Life is full of twists and turns and ups and downs. But it’s reassuring to know that we have the power to switch on our own joy.  Even on the busiest of days, there’s always an opportunity to make space to feel good.  The secret is to make time to indulge yourself.  Give yourself permission to focus on self-care, put yourself first, and make time for what makes you happy. This involves cultivating the mindset that empowers you to drop the ‘shoulds’ and the ‘musts’ and push off any guilt so you can make a little more time for the things that light you up.  The upside is so worth it.  If you’re able to switch on happiness, not only do you feel elevated emotions, but you’ll also empower yourself to ride the wave of productivity, creativity, and optimism that follows.  So how can you make happiness a regular occurrence?  The secret is two-fold.  1. Discover what brings you joy. 2. Embody the habits that make you happy Let’s explore this two-part puzzle in more detail.   What brings you joy? It sounds obvious, but if you want to feel happier, first spend some time figuring out what brings you joy.  Here’s the secret… You don’t have to reinvent your entire life, and you don’t need a big budget either. Instead, put together a list of go-to activities and moments that make you feel good in your skin and switch on all the feel-good vibes. For example, your plan might include:  • Reading• Meditation• Yoga• Self-education• Practicing gratitude• Walking barefoot on the beach• Wild swimming• Having a massage, a facial, or a mani-pedi• Driving out somewhere• A long, leisurely cup of coffee• A lie-in• A Netflix binge • Mini-break or an overnight stay• Watching a great movie• A hug• Cooking a delicious meal from scratch• Writing• Dancing• Playing a game• Crafting• An in-depth conversation with someone you care about - Deeper Talk can help• Listening to a great podcast [quick plug! We recommend Writing Your Best Self!!]   The secret is to discover what brings you joy. Make your happiness a habit  With your list complete, it’s time to figure out how you’ll weave more of the things you love into your life. It’s tempting to say that you don’t have time - and you’d be right. We all live hectic, busy lives after all. But here’s the thing; your happiness doesn’t depend on your amount of spare time. Instead, it’s all about the way you allocate your hours.  In other words, with the right planning strategies, you can mastermind your day [and therefore your life] to evoke more everyday joy. Here’s how…  Choose your non-negotiables.  A non-negotiable is something that you do regardless.  It’s an activity that’s such an ingrained part of your identity that you figure out a way to make it happen - even if the odds are stacked against you.  When it comes to your happiness, pick a selection of activities that you’ll make your non-negotiables.  Consider picking activities for different timescales. For example: • Daily habits: You might switch on happiness with a great book, practicing gratitude, and taking a walk in nature.  • Weekly habits: You might designate Sunday mornings as your lie in time - fuelled by an incredible cup of coffee • Monthly habits: Treat yourself to a monthly massage or an overnight stay somewhere so you can explore a new place Use your schedule What gets scheduled gets done.  If you leave your happiness habits to chance, the likelihood is they won’t happen. Instead, something else will swallow up your time, and you’ll be left feeling frustrated with lower happiness levels than you needed to settle for.  Your Self Journal is the perfect place to ensure you make time for the things that bring you joy.  Schedule your happiness habits with the same rigor and commitment as you would a client presentation, work deadline, or other appointments. Block out time in your day to make space for the things that make you feel good and allow other commitments to fit around your non-negotiables.  Let go of the belief that you don’t have enough time because chances are you will!  After all, how much time do you waste through procrastination when you’re feeling demotivated or bored?  When you infuse more of what you love into your day, don’t be surprised if your creativity and productivity soar. When your cup is full, it’s a lot easier to pack more into your life without depleting your energy. Drop the guilt A lot of us were raised on the belief that hard work leads to success. It’s one of the reasons we can feel guilty for taking time out and making space for the things that bring us joy.  Here’s the thing… If you allow guilt to tinge your happiness habits, they won’t feel as good.  What’s more, if you’re feeling your best, then it’s going to be a lot easier for you to perform at the top of your game. If you have a hard time making time for you, it’s time to change the story.  Make time for happiness, and pretty soon, it could become your secret effectiveness weapon!  Reflect on your success Reflection is a proven way to learn from your efforts so you can tweak and improve going forward. Your Self Journal has a weekly review page where you can reflect on your week as well as take some decisions about how you’ll make the next week as good - or even better.  Use this space to understand the difference your happiness habits are making to your mental and emotional well-being.  • Do you include the right habits - or do you need to swap in something else? • Are you making time for the things you love? • What difference is your happiness time making to you and your life?  When you see a progression, it’s a lot easier to inspire yourself to keep on moving forward.  Keep yourself accountable Finally, ask yourself how you’re going to make your happiness habits stick.  One way is to use a habit tracker. Simply check off each day to create a winning streak. Before long, your streak will create a chain that will be more painful to break than you get the habit done.  You can discover more accountability suggestions when you listen to how to stay accountable to yourself and your goals. “Happiness is a direction, not a place.” — Sydney J. Harris Happiness is something we create - it’s not something that we obtain.  It’s also a feeling that fuels the good life - which is why we all crave it.  So don’t leave your happiness to chance. Instead, make your happiness a habit with the help of this simple five-step plan. I wonder how your life will evolve as a result.

