How small 'nudges' can help you make big changes...

Have you ever felt like you just needed a nudge in the right direction...to get you to where you want to be?

Maybe you'd like to change your job, lose weight or start exercising more and you know that just by making a few small tweaks you might be able to actually achieve what you want.  The problem often is however, that where you ultimately want to be seems so far away!

Enter Nudge Theory.

Nudge Theory, simply put means starting with small changes that elicit behaviours, nudges if you will, that force you in the direction of where you want to be.

I todays video we look at this, a little about how it's been implemented in society to evoke big behaviour changes in populations and even politics, and more importantly how you can implement it in your life as a starting strategy for your own change.

Pen and paper at the ready and here we go...

So, will you be implementing any nudges in your own life?

I'd love to hear from you if you think you will!

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Til next week!

The importance of a self-care routine for Entrepreneurs...

Calling all entrepreneurs and want to be entrepreneurs!

I'd love to know what your self-care routine is?  Simply put, what do you do every day to make sure you're taking care of yourself?

Now, this isn't fluff and silliness so don't roll your eyes, switch off or start talking to me about hustling (Click HERE to see how we feel about that!).

I don't want to hear that if you want to be taken seriously/make money/see growth or 'build your business' that it comes at the expense of your time or in this case time-out for you.

In my business as a psychologist helping people make radical changes, the client group I work with most of all are people who want to leave their current employment and work for themselves.

I find that one of the things that is most difficult is often getting this profile of client to look at self-care, why?  Well for all the reasons I've just outlined!

It seems that the belief is, that if you do things that are self-care based that you are compromising your business and the knock-on effect is that this impacts your income, your growth and ultimately your future plans about where you want to be.

In today's video I not only dispel some of these myths, but I share 4 key reasons that highlight not only how is self-care vital for your own wellbeing and sense of contentment in your business, but that it's actually vital for your business and its growth.

So here it is...just click on the video below.

What are your thoughts?

If you're a business owner I'd love for you to share your thoughts on this topic of conversation.  Do you take taking care of yourself seriously or have you neglected this for a while?

Also, why not CLICK HERE and come on over to Facebook to share your experience with others sharing in the APE dialogue.  I’d love to hear from you.

Til next week!

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Tickets are selling for the 2 hour in-person training The Mind-Map.  To find out all about what this is about and where it’s being held then CLICK HERE to find out all about it!

How to avoid that back to work Sunday feeling...

Picture the scene...it's Sunday night.

You have a really busy week ahead. Your work days are full of appointments and you know this means some late nights. Probably rushed dinners and no time to do anything other than make some food and go to bed, all ready for another day.

Maybe you're the opposite?

You're excited!  Raring to go and can't wait to get stuck in into the week ahead.  You've got some fabulous projects on and some exciting meetings.  You've also scheduled in all your exercise and some nice evenings out with friends.

Which one of these people are you?

If you feel like the first person you're not alone.  You're just experiencing that typical Sunday feeling that you might remember from childhood, when you dreaded going to school the next day.

When you feel like this, you feel daunted.  Heavy.  Tired at the thought of what lies ahead and already wish the week to go quickly so that you can get to the weekend.  But the good news is that there are things you can do to overcome to all too familiar Sunday feeling.

And that's exactly what I delve into in today's video...here I share with you 3 things you do to immediately to start to re-frame this experience and start to feel differently about the week ahead.  So let's dive in...

I hope you enjoyed today's video and have been able to take something from it if you can relate to that Sunday feeling too?

If you have I'd love for you to comment below and tell us what you think.  Of course you can also do that by coming over to our Facebook page by CLICKING HERE.

Before you go, if you’d like to have this delivered to your in-box every week, in which I share some behind the scenes stuff too, then do CLICK HERE to be taken to the sign up page (this is just a sign up to the weekly blog update).

Until next week!

What 'should' you be doing with your life?...

What's your answer to this big question?

What is it you feel you should be doing?

Should you be running your own business?  Bringing in a particular salary?  Living in a different home?  Be married? Have travelled?  Started that diet?  Written that book?

We all do it.  We decide for ourselves what we should be doing all the time.  Measuring ourselves against an invisible (sometimes visible) list of things we need to do, or else we will live a life of....well, what?

It's great to have goals, but this way of living, this idea of what we should be doing often gets out of control and can start to permeate our daily living.  The 'should' slips into our daily internal narrative...I should get up earlier. I should spend more time with X, I should add that to my to-do list, I should, I should, I should, I should!!

There is obviously a big difference between wanting, really wanting to do something and making positive changes in your life in order to achieve this things.  No-one would argue the contrary.  But what can be true is the that as we mindlessly bombard ourselves with a negative voice and tell ourselves what we should, or indeed shouldn't be doing, and doing so without question, then this kind of self-talk can sometimes end up doing more harm than good.

