Woody Wonders

I'm late with publishing my blog this week as I had to prioritise other things this weekend, which leads me quite nicely into this week's topics.  First of all, I'd like to tie up the Xmas side of things and then talk a little bit about New Year. A couple of weeks ago I spoke about the build up to Xmas and how easy it is to become overwhelmed at this time of year.  You can only do your best and can only focus on one thing at a time.  What really helps me is keeping some element of routine in my life.  They act like a safety net when I'm feeling like I'm in the midst of chaos.  It's very easy to forget about our usual routines at Xmas and, to some extent, that can be quite freeing.  The downside is that we can end up in a whirlwind of moving from one thing to the next without any purpose.  In my case, the one thing I do without fail is to stick to my exercise routine.  I may choose to do 10 mins yoga instead of a 10k run but for me, exercise is the...

It's all very well wanting to please family, friends, colleagues, employer but self-esteem starts with YOU .  If you're not proud of yourself and don't believe in yourself then how on earth can you expect anyone else to invest in you. This is something I've struggled with from time to time, as I'm sure we all have.  We go through periods of thinking 'hell yeah, I'm on fire' to 'oh my god, I'm a failure'.   In terms of work, the last 18 months have been particularly difficult, as like most other people, I've felt this constant need to be 'visible' and wanting to show I'm 'adding value' .  It's been an uphill battle at times and there's been a few 'no-one knows what I do' moments and, as a result, I felt like I was losing my confidence and self-esteem. A few blogs ago, I gave a little hint that I was doing something new in terms of my self-development and confidence.  So, in a bid to get on top of this...

I don't know why it comes as such a surprise every year, it is the same date after all, yet all we hear when it gets to December is "I can't believe it's nearly Christmas". We suddenly go into panic mode in relation to presents, trying to see everyone, tying everything up neatly to finish off this year and plan for the next one. Let's be brutally honest, I doubt we will ever change and we will continue to go through this every year.  Time simply runs away from us so let's not beat ourselves up about it.  We can only do so much and we can only do our best with the time and resources we have.   First of all, the best thing you can do is get everything out of your head and into an action list.  Write down absolutely everything that is on your mind. Next job, put everything into categories such as 'Presents', 'Family', 'Food & Drink' and then into sub-categories such as 'Buy present for mum', 'Visit Uncle George', ...