Life is full of abundance. Don’t believe me; look at nature! It’s plentiful!  There’s something powerful about being able to see your life through the lens of a glass half full, rather than half empty. Optimism and positivity can inspire you to see more good around you than there is ‘bad’.  Sure, this approach takes discipline.  Negativity can be addictive as well as draining. It’s easy to find yourself pulled into a downward spiral when you focus on what you don’t have - rather than what you do.  So if you’re ready to transform your default mindset so that you can see ALL the hidden gifts in your life, this article is for you.  Keep reading and discover FIVE different practices that will remind you how blessed you actually are. Practice reflection Reflection is the practice of looking back so that you can learn through the eyes of hindsight.  Hindsight is powerful because it gives you 20/20 vision. When you know how things worked out, it’s easy to see what you could have done differently [or better] to create a different outcome. With hindsight, it’s easy to understand the actions you took to create the positive results you enjoyed. These learnings are gifts - gifts that enhance your skills, your confidence, your plans, and your knowledge etc.  Reflection allows you to extract the gifts that could otherwise sink under the radar and disappear in the flurry of life.  What’s more, your gifts from reflection are gifts that keep on giving because they stop you from repeating avoidable mistakes, which can help you achieve your goals faster and easier.  So decide to reflect regularly. It’s a powerful way to find the hidden gifts in your day. Be open to seeing your gifts Some gifts are obvious; for example, the coffee bought by your friend or the bouquet your partner brought home from work.  Other gifts show up in disguise. In fact, they don’t even feel like gifts when you first receive them! For example, some gifts come in the form of significant challenges that rattle you.  But it was thanks to those challenges that you made a decision or took an action that turned your life down a better path entirely.  The secret is to look for ALL the gifts that come into your life. Yes! Even the ones that aren’t wrapped up in a bow.  Choose to believe that life is always sending you the good stuff because energy flows in the direction of your attention. Practice gratitude Gratitude is one of the simplest, but most powerful ways to turn every day into a gift.  It’s easy to practice gratitude. All you need to do is write down the things you’re grateful for along with reasons why. The secret for enjoying insane happiness through appreciation is to LOWER the bar [now that’s something we don’t often say!]  Here’s why… It’s easy to feel grateful for the big stuff - like a perfect launch, a big bonus, or a dream vacation. However, these big things don’t happen every day.  If you only celebrate the big things, you’ll tune out the everyday miracles and magic that’s present in EVERY moment of your life.  Such as an incredible sunset, the perfect field of flowers, a warm cup of coffee on a cold day, a book that lights you up, a conversation with a friend, a hug from a loved one… my list could go on.  When you take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate these small things, life suddenly feels a lot more full.  What’s more, because the things that you appreciate, appreciate, the more you focus on the good stuff, the more good things you’ll attract into your life.  For gratitude ideas that lower the bar, download this free 101 gratitudes PDF. Define your Win The Day score The Win The Day score is another way to find and notice your gifts. You’ll find this feature on the Self Journal’s daily pages.  To rate your day, you have to revisit your experiences and assess how ‘good’ they were. It’s a simple practice that’s a lot deeper than first meets the eye.  To choose a rating, you have to reflect. You have to think about who you’ve been, what you did, and what you enjoyed. You have to think about how you felt and decide where on the spectrum between 1-10 your day sits.  While we all have ‘bad’ days [and you’re definitely allowed to have them], a low rating is an invitation to think about how you can approach tomorrow differently. As a bonus, a daily rating allows you to see a pattern over time - creating a visual reminder of how in love with your life you are. Consciously create gifts Finally, your ability to see gifts in your day is all a matter of perspective.  What one person perceives as a gift could be someone else’s nightmare!  The secret is that you get to CHOOSE your experience because you are the one in the driver’s seat of your life. For example, you get to decide how:  • You spend your time - and whether that time will create gifts in the form of memories and achievement. • High or low your gift bar sits.• Alert you’ll be to the gifts that show up.   It’s up to you :-)  Your best self is always unfolding. Each day, you have the opportunity to move the needle on your life in a beautiful way.  These five simple, but powerful practices are here to help you celebrate the micro-moments as you walk the path to your bigger goals.  Use them to inspire yourself, cultivate a positive mindset, and feel unstoppable.  You’ve got this.  

