Dear past me, When you said you were doing your best, you were. You weren’t to know your best would get better. You tried your best in the moment and it was good enough. That’s right: your best was good enough. Turns out sometimes it wasn’t brilliant and sometimes it was kick ass, but that...Read More

It’s an important lesson we teach kids: you don’t always get what you want. Hard cheese, as we said for one hyperactive summer of high school. (Tough sh*t, as we later graduated to.) For huge swathes of our time, in fact, it feels like you can never have what you want. You can see why...Read More

First up, I won’t apologise for writing this blog in early November. Proper planning prevents p…oor performance, and all that. By the time you read this it is likely you will have crossed the annual point of no return: someone, or – most likely – something – something shaped like an advert or a sandwich...Read More

Do you take time at work to check in? A weekly get together where each person takes it in turns to describe how they’re feeling in a safe and supportive environment can be a brilliant thing. When you’ve established a good trusting relationship with your team it’s a place where you can share the state...Read More

We all have a favourite season. Right now it’s mine. The beauty of the autumn morning light for me is one of life’s extraordinary experiences. Whether it’s the misty sunrise from my morning train into the city or being wrapped up for a walk or jog through crunchy leaves while breathing in cool air, I...Read More

In the space of the last week I’ve had a cold and food poisoning. Annoying? Yes. But it does mean I’ve had a chance to practice a few of the mantras we hear and dish out when it comes to wellness and work. This is a short post because, at the time of writing, I’m...Read More

In our crazy world of information overload, it’s not just our favourite box sets that we’re bingeing on. There’s Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Medium, and that’s before you open your inbox to a daily serving of news, business, politics or retail briefings. (Yes, I just called ASOS’s spam “retail briefings” to make them sound relevant...Read More

Quick quiz: You’re in the Quiet Coach on the train and someone is on the phone. Do you: A) Give a quick eye-roll and move on. Orange is the New Black isn’t going to watch itself. B) Spend the duration of that call brooding about how you would go and tell the lucky caller exactly...Read More

There are lots of clichés about the difficulty of breaking old habits and forming new ones. You’re stuck in a rut. Old habits die hard. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Annoyingly, when it comes to changing habits the catchphrase dictionary is stacked against us. When you want to kick something that doesn’t...Read More

I found about Northern Power Women through a very good friend of mine, who has always encouraged me to be true to myself and follow what I believe in. Although I can come across as a very self-assured and confident person in work, life and in social situations, I think I was at a point...Read More