I've had a couple of conversations recently in which people's saboteur voices were revealed. The ones that tell the old story of why something won't happen or has to happen in a particular way to have any value or be right. On both occasions, when that voice was revealed, the person gained insight but there was reluctance in letting that voice go. There's security in that old thinking. It's kept them safe in some way. And letting go of it feels unfamiliar and exposing. This i

Twice in my life, I’ve stayed in careers after they stopped serving me. Both had felt right at one time but didn't anymore. And the hardest thing was giving myself permission to stop. After all, “persistence is a virtue” and “quitting is failure”. And there are times when that is true. And sometimes persistence becomes a prison. Knowing when to stop is as important as knowing when to persist. It's not about giving up at the first sign of difficulty. It's about recognising whe

We rely so much on our brains to interpret the world and our place in it but what about what your body is trying to tell you? The tension in your shoulders. The knot in your stomach before certain meetings. The exhaustion that doesn't shift. They become just others thing to rationalise as inconveniences. Things to power through. Signs that we need to get fitter, sleep better, manage stress more effectively. But what if they're not problems to fix? What if they're information?

I think it’s true to say that success breeds success but how? It’s not because winning once makes you objectively better at what you do. But it can change how you see yourself. When you feel capable and valued, things feel lighter. There's less at stake. The internal monologue shifts from "I hope I don't mess this up" to "This feels good." And that shift can change everything. I see this with people I work with. When they take time to reflect on their strengths, what they hav

It took me years to realize I'd built two careers—first as an actor, then as a TV producer—on the wrong fuel. I wasn't chasing what I wanted. I was trying to outrun what I feared. And there's a difference. When you're running towards something—a vision, a purpose, something that genuinely lights you up—the hard work feels meaningful. You have difficult days, sure, but there's a reason. A direction. A why that keeps you going. But when you're running away from something—fear o

I want to celebrate my son.  He got his A level results in the summer and decided to defer the university place he earned to take a year off to work and travel. But it’s how he put his plan into action that really impressed me. He knew a couple of people from older years that had jobs in construction and leant on their experience for advice. He reworked his CV. He did a couple of online courses. Then lobbied recruiters and further adapted his CV until he got a job that pays h

There's a version of us that turns up to work every day. Professional. Capable. Measured. The one keeping it all together. And then there's another version. The one who feels things deeply. Who questions decisions. Who sometimes wonders if we're making any difference at all. Most of the time, we manage that gap. We perform the role. We show up as the version people expect and need. But that gap? It takes its toll on us. I spent a lot of energy maintaining that performance. I

That voice in your head that says "you're not ready" or "who do you think you are?" Most of us treat it like an enemy. Something to overcome. Silence. Push through. But what if that's not what it needs? I’ve had many conversations with clients who are preparing for a big presentation, board meeting or key note speech and the inner critic can be loud – literally keeping them awake at night. With a message saying: they’ll mess it up. That they're not experienced. That people wi

A couple of years ago, someone introduced me to the concept of ‘liminal spaces’. It was explained to me in terms of architecture - those in-between places like corridors and stairwells that exist only to connect one room to another. I've been thinking about how we sometimes inhabit those spaces. I see it with the people I work with. The moment when they realize their current life no longer fits, but they can't quite see what comes next. They've left behind who they were, but

Consciously or not, we are training our brains … all the time. When we choose comfort over growth we’re telling our brains we’re happy to stay where we are. When we choose not to call out someone’s behaviour we’re telling our brains it’s what we deserve. When we repeatedly put others first, we’re telling our brains we have no value. Unless we take time to reflect on what we want and where we are heading our brain is happy to drift along in it’s old patterns of thinking and re

I had a head injury in 2019. For medical geeks, it was a small right frontal traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage. Which sounds a lot...

A couple of weeks ago I heard on the radio one of the doctors involved in developing the fat jab. He’d struggled with yo-yoing weight and...

I work with creative thinkers. These amazing people don’t necessarily work in creative industries and may not consider themselves...

I saw someone recently that I hadn’t spoke to for a number of months. They mentioned the posts I put on LinkedIn, that they saw them...

When I work with someone I mostly want them to to be kinder to themself. Tune into their heart and their gut. Not to necessarily do...

Two conversations reminded me this week how tightly we create our realities. Both were with people unhappy at work who felt they had no...

I have spent many hours waiting for the phone to ring. As an actor that was the way of things, or so I thought. Looking back the smart...

At the weekend I met with a group of people I was at college with over 30 years ago. Its a curious life affirming, perspective creating,...

I’ve been struggling to get into my stride this autumn. In my way (I think) is that I missed an arbitrary start date of September 3rd,...

Permission is a funny thing. Covid hit my house last week and I was feeling ‘not myself’ but testing negative. And because the red line...