Work with me to develop your strengths!

Work with me to develop your strengths!

Work with me to develop your strengths!

Do you know what your strengths are?
 
 
And have you ever taken a strengths questionnaire?
 
 
Using strengths assessments and working with clients’ strengths are key aspects of positive psychology coaching.
 
 
And are a key part of the work I do with my clients.
 
 
Why?
 
 
Because, research has shown that outcomes can include:
 
 
✔️increase in confidence;
✔️performance improvement;
✔️work engagement;
✔️improved concentration;
✔️goal achievement;
✔️psychological flourishing…
 
 
I have extensive experience with the well-researched VIA Character Strengths assessment and model, through:
 
 
use with dozens of clients
conducting research throughout my Master degree
participating in the VIA Mindfulness Based Strengths Practice course (which I highly recommend!)
and utilising & developing my strengths every day (BTW my top 3 are kindness, humility & prudence)
 
 
You can do this assessment for free! But… debriefing your results with a coach can help to deepen your understanding of, and how you can best work with & benefit from your strengths.
 
 
📩Get in touch if you’d like to know how I can help you discover and develop your strengths!

My Interview with Firework Coaching

My Interview with Firework Coaching

My Interview with Firework Coaching

Firework interview

Here’s an interview that I did with the lovely Kat from Firework. Click here to read about my journey into coaching, some of my clients’ results, and how I use the tools that I gained from my career coach training with Firework.

 

 

My interview on work-life balance with Balance the Grind

My interview on work-life balance with Balance the Grind

My interview on work-life balance with Balance the Grind

Balance the grind text

I’m delighted to have been interviewed by Balance the Grind about how I manage my work-life balance.

You can read my interview here.

Take some time to browse through the other interviews and resources that are featured – maybe you get some new ideas on how to optimise your own work-life balance!

5 easy ways to reduce overwhelm – in any situation

5 easy ways to reduce overwhelm – in any situation

5 easy ways to reduce overwhelm – in any situation

Do you experience moments at work, when deadlines are fast approaching, to-dos are piling up, you’re feeling overwhelmed with competing priorities; where you feel it’s difficult to concentrate or focus on one thing at a time, emotions are running high and perhaps you even feel a physical reaction?

I’ve put together a couple of strategies (a couple that may be surprising!), that are useful to reduce stress during your work day so that you can quickly get back ton track.

You can try these in different situations – whether in a meeting, on a crowded train, or when you are alone:

  1. Connect to your senses, slowly and one by one. What can you see? What can you hear? What can you smell? What can you taste? What can you feel (touch)?
  2. Put both feet on the ground and imagine strong, healthy tree roots growing from your soles, right down to the middle of the earth. Feel anchored, strong and supported.
  3. Connect to your breath. Notice your inhales and exhales and slow your breathing down. Count in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4. Try this for about a minute
  4. Literally slow down. Walk more slowly, speak slower, type slower. If it helps, pretend you are underwater and it’s simply not possible to do things quickly.
  5. Think of 3 things you’re grateful for.

Which of these tips do you think would be most useful for you?
And do you have any others to share that have worked well?

Useful Resources

Please get in touch if you’d like my support to manage your stress better!

Flow-the ‘secret to happiness’

Flow-the ‘secret to happiness’

Flow-the ‘secret to happiness’

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, one of the founders of positive psychology, interestingly describes flow as “the secret to happiness”.

What is flow?

Here’s his definition of flow: “The intense experiential involvement in moment-to-moment activity, which can be either physical or mental. Attention is fully invested in the task at hand and the person functions at her/his fullest capacity.

And this can apply to any activity that captivates us and where we forget time – socialising, sport, reading, studying, etc, etc. I experienced flow when I was researching for my assessments – my attention was fully focused on the content I was researching and writing about, I wasn’t checking my emails or worried about the time – I was fully immersed and very much enjoying what I was doing. 

Does this sound familiar to you?
When was the last time you experienced flow?
What were you doing?

How can flow make us happier?

