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...

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', ...

In keeping with this month's theme of optimism, positivity and looking forward, this week's blog is about finding the motivation to stop putting off the things you need or want to do. Despite being a complete and utter geek who loves learning, there are still times when I struggle to find the motivation to practise my French or do some work for the online fitness course I'm doing at the moment (and desperately trying to finish before the end of the year!). I heard a great quote the other day which really rings true when it comes to finding the motivation to do something.   "By saying yes to doing one thing then  you're saying no to doing something else" In other words, by saying yes to watching The Apprentice (my guilty pleasure!) then I'm saying no to practising my French.  Now let's get something straight, there is absolutely nothing wrong whatsoever if watching The Apprentice is what I want to do at that particular moment in tim...