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Caring for others

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  Caring for others “To make a difference in someone’s life you don’t have to be brilliant, rich, beautiful, or perfect. You just have to care!” This week is all about caring for others. When I first looked at this, I wondered what it meant. Surely caring for others benefits the receiver and this is all about positive benefits for me. But then I started to think a bit deeper. It brought me back to a Friends’ episode where Joey said to Phoebe there is no self-less good deeds. Now I am certainly not saying that is the case but Joey did have an interesting point that I hope relates to this blog. His argument was based on when you do something for someone else or care for someone else it makes you feel good too. Now I certainly don’t think this is a bad thing. In fact, this is something extremely important in terms of staying mentally well. Now if I’m honest, it’s not something I always find easy to be there for someone else- particularly proactively. I am pretty good when it’s an
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Embrace your weirdness

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  Accept ourselves for the unique individuals we are “Dance to the beat of your own drum; whether the world likes your rhythmic movements or not.”   This week’s theme is a really interesting one. I have always known superficially who I am, what I enjoy and I think what I believe in, but how well do I truly understand myself? Being in a position 0f leadership, plus writing these blogs has led to quite a lot of soul searching about who I am as a person. As I think carefully about this, I believe there are certain misconceptions I may have had along the way. I am very keen and eager to improve and develop but I do think at certain times, both in my personal life and in my career, this may have taken away from the “real me.” It’s this realisation over the last couple of years that has really helped show everyone what I am like and help people understand both my strengths and my flaws. For example, I have had long chats with Nick about how I present myself in certain situations. W
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Do something you enjoy!

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  Do something you enjoy “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” When reading up about enjoyment and what it means in relation to mental health, the phrase that keeps coming up is “losing yourself” in activities or in a hobby. I’ve tried to process this and work out what this means to me. Quite simply- escapism. I have a few main hobbies- running, cycling, football and each of them provide me with the necessary distraction I require to either forget about any worries I have (personal or work related) or talk about them in a way where I always feel better afterwards. Doing this through exercise provides me with a vehicle to not only “de-stress” but also reenergize. Each time I do one of these activities, almost without exception, I come back feeling positive and reinvigorated. I go on bike rides and for those two hours, where I’m usually accompanied by a close friend of mine, we are able to talk about anything and everything and put the worl
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I need a break!

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  I just need a break from everything for a little while Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes… including you Even writing those words at the top, I realised that this is an area I struggle with. What does taking a break mean? I certainly do remove myself from the office; I sit myself on the couch and watch tele. But, if I’m being honest, do I take a break mentally from work when I sit on my phone reading E-mails. This is an area that I am working on and people speak to me about and I’ve started to make inroads with. However, at the moment, I am still at the stage of having to force myself to switch off by leaving my phone when I go for walks or I take my daughter to the park.   For this piece, I thought, as a way of helping my own self-improvement, I would ask for a fresh perspective: The rest of this piece is written by a close friend of mine, Gavin. He was the best man at my wedding, a teacher and SENDCO at another school and a cracking guy. Pl
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It's brave to ask for help!

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  It’s brave to ask for help This week’s theme of asking for help is one of the most personal and also one of the most challenging for me to write. Asking for help is something I’ve really had to battle with over the years. There is no doubt that when I ask for help, I feel exposed. I have to wrestle with negative and untrue thoughts that asking for help is a sign of weakness. I also have to put aside my stubbornness and trust that asking for help is indeed actually the reverse- It’s a sign of strength and acceptance that I am more than capable but need help with certain aspects of my life. Now I’ve started thinking of it, I think there are at least two interpretations I can take of asking for help- asking for help as a way of avoiding the issue and, asking for help when I truly need it. These are not official definitions and are only my views based on my own reflections. Asking for help as a way of avoiding the issue: I often do this when I’m unsure of something- most comm
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We're all in this together!

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  We’re all in this together “Humans are social beings, and we are happier, and better, when connected to others. “ Connection. Over the last few months, I have really tried to understand this. Not because it would help me write a blog; but because I, like many others, have had to try a lot harder to maintain connection with others. This has actually helped me understand what it was that I took for granted and really help me understand what different interactions with different people provided me with. So what does connection mean? The first part of the definition: The energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued. It can be too easy on days I feel down or not myself to lock myself away. Some may notice me do this, others may not. However, it is definitely something I am guilty of doing. Reaching out to others can be a much more productive way of dealing with life.   I do think that this is different to talking to others (Week 1) as that is more abou
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I'll just have a water, thanks

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  I’ll just have a water, thanks “It’s strange how drinking cups of water seem impossible but 5 cups of coffee go down like the Titanic” Feeling thirsty- I’ll grab a coffee. Feeling bored-mine’s a coffee. I’m hungry (and it’s not a socially acceptable time to eat lunch) go on then, a coffee. This isn’t my confession to having an unhealthy obsession with caffeine. I am however reflecting on perhaps I do choose a coffee as my go to drink a bit more often than I should. This week’s blog is to help me (and perhaps one or two others) consider a subtle change to my everyday living that could have quite significant benefits. I’ve got into a bit of a habit of working and consuming coffee and I am going to use this piece to unpick why. Does is quench my thirst? Science says not. So perhaps it is a force of habit. Like a lot of what I write about, I go through good spells and bad spells. Weeks of exercise followed by a fallow period. The most balanced diet followed by a surge on not so healt
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