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From Dreaming to Doing: The Tool Kit

Self-help books have always represented my most-used tools in my personal growth journey. Last year I read Brené Brown’s Braving the Wilderness, which appealed to my inner scholar without being too ‘academic’, as it were. In an interview about the book, Brené made a comment that really struck me. “If the only two tools that you have in our tool bag are shame or coddle, that’s a sorry-ass tool bag.” [25:20 into This Video with Marie Read more…

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FireCircle Inner Strength

20 Simple Ways to Manage your Inner Strength

Resilience is one of those buzz words going around. In essence, Resilience is our innate inner strength: that drive which keeps us from giving up on the things we truly want. And in the stress of our modern environment, we are tight for time and low on energy. Therefore, by the time we realise we need to change the way we’re coping, making a change feels too hard. Recognise that your Strength Exists Feeling resilient Read more…

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Why Tracking your Progress is a Crucial Life-Skill

Progress in anything suggests that one of the key indicators of successful progression is tracking. Especially when looking at the number of day planners aimed at productivity or the neuroscience of habit formation. Almost like an obvious secret, having information on how things are going and what isn’t working is crucial to making the correct tweaks in the path forward. And yet, we’re often blocked from unlocking that information. Perfectionism and the Fear of Failure I’ve Read more…

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How to Cut Through the Noise of Unhelpful Thoughts

When I studied cognitive-behavioural therapy (and later used the techniques in practise) one of my key starting points was to look at a persons unhelpful thoughts. There are a lot of different “categories”, but at their core, these are unconscious or subconscious thoughts which arrive in our head without any real planning. We have very little control over them entering our mind. However, the key is to control what happens once they have arrived. Some Read more…

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the faerie door, for quitting the wrong path

Failure: When Quitting is Never the Wrong Decision

There is this idea of success looking one way, and that quitting anything, no matter how ‘wrong’ it may seem, is just not an option. One of the common things fear and Imposter Worries bring to our table, is the idea that we need to take more classes, learn more things or do something-else before we can make progress on our right path.  That if only we could do X, only then will we be Read more…

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Secrets of the Inner Spark: Your Personal Truth Matters

In 2011, I began a blog called The Phoenix Mind to explore the neuroscience of empowerment and capability. I saw human potential as a spark within, that could ignite into a phoenix. The URL has since lapsed, and although I re-purposed and updated many of the foundational posts here, I’ve not tried too hard to carry over the old pages to this new space. Why? Because a lot changes in seven years. At the time, Read more…

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The First Step to Feeling Strong: Refill Your Well

One of the common reasons we lose touch with our inner strength is that we aren’t re-filling our own well. If you’ve ever attended a well-being course, there’s a common analogy about that famous aeroplane message: “Put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others with theirs.” The idea of this is to normalise self-care. If we cannot breathe, we cannot help others breathe. I like to take this metaphor and remind people of Read more…

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How to Make Time out of Transitions

One of the most common obstacles I hear from dreamers, is that of not having enough time. Now, to some extent, there may be a truth to how much free-time your specific situation allows you. You may be a carer or have two jobs in between meals and sleep: often the only pauses to breathe are those transitions between tasks. However, in many cases, this is a choice of prioritisation, where tweaks could be made. Read more…

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How to Manage When Angry Tears Take Over

Someone posted a question in a Facebook group at the weekend asking for help with managing stress at work. The gist of the question was “How can I stop crying angry tears at work?” Now, I’m not a medical professional, and these articles focus on giving my opinion based on my knowledge and experience. I believe angry tears differ from other types of crying. Recognising Tears When I feel sad, I may cry sad tears. Read more…

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