“The greatest gift is not being afraid to question.” – Ruby Dee It’s an understatement to say that the past years are filled with the unexpected and unpredictable.  But there’s also untapped potential in the current climate. Sure, we’re living in a different time with a new set of challenges. For example, we’re exploring and adapting to new ways of connecting and living.  But in the process, we have the chance to design and visualize a future that would not have been possible 12 months ago.  It’s with this positive perspective that I offer you some planning questions in this article.  There’s a lot of power to be found in figuring out a way to make the most of challenging situations. With that in mind, explore these questions through a lens of positivity and optimism - even if resistance shows up.  In the process, you could find yourself making plans and dreaming about goals that excite you in a totally new way.  But before I reveal the questions for planning your future, let’s explore why this approach is so powerful. The power of questions.  “A wise man’s question contains half the answer.” – Solomon Ibn Gabiro Questions are powerful self-development tools that are easy to access.  Questions work due to a neural process called instinctive elaboration. In short, your brain is hard-wired to answer questions! Here’s how you’ll benefit from asking better questions:  • Engage your mind. Challenge your brain to create, innovate, and problem-solve. • Direct your focus and attention. When you ask a question of yourself, you guide your mind down a specific pathway. • Pattern interrupt. Ask a different question, and you’ll invite a new thread of thought, which can inspire you to think differently and unlock fresh ideas. • Curiosity. Leading to new points of view. • 95% of your brain’s activity is subconscious. Questions can help you unlock knowledge you didn’t know you had.• Innate wisdom. Questions help you discover more about who you are leading to heightened self-discovery, self-awareness, and ultimately self-trust and self-love.  The Six Questions  Now you understand the power of questions; it’s time to grab your journal, reflect over these deep-dive prompts, and unlock insights that will help you finish the year strong. What actually matters to you?  The previous year has shown us that a lot of things we prioritized weren’t as important as we thought.   Use this question to pull away all the fluff and get to the core of what’s most important to you. This question will help you reset and rethink; creating the space to plan a future based on what’s truest for you.  What are your new goals?  Given where you are now, what do you want to achieve, and why?  You may have to rethink your direction because the world has changed. A lot of people have been ‘cheated’ out of their pre-COVID goals. That said, it’s empowering to put a line in the sand, embrace the current climate, and create something beautiful regardless.  What could you do next?  Start by writing a list of possibilities. In the process, you’ll uncover the new opportunities that exist for you. And when you’re ready to commit to a goal and dive into some in-depth planning, the Self Journal has your back.  Where are you slipping at the moment? After the year we’ve had, you’d be forgiven for letting things slip! But there comes a time when you need to dust yourself off and get back into focus mode.  Be honest! Where have your standards slipped? Where has your energy or effort dropped? Where has your commitment waned?  If you’re meeting resistance as you think about this question, get clear on what slipping has cost you. It will give you that extra bit of incentive to get back on track.  What can you do to get back in control of your life?  One of the scariest things about the past years is the falling apart of so many things we took for granted. Change on this scale is scary - and it can leave you feeling out of control.  Here’s the truth… You may not be able to control external circumstances and events, BUT you can always control the way you react to them. Your mindset - i.e. your beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors are always in your control.  With that in mind, what actions can you take to feel as though you’re back in the driver’s seat of your life?  What routines and habits will you adopt?  Change rarely happens overnight, and this can get frustrating. We’re impatient! As a result, we undervalue the power of daily baby steps.  This is the power of your habits and routines.  If you can distill your goals into small daily actions, you can put the compound effect into your life.  What could you start TODAY to move the needle in the direction you want to go? How can you find peace and happiness in your life?  Stress, anxiety, burnout, worry etc. All these challenging emotions can throw us off balance and leave us feeling unsettled.  Even when chaos surrounds you, there’s always something you can do to reclaim a sense of peace. There’s always something you can smile about to feel happier.  What are these for you? Time to step up  There’s still time to turn it around and enter the new year with a feeling of progress and a sense of optimism.  With the help of these planning questions, you’re in a position to move forward powerfully.  Whatever you decide to create next, know you’ve got this.

