Tag: time limited

2022 4 Dimensional Wellness Self Care and Self Love

Not investing in my wellbeing cost me over $100k…

Post author By Support Elf
Post date July 22, 2022
No Comments on Not investing in my wellbeing cost me over $100k…

Emotional intelligence, balance emotion control feeling between work stressed or sadness and happy lifestyle concept, mindful calm woman using her hand to balance smile and sad face.

I want to explore why someone wouldn’t invest in their mental health and physical wellbeing.

It’s usually one of these three things…

“It will just take care of itself and doesn’t need proactive support” (weirdly, this is how 95% of the population expect their mental health to work, to just “just be okay” or “fix itself” or “look after itself”).
“I will get to it later… I’m super busy right now…”
“I can’t afford it” (she says on a phone priced over a thousand dollars, in three hundred dollar shoes)

Let’s take each of these three in turn:

Mental Health

Our mental health does not exist in a vacuum. We don’t get taught skills to proactively manage our mental health and mood at school. The quality of our LIFE is determined by the quality of our mental health. Why do we place SO little value on proactively supporting it and expect it to happen magically all by itself?

The fact is, it doesn’t, does it?! That’s why we are a nation of people self-medicating with wine o’clock, cheese and crackers, endless scrolling, avoiding hard conversation and potential conflict, being riddled with resentment and still not speaking up, cake, gossip, pushing down emotions and pretending we are fine…and on and on and on.

Mental Health doesn’t take care of itself. It takes effort and structure. We all know this. The quality of our LIFE is determined by the quality of our mental health. It’s time to invest in that. You can do it with me in a super cost-effective and pleasurable way.

I’m Super Busy.

Yeah yeah! We will get to taking care of our wellbeing (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) “when there is time” OR we will look after ONE aspect of our wellbeing (usually physical), but NOT the others (a perfectly instagrammable arse when you are still totally miserable inside is not the recipe for a happy life).

We need to STOP WAITING FOR THE PERFECT TIME to take care of our wellbeing. The perfect time is NOW. We just need to stop looking at it as “all or nothing” and take perfectly imperfect action daily!

The rest of life will flow ROUND IT. You will never be less busy. You need a wellbeing system that is DESIGNED to work WITH busy. I can help you with this!

I can’t afford it.

It’s easy to say we can’t afford it, til we have a health crisis and then we realise it’s the only thing that is actually WORTH ANYTHING! I got into wellbeing after exiting a very successful corporate career having compromised my health to the point of being bedridden in my 30’s. At that point a six-figure salary meant jack, because I couldn’t even dress myself, let alone leave my house!

What you think is important is suddenly not important when your health is compromised. The truth is we cannot NOT AFFORD TO INVEST IN OUR WELLBEING. A year of being ill and unable to work cost me well over $100K, if I’d been in my Academy and supporting myself as I should have, I would have saved myself…(wait for it) $99,621. HA!

IKR?!

Today I want to talk about you re-joining the Wellbeing Warriors Academy ahead of the price rise.

Only YOU know if the time is right.

But equally, only YOU know if you are cheating yourself out of a healthier, happier, better supported you with one (or more) of these three falsehoods.

The truth is your wellbeing does NOT magically take care of itself. You will never really be less busy than you are now. You can invest in your ongoing wellness and personal growth anyway.

You don’t need to completely lose your health like I did to know how important it is to your enjoyment of life and how you support your friends and family.

You know it’s your responsibility to look after yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. No one else is going to do it for you.

So, if you don’t have an effective system and strategy for making that an easy part of daily life, I’d like to help you with that!

Jump into Wellbeing Warriors before the price goes up.

From the end of July, the price is more than doubling from $379 to $997 for an annual membership.

Why?

After seven years, it’s become obvious that the price has to go up. Otherwise, I’m underselling the program, which doesn’t do either of us any favours. I want to continue to host this incredible community of assisted personal growth for you, for the next seven years, and beyond! The only thing changing is that it’ll be done at a sustainable price that reflects the $20,000 value inside.

