Category: lifestyle

Christmas, christmas well-being tips, lifestyle, Mental health

Your Christmas preparation plan… (for you)

brainbiscuitscoaching

Your Christmas preparation plan;

It’s that time of the year when Christmas is around the corner and I feel it’s important to make sure you ask yourself; Is any of my Christmas planning filled with things that I want ? Does the planning reflect What is my ideal Christmas? Many of us are restricted because of covid situation for travel and some countries gatherings of more than a house hold until a certain time frame for Christmas and so their is a chance for more panic to make any limited time even more special, make sure you make time for you especially after the year we have all had and consider your needs to.

This time of year can come with so much pressure because we all put ourselves under pressure for everything to be “perfect”

Make sure you don’t use a lot of your energy on things that don’t promote your happiness or adversely affect your wellbeing; nor do things that may add extra financial pressure.

Christmas really is a mixed bag when it comes to emotions too, ether it may be due to past experiences or loss of persons or a change in personal circumstances. Christmas is different for everyone.

This time of year is also typically when our routine goes out the Window and as nice as it is to have days off from the norm, I find this impacts me. If you need routine or notice if you don’t have routine that you struggle with the change of pace, just make sure you keep some of the structure you personally need. For me I need to still clear my head and push myself physically, so I have to stick to strategies that allow me to do this, for me this is my running. I need routine over the festive holidays to keep me on track.

A tip of survival is to avoid a stressful Christmas and just remind yourself to consider your own feelings on things; what matters and what really does not matter …. such as perfection!

Spend your time wisely, and try not to put pressure on yourself, it’s ok if it’s not the perfect Christmas you had in your mind. If things are fun and make you happy and you get to surround yourself with those who matter to you then isn’t that a success in itself?

This year I am trying to aim for the following steps and tasks for myself;

1,Go with the flow days, were I go with how I feel and enjoy the lack of pressure and expectations I put on myself.

2,Social days with those who make me feel happy, uplifted and good.

3,Days to be productive, to get those things done that I didn’t get a chance to until now, and want to have done ahead of the new year.

4,Fresh air outdoors days where we can just get outside on a crisp winter day and enjoy ourselves.

5,have Creative days, it’s important to feed your creativity and if you want to make something or bake or attempt something new just do it!

6, If you find your mind has a few thoughts swimming around about the near future or for the new year etc try to make the time to acknowledge what you are thinking about, make time to write them down. Following on form this….

7, Allow Forward thinking time, It’s good to ask yourself;

•What do I want for 2021?

•What do I want to do in 2021?

And see what come to mind. Get it down on paper it’s more likely to be something you commit to if you see it written it comes to life.

8, It’s good to also be reflective and learn from 2020 what you enjoyed, didn’t enjoy and what you have learnt from these things. Ask yourself if they present again Can you approach things differently, can you change these things, again what do you want and how do you feel?

9, it’s good to ask yourself,what where my memorable happy times of 2020? reflect back at the year’s highlights, whenever possible use visuals such as photos, Keepsakes etc things that made you feel happy and what was it about this moment and memory, can it be recreated for example ‘photo of a lovely place you walked with friends why not plan more walks and dates to do this again, make it part of a life style for 2021.

10, Give yourself time, the gift of time to sit down for a moment and listen to your thoughts and feelings; find your creative space, your pause moment and let things come to you that need to be considered, process then and write down any questions and goals they set.

Remember the past has happened and can’t be changed but you can be the change you need to make your Christmas and new year 2021 yours!

lifestyle, Mental health, Uncategorized, Well-being, world mental health Day

World mental health Day 💚

brainbiscuitscoaching
alone animal bird clouds

Photo by Gabriela Palai on Pexels.com

We all have mental health just as we have physical health however, it is not always something we look at regularly supporting and training, or exercising and reviewing. It would be wonderful to think we soon will be in a world where we could openly ask each other ” how you feeling today and how’s your mind”, without it being uncomfortable. We all have those moments in life where things can cause us to feel lower in our mood. This often affects our mental health. Times of this “low mood “ or any ongoing sadness can happen to any of us at any time, feeling as if it comes upon us without any warning. It is important to recognise your own personal triggers. It’s important to ask yourself;

1,what are my triggers?