“We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?” - Steve Jobs There’s something beautiful and powerful about knowing your life has touched another’s in a positive way that makes us feel good. Knowing you've made an impact makes you feel valuable. It gives your life a bigger context that extends beyond you alone. It elevates feelings of connection because through impact we remember how we’re all connected and not alone.  The impact you make doesn’t need to be huge for it to matter. You might impact lives by starting a non-profit or by creating a product that transforms how people live.  But equally important is the conversation you have with someone who’s hit their limit. Or the mentorship you give to a rising star who benefits hugely from your influence.  What’s more, your impact creates a ripple effect that spreads out into the world in ways you can’t imagine or predict.  What might the person you’ve helped do for someone else?  It’s a mystery of life and a reminder that no act is too small to be significant.  So how do you maximize your chances of making an impact in the way that you want?  These ten mindsets are a great place to start.  Let’s dive in! 1. Love yourself  People aren’t only touched by what you do. They are moved by who you are and how you make them feel.  People respond to your energy and your vibe, which is why impact gets amplified by your level of self-love. There’s a correlation. The more you appreciate who you are, the less you’ll doubt your instincts - which means there’s an increased likelihood that you’ll follow through on your impact idea. So do what you can to cultivate self-trust. You’ll find it’s a lot easier to follow your heart with confidence when you’re sure you’re taking the right action.  There are plenty of ways to increase self-love.  Journaling is a great place to dive deep into the inner work and boost your self-awareness. A gratitude practice will inspire a positive mindset and switch on optimism. Have a play to see what methods work for you. 2. Expand your comfort zone Making an impact isn’t always easy. Chances are you’ll face your fears and take on new challenges. But that’s part of the magic of making your mark. In the process of inspiring others, you’ll also discover that you can do more than you ever imagined possible.  In the process, you realize you’re more influential than you thought previously.  So be brave and lean into courage.  Learn to find comfort inside the discomfort and enjoy discovering how powerful you are.  3. Go the extra mile The extra mile is ridiculously under crowded. Most people stop just before they reach the area where another step can make all the difference.  What could you do beyond the point where others stop trying or give up to make a difference?  4. Serve others  Any time you help someone out, you make an impact.  Whether you do a random act of kindness or volunteer for a charity, every act of service makes a difference in the world. Not only that, but every time you contribute, you feel good too!    5. Share your story Change starts with you.  Anytime you lead or reveal possibilities, there will be others who feel inspired by your actions and want to get involved too.   So lead the way. You never know who you’ll inspire when you choose to go first.  Share your stories, speak from your heart, and express your truth. Leverage your life experiences as examples to show others what’s possible.  It’s a beautiful way to make an impact.  6. Make a stand for the things you believe in Your voice has insane power. If you can articulate your beliefs and values in an empowered way, you can have a lot of influence - and even ignite change.  And don’t think a single voice can’t do much.  Just look at people like Greta Thunberg and Rosa Parks, and you can see the far-reaching impact that one individual can make.  Speak out and advocate for the causes you believe in.  Be the example and spark thought-provoking conversations that get others thinking. Who knows where your voice could lead.  7. Check your balance between creating and consuming We’re in the information age where information is virtually infinite.  There’s barely any room for boredom these days because entertainment and conversation are at our fingertips [literally]. There is a negative side to this entertainment on tap. If we’re not mindful, we can quickly lose ourselves in the internet abyss - emerging hours later wondering what we actually achieved.  If you spend all your time consuming, there’s less space and scope for your ideas.  So find the right balance.  Make room to get inspired with your own creativity. Get into writing, poetry, dance, painting, crafts - whatever gets you excited. Art touches people in beautiful ways. How could you impact others with your unique expression?  8. Give compliments As humans, we all long to be seen and heard for who we really are.  Don’t underestimate the impact that a well-timed, specific compliment can make on another individual. Compliments work because they show that you’ve noticed something valuable and beautiful in another person. They allow others to feel acknowledged and noticed.  • Tell your VA how much you value what they do for you.• Tell your child how great they are at hugging and smiling.• Tell your boss their leadership inspires you. Go the extra mile by being specific instead of vague. Specificity feels entirely different to receive.  9. Plan your impact It’s one thing to have an idea about how you’ll make an impact; it’s another to take action on your idea and turn a vision into reality.  Don’t leave things to chance.  Turn talk into action by figuring out the practical steps that will help you manifest your vision. Identify milestones, set deadlines, and build the habits needed to move the needle.  Magic really does happen when you see your ideas through from beginning to end. 10. Cultivate resilience  Progress can feel painfully slow at the beginning. You may even start to wonder if your effort is worth it at all. But just like a stationary car is hard to move initially, once you overcome the inertia the momentum builds.  So don’t give up!  Keep going, knowing the energy you’ve invested has to show up somewhere. And if things don’t work out as you hoped, don’t take it personally. Instead, get comfortable with setbacks and extract the lessons from your ‘failures’. This resilience will make you tougher and inspire you to weather any storm.  How are you making an impact in your life and your world?  I hope these ideas inspire you. 