So, if you’ve been wanting to support your mental and physical health in a joyful, practical way — and if you’ve been thinking about JOINING THE WW ACADEMY— I’d love you to consider joining before the end of July 2022.

If you join now, your WW membership will be “grandfathered” at the CURRENT rate ($379) for as long as you are an active member, and so, if you join now, you’ll be getting in at the best possible price and save $618 in your first year.

CLICK HERE TO BEAT THE PRICE RISE

CLICK HERE TO WATCH TESTIMONIALS FROM OUR MEMBERS

Tags 2022, Happiness, time limited

2022 4 Dimensional Wellness Happiness Self Care and Self Love

Why the cost of the Coaching Academy is going up in August

Post author By Support Elf
Post date July 22, 2022
No Comments on Why the cost of the Coaching Academy is going up in August

Hands holding green happy smile face paper cut, good feedback rating and positive customer review, experience, satisfaction survey ,mental health assessment, child wellness,world mental health day concept

Earlier this week, I announced I’m significantly increasing the price of Wellbeing Warriors Coaching Academy after July 2022.

It’s been amazing getting so much feedback saying I should have done this years ago, and with the value you get in the Academy, it is still undercharging!

Today I want to explain to you why it’s important that I make this change, and make it now.

We launched the Academy in 2015 (2015!) and made a commitment to each and every one of you that you would remain grandfathered at the rate you joined at, no matter the market rate. I believe so much in every woman having access to effective mental health and physical health support that I wanted to make the highest quality coaching service available at prices accessible to as many women as possible.

(Just as a side note, my 1-2-1 services start at $5,000 and have a year’s waitlist. I wanted to offer effective coaching that was available instantly and for those who can’t afford the bespoke approach. In that context, a YEAR in the Academy for just $379 is an unbelievable steal.)

The last price increase was many years ago, and I absolutely honour every single grandfathered member rate, and look after those loyal members so well!

Here’s the thing though… in the last 7 years… you know this, I have held the PRICE, but I cannot hold the COST. In that time, the following costs have increased, and to a point where they can no longer be absorbed or subsidised:

Support elves (they don’t get paid in magic beans!)
Web elves
Advertising
Design Services
Image supply
Payment Gateway services and processing fees
Website hosting
Website continual improvements
Video production
Audio production
Accountancy fees
Bookkeeping fees
Software Subscriptions
Ongoing Training for staff and myself
Insurance and Tax Levies

This (and a lot more!) is what it takes to run a high-quality, global, hugely elegant and effective Coaching Academy, and over the last 7 years it’s all MORE, and therefore, the price will be moving to $997 for an annual membership.

I will NOT COMPROMISE on the quality of service, either technically, or myself and the elves, that we deliver to our amazing members every month, so that is why we need to raise the $379 for TWELVE MONTHS of wellbeing support.

So, I do not want you to think this decision has been taken lightly: it hasn’t, and in truth I should have done it YEARS ago.

That’s why I wanted to give you the last opportunity to be GRANDFATHERED at the OLD rate BEFORE the completely necessary price rise comes into effect.

If you value your wellbeing (which I know you do, or you would not be reading my work ever!) I hope you will consider why your wellbeing is worth investing in today.

Let me just start by saying there are many, many reasons you should proactively support your wellbeing. Too many reasons to mention.

I’ll boil it down to the fact that Wellbeing Warrior members like to do things a bit differently.

They take responsibility for their wellbeing. They know no-one else can really impact it but them. They know wellbeing is a marathon not a sprint, so a programme that quietly but steadily supports them in the background is a better fit than a shiny “get flat abs in 6 days!!!” type instant “fit” thing.
They know real health is real health, and without it we have very little of value. Investing now in a small daily action reaps HUGE benefits over the long term.
They know they could do it alone, but in reality, they won’t. So having a compassionate, supportive structure that CONTAINS their personal growth and health work in an elegant way is JUST EASIER. It gets it done.