2,What sends my stress levels over the edge?

3, Is there any changes you can make to help you manage these things?

4, what helps you to keep going when you feel like this?

The triggers could be anything, such as a memorable date, topics you are sensitive to and don’t want to face yet, family, relationships, self-limiting beliefs, traumas, life events, medical reasons, life pressure, public speaking, anything! It is so important to take the time to look at any trigger patterning you have. By looking at triggers you can possibly unlock a resilience strategy for yourself that just might help you cope better when you are in need. Emotional stress can be really overwhelming, it can impact both your physical and mental state. Strategies to support your resilience can work wonders in helping you through this time, along with of course any support groups, professional outreach etc available to you. Examples of resilience you can use when this happens are things such as supportive building blocks to help manage your stress levels. Some of mine are below:

  • When life is busy I have to make sure I  have me time
  • Personal head space-time, walk, read, chill out somewhere away from everything to just clear your mind (a pause moment)
  • Something that is physical such as sport; for me my main choice of activity to spend my “me” time on is running
  • Something that makes you feel a sense of belonging such as socialising with the right community
  •  Things I enjoy, things that make me happy, as happiness is so important!  Such as hobbies (Creative Diet)
  • I try to goal set my activities into my weekly plans, looking at how I can review and improve and identify the priorities I have. These keep me on track and both my physical and mental health are in better shape for it (Muscle Motivation)
  • Predict my stress triggers.  When I know something is coming up that is likely to cause stress good planning is key.  I look at what I can do to manage it as best I can, and what best supports me
  •  Make sure you tell someone.  If I am worried about things or stressed, just saying things out loud to someone can make a huge difference as you then own your true feelings
  • Choose to hang out with people on your level.  Someone you can text, call, meet and have that support with
  • I ensure I take regular pause moments; so important!
  • Even when you don’t feel like it connect with the world daily so you don’t become withdrawn.

Remember you are often not alone with these feelings and it is so important to tell someone. Don’t suffer in silence, it will only get worse.

confidence, health, Identity, lifestyle, Mental health, motivation, Uncategorized

Don’t compare yourself to others, compare your progress of change against yourself….

brainbiscuitscoaching

Personal progress starts from within remember the steps you took and where you once started. revisit the start in your mind how you felt and what your mind set was like and then use this for motivation, with comparison to where you are at present and more importantly where your heading and imagine how you will think and feel in your future when your goal is achieved, mentally, physically and emotionally.

It’s great to gather motivation for your journey but try not to compare yourself to others along the way if you can help it! don’t get me wrong It’s wonderful to have people who inspire us but when it comes to inspiration, take a lot from where you once where and don’t forget each positive change and step you have taken. Be your own measure-able motivation. Only you no the efforts it took to get you where you are today! These steps are so worthy of being phrased.

Just take a moment and ask yourself, when did you last celebrated for a minute your personal progresses, look at what you have achieved and not what you haven’t! I encourage you to keep records of your own start point and progress line and look back at the differences along the way. Look at what makes you feel and think the best you can about who you are and all you have become. These would motivate you to Become the version of yourself you want to be; what dose that even mean you ask?

Only you know what you want and who you want to be and have in your life, but I would imagine for most of us we would have on our list something that represents finding true happiness at the top of this.

So look at your present self, past self and what you want in your life with your future self.

It helps to become more accepting of yourself and make changes to what you don’t like or don’t want to accept and look at ways of working with the bits you want to change and plan your goals and the steps that will lead you to get results.

For the things we can’t change, review the way your mind set is towards them. Its so self rewarding to learn to draw a line! It’s important to learn to move forward with accepting this that your drawing a line and then let go of what you are not in control of and can’t change and finally be free of those holding you back.

I find it helpful to log all of your steps you have made, try a simple yet affective exercise.

1)Firstly find a quiet spot

2) take a price of paper and write down what you are in control of .

