I can’t believe we are into April already. Was it not Christmas last week? I hope your 2019 is going well so far.
April is a good chance to consider any new goals and to reflect on what has worked well so far during the first quarter of the year. If you are not happy then the great news is that you get 3 more quarters to bash on with.
I set myself some goals at the end of 2018. They were as follows:
To continue to embrace mindfulness to slow my mind down.
To say no a bit more (because I discovered it is possible to be too much of a ‘yes person’). Note that in saying no more, I can prioritise important family time and exercise.
To travel more.
To keep working hard in terms of creating motivational content both in writing, podcasts and speaking events.
So how are those goals going?
Mindfulness
I recently completed an 8-week Mindful Based Living Course with The Mindful Enterprise, which has really forced me to slow down a little. To mark the end of the course, I managed to meditate at an away day for close to 5 hours. I came home floating on air. I have put a fascinating conversation live with Gary Young, founder of The Mindful Enterprise which will help to inspire you and give you an insight into what regular mindfulness practise can do. You can tune into this discussion on my podcast here. This is also available across 13 key podcasting platforms including Spotify and iTunes.
Mindfulness practise is great for taming the beast aka our racing mind. Slowing things down and challenging any thoughts that no longer serve us is a powerful process.
Saying No
It can be easy to say yes to everyone and everything but that puts you in danger of serious burnout and overwhelm. I now schedule in times to spend with my family and to fit in my exercise. This means that I am forced to say no more because making time to be with those I love and to keep my body and mind healthy is important to me. Could you do the same in areas of your life?
The key for me is focus. It’s great to help others and to work hard at our own goals, but taking time to prioritise what is important to us is key.
I was delighted to pick up a women of inspiration award from The Association of Scottish Businesswomen (ASB) last month. It was a true honour to have collected this award, amongst some incredible ladies. You can read more about why I got the award here.
Along with mindfulness, I have been exploring decluttering, producing several podcasts on the subject. We kicked this important theme off with The Batch Lady on episode 41, where we cover physical and mental decluttering around the house. Episodes 42 and 43 go deeper into emotional decluttering. All of the discussions have given me a lot to think about and I really hope they help to get you thinking and give you a boost.
The mojo injection podcast has been picked up by the lovely Drew from Radio Haver and I am delighted to hear that the episodes have been a huge hit with listeners. I see the podcast as free therapy for people. Every episode has been produced to help boost your mojo so I am passionate about as many people finding it as possible. Please continue to hit those stars and rate us each week so that more people can find us.
The travel goal is going well. Last year it hit me just how short and precious life is. It’s important that we fill it with memories and take more risks. I made it out to Dubai for the first time recently and created some great memories with friends there. I have booked up some more trips including Madrid and a lovely long weekend back at Taymouth Marina. The perfect spot for some wild swimming and great hot tub action looking out at stunning views.
I was asked on Stirling radio last night about the stigma of mental health and the positive changes over the past 5 years or so. I am very aware that whilst fantastic changes are being made in terms of removing the stigma of mental health, that there is still a lot to be done. I often hear the phrase ‘I’m fine’. In the UK especially, we are encouraged to keep up appearances. I don’t like it. It’s not healthy and I will continue to challenge it. Having drive, motivation and a growth mindset to achieve our goals is exciting and also good for our mental health BUT I still see a level of stigma when it comes to speaking openly about what’s going on underneath the surface. We all have issues, no matter how confident, together or sorted we appear. For a start, self-doubt is a part of being human, yet so often we present a different picture to the world. We put on a front in order to protect ourselves and our ego and sometimes that can prove to be damaging. My vision is that we feel more comfortable sharing those thoughts that we have underneath the surface. Because once we share, we realise how similar we are. The key is that we keep sharing and supporting each other. The key is that we show people who we really are. When we do this, it means we openly accept who we are. You’ll get the mojo back on track because you will learn how to express your uniqueness. With this integrity comes a sense of deep freedom and inner peace.
Don’t hold back.