So for those reasons — and many more — I’d love you to consider joining the Wellbeing Warriors Academy.

I don’t compromise on the quality we deliver in the WW Academy, and I don’t want YOU to compromise on the way you support your mental and physical health.

If you’ve been wanting to support your mental and physical health in a joyful, practical way — and if you’ve been thinking about JOINING THE WW ACADEMY— I’d love you to do just that before the end of July 2022.

If you join now, your WW membership will be “grandfathered” at the CURRENT rate ($379) for as long as you are an active member, and so you’ll be getting in at the best possible price.

So, if you’ve been thinking about supporting your mental and physical health in a practical system that works (rather than just wishing for different!) — now’s a great time to move forward.

Is NOW the time for you? I do hope so.

You can obviously join WW at a later time, but you’ll have to pay the new premium price. Get all of the details here ?

CLICK HERE TO BEAT THE PRICE RISE

CLICK HERE TO WATCH TESTIMONIALS FROM OUR MEMBERS

Not investing in my wellbeing cost me over $100k…

Tags 2022, time limited

2022 4 Dimensional Wellness Happiness Self Care and Self Love

How this busy Mum ditched the sugar and the drama… and GREW in confidence!

Post author By Support Elf
Post date July 22, 2022
No Comments on How this busy Mum ditched the sugar and the drama… and GREW in confidence!

Businesswoman and shadow superhero. Ambition and success vector concept. Vector illustration. EPS10.

I want to share a story to illustrate how most women are sabotaging themselves with their approach to wellbeing.

Basically, creating the (super demoralising) boom-bust cycle of on and off the wagon with themselves, costing not just their progress but their sanity too!

Hopefully, this story will stop some people from doing the same! Because the question I really want you to keep in mind as you read this is…

“What would it be like if I stopped starting over?”

So, the heroine of today’s story is Marina.

Marina is a fabulous member in Wellbeing Warriors.

And it took Marina a looooong time to become a member!

I’m going to illustrate Marina’s journey for you so you “get it.”

Check out the image below ?

It represents Marina’s progress with the healthy habits she REALLY wanted to establish that would enhance her life the most… basically these were ditching sugar (and a few kilos whilst she was at it!), reducing alcohol, exercising 3x a week, and not losing her sh*t with her teenage sons on the regular. Learning how to meditate and reduce stress would also be a bonus, because work was high pressure.

These didn’t seem like too much to ask from life, but as a busy working Mum it seemed to be an impossible task to keep all the plates spinning at the same time.

If she ditched sugar she would get grumpy and be more irritable with the kids after a long day.

If the weight started to come off, that would feel GREAT SUPER AMAZING for a few weeks, then life would throw a curveball like a new project at work and all that progress would just…poof!…evaporate and she would be back to square one.

If she started exercising more she would feel great, but also, feel like she deserved a “treat” so somehow would weirdly start having more food treats and cheeky wines than before.

She just couldn’t get all these habits to ALIGN. And, it was weirdly EXPENSIVE having them not line up.

There were the shoes she bought herself because “you can never get too fat for your shoes can you?” purchase to make her feel better ($175).
The expensive haircuts she was getting to compensate for not feeling great in her clothes ($150 a go).
The gym membership she only used sporadically ($40 a month) and KNEW she wasn’t getting the value from.
The wine o’clock she was buying to relax because she was worried and stressed about things and it really was the only guaranteed way to switch off and unwind ($15 a bottle).
The “I’ve blown it I might as well” brunches ($30) and the “f*ck it” i might as well pizza ($20).

All these things that made her feel okay IN THE MOMENT, but really were ways to compensate from not being able to effectively reduce her mental stress and keep her wellbeing habits on track.

You can see how stressful that is, and perhaps can relate to her somewhat too. I know I can.

When, in a moment of just wanting to do something, ANYTHING, different, Marina joined the Wellbeing Warriors Academy, she wasn’t sure what she was in for. She just wanted to get off this BOOM BUST cycle she had going.