When we experience moments of flow we:

  • lose our sense of self temporarily, and with it the self-judgment and comparison with others
  • are focused and doing an activity that moves us towards our goals
  • are being challenged
  • are positive and energised
  • are feeling in control and are not self-conscious 

By having experiences in flow, it also helps us to: 

  • make better decisions about what enriches us, and what depletes us
  • know our strengths and what we can do well 

Reflecting after spending hours researching and writing for my papers, I have to say that I definitely do feel happier! I have been focused, productive, cemented new knowledge, learned new things, and I felt particularly happy that what I was learning can help others. I also felt satisfied, accomplished and that I’ve worked hard.

How about you, when you’ve been in flow, what emotions have you experienced?
And how about after – what impact did it have on you afterwards?

What can you do to find your flow? 

According to Csikszentmihalyi, there are a few common characteristics of flow:

1. The activity must have a clear structure, set of milestones or rules, and the participant must know what they need to do within the activity. 

For example, I have very clear criteria for what is being assessed. I also wrote on my to-do list each day the sections of my papers I wanted to complete by the end of the day, and from the detailed criteria I knew how long each section needed to be. 

2. There must be an immediate sense of awareness that participants are on their path to achieving their goals. 

My to-do list helps me with this. Once I’d finished each section, I crossed them off my list. And when I finish writing a section of paper, I highlight it in yellow.

3. This is the characteristic that I find most critical – When the challenge and the person’s skill are balanced, they become lost in the activity and flow is the likely result.

If the skill and challenge levels are unbalanced for the activity, it’s possible to experience boredom, anxiety or even apathy. 

The work I do for my assessments is compatible with my skill levels – I’ve already completed a research degree and therefore have the experience and skill for this task, and the challenge is at the right level as the content I’m researching is not basic, but it’s also not extremely complicated. Therefore, creating the right conditions for flow to occur. 

In comparison, when I reflect on an activity such as surfing through websites looking at pretty dresses, I quickly see that there is absolutely no challenge, and only basic internet skills required, so when doing this (even though I do like pretty dresses) I quickly become bored and even apathetic. Which brings me into a state of negative emotion. 

How can you help others to find flow? 

Whether you are a parent, a leader or someone who simply likes to support others, think about the positive impact that it would have on those around them when your child, team member or colleague experiences more moments of flow!

Here are some questions to consider to help others find moments of flow. 

  • How could you design an activity for the person you have in mind, that has the right balance of skill and challenge to get them to flow?
  • Do they know enough about their activity to achieve flow?
  • Think about what their natural strengths are, and in what activities they can use them to get them into flow?
  • How can you encourage them to stop activities that result in apathy or anxiety?
  • What else do they need to support them to find flow – do they prefer to work quietly, or do they thrive in noisy, stimulating environments?
  • How can you best explain your moments of flow to them?! 

I’d love to hear your experiences of flow, please leave your comments below!

Useful resources

– Watch the TED talk from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Read my blog on how to reduce your multi-tasking to create conditions for flow to occur

 

Newsletters

Newsletters

Newsletters

Every couple of weeks, I share short and sweet tips and insights from my work as a leadership & career coach and a student of positive and coaching psychology, as well as exclusive special offers on my products.

If you’d like to subscribe to receive all future newsletters, please click here and you’ll receive a gift from me5 Simple Ways to Integrate Positivity into your Work Day. Otherwise here are previous newsletters for you to enjoy and benefit from!

What's wellbeing?!

Your best self, optimism and doing more of what you love at work

Positive energy, inspiring people and being kind

Successes, more strengths and a positive psychology exercise for you

Spotlight on applying character strengths at work

Innovation, engagement and gratitude

More happiness, less busyness

Kindness, excitement and a special offer

Spotlight on flow

More habits, more strengths, a celebration and a gift

Spotlight on mindfulness (and creme eggs)

R U OK, bad habits and 3 good things

Productivity, focus and authentic happiness

Positive Psychology, personal branding and nap pods

Spotlight on positive emotions

Values, good deeds and celebrations

Highlights, boosting strengths and positive futures

Strengths, intuition and little brothers

My best self, more optimism and finishing 2018 on a very positive note

Positively thriving at work