3)write wha you can’t control.

4) in the middle draw a happy bubble in the middle and fill it with a list of all the things that you love, enjoy and makes you smile.

5)pick a item off your list that you have in your can control column and make a start planing your steps towards that becoming a reality.

This chart example is where you list the things you can control, can’t control and then what’s your happy place your centre . Good for anxiety, personal goal setting,

Then every time you feel you need to re-evaluate you can use this exercise tool to help get things out and down on paper.

If you find yourself comparing things in life compare your journey, from where you have been, where you are now and where you are heading.Be in competition with no one just yourself!

lifestyle, positive

Let Autumn be your winter Prep!

brainbiscuitscoaching

With autumn well and truly here, it’s a season full of change and I use it as a season to prep for the winter and enjoy all the wonderful inspiration autumn has to offer. It’s a great time to declutter, forget spring cleaning enjoy  “Autumn Organising”.

This time of year, I like to make changes to my living environment as I know over the coming weeks I will spend more time indoors as winter approaches. I like to change items in my living space as it creates a new mood and therefore a new energy in my home. My living room is the heart of my home so I always focus on this space and of course my bedroom. Things I aim for is looking at soft lighting as this keeps me feeling positive in the darker days as unfortunately unlike summer there isn’t long amounts of natural light so this is important to me and of course colour, I tend to change colours in my home once for spring/summer and then autumn/winter, choosing colours you are drawn to is so important. Right now, I am drawn to a cosy soft grey and warm autumn pink. For my living space. I like to change my throws, cushions, flowers and try to minimise things ahead of Christmas. This also could be items you can change, update, up-cycle or find on-line with little to no cost.

Autumn for me can affect my mood I notice now that I start off feeling a little flat when October approaches. However interestingly, Autumn tends to be a great season for me personally to focus. Autumn for me has a pattern I notice where anything I set out todo goal setting wise works. It’s important to work out if you have a season which you are at your best! Make a mental log of what season works best for you, this is a great tool and should be used when planning something that needs lot of focus and motivation, as this is when you’re at your optimum peak of positive mindset!

My Personal Autumn must dos are;

1, Take a bag and fill it with anything in your house you feel you’re ready to move on from, no-longer wear,use or need. Fill the bag and send it off to your local charity shop collection bags that come through the post or find out what food banks etc in the area are accepting at this time.

2, Try a new recipe and make something hearty to enjoy. I personally love using a slow cooker this time of year for seasonal vegetable stews, soups and dishes.

3, Pick a space in your home such as an area your drawn to and want to change. Try quick go-to changes first for example if it’s the sofa in your living room change the cushions and throw and see if it makes you feel uplifted or any different feeling to the space, more cosy, calm etc. Put up new photos and pictures that inspire the changes and new things going on in life right now, positive Visuals are great!

4, Pick a new scent, try a new perfume for you, a candle for your home, I went with an Autumn scented candle, lots of Sandalwood, Amber and burnt Orange to bring the crisp Autumn feeling in the home! 

5, Have a go-to basket for inspiration and when you’re feeling inspired to do something like goal set, list right, plan-things or get creative. Have things in the basket like notebooks, pens, books, craft projects you want to do this season. This positive pod,means they are all conveniently ready for you, prep again is key!

6, With the darker night’s drawing in, I like to review my exercise routine, either get equipped for running in the dark or make routine changes and try some new remember winter creeps up on you so plan your new exercise routine now. Remember with exercise preparation is key!

7, This time of year can get expensive so maybe look at any positive changes that you can make to your shopping and outgoings, sometimes being organised with homemade lunches, prepared meals from scratch not only healthier but cost affective to, these things can really help make a positive spin on the pennies

8, Have list of things you want to go and do this season, step outside the comfort zone and do something that challenges you in a positive way, from on line zoom classes, to on-line learning, reading that book, visiting new outdoor spaces or trying a new hobby or exercise, go for it!

9, Go through your kitchen cupboards/pantry and see what you have that’s in date, but you won’t really use that you could give to your local food bank most super markets now have a trolley at the front you can give items to. You could even get some extra bits to give, I like to get pasta to add to my items I donate.

