Woody Wonders

Emotional Intelligence "The capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically" According to some studies, 'emotional intelligence' is the key to both personal and professional success.   Fabulous, I'm off to the shop to buy a sackful of EI.  Some time later .... damn it!  So what can we do to develop EI?   Before we start though, can I just point out the empathy component.  My fitness clients will know that I ooze empathy so I really don't need to work on this part!!  😬 Although there are a few different variations on the components which make up EI, the ones shown in the picture above seem to be the most popular.  Their definitions are as follows: Self-awareness - 'ability to recognise your moods and emotions, as well as their affect on others' Empathy - 'ability to understand the emotions of others and skill in dealing with ot...

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...

Optimistic October As we are in the throes of 'Optimistic October', I thought I'd share some thoughts on how we can learn to be more optimistic, because I do truly believe it's something we can learn.   We usually get pigeon-holed into being either optimistic or pessimistic.  How many times have you heard "oh you always look on the bright side, you're such an optimistic", or likewise, "god you always think the worst, you're such a pessimist".  As with most things in life, I believe our feelings can swing between the two.  Especially when things aren't quite going to plan, I often immediately think the worst before reality takes a hold and I can then start thinking logically on how to remedy the situation. According to studies, around 25% of our optimism/pessimism is inherited so that's a massive 75% we can work on.  Let's make a start by doing the following: 1.  Put your optimistic goggles on Don't let o...

Forget networking, you need to chatwork! I'm kicking off 'Optimistic October' with a positive story and showing how one simple thing can lead to a whole chain of events. This weekend me and Mr Bob have been mad for it ar kid in the great northern powerhouse city that is Manchester. Way back in July of this year I attended a PA conference and was lucky enough to win a two night stay in a boutique hotel, which also happened to be in Manchester.  All I had to do to enter the competition was to leave my email address and phone number. Well done me for getting both of them correct!    This happy little story came about simply by me plucking up the courage to go to my boss and say, “I don’t suppose I could attend this conference by any chance could I?   I think it would be really good.”   It turned out to be a fabulous two day conference where I not only learnt so much but won this amazing competition to boot!   I'd stopped to c...

Buckle up for the last quarter of the year It's reflection time and here we are, three quarters down and only one quarter of the year to go - eek!!  Let's ramp this up peeps and finish on a high.  3/4 down and 1/4 to go - stay focused!! As always, I'm going to start off the procedures by providing you with an update on what's been happening in my life during Q3.  It's been crazy busy so nothing new in that respect, there's been some ups and downs along the way but I've powered through in my usual whirlwind way whilst trying to stay focused on my goals.   Update on Woody's Goals Start a blog.   I'm incredibly pleased with this goal and I'm finding it quite cathartic to share my musings with the big wide world (well, a handful of people and the neighbours dog).  You've been so supportive and I can't thank you enough.  Someone asked me recently how I managed to think of what to write.  To be honest, I never really have a topic in...

Calm down, calm down ... I knew this week would be difficult after a two week break, but wow!  I went from complete relaxation without a care in the world to feeling like I'd been dropped into the middle of a tornado.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I love my job and busy home life and it's more a case of being frustrated and annoyed with myself for not trusting in my routines and systems.   I don't pretend to be the epitome of calmness all the time, but I am usually pretty grounded.  However, I allowed myself to become completely disorganised this week, simply because I got caught up in the chaos of trying to catch up with everything and not relying on my tried and trusted systems.  I didn't put into practice what I preach and take enough time out to think logically.   At work, I was trying to do things directly from my emails instead of sorting them out into tasks, read later, delete etc and at home, I skipped so...

Keeping the holiday feeling  when you're back to real life It is with sadness that I am now writing about la fin de nos vacances 🙁 but ooh la la what a fabulous time we’ve had. It feels like we’ve been away for months rather than just a couple of weeks. We’ve had a brilliant balance of doing things, seeing places, relaxing and recharging our batteries. We’ve enjoyed the most delicious food and wine and had some culture too. The weather has been wonderful, late summer is my favourite time of year to visit France. It’s not too hot and it has that delightful autumnal glow about it.   We ended our grand tour de France 🇫🇷 in the region of Picardie, an area of France we’ve come to know and love very much. Our base was the chic little town of St Valery sur Somme on the Baie de Somme. It’s a fabulous place for walking, running, cycling, kayaking, sailing and bird watching. The French word for bird is oiseau (pronounced ‘wazzo’) which always makes me gig...