This year was heralded as being the year of “2020 vision”. It was supposed to be the year of seeing things clearly; a year that was going to be amazing! Unfortunately, some of what we are now seeing is far from what we had hoped to see. As a result, many of us are now dealing with overwhelm, frustration, fear and deep sadness.
Read MoreSarah Blakely, founder of Spanks, says that her greatest lesson in becoming the youngest female self-made billionaire was in being willing to fail. When she speaks to stadiums of women on business and leadership, she repeatedly emphasises that to be truly successful at anything you do, one must learn that there is a hidden blessing in everything considered to be a ‘failure’.
Read MoreAs a teen and young adult, I approached life from the perspective that I absolutely had to achieve. It was like a hobby. I played for the NSW netball team, graduated from high school in the top 1% of the state and became a solicitor at an international law firm.
On face value, few people could see much wrong with this narrative. After all, success is what we all want, don’t we? Don't we all want to be wealthy and accomplished so that we can be happy? But, everything I did was driven by a desire to please others, look good for others, and feel validated. My self-worth was completely tied up in other people’s opinions and approval of me.
Read MoreContemporary science is increasingly proving that our individual expectations, prior conditioning and beliefs about an intervention can trigger a healing response within the body, labelled the “placebo effect”. Our article, “Mindset matters: the powerful placebo effect”, showed that how we think and what we experience are unquestionably related.
These scientific revelations powerfully demonstrate the enormous capacity of our mindsets – in this case the positive expectation about health and triggering healing processes in the body. However, the extraordinary power of our mindsets is not simply confined to medical walls.
Read MoreAs a business and executive coach, I am seeing that the current climate of uncertainty and change is causing many clients to reassess their lives. Staying home amid the COVID-19 pandemic has provided the opportunity for all of us to consider whether ‘normal’ (life before COVID-19) was actually working.
The Business Insider Australia published an article: “Why so many Australians get stuck in a job they don’t like”, which revealed findings from a major survey that an enormous number Australians are unhappy in their jobs. Of the Australians surveyed, 57% reported that work is the major contributor to their stress levels and 44% stated that not knowing what other career to pursue was the reason for staying in a job that made them unhappy.
Read MoreTogether, the scientific evidence for the placebo effect and its biological underpinnings show us that how we think and what we experience are intricately related. While it is not always as simple as touted in the self-help aisles of bookstores, there are a number of ways we can develop our mindset to tap into our bodies own natural resources to place us in the best possible position to succeed professionally and personally. In the Mindset Matters Programme we aim to help individuals develop greater awareness of their existing mindset and to provide practical skills for developing a mindset to facilitate their own personal growth and fulfilment.
Read MoreIf you haven’t kept up with this century’s lifestyle alerts on sedentary behaviour, scientists have now resolutely proven that sitting for long periods daily increases a person’s risk for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, mental health problems and early death. In fact, when researchers first listed inactivity as a major risk factor for disease and illness, the harmful effects of sitting were found to be analogous to those of smoking.
Read MoreCountless studies demonstrate that the Australian workplace is in the middle of a depression epidemic. Beyond Blue’s study in 2014 revealed a disturbing statistic that 1 in 5 Australians had, in the past 12 months, taken time off work as a result of experiencing stress, depression and anxiety in the workplace. An even more extraordinary number of Australian workers (46%) considered their workplace to be mentally unhealthy.
While the typical Australian worker is becoming increasingly unhappy, lawyers continue to trump this category and rate as the most depressed profession in the country.
Read MoreThere is now plenty of research to show that yoga is not just some crazed fad suitable only for the wild hippy type. Yoga is now being rolled out in office spaces throughout the nation and worldwide.
Read MoreWith the modern work-place increasingly characterised by high demands, long hours and information overload, it is not surprising that we are desperately seeking ways to revive its burnt-out, bleery eyed and over-caffeinated workers. Contemporary offices are donning levels of stress and unhappiness greater than ever before. There has never been a more critical time than now for practices of self-care and personal development to take the main stage.
Read MoreA study conducted by Cambridge University found that women are twice as likely to suffer from severe stress and anxiety than men. This is unsurprising when we analyse the trends and modern pressures that women are regularly faced with. As we accelerate at an overwhelming pace into the digital age where we can access everything and everyone through the simple tap of our finger, the social burdens and expectations have never been greater.
Read MoreAlarming statistics show that the Australian workforce is in the middle of a depression epidemic. The legal profession is one of the worst affected, resulting in the emergence of a ‘legal depression’. Staff retention rates at law firms remain one of the most challenging HR issues on the table. Droves of lawyers switch firms or leave the profession each year in search of a happier and healthier lifestyle.
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