She took a few weeks just to suss out the vibe and the flow in the Academy and then dived right on it to taking action.

Small, but consistent action.

She started with the Live module that month that was the “Imposter Syndrome” module… did the 2 minute daily challenge and practiced the tool that meant that her confidence in herself started to gently, subtly rise each day, so slowly she almost couldn’t notice it… but on Day 30 of the month when she looked back she couldn’t believe how far she had come.

This gave her just the boost she needed to keep going. The next module she really connected with was “Saving The Craving” and she had a huge breakthrough in terms of taking the focus off her weight and onto a 30-Day challenge to remove sugar and flour from her diet to see how her mood and physiology felt without that sugar high. The change blew her away and because she was doing it with hundreds of other women round the world, it just felt so much easier to be carried away in the energy of the group. She did ALL 30 days! Couldn’t believe she had stuck to it! Felt so much more energised, was sleeping better, way less moody, her skin looked years younger. Oh. Dropped 4.5kgs too

Marina was already feeling like a new woman and took the next month’s module “Better Boundaries”, where she understood exactly what boundaries were, and how to apply them in her own life for what was really the first time. They went from being an abstract concept that everyone talks about to being something really practical she could apply. She used the 5 Step Better Boundary technique with her teens and was AHHHHMAZED at the difference in her household. Made things easier at work too. Just one conversation, had in the right way, so much drama gone.

And on to the next module…! Marina couldn’t wait for what I had in store the next month…

That’s the thing, I think, with wellbeing. Sometimes we don’t know what we REALLY NEED, we just know what we are doing isn’t working. We need a NEW approach, new tools, new accountability and support.

Do you have a gameplan for how to switch up what you are doing? If you don’t — please consider joining the Wellbeing Warriors Coaching Academy.

The time to do it is definitely right NOW as you will beat the price MORE THAN DOUBLING from $397 to $997?.

CLICK HERE TO BEAT THE PRICE RISE

Come on in! You cannot imagine where you will be in your mind and body a year from now!

Tags 2022, Happiness, self care, time limited

2022 Reduce Stress Simplicity and Time Management Time Management

We are talking about TIME and the IMPACT on your mental health

Post author By Support Elf
Post date June 27, 2022
No Comments on We are talking about TIME and the IMPACT on your mental health

What are we talking about today? TIME…we are talking about time and the impact on our mental health:

As humans, we habitually
a) OVERestimate what we can do in a DAY
and
b) UNDERestimate what we can accomplish in a YEAR

For a QUICK SNAPSHOT of where you will be a YEAR from now, look at your habits TODAY:

Do you have a habit of being busy all the time just racing from one thing to the next?

Do you have a habit of people pleasing and putting your own needs to the back of the queue?

Do you have a habit of starting a healthy habit but very quickly falling off the wagon?

Do you think you’ll sort these things “when there is time”?
That time pretty much never comes

Genuine change is building tiny habits IN THE NOW:

A daily mental health practice that keeps you up and moving forwards.

Purposefully your body daily in some way daily, no matter what.

Being aware of your true priorities for the YEAR and allocation your time, energy and attention in line with that in the moment.

These are all things that are built into my Coaching Academy Wellbeing Warriors – all you need to do it show up and be amazed at what you can accomplish in a year.

If you don’t have a structure and a system for making good choices easier and supported for yourself then either join one or create one for yourself. If you want to know how your life will
look a year from now…you can find the answer in your tiny choices today

Tags 2022, time limited

2020 Energy Boosters Happiness Live Happy Inspiration Positive Thought Strategy Post Lockdown Reduce Stress Simplicity and Time Management

Tame That To Do List

Habits Of Happiness – Expectation Management

Here is an interesting phenomenon. In my experience, people tend to seriously OVER estimate what can be achieved in the short term, and UNDER estimate what can be achieved in the long term.

