Woody Wonders

Last week, I did something that I hate doing ... I asked for help.  I finally admitted to myself that despite knowing exactly what I need to do, I knew I wouldn't be able to get there on my own.  So I took a deep breath and contacted an amazing coach who's going to help me work through my fears and basically kick me out of my comfort zone.  I'm not going to go into the details at this stage but I promise I'll keep you updated on my progress.  The back story, hence this week's blog topic, is how to go about putting your 'thinking' into ACTION !! As you read through these, you may well be able to crack on and do it yourself BUT if you're 'feeling the fear and NOT doing it' then go to the bottom of the list first and ask for help. Stop procrastinating until the conditions are perfect Let's be honest, there's never going to be an ideal time to start something Stop over-thinking and start doing Don't think, just do.  The more you think ...

I've always had a love / hate relationship with change.  I love change when I'm the one in control and making it happen.  In fact, there's nothing I enjoy more than mixing up my routines, learning something new, going to new places and challenging myself.  I hate change when it's not me who's doing the changing and I feel out of control. When it comes to change, I've always associated  'anticipation' with excitement about a positive change and 'anxiety' with changes that I'm feeling not so good about.  To throw something else into the mix, I've discovered there's such a thing as 'anticipatory anxiety' which is defined as '... when a person experiences worry and fear when thinking about an event that may or may not occur in the future' . I thought it was quite apt as many companies, including my own, have started communicating to their employees about returning to work and what the future will look like.  16 months on...

Having lots of PA is vital in my role as a PA!  Yep, it's all about 'positive attitude' this week and it could be the key to your happiness at work. It might sound a bit dramatic but without a positive attitude I simply wouldn't be able to do my job and get through the day.  For example, myself and a fellow PA spent an hour last week trying to book one meeting - yes, seriously!  You see, it's a bit like playing 'Kerplunk' (anyone else remember that game?!), you move one item in the diary and the whole thing comes crashing down and you lose ALL your marbles - quite literally in our case.  But we persevered with "what if we moved that", "what if we changed the time for that", "what if we shortened that meeting to fit it in there" and so the discussions continued until we'd sorted it.  Our positive attitude kept us going and exploring at all options. That's the thing about having a positive attitude, it drives you forward...

  Last week I mentioned two incidents that shaped my life career-wise, this week I'm going to be talking about the people who shaped and influenced my life. Throughout our whole lives, we are continuously being influenced and shaped by other people, whether it's just for a few brief moments or whether it's a life-changing experience. Take a few moments to think about all the people, up to now, who have helped you along the way to becoming the person you are.  It's often not until we actually sit down and do this, that we realise just how many people are involved in shaping us as human beings.   Here's a few of mine: My family - goes without saying that my parents and big sister shaped me hugely as a person.  They taught me right from wrong, how to always respect other people's points of views and instilled a 'never give up' work ethic in me.  Sadly my big sister passed away a number of years ago but even when she was ill, she only had my best interes...

End of year check-in Today's blog is going to be a short reflection on 2020 before I close my laptop on another year. Despite all the odds stacked against me and humanity in general, I've had an incredible year.  Yes, it's been different, bizarre, unnerving and downright hard graft at times but I absolutely refuse to write this year off which is what most people seem intent on doing.   Am I looking through rose-tinted glasses and ignoring the bad stuff?  No, I don't think I am because I firmly believe that it's the sh*t times that make us stronger.  Did I write off the year I lost both my sister and sister-in-law?  Within the space of three weeks I might add.  No I didn't, because ultimately it made me a much stronger and more resilient person.  It's quite easy to drift through life but when something significant happens it's a real wake up call. So, what has this year taught me? I can still have strong relationships despite not being able to see ...

Have you reached your 'FI Point' yet? It's been a funny old week, I feel very much in limbo land at the moment.  We're due to move house in two days so there's been lots of to-ing and fro-ing recently and I don't feel like I belong anywhere at the minute. Change, as we know, is stressful.  It often involves a step into the unknown.  Sometimes it's forced upon us due to things out of our control and at other times, we instigate it ourselves.  Any kind of change is stressful, even positive change.  We made the decision to buy the house, we know the area and, best of all, it's still close to my running trails, I literally have to walk round the corner to the footpath.  It's all positive so why are we stressed about it. Well, for a start, there was lockdown to contend with.  We'd arranged for several major things to be carried out on the house before we moved in - digging up the garden, fitting a new kitchen and having an orangery built.  These shoul...