"The human capacity for burden is like bamboo - far more flexible than you'd ever believe at first glance." - Jodi Picoult. With so much uncertainty, it’s not surprising that stress and anxiety levels are on the rise. Now, more than ever, we need to take care of our mental and emotional health.  The good news is there’s always something you can do to change the way you feel - even if that feeling only lasts a short time.  One thing you can try is mindful living - a practice that can help relieve stress and calm anxiety.  Let me show you how… What is mindful living?  Mindful living is about being focused in the present moment - something that’s not as easy as it sounds.  If you could step outside of your body and observe how you move through your day, you’d see that you spend a lot of it either thinking about the past or rushing to the future. Instead of being in the moment, you’re stressing about the argument you had with your kids over breakfast, or you’re anxious about how tomorrow’s pitch will go.  You’d also notice how distracted you are…  From the constant pings of email notifications to the stream of social updates, your environment is waiting to pull you out of the moment.  And that’s not to mention the 100s of daily decisions that take up bandwidth! It’s a problem because when you’re disconnected from the moment, you feel ungrounded. In turn, your stress and anxiety levels rise.  Mindful living practices can help you combat this… Five ways to practice mindful living 1. Mindful meditation.  Detached from the present moment, even a few minutes of deep presence can be overwhelming. In the silence, you notice how much your mind races with its estimated 50,000 thoughts a day!  Over time, mindful meditation can help you feel comfortable sitting with what is.  The goal with meditation is just to be.  Don’t try to switch off your thoughts entirely. A silent mind is hard to create - especially if you’re new to meditation. Trying to be ‘perfect’ will quickly turn you off your practice! Instead, every time you notice yourself getting lost in thought, bring your awareness back to your breath.  As a busy person, you may wonder if daily meditation is a realistic goal for you. The good news is that even a short practice can leave you feeling calmer and focused.  The BestSelf Co. free mindfulness challenge is a great place to start. 2. Start a gratitude practice.  A daily gratitude practice has been a pillar of BestSelf Co. right from the beginning.  As we studied the secrets of high-performers, we realized that gratitude was a practice many people swore by - and for a good reason.  Gratitude guides you to notice and appreciate the things you have in your life right now. Regardless of what’s happening in your life, there’s always something to appreciate. For example, you can choose to notice the breeze in your hair, your coffee’s aroma, or how the paper feels under your pen. As a presence practice, gratitude also cultivates a sense of positivity as you become aware of how plentiful and abundant your life already is.  And because gratitude sparks feelings of positivity and abundance, it’s a practice that makes you happier too.  3. Journal Journaling is a powerful way to slow down your thoughts enough so that you can observe them and work through them. Through journaling, you get to be curious about what’s happening for you - in any given moment - and in the process extract wisdom, insight, and personal power. Journaling can also help you understand the resistance you have to sitting in the present moment. For example, you can:  • Explore your worries and fears • Work through the reason you still feel triggered or upset by a past event • Get clarity over a decision that’s keeping you distracted • Get curious about the things you do to keep you from the present - such as comfort eating, flicking through social media, or lighting a cigarette • Explore what you’re feeling - and why Journaling is mindful because instead of allowing your thoughts to take on a life of their own, you get to extract them from your head and put them on paper. This can give you clarity and closure. It can help calm your mind too because sometimes when you read back your thoughts, you’re able to make better sense of them.  The net result of emptying your head is more bandwidth and less clutter.  In turn, it becomes more comfortable to sit with yourself in the moment. [For more journaling tips, prompts, and interviews, check out the Writing Your Best Self podcast].  4. Lose yourself in creativity Whether your jam is writing, playing music, painting, dance, or something else, there’s something beautiful about losing yourself in creativity.  When you get into a flow state, time becomes irrelevant, and all distractions disappear.  Instead, you’re absorbed in your imagination. You align with your creative essence, and that magic moves your body in beautiful ways or turns a blank piece of paper into a work of art.  When you’re lost in your ideas, any fear evaporates; replaced with a willingness to take risks, explore new techniques, and push your limits.  In this beautiful state of presence, nothing else matters - and any thoughts of anxiety or stress are long forgotten.  5. Quit the multi-tasking  Multitasking is a myth. What you class as multitasking is actually your brain rapidly switching from one task to another.  Multitasking can drain unnecessary energy because the constant task switching causes your brain to jump from one point of focus to another.  In the process, you can get distracted.  Far better to focus on one task at a time - and lose yourself inside of it. As you give everything to that one task, you’re able to dive deeper into it. Magic can happen when this deep work is allowed because you uncover new ideas. You make more imaginative connections. You do better work.  And you’re more productive and creative too!  A one task rule also makes you more present. Instead of worrying about what you’re going to do next [or stressing about how you’ll fit everything in], you can get your head down.  You can start mindful living now You don’t have to spend your entire day in mindful living - although you can if you want!  The beauty of this practice is you can start small - and build on it.  For example, you can start with five minutes of gratitude a day or a 20-minute journaling session. Or you can weave in a 10-minute mindfulness practice after lunch - whatever works for you.  The rewards are clear.  The more you embrace the present moment, the more your stress and anxiety levels have the chance to fall.  What mindful living practices will you start today?