For example, if you are anything like me you start the day with a To-Do list thinking, yep, I can crack through at least 8 of those things today! Bring it on! I have a vision of crossing things off in a frenzy of activity, getting to the end of the day with a list satisfyingly scored with black lines detailing what has been accomplished. But yet, in reality, I will have a super busy day, and yet only 2 things get crossed off. Some days not even that!

I was bemoaning this fact to my partner. He asked “How was your day”, and I responded “Good, but… I didn’t get done everything I wanted to get done”. “You ALWAYS say that!!!!” he said. “Always”. Irritatingly when I thought about it he was absolutely right. Almost every single day I would be beating myself up about the things I had NOT done. Rather than celebrating the progress on the things I HAD accomplished. I had fallen straight into the trap of overestimating what can be achieved in the short term, and it was sucking a bit of joy out of each (actually pretty damn productive!) day.

When we routinely overestimate what we can achieve in the short term it can create a whole heap of stress and overwhelm. By overestimating just how much can be done in a day we end up beating ourselves up for not being efficient enough. Organised enough. Quick enough. Good enough. It’s actually a pretty tiring pattern.

It’s a good observation, and I know I am not alone. My smart, high achieving, professional clients are usually in the same boat. It’s a good exercise to do a little expectation management on ourselves to reduce stress.

Interestingly this phenomenon seems to go hand in hand with underestimating what we can accomplish in the long term.

We can get so caught up in the frenzy of everyday life that we fail to put our head above the parapet long enough to set some real stretch goals for ourselves, big dreams that can be realised if we plan them properly with a 12-month time frame. Because we are so busy it’s easy to dismiss those dreams as just dreams, or too big to be reached so why bother. Whereas if we put our minds to it and break it down into the tiny steps we discussed last week, that big dream can become a big goal with a deadline that we can actually accomplish if we consciously choose it.

The secret to achieving more of the big stuff and reducing stress with the small stuff is to practice expectation management. Expect a little less of yourself daily, but a little more of yourself long term. It’s a subtle but effective shift in perception that can make a big difference.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

What DID I accomplish today? (not what did I NOT do!)
What are the three things I will accomplish this week come hell or high water? What are my real priorities this week?
What are three small things I can do this week that will step me towards my long term goals?

Action Step:

Cut yourself a little slack today, know you won’t get everything done on your list that you want to get done, BUT commit to putting into place at least one big, energising blow-your-mind dream that you can steadily move towards over the next 12 months.

You will surprised how much you can reduce the stress today, and increase the accomplishment in tomorrow.

Tags 2020, achievement, flexible thinking, priorities, Reduce Stress, time limited

2020 Emotional Honesty Live Happy Inspiration Post Lockdown Reduce Stress Time Management

I Can’t Find The Time!

Finding Time

My gorgeous client who I will call Maggie, busy lady, juggling work and home and all that good stuff. No different to you or me. As is really common she is struggling to find time to eat healthily and get in some exercise consistently.

“I was going to do it Wednesday but I couldn’t find time”

“I just haven’t been able to find the time to get to class.”

“I just have to find time to do that. I’ll find time next week”.

Yeah yeah yeah. I have heard that before!

Here’s the thing.

Time is not something you find down the back of the sofa. Time is not something you can rummage for at the bottom of your purse.

Time cannot be found. It also cannot be made. It’s not something you whip up in the kitchen like a batch of cupcakes.

Time is just time. We all have exactly the same. 24 hours in a day. No more no less. No matter how complicated or full of responsibilities our lives may be you get exactly the same allocation.

All you can do with time is prioritise it.

You prioritise time. That’s what you do with time.

Think about money. If you want a really healthy pension or good medical insurance or enjoy having a nice house or whatever, what do you do? You prioritise that payment, on direct debit so it goes out on payday each month. If good retirement or medical cover is important to you, you prioritise that money. The mortgage or the insurance gets paid first no matter what. Then you figure out what choices you are going to make that month with the money that’s left. Beans on toast. Island holiday. New shoes. No new shoes. Whatever. The point is you have prioritised what you have deemed most important first. It’s a non-negotiable, and after a while it’s automatic. You don’t even think about it. That money is allocated first because it’s a priority. You don’t try and find the money for it at the end of the month when you have been on trips to the zoo and eaten out and been to the supermarket. You don’t look down the back of the sofa for mortgage money.