Say hello to your new BFF's - endorphins and power ironing I'm sure you've all heard of endorphins but here's a quick little re-cap.  Endorphins are neurotransmitters, in other words they transmit electrical signals within the nervous system.  They help to reduce our perception of pain and act in a similar way to drugs such as morphine and codeine.  Woo hoo!! It gets even better because we can give our endorphins a helping hand when it comes to releasing them.  A number of activities can cause their release but for the purpose of today's blog we'll be focusing on exercise. Endorphins trigger a positive feeling and for those of you who exercise on regular basis, you'll be used to how good you feel afterwards and that 'exercise high'. Exercise is a vastly under utilised 'prescription' for mental health issues and mild depression and, over these last few months, I've realised how important it's been to me and my fitness clients and group...

Do you have 'perfectionism tendencies'? As far as I'm concerned, perfectionism is the root of all evil.  I know this because I have 'perfectionism tendencies'.  On a good day, it's a pain in the backside and means that I check things half a dozen times; on a bad day, it's absolutely paralysing because it means that I'm scared of even starting something in case I fail.  Yet the sad thing is that I know I'll be way more productive and creative if I didn't worry so much about making the odd mistake, which I do anyway, so it's completely irrational and counterproductive!! I'm not overly competitive (well, maybe when I'm trying to pass someone in the last 100 mtrs of a race!), and I certainly don't see myself as an anxious person, so why do I have these 'perfectionism tendencies'?  I don't want to let anyone down, including myself, simple as that. I've been trying to think of ways I could turn this 'prob...

Keeping the focus going forwards Good afternoon folks, how are you all getting on with 'not normal November'?  I hope it's treating you and your uniqueness very well. Things have not been normal in the Woodward-Newall household for quite a few months now.  I don't want to speak on his behalf but let's just say that Mr Bob's work situation changed back in July, you know, the 'R' word.  Ever since then we've been adapting, finding new ways to do things, figuring out what we want from the future and generally having a good old think about things.  The prime motive at the top of our list has been to 'think outside the box' and to 'not be normal'.  First of all, I'm so proud of how Mr Bob has dealt with everything whilst maintaining an air of professionalism and dignity and I'm also proud of how we've dealt with things as a couple.  We've discussed new ideas and remained positive at every step of the way.  For an...

Dealing with the unexpected Without disclosing too much, a few people I know have recently had to deal with 'unexpected situations'.  So this week I thought I'd give you a few tips on how to cope with the unexpected, and when I say unexpected I mean when something completely side swipes you.    There you are, pootling along quite happily when WHAM, the unexpected comes along and takes your feet from under you.  Whilst you're laying there on the floor with little stars floating around your head, here's some things to think about: Gain some perspective on the situation: This is a really important part of coping with the unexpected.  Seriously, have a think about how much worse things could be and that will force you to think about the positives you can take from the situation.  Be truly grateful for the fact that no-one's life is in danger; anything else is surmountable. What can you take from the situation: How can you grow and become stronger...

What does positive mental health look like? As we near the end of mental health awareness week, it's made me think about my own mental health. I consider myself to be extremely lucky in that I've never suffered from depression or any kind of mental health issues.  I'd go as far as to say that I believe I'm incredibly strong in terms of my mental health.  Why?   Is that down to my genetic make-up or is it the things I do in order to keep a positive mindset?  A combination of the two?   I simply don't know.   A number of years ago I lost both my own sister and my sister-in-law within 3 weeks of each other.  If that isn't a good enough reason to be depressed then I don't know what is.  But, even though I had some horrendously bad days and was incredibly sad, I don't think I ever felt depressed.  I remember one particular day where I sat in my dressing gown all day and cried.  I also remember thinking to myself "this is ...

Don't be afraid of change When change is unexpected and sudden, it's scary and can be upsetting.  But, if something is out of your control, there's absolutely no point in fighting against it.  You have to figure out the best way to get through it, because like it or not, it's happening.  You can't sit there and think 'could have', 'should have, 'would have', the only thing you can do now is move forwards. On the other hand, when you've instigated the change yourself, it's still scary but also exciting.  Towards the end of 2017 I decided to look for a new job.  I was starting to feel uncomfortable with being comfortable, if you know what I mean?!  I needed a change.  Once I've made a big decision like this I tend to go 'all in' which is exactly what I did.  Not only did I change the city where I worked but I changed from the public sector back to the private sector and changed industry.  Yup, no half measures for ...

Your most common questions answered .... As a health & fitness instructor, there's a number of questions that I get asked again and again and again, so in this week's blog I'm going to try and answer these.  By the way, there's no such thing as a stupid question.  Always ask me if you're not sure of something, no matter how stupid you might think it sounds. Q1.  Does muscle turn to fat if you don't workout for a while? It's important to realise that muscle cells and fat cells are completely differently, one will not change into the other.  However, if you don't partake in regular, progressive exercise then your body composition will change.  In other words, you can lose/gain muscle mass and expand/decrease your fat cells. What most of us want to achieve is increase our muscle mass and lose body fat.  This can be done through a combination of training, nutrition and mindset.  Q2.  How long does it take to get visible abs? You ca...