Pressing Pause

This is an unusually long episode because we’re experiencing an unusual time in the world. There are a lot of feelings and thoughts about Coronavirus and the uncertainty and the lack of feeling in control can feel overwhelming. In this episode we look at: • What’s fuelling the overwhelm and how we can reduce it • Practical steps we can take to still feel connected with others • How we can feel more calm and in control • How we can allow ourselves to feel joy during this difficult time

For the first time in the podcast’s history I reshare seven ideas for how you can bring down the overwhelm and create some calm, and even feel a little more joy, during Christmas and the New Year. In this episode we look at: • How your expectations impact your enjoyment of Christmas • What small, practical actions you can take to ease the stress • What to do if you don’t feel full of festive spirit • How to make the most of the good stuff

When you have too much to do and too little time to do it, it feels impossible to do it all. We get tense, stressed and feel overwhelmed by the pressure and expectation. But there is something we do have control over that helps us to deal with the overwhelm. In this episode we look at: • Why feeling overwhelmed is not your fault • The three common reactions to feeling overwhelmed • How your thoughts and feelings play a part in the overwhelm • What you can do to put yourself back in control

Think celebrating is only for big occasions? You’re doing yourself a disservice and the chance to build your resilience, feel stronger and experience more joy, comfort and hope. In this episode we look at: • A different way to look at what’s celebration-worthy • How and why the voice in your head stops you celebrating • What we’re really doing when we celebrate • How to gain the benefits from celebrating everyday moments

Comparison is something we all do in everyday life but when comparing yourself to others makes you feel bad it’s time to do something about it. In this episode we look at: • How we compare • What is confirmation bias and its role in comparison • What our judgements about others tells us about ourselves • What you can do when you get into comparison

If you feel like you’re not in charge of your own life, or mind, that there’s always so much to do, people to please, expectations to meet, your mind never stops whirring with all the things to remember and worrying what people think of you, you’re not alone. • In this episode we look at: • What the voice in your head is telling you when you feel this way • Why your inner critic is shouting so loudly • How to deal with it • What you can do to start taking back control of your own life

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t – you’re right” – do you believe that? What we believe is possible for us, what we think we’re capable of can see us making progress or keep us feeling stuck. In this episode we look at: • The power our beliefs have over us • How our beliefs create our world • The antidote to a lack of belief • What you can do when you only believe a little bit

The feeling of being backed into a corner and having little say in our own lives has been coming up in coaching conversations so I’m focusing on the topic of choice in this episode. Do you feel like you have a choice? In this episode we look at: • What we don’t have any control over in life • Where we can fail to recognise we have a choice • The power in making micro choices in everyday life • How to feel more in control of life through the choices you make

As an overthinker it’s all too easy to get stuck replaying a conversation or a situation and thinking up all the different ways you could have handled it and how that could have changed things. So what do you do with all these thoughts? In this episode we look at: • What continuing to go over and over something in the past is doing for us • When rehashing the past is helpful and when it is not • What you can do to help yourself get out of this loop and move forward

When you’ve spent years, decades, worrying and overthinking it can feel like you’re stuck that way and you’re destined to always be an overthinker. So is it really possible for you to learn how to overthink less? In this episode we look at: • What the label ‘overthinker’ means • What overthinking is and what it’s not • What positive psychology research has discovered that impacts how possible it is to learn how to overthink less • Why having tried and failed to worry less doesn’t

In our first new-style episode where I answer listener questions we have a brilliant one to start us off with. In this episode we look at: • How to treat ourselves when we’re what if-ing • Different ways to deal with this particular worry • When distraction is helpful and when it is not

The break was a lot longer than I anticipated but finally the podcast is back and I have plans… In this episode we look at: • What’s been happening that caused the break to be almost four months long • The (over)thinking that I was doing during that time • The new project I’ve been working on that is now at the heart of what I do to help you worry less and enjoy life more • How I want you to be involved in the podcast going forward

By taking just a few seconds or minutes to hit the pause button in your daily life you can calm your overthinking, tend to your own needs, be more intentional and so much more. In this episode we look at: • What pressing pause in your own life can look like • How it can help you mentally and physically • Ten different ways you can gain by taking a moment to be still

Stopping ourselves from doing what we want, being successful and happy, doesn’t make sense and yet we all do it. Overthinkers are particularly good at self-sabotaging as we overthink and talk ourselves out of so much. But when we pay attention to ourselves we can start to address it. In this episode we look at: • How self-sabotage shows up in life • What impact it has on our lives • How we can start to address it and curb our inner saboteur

We can lose the sense of awe and wonder we had as children as we get bogged down with the responsibilities and worries of grown-up life. But feeling awe brings us out of ourselves, it reminds us that we’re not the centre of the universe and helps us to get perspective on life. And it feels good too. In this episode we look at: • The surprising benefits of spending more time in awe • How to take a wonder walk in nature and in a built-up urban area • Where else you can find awe in everyday life