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!

3 tips to quickly build your self-confidence..

Are you a confident person?

If you consider yourself to be confident, do you feel confident in every situation?

Most of us have strategies and ways of coping in situations when we don't feel confident, for example when we have to give a presentation at work, or going for a new job interview.

Sometimes however we can go through periods of just not feeling as confident as we usually do, maybe when life has thrown us a few knocks, or if things are not going our way, sometimes our self confidence can take a bit of a nose-dive!**

Well, there are some really simple things that you can implement straight away that have a surprising impact on how we feel and I delve into three of these things in today's video (APE style of course!)...so here we go..

Have you tried any of these before?

I'd love to hear from you if you think you'll be trying any of these strategies...and remember, they can work as 'one-off' strategies for specific things or events like a job interview for example, so give them a go.

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!

**As noted in the video, this advice is not targeted to those that are suffering from any potential disorder where a persons self-confidence has been affected.  If you feel you are suffering with issues around self-confidence and this is impacting on your mental health and daily functioning, then please seek the advice of a professional.  This is by no means given as a replacement for appropriate and professional medical help**

Working on your Mental Health when you feel well...

When was the last time you sought help for something?

I don't mean menial help, like you needed a hand carrying some shopping bags into the house.  I mean the kind of help from someone you considered to be an expert?

What was it for?

Was it that you hired a Personal trainer at the gym to help you lose weight or get fitter?  Did you hire a Business Coach to take you through the intricacies of your business to help you achieve your next set of targets?  Or was it that you went to the doctors for a health issue?

The natural peaks and troughs of life mean that we are not always resilient.  We also don't always have all the answers....no mater how much Google convinces us we do, and sometimes when things get really tough, and we feel out of our comfort zone, we do look for external help from those that may be able to offer guidance.

In my work as a psychologist, people obviously come to me when they need help too.

They come to me when they know something has to change and often there's been some kind of catalyst for that change.  Often it's just that creeping feeling of overwhelm or lack of sleep due to stress and unhappiness that has crept in too much into their daily life and they now realise that the time is nigh.  They need an external force on this one.

Although it's great that people feel comfortable to do this, and we can all be guilty of leaving things too late to get help....what I wish, is that people would start this kind of work when they are well.  When they have resilience.  When they don't feel in crisis or a desperate need to change something.  Ultimately this is doing the work, and positively impacting our mental health when we are well enough to do so.

In todays video, I dig into this a little more and offer up some important reasons as to why we should all work on a the basis of a prevention model, and that we can do this, not just for our physical bodies but also for our mental health too.  So let's dive in..

So what do you think?

More than anything I'd love to know what you think you could be working on now, that you know you keep putting off.  What could you be working on when you're well, instead of waiting that feeling of desperation or panic?

If you're brave enough do share in the comments below, or come on over to the APE Facebook page by CLICKING HERE to join in the discussion.

Til next week!

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!

The MIND MAP...a blueprint for how to change your mind-set and change your life

Time for something a little different this week...

I'd like you to consider something...if I could wave a magic wand that could make one change for you in your life, what would it be?

Did you have to think, or did it spring to mind at lightening speed?

So what was it?...and if it's something you'd like to change have you already been working on it?  Have you been working hard on it behind the scenes and if you have for how long?  Have you already seen changes or do you feel like it's been a bit like Groundhog Day?

Maybe you're in the camp of not doing doing anything yet, but every night you're 'Googling' in attempt to find the answer on your laptop...maybe someone else can tell you, help you or inspire you.

Safe isn't it..to do it that way?

If you're sat at a screen and looking for answers, to be fair, there will be some people that will eventually get off their bottoms and put some things into practice...but experience has taught me, both in my personal life and also as a psychologist who helps people to do this, that usually some external force is required to get the momentum needed in order to start the motion of change.

So what is it for you...?  What are you waiting for to kick start a new wave of action to get you towards your goal?

Are you waiting for inspiration to strike?

Are you waiting for a perfect opportunity?

Are you waiting for illness to finally kick-start you into doing what you've always wanted, or is it redundancy that will finally make you consider writing your book or changing your career?