Prioritsing time for your wellbeing is the same. If its what you want, what you genuinely want, then genuinely prioritise the time for it. Make it a non-negiotiable in the diary and choose to not do something else. Be okay with that choice. It’s your time. It’s your choice to make about what you prioritise.

Stop looking for time. Stop trying to find it. It’s not hiding!

The truth is you already have it.

Tags 2020, Busyness, flexible thinking, Life work balance, time limited

Simplicity and Time Management

6 Signs You Need A Break

If you are thinking “I haven’t got time to read this article! I’m too busy!!!” then reading this article is EXACTLY the thing you need to do! Life is busy – I get it – but when is it too busy? Here are 6 signs you might need to redress the balance:

1. You find yourself saying “I don’t have time” multiple times a day. The more we reinforce that message to ourselves the less time we magically seem to have. “I don’t have time” is one of the most stress inducing sentences in the English language. I would personally like to ban us all from saying it – it’s a stressful lie (yes, lie, you heard me right!) we keep telling ourselves. It’s far more accurate, and much more calming, to tell ourselves (and others) the truth “I’m choosing to prioritise this thing/task/person right now – and I’m good with that”. Life is full of choices – let’s stop fighting time and own the fact we get to make empowered choices about what we put in it.

2. You are USING coffee to get through. That’s USING coffee, like using a drug, as opposed to having a coffee because it tastes nice. Be honest. If you are habitually USING coffee to create energy boosts, rather than just drinking it to enjoy it, you need to have a think about when you can take a break and recharge your mind and body properly. Feeling tired is a message of truth from your body that it needs rest, not an infomercial from Starbucks that you need a double shot latte!

3. Your phone is surgically attached to your body. Yeah. That. If you are checking your phone a zillion times a day you may be getting addicted to the dopamine response it creates. It’s a sign that you need to slow down and unplug – just for a bit. Try setting some digital boundaries and have at least an hour before bed with no screen to wind down and let your natural melatonin production recalibrate. Want to really scare yourself – download an app that tracks how many times a day you check your phone, and collates, to the minute, how many hours you spend a week on Facebook, email etc on your phone. It’s pretty illuminating!

4. If you are waking up feeling tired. If you are finding that sleep is not as restorative as it once was and you are actually waking up feeling tired you might be suffering from the early stages of Adrenal Fatigue. This can get serious but is very easy to remedy if you catch it early and listen to your body. Talk to your GP, or take the quick quiz here to see if this is an issue for you.

5. You wear “I’m sooooooo busy” like a badge of honour. If your answer to “How are you?” is a run down of your perpetual busyness rather than “I am excellent thank you – how are you?” it’s time to look at getting off the treadmill for a bit.

6. You can’t think of the last time you had fun. Life if supposed to be fun, yo! It’s not meant to be one long never ending To Do list. A sure sign of overwhelm and needing to desperately slow down is when you can’t remember when you last did something for fun, or had a heap of spontaneous fun. If you can’t recall the last time you laughed til you cried your balance is seriously out of whack.

Life is a marathon not a sprint, y’all. We are not designed to live at “flat out” all day, every day. We can do it temporarily, but then it’s important to regroup and recharge for the next campaign. If you have answered “yes” to two or more of the above take a moment to diarise some well deserve downtime for gorgeous yourself and plan some restorative relaxation, connection and fun time. You gotta look after this body of yours – it’s the only one you are ever going to get!

Tags decision making, Stress Management, time limited

High Energy Happiness

6 Signs You Need To Slow Down + 3 Easy Solutions

Post author By Support Elf
Post date April 30, 2015
No Comments on 6 Signs You Need To Slow Down + 3 Easy Solutions

If you are thinking “I haven’t got time to read this article!!!” then reading this article is the FIRST thing you need to do! Life is busy – I get it – but when is it too busy?