10, This is one of my favourites, get your diary full of social catch ups with all your friends, it’s so important to keep connected especially with people who make you happy! Organise face time or zoom catch ups outdoor walk meet ups,social distancing of course.

11, Something you might want to do is set a goal that can be complete between now and Christmas or winter ask yourself,

Q: By Christmas I would like to (blank)

Fill this answer in with something you would like to achieve in these time frames.

12, I like to go through my clothing and make a capsule wardrobe (collection of a few essential items) and put a few full out fits together that I want to wear and that make me feel positive. It’s fun to sometimes get ideas for AW20 fashion, hair, accessories and makeup for inspirations.

Enjoy your Autumn Organising!

accountability, Identity, lifestyle, Mental health, motivation, Self development, Uncategorized, Well-being

Accountability a powerful life tool!

brainbiscuitscoaching

It’s such a strength to own up to where you are in your life and if your not happy do something about it!

If you want things to change you need to be accountable and stop the rut you find yourself in. Own the current situation, draw a line it’s happened and for whatever reason you are where you are and more importantly your ready to face up to it, Your accepting that your the one responsible and in the driving seat and only you can steer yourself the way you want to go!

when you become accountable you will find yourself to have better clarity on things and that you are so much more stronger than before. From this moment of change you make happen results you want can take place and you don’t have to be in that same stagnant place of denial any more! Ever heard the line of you always done what you always do your always get what you’ve always got! It’s so true!

When your know longer scared of your current reality anymore and face things such as where you currently are in life how are you ever going to know what you want?

When you finally established a starting line and what you want the finish line to look like (the change) you then can move forward and take steps and go get your goals. We often slip into ruts with things and don’t put ourselves first but until you do put yourself first how can you ever move on!

Be aware of Selfsavatarge mode, this is another way of ruining things for yourself, when things start to go right for you are you someone who then trys to stop it from happening because it’s new Territory and this terrifs you? Meaning you go back to what was to feel safe back into the “comfort Zone” do you put obstacles in your own way. If you think yes this is me than you need to plan strategies of what you can do when you find yourself in this position along the way again your being accountable and showing up for yourself! If you no certain things trigger this behaviour avoid it as much as you can.

The thing is when you face things and you make changes and you become more the you that you want to be,it can really push you at times when you have nowhere to hide from things and face things and be challenging to not slip back into old habit, it’s much harder to fully accept the new you to even yourself and also for others to accept this change to.

Remember Your not being selfish because of this change either you have just hit a point where you have to put yourself first. So you can really start living again and in the moment and most importantly feel happier.

When you start owning your feelings and emotions your are then allowing things to be released and no longer have them bubbling away inside and just think any negativity that’s inside from this you can finally let go of! just think how liberating and emotionally lighter you will feel, accountability really is a detox in its own right.

If You feel yourself start to slip back off the wagon again with your goals the steps I would recommend are;

1) checkin with yourself are you experiencing lots of emotional or physical stress at the moment?

2) ask yourself do you feel in control or out of control?

3) who can help you when you face the current situation? And how can you contact and reach out to this support and help?

4) workout the current reality of the situation, where are you right now? What are you able to change?

5) write down what you want to happen next

6) write down the steps you need to go from where you are to where you want to go

7) remember what triggered this off before for you and plan strategies to keep you on track.

8) surround yourself with motivation, be it people, environments, photos, items whatever sparks joy and makes you want to succeed.

9)Remember to Remind yourself how far You’ve come. How You felt before and how You feel when all your steps and goals You set are reached and use that to motivate yourself back on track again

10) show up for yourself every day your responsible for ensuring your worth. write down steps and tasks that will help get your where you want to be and tick them off your list as they are completed. There is lots of proof that when you write things down your more likely to stick to what’s written.

The above steps should help you identify with the life you want and person you want to be, remember having accountability is a key life tool which will keep you on track, it will ensure You don’t steer off course and remain responsible for go getting what you want in life.