Maybe it's the pressure of your partner, or that you don't have enough money?  or maybe it's just the 'perfect time'...whatever that is?!

I think you understand.  And also, if you can relate to any of this, you're not alone.

  What's often funny about this situation, is that like an elite athlete wanting to get better at her sport, it's good practice to get outside help to help you reach your potential/goals..but so few people do this.

Often it's because they don't know where to go. Maybe they're worried about not looking like they have all their swizzle together or they're basically still relying on Google or any miriad of things that I've already mentioned, for the answers.

Funny thing is.  Things don't always easily change this way.

But that's exactly what I'd like to offer today, with information about an exciting new workshop that will help you to kick start this process of change for you, helping you get to where you want to be.

So, to find out more about what this is and where it's happening, click on the video below to find out more about the new APE training called the MIND MAP.  A workshop that kick-starts this very process...

Definitely click on the link to find out more!

If you would like to take part in this initial workshop, which is limited due to the venue (the Paul Smith Room, Broadway Cinema Nottingham), then please click on the link below to find out more.

This link takes you through to a separate page that gives you more information about the event and what it can do for you in your own life.  You'll also find all the logistical details like when it's taking place, length,  cost etc.

**Please do also go through to find out more if you are not local, as there will be other opportunities to take part in the training that are coming up and you can sign up to find out about these first**

If you have any question about this event please fill out the form below where I would be happy to answer any questions you have:

[contact-form][contact-field label='Name' type='name' required='1'/][contact-field label='Email' type='email' required='1'/][contact-field label='My question about the MIND MAP event is...' type='textarea' required='1'/][/contact-form]

Until next week!

Interview with APE client...Ali Baker!

I met Ali over 2 years ago while I was teaching a workshop for Women in Business for a local council.

I was asked to do a workshop for the women on work-life balance, something which always makes me smile as I'm not actually a fan of the term**.

Anyway, it was this workshop that led me to Ali.  She was one of the 50 or so women in the room who all wanted to hear about how to achieve a more balanced life.  And at the time Ali was juggling, well a lot!

She was working part time as a Primary school teacher.  She was also a Pilates instructor and ran her own Pilates classes 'on the side'.  In amongst all this, she was trying to spend time with her 2 young children, keep a home and help her husband who was ill at the time and unable to work.  To say she had a few things on her plate would be an understatement.

Ali, said that she felt pretty overwhelmed at the time, and she knew she needed some kind of external input to help her to make the changes she'd been aware she'd wanted to make for some time...so in today's interview you get to hear all about just that.

In this interview Ali candidly and generously talks about her struggles prior to our working together.  She tells you all about the decisions she had to make around leaving her job and going into business full time, and also how our work, and ultimately the APE Model, helped her to achieve that.

Ali has achieved so much in the time we've worked together.  And like a lot pf people I work with, the person she is today is, to some degree, unrecognisable as she's made so many significant changes...so to find out exactly what she's doing now, may I present Ali Baker...

I hope you enjoyed this interview.

I'm so grateful for Ali in sharing her story with us so openly.  She really is an inspiration and epitomises what is possible if you not only put your mind to it, but also your thoughts into action!

To be honest, I have to say that many people also struggle to talk about this kind of work and to be open about asking for help...but the way I see it, it's just like having a coach in a sporting context.  You can't assume to change or get better without really challenging yourself and having someone else help to achieve that with the tools and experience they've gained from doing it themselves.

Anyway if you'd like to know more about Ali then do head over to her website (which she is still working on) to find out more.  You can do that by CLICKING HERE.

Also, you heard me say that I'm encouraging her to try social media and so for that you can find her up and coming Facebook page HERE.  Why not go over and say hello.

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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!

(**I prefer to use the term 'life-life balance', after all you show me someone who professes to have a perfect work-life balance and I'll show you another 50 people that don't.  Also, its funny how these trainings are often put on by work places, in the hope that they'll make you more productive and able to compartmentalise somehow...essentially bringing more oomph to the company.  The trick, that some employers do embrace however, is to first honour the individual, everything flows from that point on!**)