At times like these, taking one day at a time is often a smart move.  But there are other benefits to be had from this more intentional approach... When you focus on winning the day, you also get a chance to reflect.  In turn, you can get clearer on what you really want, which is a powerful way to create more happiness.  If you want to feel happier today, these five super simple practices and tips are here to help you.  Check them out! 1. Practice gratitude  “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” – Zig Ziglar Gratitude is one of the quickest and easiest ways to elevate your happiness levels. All you need to do is focus on something that you’re grateful for and notice how it makes you feel.  When you focus on gratitude, it’s hard to be frustrated or annoyed. What’s more, switching on positive emotions through gratitude inspires you to see the world through more abundant eyes.  Gratitude makes you feel happy whether you’re feeling thankful for something small like a delicious cup of coffee - or something big such as incredible health.  And if you need some more ideas of what you can be grateful for, you’ll discover 101 in this downloadable PDF.  2. Do a Random Act Of Kindness [RAOK] “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” – Princess Diana Being of service to others is a powerful, but simple way to feel good.  From taking care of a chore you know a loved one is pushing off, to buying a drink for the person behind you in the line, these RAOK spread a little happiness.  And it’s not the recipient alone who benefits!  A RAOK will also elevate your happiness thanks to a phenomenon known as the ‘Helper’s High’ whereby your body releases feel-good chemicals.  Discover more about ‘paying it forward’ through random acts of kindness in this Courage Over Comfort podcast. 3. Say some positive affirmations  Science has found that repeating positive statements can help you feel more uplifted and optimistic about yourself and life! This reminds me of the famous quote from Henry Ford who said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t - you’re right!”  In other words, your thoughts help shape your reality by influencing what you do and therefore, how you feel.  If you’re able to cultivate a more optimistic outlook on life, not only will you see the world through a lens of possibility, but you’ll feel happier too.  4. Practice mindfulness We spend a lot of time doing stuff. Whether that’s checking through chores, ticking off work-related tasks, or fixing things around the home.   When you’re engaged in lots of activity, it’s harder to find the calm within.  Mindfulness is a powerful practice that can help you slow down and connect with the stillness that always exists inside of you. Mindfulness can help you be your best! Through mindfulness, you can calm an over-active mind, settle stress, and feel fully centered in the present moment.  Eckhart Tolle said “All you really need to do is accept this moment fully. You are then at ease in the here and now and at ease with yourself.”  Even 10 mins of quiet calm can help elevate your emotions and guide you to feel more present in the here and now. If you’re ready to explore this powerful practice for yourself, take the free Mindfulness Challenge and unlock 31-days of bite-sized audio meditations.  5. Spend time in nature "I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees." – Henry David Thoreau Nature is a powerful healer.  Whether you take a walk along the beach, in the forest, up a mountain, or around the lake, immersing yourself in some fresh air and a natural soundtrack is a powerful way to feel good - for a number of reasons.  Firstly, exercise releases endorphins, which makes us feel better.   Nature is also grounding, which helps us to feel more present in the moment. Nature also shows us that there is a sense of certainty amidst all the chaos [look how chaotically perfect nature can be!] Finally, being in nature is a beautiful reminder that we are all part of something so much bigger than ourselves. This perspective contains a lot of freedom.  When living in a world of chaos, confusion, and uncertainty, it’s easy to lose our footing and feel worried about the future.  Fortunately, there’s always a way to come back to ourselves and feel good within.  Jim Rohn said that “Happiness is not by chance, but by choice”.      By taking some time to infuse our day with practices and experiences that unlock joy, we can feel better about ourselves and our lives - no matter what is going on around us.  Which of these tips will you try today? 