Here are 6 signs you need to redress the balance:

You find yourself saying “I don’t have time” multiple times a day. The more we reinforce that message to ourselves the less time we magically seem to have. “I don’t have time” is one of the most stress inducing sentences in the English language. I would personally like to ban us all from saying it – it’s a stressful LIE (yes, lie, you heard me right!) we keep telling ourselves. It’s far more accurate, and much more relaxing, to tell ourselves (and others) the truth, “I’m choosing to prioritise this thing/task/person right now – and I’m good with that”. Life is full of choices – let’s stop fighting time and own the fact we make choices about what we put in it.
If you are waking up feeling tired. If you are finding that sleep is not as restorative as it once was and you are actually waking up feeling tired you might be suffering from the early stages of Adrenal Fatigue. This can get very serious but is very easy to remedy if you catch it early and listen to your body. You can take a quick quiz here to see if this is an issue for you.
You are USING coffee to get through. That’s USING coffee, like using a drug, as opposed to having a coffee because it tastes nice. Be honest. If you are USING it, rather than just drinking it, you need to have a think about when you can take a break and recharge your mind and body properly.
Your phone is surgically attached to your body. Yeah. That. If you are checking your phone a zillion times a day you may be getting addicted to the dopamine response it creates. It’s a sign that you need to slow down and unplug – just for a bit. Try setting some digital boundaries and have at least an hour before bed with no screen to wind down and let your natural melatonin production recalibrate.
You wear “I’m sooooooo busy” like a badge of honour. If your answer to “How are you?” is perpetual busyness rather than “I am excellent thankyou – how are you?” it’s time to look at getting off the treadmill for a bit.
You can’t think of the last time you had fun. Life is supposed to be fun, yo! It’s not meant to be one never ending To Do list. A sure sign of overwhelm and needing to desperately slow down is when you can’t remember when you last did something for fun, or had a heap of spontanteous fun. If you can’t recall the last time you laughed til you cried your balance is seriously out of whack.

Life is a marathon not a sprint, y’all. We are not designed to live at “flat out” all day every day. We can do it temporarily , but then it’s important to regroup and recharge for the next campaign. If you have answered “yes” to two or more of the above here are a few resources for you to help you take a well deserved pit stop:

Do you need to slow down?

Tags destress, Stress Management, time limited

Live Happy Inspiration

Are you really missing out?

Post author By Support Elf
Post date June 3, 2014
4 Comments on Are you really missing out?

I have lost count of the number of gigs/parties/events I have ‘missed out on’ over the years whilst I am teaching my fabulous yoga students of an evening. I absolutely love what I do, but I do get the odd grump about missing a thing every now and again.

I also see my friends from corporate days doing a big glitzy thing on Facebook, the sort of industry event of black ties and champagne and fabulous shoes I would have been at in years gone by. And I sometimes feel I am missing out, just a bit, as I potter about in my yoga pants.

I see client after client in my coaching room who is upset about missing out on career opportunities or family opportunities or travel opportunities or run away and join the circus opportunities. If I had a dollar for every time “I hate missing out” has been uttered I would have enough to host my own black tie and champagne event.

Here’s the thing.

With so many opportunities we live in the age of ‘missing out’.

Which actually is a fantastic thing. Not a bad thing at all.

I should be saying “I missed out!” with joy and not regret.

Why?

Because missing out means I had a choice on some other option. It meant I chose another thing and I am actually soooooooooo lucky to have that choice.

There are so many women around the world who miss out on things like getting to vote; having financial independence; education; a career outside the home that doesn’t require a ‘male guardian’. In Saudi Arabia it is illegal for women to drive. They do not even have the choice over what they wear.

So, when I drive myself to class (rather than to the party I fancied) I am going to call out my BS on “missing out” for what it is.

Missing out is a fantastic thing. I’ve missed out because I made the choice to run my own fabulous thriving business, to be financially independent, to drive myself to class, on my own, in my yoga pants.

