive work life.

Listen to us discuss and explore these key areas during the episode which is now available across all major platforms and via our website thecoachingcast.co.uk

Ways You Can Work With Me

I support my clients with a variety of different service options to best suit their needs and wants.

CLARITY HOUR 1 hour with me, virtually, on a day and time of your choosing. In the hour we'll explore together: What’s going on for you right now, what you want instead, what you’ve tried already, what’s getting in the way, what strengths and opportunities you have, and finally the steps towards achieving what you want. All of this for just £150.

FOCUSED Have a  current challenge you wish to resolve or goal you want to achieve quickly but unsure how? Choose this package for 3 coaching sessions over 6-8 weeks.

MIDTERM If you want a plan to take action over a short to medium timeframe then choose this package to give you greater support for an extended period. Includes 6 coaching sessions over 6 months.

NURTURE Are you seeking support, and guidance, and someone to be your cheerleader as you progress through a transition or change in your career? Choose this package to give you that long-term support. 12 sessions over 12 months.

All packages include a DISC personality profile report to give you detailed insight into your preferred behaviour and style, to contribute to increasing your self awareness, skills and knowledge, and achieve your goals.

Get a 10% discount on all packages when purchased after a Clarity Hour (cannot be claimed in conjunction with any other offers). Group coaching and training for teams is also available upon request.