Reading Time: 2 minutes The old saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” gets trotted out all too often when someone is going through a hard time. I don’t think it’s particularly useful. It’s trite and can come across as completely lacking in empathy. I know that’s not necessarily how the speaker intends for it to be interpreted, […]
My mantra when life gets hard Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes Fears are a completely normal part of the human experience. Almost every human will feel fear regularly, from the time we are born, until the time we leave this Earth. In the right amount, and the right situation, the right kind of fear can help keep us safe. But the wrong kind, in the wrong
The two fears you need to know about Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes One of the most common thinking traps that we humans fall into is mistaking stability for certainty. I’ll bet you’re used to things being a particular way. The amount of traffic on your commute. What you do on the weekends. The type of tasks you do at work. How your morning coffee tastes. What’s it
Never Mistake Stability for Certainty Read More »
Reading Time: 4 minutes Empathy is wonderful, but what’s even more powerful is connecting with a fellow traveller. I learned that from talking to my cousin The picture by the title is a throwback to 2017 when I met up with my cousin Brigette who lives in The Netherlands. We were visiting the Wynand Fockink ‘Proeflokaal’ (tasting room) and
Why A Fellow Traveller is More Powerful Than Empathy Read More »
Reading Time: 8 minutes As we move into the festive season, it’s a perfect time to look for new ways to use your strengths to support your wellbeing, create enjoyable celebrations, and help your favourite people in the world use their strengths too. I’ve created a playbook of ideas for how you can use each of the 75 strengths
75 Ways To Use Your Strengths During The Festive Season Read More »
Reading Time: 6 minutes As Christmas and the New Year draw near, it’s a great time to choose your approach for the silly season. You don’t have to sit back and wait for things to happen to you – you can front-foot the challenges and opportunities of the festive season, to make it your best one yet. In this
How To Choose Your Approach This Silly Season Read More »
Reading Time: 6 minutes An emotion wheel is a great visual aid to help us identify how we’re feeling, and also to expand our emotional vocabulary. Being able to identify emotions is a key building block of emotional intelligence. According to PositivePsychology.com, there are around 34,000 human emotions (I’ve collected about a thousand of them in this post). How
How to use an emotion wheel to build your emotional intelligence Read More »
Reading Time: 5 minutes In my first Leadership Toolbox post, I talked about the importance of self-care for leaders. Self-care involves turning our attention inward, to manage our own wellbeing. In this post, I’ll be talking about the tool of empathy, which helps us turn our attention outward, to understand and connect with those around us. In a future
Leadership Toolbox: getting to grips with empathy Read More »