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right” - Henry Ford. Have you ever set a goal that you didn’t achieve because you somehow talked yourself out of taking the actions that would have closed the gap? If so, you’re far from alone. Success with your goals is about a lot more than the strategy you choose and the action steps you take. Success is also determined by the conversation that happens inside your head. What you believe about yourself often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. For example: • “I can’t do that / I’m not good enough / it’s alright for you etc. etc.”• “I’m too young / too old / too ugly / too loud / too shy etc. etc.”• “I’m not smart enough / courageous enough / creative enough / resourceful enough etc. etc.” In short, if you have hard-wired beliefs and mindsets that set you up for failure, there’s a strong chance your ‘predictions’ will become a reality! But don’t worry, there is some good news here! You can rewire your mind and transform your inner dialogue. You can replace limiting beliefs with thoughts that empower you to step up, believe in yourself, and achieve your goals. And one super easy (and powerful) tool you can get using right now is positive affirmations. Keep reading, and I’ll explain what affirmations are and how they work. What are affirmations?  Affirmations are sentences and statements that we repeat to ourselves out loud or in our thoughts. They are self-suggestions. Repeat an affirmation frequently enough and it becomes hard-wired into your belief system and helps form your identity [who you believe you are]. Affirmations can be negative - such as “I’m not good enough” or positive - such as “I am powerful, creative, and resourceful”. Affirmations live in your: • Conscious awareness - when you know these beliefs exist• Subconscious - where they exist, but you’re not consciously aware of them This distinction is critical when you remember that only 5% of your brain is conscious. The other 95% is subconscious. As you can see, affirmations are a powerful shaper of everything from the decisions you make to the goals you set and the ambitions you have for your life. If your inner dialogue is skewed towards the negative, it’s going to be harder to succeed. In comparison, if your mind is fueled by positive affirmations, it’s a lot easier to be your best self. How do positive affirmations work? Affirmations work because they can reprogram your mind by increasing certain neural pathways. “The ventromedial prefrontal cortex—involved in positive valuation and self-related information processing—becomes more active when we consider our personal values (Falk et al., 2015; Cascio et al., 2016).” [Source: Link]. The reason we can reprogram our brain in this way is because our brain doesn’t know the difference between real and what isn’t! [This is why you can connect emotionally with fictional characters in a movie and feel deeply involved in their life events.]If you repeat something often enough, you start to believe that statement - and then you start to act out that statement until it becomes a part of your identity. This is self-affirmation theory [Steele, 1988].Affirmations also work by helping you cultivate a positive mindset by training your mind to focus on beliefs that empower you. We all know that negative thinking can drag us down, create pessimism, and drain away a feeling of control over our lives. In comparison, when you’re positive, you see opportunities, you notice things in your life to be grateful for, and you feel good in your skin.When you become aware of negative thoughts, you can choose affirmations to consciously change your thought patterns. This can take time… Positive affirmations need to be repeated regularly until they become truths that you fundamentally believe - rather than statements you want to program in. Three ways to practice daily affirmations 1. Rewrite limiting beliefs Identify the thoughts that hold you back from your goals and your best self currently. For example, you might believe: • I’m not good enough• I’m going to make a mistake• I don’t deserve this.  When you’ve identified the negative affirmations that hold you back, rewrite them into positive ones. For example: • I’m creative and capable.• I’m conscientious and confident in my work.• I’m worthy of love, success, and abundance.  When you’ve written the positive affirmations you need to hear, repeat them to yourself daily. It can be extra powerful to repeat your daily affirmations while looking at yourself in a mirror. Remember to state your daily affirmations in the present tense - as if they already exist. This is important because your subconscious takes everything literally; meaning if you say “I want to be creative” instead of “I am creative”, you’ll reinforce the wanting - not the creativity! It doesn’t matter whether or not the positive affirmation is currently true for you. The more you repeat it, the more likely you are to believe it. 2. Go to sleep to positive affirmations You are at your most suggestible to words and images when your brain is in theta state. Theta state is when your brain is in a deeply relaxed state - such as when you’re daydreaming, just before you go to sleep, and when you begin to wake up. Theta is the gateway to your subconscious, memory, and intuition. When your brain is in a theta state, it’s easier to rewire your belief system to adopt the positive affirmations that you want to plug in.Try listening to positive affirmations while going to sleep - you’ll find a collection on YouTube. 3. Journal your affirmations Journaling is a powerful technique that can help you unlock your subconscious thoughts and figure out what affirmations you need to adopt to inspire your next steps. Journaling unleashes a conversation with yourself that helps you to better understand who you are. A journaling practice helps you pull on the threads of your thinking and unravel those thoughts into insights that can empower your goals. One proven journaling technique is question prompts - questions that guide your brain down a specific tangent to help you get clarity. By journaling regularly, it can inspire you to overshadow negative thoughts and replace them with beliefs that empower your best self.

