Why You Should Stop Questioning Yourself?

Why you should stop questioning yourself.

There is enough stress and pressure in life without you adding more to your plate.

Looking after #1

There is a really interesting philosophical question that has been floating around for years.

It is philosophical because it is open to interpretation and it is very subjective...

Acute: Chronic Stress

Take a practical and proactive approach to stress.

I worked with the Special Forces to develop a human performance program for a nation building a SF pipeline at their school house (in fact we built the school house).

Transition Time.

Consider what we are genuinely asking ourselves to do when we talking about 'switching off'.

We aren't robots and we can't flick a switch and be in home mode.

Adapting to Change.

When demands are placed on you which require change, you need to look at your environment and adapt accordingly.

Your external environment.

There is More Out There for Me. I Want Better for Myself.

A short blog post about protecting your most important assets.
Time
Money
Energy...

3 Reasons Why People Get Upset With Your Boundaries.

Setting boundaries can sometimes result in people feeling upset or uncomfortable.

Here are three main reasons why people may become upset with your boundaries.

Stop Saying Sorry for a Late Response.

What even is a late response if we never agreed a response time?

‘Sorry for the late reply’
‘So sorry totally missed this’..

Why Did This Happen to Me?

Reframing is a critical skill. 

It’s a fundamental of building resilience to change, challenge and turbulence which in themselves are ALL part of life.

Protect yourself from these people…

This one always ruffles a few feathers, so I’ll put some context on this from the off.

If you don’t set your own boundaries then someone else will do that for you.

Removing Barriers to Well-being.

We are living in a time where it is becoming increasingly common to prioritise the needs of our clients, players, and organisations over our own..

What This Civilian Taught Tier 1 Special Forces Operators

In 2017-2020 I worked (and lived) with very experienced retired US Special Forces Operators.

The sort of level where they would mention the location of their unit and you had all the information you needed.

How Burnout Actually Feels.

Feeling lost, confused, exhausted, overwhelmed, drained, and drifting are all associated with burnout.

The WHO defines burnout as….

3 Things That Happen When Your Stress Coping Strategies Don’t Meet the Demands Being Placed on Them.

Stress is an inevitable part of our daily lives, and surprisingly, it can be a positive force.

Yes, you read that correctly stress is a good thing.

Combatting an Aggressive Work Culture

There is this furious and relentless pace of work and expectation that I am observing more and more in the corporate space.

I am not sure it is particularly new.

3 Things We Know About Boundaries (and Some Bonuses).

Boundaries are a total god send.

They are a relatively new discovery for me (I know I know, the Wellness Guy is horrendous with boundaries!).

They will set you free as they have done for me.

Get Off the Busy Bandwagon.

That feeling of ‘I need to be busy’.

‘Everyone else is busy so I need to be’.

‘If I’m not spinning plates, I’m not busy. Being un-busy ain’t good’.

You Don't Say Too Much Stupid Stuff. You Can Speak Up a Bit Now!

"You don't say too much stupid stuff. You can speak up a bit now".

This is what a retired Delta Force operator said to me after nearly 9 months of not only working with him but living with him.

The Years That Made My Career but Nearly Killed Me.

You can see it in my eyes.

The bags under them could have carried my weekly shop.

I gave every single ounce of life to that job, to that club and the players I worked with.

Find a Way Not an Excuse.

There is always a reason not to do something you need/want to do.

Always a way to not achieve your goals and dreams.

That's the easy way, to not push, stretch and challenge yourself.

Enough With the ‘1% Better Everyday’ Garbage.

I hope this one kicks off. It's frustrating to hear phrases like:

‍ “Be better today”
‍ “Go get 1% better today”
‍ “Better never stops”

Opportunities Hiding as Insurmountable Problems.

4 weeks ago, I lost my laptop .

The place I had my entire business.

This was a big big problem.

I ‘thought’ it was backed up with the ICloud extra space I’d purchased and also Dropbox.

Drama is a Magnet for Stress.

Whether it's the workplace, relationships, family, friendships, social media, or society, drama can act as a magnet for stress.

Personally, I have developed a strong aversion to drama. Reflecting on the past 18 months, I realised that I inadvertently welcomed drama into my life and even tolerated...

What Have Your Thoughts and the Mall Got in Common?

You don’t go into every shop at the mall, same way that you don’t need to react to every thought you have.

Imagine going to the mall and going into every single shop that is there.

2023 Reflection Tips from the Special Forces, F1 and Olympic Medalists

As we close out the year, most of us will review the year that’s been and make plans moving forwards.

I was fortunate enough to sit in on many Special Forces After Action Reviews (AAR’s) from major training exercises and this process fascinated the hell out of me.

Taking A Break

Some recurring phrases this week…

I’m too busy to take a break.

There isn’t any time for me to pause in the day.

I’ve got a break in 2 weeks, I’ll slow down then.

Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes

Test your coping strategies under extreme stress and pressure and learn to respond not react.

Picture the scene, I couldn't make this up...

It's 01.35 at Madrid airport 🇪🇸. 