In today's video I go into this in more depth looking at what this can do to you if you don't step back and take note.  We also look at the benefits of tackling this kind of internal chatter and the positive impact that can have on your feeling of wellbeing as well as helping you to really move forward.  So let's get stuck in...

So, do you notice that you do this? I'd love to hear form you if this resonates with you in any way.

I think we're all guilty of it from time to time, but with a little mindful thinking and working on our positive self talk we can really make a difference.

Before you go, if you’d like to have this delivered to your in-box every week, in which I share some behind the scenes stuff too, then do CLICK HERE to be taken to the sign up page (this is just a sign up to the weekly blog update).

Until next week!

Is having an on-line business the only way to be successful today?

Do you ever feel like your social media news-feeds are littered with messages about living a lap-top lifestyle?

Does it feel to you like everyone is living their dream via an on-line business?  Like all roads to success seem to start with what you can do on-line to make money which will in turn free up more of your time to have beach holidays and travel the world.. allowing you to conduct your business anywhere from Bognor to Bali?

I've noticed this creeping into our psyches of late, and my clients have noticed it too, as many feel a distinct push to make everything they do accessible on-line even if it feels very much in conflict with what they feel they really want to do.

Well, first of all, this post isn't about poo-poohing the on-line world or on-line businesses by any means...in fact A.P.E is in part an on-line business!  Also, with over 3 billion people across the globe on-line, it certainly IS a great way to connect with people and to help more people with your knowledge and services.

Having an on-line business can indeed be a great way to live a life you want, and like I've said, can allow you to help far more people than you may have been able to do 20 years ago.  The problem with this however, isn't so much that this is possible, but more so the push for everyone to do it.  And if they haven't done it yet, to imply that an on-line business is the only way someone can be successful or happy.

This just isn't true.

 The fact is, is that not all jobs or careers are designed to be on-line.  What would we do without doctors and nurses caring for our sick?

What would we do without teachers in schools to teach our children?

What would we do without people to clean the streets, to work in cafes and to maintain our buildings?

Without people physically engaging in doing the work, working in real-time in all corners of our society, would it not be the case the society itself would suffer?

Though we don't look specifically at on-line businesses at APE, it inevitably crops up in discussions around change, as so many people wish to have businesses of their own.  It's also very much a part of the dialogue around finding your passion or your purpose.  Really thinking about what you're good at, and therefore how you wish to progress your ideas...in this case on-line or not?  Or maybe just how much?

Because this is a conversation that comes up again and again when looking at these things, I decided to rip the plaster off starting by what we do best here at APE, which is to have some fun with it first and foremost...and then consider the reality, ultimately addressing what it means for YOU.

So here we go...

What do you think?

It's certainly another risqué one this week, but nonetheless an important discussion to have.  I'd really love to know if this message means something to you.  Do you ever feel bombarded by this message and feel like you should be on-line.  Maybe you've already made the move, or maybe you're following a different path.  Please let us know below or do come over to the Facebook page to join in the discussion by clicking HERE.

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Before you go, if you’d like to have this delivered to your in-box every week, in which I share some behind the scenes stuff too, then do CLICK HERE to be taken to the sign up page (this is just a sign up to the weekly blog update).

Until next week!

How to instantly boost your mood...3 simple things you can do today!

Do you ever feel like even though everything seems to be ticking along fine, you just feel low in your mood?

You feel a bit down, like there's a little cloud following you around and casting a shadow over how you're feeling?

Maybe you feel like this a lot, maybe you feel like this sometimes, maybe you feel like this around 3pm every day when you get that afternoon slump and you're craving a coffee to give you the boost to get you through the rest of the day (like me!).

There are obviously lots of things that impact how we feel.  You need to feel like you're doing meaningful work, you need to feel healthy and eat the right foods, be happy in your relationships, get good sleep etc. etc...I'm sure you can think of things straight away that you know impact how you feel.  Today though is more for those of you that are doing many of these things, are generally happy, but like I described at the start of the piece, sometimes you just can't shake the down feeling.

So, today I'm sharing with you a few things that you can do that involve being in 'motion'...in other words moving your body.

There is a lot of good research and science that links movement, so exercise and other modalities that show irrefutably that exercise and moving are directly correlated with a positive mood, as well as having other associated health benefits including better functional capacity.  So I dig into this today...and I have to warn you, some silliness takes place.  But you probably guessed that!

What do you think?  Do you already do any of these things....I can't be the only one dancing around their office at 3 in the afternoon?

I'd love to hear from you if you do this as as well.  What's your favourite tune...I'll be sharing mine over on Facebook so click here to see what I boogie to!

Also, if you'd like to get delivered to your in-box every week, in which I share some behind the scenes stuff too, then do CLICK HERE to be take to the sign up page (this is just a sign up to the weekly blog update).

Until next week!