Your best self is so much more than achieving your goals and maximizing your time to do more of the things you love. Your best self also includes your ability to feel good about yourself in the present moment. It’s about: Feeling good in your skin - regardless of what’s happening Investing in your state of wellness - mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual Feeling in control of your life - even when stuff gets tough And as you know, this isn’t always easy!Everyday stresses, overwhelm, pressures, responsibilities, and challenges - to name just a few. Each of these affect the way we feel about ourselves and our lives.And when we don’t feel our best, it’s hard to achieve our best.Mindfulness tools and practices can help you feel more empowered and in control of yourself and your life. Let’s explore what this means in practice... WHAT IS MINDFULNESS? In simple terms, mindfulness is about paying attention to your thoughts and feelings and the world around you - so you can be more aware of the present moment. It’s not uncommon to get caught up in thoughts and feelings about the past and the present that we overlook and underplay the power we have in the present moment. Mindfulness practices can help you calm your worries and fears about the past and the present, by putting your attention on what’s actually happening NOW.And it’s a practice proven to help relieve stress and anxiety. But there are other benefits too…For example, mindfulness can help you: 1. Improve concentration, focus, and productivity - by empowering you to quiet an overactive mind. 2. Create more clarity and calm - so you can make better decisions. 3. Make space to tune into your inner wisdom and intuition - so you can feel more empowered. Of course, all of these benefits can increase the quality of your life too. When you feel better about yourself, you also feel more empowered to do the things that enhance your work-life harmony. HOW TO PRACTICE MINDFULNESS If you’re one of those people who doesn’t have time for mindfulness, I get you! When you’re super busy, it’s hard to imagine taking time out to do what can feel like nothing! You can feel you’re wasting time when you could be checking off something else on your to-do list. But the reality is, just a few mindful minutes can actually help you to free up the energy, bandwidth, and focus you need to do your next task better - and quicker. What’s more, mindfulness doesn’t have to involve spending hours sitting in a lotus position [although it can be!] We’re all different - and the important thing is to discover a practice that works for you. For example, you could practice: • Deep breathing• Walking in nature• Yoga or tai chi• Meditation To name just a few.And while a one-off mindfulness practice will help you approach whatever’s next with more calm and clarity, you’ll get elevated results if you practice consistently. [Preferably daily].Which is why we’ve created a Mindfulness Challenge. Introducing the Mindfulness Challenge The Mindfulness Challenge is a month’s worth of bite-sized mindfulness meditations.Each day, commit to a mindfulness meditation that lasts between 5 - 10 minutes. Each meditation is designed to increase your sense of calm and clarity - so you can go about your day feeling more empowered. If you do this practice daily, you can experience other benefits too, including: 1. Learn to be more present with your goals, relationships, and your life. 2. Boost your mental and physical wellbeing by feeling calmer and more centered.3. Deepen your breathing to help relieve stress and anxiety. 4. Improve concentration, focus, and productivity by learning to quiet an overactive mind. 5. Create more clarity so you can make better decisions. 6. Make space to tune into your inner wisdom and intuition. 7. Empower yourself to perform at your highest level. 8. Enjoy a daily act of self-care with space just for you. 9. Elevate your work-life balance. 10. Connect more deeply with your mind, body, and spirit.The Mindfulness Challenge is the perfect way to embed a mindfulness habit into your life. You’ll find that the meditations are the perfect way to start your day - so feel free to integrate them into your existing morning routine. And if you don’t yet have a morning routine, why not use this challenge as an excuse to create one!You can also turn to the meditations if you want to create a fresh perspective during your day - for example if you feel yourself becoming stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed. Build a Mindfulness Habit And if you’re looking for a tool that will help you track your mindfulness practice, you’ll love the Habit Roadmap. This powerful productivity tool is an effective way to help you create good habits that stick.This 90-day habit tracker allows you to track your performance against 12 daily habits and 8 weekly habits. Simply note down the habits you want to master and create yourself a winning streak. You’ll find the high of seeing all those daily checks will inspire you to keep going - even when you don’t want to. In a world where it’s becoming increasingly important to prioritize mental health, mindfulness is a simple way to make quality time to feel good. So come and join the Mindfulness Challenge and commit to creating a good habit that can help you be your best.

Practicing Mindfulness With Cathryn On February's BestSelf Day Live stream, Cathryn shares how practicing mindfulness has helped improve clarity, concentration and calm. The Mindful Challenge is FREE and you can join today!