Fast is Smooth and Smooth is Fast

We live in a time when it’s possible to be always on, always available, always connected and always primed to go.

We have our distractors 📱 to hand nearly all the time.

What Is On The Other Side of These Struggles?

This is a message for anyone in the eye of the storm, with life is throwing everything at you and testing you to the max.

But what’s on the other side of this I wonder? 

You Don't Need External Validation

When the sales started coming, I cried A LOT.

I cried real big ugly tears of relief, happiness because I finally felt validated, good enough, like I had a voice that people wanted to listen too.

3 Things I Learnt From Running Away To India

In 2016 I ran away from burnout and a life I was desperately unhappy in. I literally dropped the life I had in the UK and F’ed off to India.

Re-wind 7 weeks prior and I had just had a total meltdown on a beach in Thailand.

The Hardest Work I Have Ever Done

I’ve done a lot of hard work in my life, physical challenges, paid work, voluntary work, likely we all have. 

But the hardest work I have ever done by a country mile is the work I have done on myself in the last 18-24 months.

Stop Trying to Remove Stress.

We need stress in our lives, otherwise we get bored, demotivated and become uninterested or even apathetic to what we are doing.

But we need to keep some measure of control over stress so it doesn’t get too high or too low.

Why SOF Selection Has a 75% Dropout Rate

The obvious one that you’ll be thinking is ‘because it’s brutal’! Correct. But let me tell you, some of the fittest men and women on the planet wouldn’t, and don’t make it through.

Your First Time Will Not Be Your Best and It Doesn't Have to Be Your Last.

This a phrase which applies to A LOT of areas of life! 😂 But in the interest of keeping things clean, this phrase is relevant to taking on new challenges.

The Special Forces Fail a Lot.

A special forces operator is trained to be put in increasingly stressful situations. So invariably the fail a lot, but they fail in training so that they can succeed in combat.  Over and over and over again with gradually increasing stress and pressure the operators are trained using a method called stress inoculation.

Is It Time for Some Mental House Keeping?

I’m assuming that you’ll tidy up pretty much every day that you/someone else makes a mess. Next day you’ll do it all again, only this time possibly adjust to make less mess or don’t let the kid near the condiments!

Getting to Know Your Imposter

Imposter syndrome held me back from fully expressing my potential for over 15 years. It’s silly when I look back at the missed opportunities I let sail on by due to that little nagging imposter..

Learning Tough Lessons With the Special Forces

For 3 years of my 3 ½ year contract with the Special Forces, I lived with and worked alongside a group of very elite retired US operators. To say I had a baptism of fire was an understatement..

Struggle Street.

Dear residents of ‘Struggle Street’ For those of you out there having a rough day or going through a tough patch, this one is for you…

Smallest Worthwhile Change.

This is an idea around doing the minimum, the minimum you can do in order to get some sort of meaningful change in anything.

Practice Reacting Differently

Your coping mechanisms will only stand up to the stress and pressure they've been exposed to.

I say this almost daily now 'we cannot control the presence of stress and pressure in our lives, but we can always control our responses to it'.

Josh Your Whatsapp is Broken…

Real conversation with a loved one last week…

‘Josh I think your WhatsApp is broken, it’s doing some weird things, can’t see when you have seen the message any more then you aren’t as engaged in conversation. It’s weird.’

There Are More Astronauts 🧑🏻‍🚀 in the World Than There Are F1 Drivers 🏎💨.

In fact, there are more astronauts in the world than there are F1, F2 and F3 drivers, with fewer than 128 active astronauts, cosmonauts, and taikonauts 🛸.

What the Corporate World Can Learn From the Special Forces.

In one of my previous roles, I built the human performance program for an entire nation's Special Forces.

Clear the Noise.

We waste a considerable amount of time and energy focusing on small things which get in the way of performance.

Practice Intentional Pausing.

Think of a pause as a gap in proceedings, that could be a conversation, a meeting, your day, week, a project or longer periods like a quarter.

Own Your Mornings.

This is not a post about the awesomeness of 5am club, a 17-step morning routine to conquer the world, or meditating for an hour before your cold plunge infrared sauna combo.

Job Creep and Over-delivery, Where Are You the Problem?

When we enjoy what we do and are passionate about it, there is a tendency to overdeliver.  Even more so if you work in a helping profession, manage people or you’re self-employed.

Times of Stress Are Signals for Growth.

This article is about sitting with discomfort because we really aren’t very good at it!  Before any significant change in our lives, there is this period of uncertainty, discomfort, and unease.  Often, we don’t know what is happening and why we feel this way, but we can zoom...

3 Questions Which Will Build Trust, Support and a Healthier Working Environment.

A healthy organisational culture is built on a foundation of care, empowerment, and connection.  When we aim to support those around us effectively it must be a two-way street, if we aren’t considerate and open as leaders, asking the right questions at the right times then we can make...

2 Key Ingredients to Managing Workplace Stress.

1. NOTICING. Begin to observe and keep a note of what causes you stress on a daily basis. Is it always the same thing or type of situation which cause stress for you? Take this a step further and begin to notice how you are responding to these stressors, what are the thoughts, feelings and...