Missing out is confirmation that I have infinite choice in my life and that I am using it. And that is something to be very happy about indeed.

Missing Out is the new black. You heard it here first.

Tags decision making, flexible thinking, time limited

Self Care and Self Love Simplicity and Time Management

The Yogic Naughty Step … 3 steps to making time for you

Post author By Support Elf
Post date April 15, 2014
1 Comment on The Yogic Naughty Step … 3 steps to making time for you

When I first got bitten by the yoga bug over a decade ago in London I had a very busy career at the Financial Times which I loved, but which (I can see now) I gave too much of my time and energy which left my life very out of balance. Something needed doing late or at the weekend? I’ll do it! No Problem. I’m your girl! I was super-committed, successful and ambitious. I also had the balance of my life waaaay out of whack and my personal life was crumbling.

When I found that first yoga class (a Beginners course very like the one I teach today) I felt such an overwhelming and unexpected sense of relief and peace. It scared me actually: I didn’t know that that feeling was it was so long since I had felt it.

I knew it was something I had to pursue. Pretty soon I was there 3 times a week, even when I moved across London I loved the teacher Simona so much I would schlep all the way from Shepherds Bush to Clapham and back for her classes and not mind one bit. It really was a revelation for me.

It was a revelation for my working hours too. I developed my own ‘naughty step’ technique for getting out of work on time no matter what. I realised that when you are running a newspaper everything is always urgent, there is always something that needs to be done. I also knew that there was now something I wanted more: to practice yoga, to learn more, to feel that feeling. So on Mondays and Thursdays I started leaving the office at 4.55pm which was unheard of for me. The stuff kept landing on my desk, people rocking round expecting me to handle things at that time just as I had for the previous 6 or 7 years. But, I still left. I chose the thing I wanted more, to get the feeling that I got at the end of class and to improve my new yoga practice.

Yes for those first four or five weeks I had some heated discussions, and yes I let some people down, and yes some other people grew their skills through some inspired delegation. But, the paper came out, the world continued to turn. And then, do you know what, the last minute requests stopped, on Monday and Thursday the Head of Production might rock over and say “now I know Thursday is your yoga night but can you look at this tomorrow morning?” or my staff would step up and say “ I’ll clear that last page boss, you get on to class”. And off I would go. And I never missed a class from then on despite having a senior job in a highly deadline oriented business. My career continued to go from strength to strength too. Probably because I was more relaxed and had more balance.

If my former workaholic self can do it: you can do it. You can be there and make that time for yourself each week. It’s a case of training the people you work with much the same way you would train a toddler what is and is not okay behavior a la Supernanny. The key is in being clear what you want, consistently voicing it and following through regardless of the reaction you get. In short it’s the Yogic Naughty Step.

1. Voice. What is it you WANT? Be clear with yourself so you don’t get distracted in the moment by passing momentary tasks. eg. I want to feel flexible and relaxed by Easter. I want to give myself that hour and a quarter to myself each week in class. I want long term health and wellbeing. Diarise it. Commit to yourself.

2. Choice. Wait for the inevitable last minute thing that’s just so important that it has to be done RIGHT NOW to come up. Assess it calmly…be aware of the choice that you are making. Choose to be able to stand a moments discomfort as you say ‘That will have to wait until the morning, I have an appointment now’. No need to explain or apologise.

Choose a moments discomfort so you can have what you really WANT. If it’s really that important someone else will step up and do it. Really.

3. Follow Through. Go do your thing: guilt free! Do your yoga class, go for that run, have the weekly ball game with the kids. Whatever your thing is that you want.

Next week when it inevitably happens again repeat the same thing “That will have to wait until the morning, I have an appointment now”. Consistency is key.

Rinse and repeat. Before you know it you will have reclaimed that time, and the last minute requests will stop.

It’s a funny thing but once you consistently respect your time other people will too.

Tags decision making, Life work balance, time limited

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