Amid the busyness of Christmas preparations and the special glow that that I feel at this (my favourite) time of the year, I found myself reflecting this year on the phone call I received from my beautiful sister just 2 days before Christmas, just one year ago. “Tan, I’ve got cancer” my sister shared through trembling voice. As I sat reflecting on my sister’s journey over the past year, her courage, her resilience, her vulnerability, I found myself filled with joy and gratitude not only because her

I remember the day like it was yesterday, the giddy schoolgirl excitement tinged with anxiety deep in my stomach as I approached my office building. I was getting my life back, another shot, but would he even remember me let alone how I like my coffee? Then, still 100 metres away, my swirling thoughts and emotions were interrupted with a booming Taaaaaanya!! I looked up to see him waving vehemently and smiling the most heart-warming smile. A smile now etched permanently into my heart. I felt a

Active listening is one of the most powerful communication tools available to us. It can help build relationships, deepen understanding, and promote collaboration among all parties involved. When used properly, active listening increases empathy and trust between individuals, enabling them to better collaborate on tasks and projects. Listening actively also helps people to better express themselves and understand the thoughts, feelings, and perspectives of others. Unfortunately – most of us are not actually very good at this important skill! “Most people do not listen with the intent

It’s no secret that emotions have a powerful impact on our lives. But what about the effect of those feelings beyond ourselves? How does our inner world influence the people and environment around us? The truth is that our emotions can have far-reaching implications, like a stone thrown into a still pond causing ripples across its surface. This phenomenon is known as the Ripple Effect of Emotions, and it’s a vital concept to understand in order to gain control over our inner lives and help improve not

The 4 day work week is gaining traction in the business world – and for good reason. Studies have shown that businesses who implement a 4-day workweek are reaping the benefits of greater employee productivity, engagement, and contentment. But what if you’re a leader who doesn’t have the option of joining the 4-day work week movement, yet? You can still implement new strategies & processes that will optimise both people and business outcomes by utilising the science of motivation on that ‘fifth day.’ You can tap into

As we all venture into a fresh new calendar year, many of us can’t help but turn our minds to the things we would like to ‘change’ in 2023, what we plan to do differently to ensure a cracking new year for ourselves and hopefully those around us.  For many of us, setting New Year’s resolutions has been a tradition we’ve (often blindly) engaged in since childhood. In anticipation of the clock striking midnight, heralding that fresh canvas that inevitably sparks the perennial question from family and

There is a resilience myth held by many in society that resilience is all about one’s ability to bounce back despite adversity, to get back up and dust oneself off in the face of trauma or difficulty and return to ‘normal’. I once shared this misconception around resilience. It wasn’t until adversity came to visit as an adult that I began to understand that what I had believed was resilience through childhood trauma was in fact just survival…and yes there’s a big difference. Adversity visits us all

The power of mindset and its effect on our lives has been widely studied in recent years and the research continues to show that our thoughts and outlook directly influence the decisions we make, our attitude towards and experience of life, and even our physical health.  By understanding and utilising the power of your mindset, you can start to take control of your life and how events play out. The journey starts with developing a mindful awareness of the thoughts in your head, what stories you are

Almost 3 years ago I sat to write this article, my mind whirring amidst the global stress and uncertainty that was rapidly unfolding. From toilet paper hoarding to mass remote working, life as we knew it was changing.  Did I know at the time that what many of us thought might be a few weeks or even months of COVID chaos would still be circulating years later? Definitely not.  Am I still as grateful for the experiences I expressed in those early days of the pandemic unfolding?

The future of work is human. For too long, the essence of what makes us human – capacities like emotional agility, values, personality, strengths aligned working, communication and relationship building, have been dismissed as soft skills and relegated to the sidelines, or in some organisations, not invested in or taken seriously at all. But understanding what drives us as humans, and genuine opportunities to better align with our core drivers, is valued by, and impactful for workers, for good reason. Science has shown that genuine alignment with

Leaders are not superheroes – they’re human. This means that they too are affected by the significant uncertainty and stress brought about by COVID-19 and the physiological effects that can significantly impede wellbeing and performance. It is critical now more than ever that leaders are given the opportunity and the tools to fit their own oxygen mask in order to lead teams in which every single individual is likely to be struggling with varying levels of stress due to the significant change and uncertainty brought about by

As you contemplate your plans for the coming year, do you have a blueprint in place to set achievable and compelling goals? Are you utilising cutting-edge flow science that can help guide your journey toward goal completion and increase your success rate? When it comes to accomplishing what matters most, having an intentional approach is key. At the University of Bath in early 2000s, Sarah Milne and her research team set out to achieve a simple yet important mission: increase exercise participation. Two-hundred-forty-eight adults were randomly assigned