I was standing in the coffee shop queue this week and a soft voice called my name. I turned round to see one of my old school students smiling back at me.

It was so lovely to catch up and hear all about what my student had been doing and where they were going on to study. What I also noticed was their positivity, focus and happiness. This was amazing as my student had previously really struggled with several aspects of life and life in general was a very dark and miserable place for quite some time.

The transformation was stunning and it definitely made my day. It had me beaming for the rest of the afternoon as this was a student I had coached for almost a year and had grown to know very well. Knowing that I have played a small part in making a difference to their life is the whole reason I do my job and it is times like these that make me feel very happy and proud to do what I do.

If you know of a young person that is struggling with life in one way or another and would benefit from life coaching, then please contact me.

A little while ago I was approached by the cluster manager of seven local primary schools to provide some training for their teaching staff and assistants. My presentation was about ‘Communicating Effectively to Young Children’ and included some tools and techniques that I use on a daily basis when coaching my students.

The topics I covered were:

• Communication – Building rapport quickly , understanding body language, improving listening skills, using eye accessing queues to understand how little ones are processing information
• Emotional Intelligence – Understanding and expressing emotions and feelings, the effect they can have on behaviour and decision making, identifying symptoms and triggers, building coping strategies
• Effective Questioning – Types of questions, when to use different techniques, things to avoid

As I covered my techniques there was lots of nodding and acknowledgement gestures and even a few ‘light bulb moments’. Everyone went away with a hand-out covering the key points and a list of my most useful questions as I coach my students.

The aim of the training was to share my knowledge  and experience and enable teaching staff to create a more coaching environment in the classroom.  Using my tools and techniques means that teaching staff can assist young children to :

• Communicate more effectively
• Identify their feelings/emotions
• Understand themselves better and their behaviour
•  Increase their confidence and self-esteem
• Recognise they are being listened to

I thoroughly enjoyed giving the training session last week and knowing that it is not just the teaching staff that will benefit from my training, its the children too, is the reason I do what I do.

Primary schools are now starting to identify the many benefits that a coaching environment brings into the classroom. When introduced at an early stage it can make a huge difference to how children understand and live their lives. Combine all that with introducing Mindfulness into the classroom and just watch the positive effect it has on their behaviour. Other advantages can be smoother and happier transition to secondary school, reduced panic and anxiety and less behavioural problems.

Have a fantastic half term and if you would like me to present to your teaching staff or provide group or one to one coaching to your students then please contact me.

SUCCESS – 26.2 miles completed and my fund raising goal for Breast Cancer achieved – and exceeded! I have raised £1611 which is an amazing result!
WOW – what an experience it was. I have never seen so many men and women walking in decorated bras and such a fantastic atmosphere. I cannot even start to explain what it was like other than utterly mind blowing, especially knowing that what we were all doing was for such a good cause.
Just talking to people, finding out what had prompted them to do ‘The Moonwalk’ and listening to their individual stories and experiences was very emotional and also very motivating and uplifting.

I used my coaching skills to set small goals along the way by choosing a selection of my favourite London landmarks (London Eye, St James’s Park and Harrods) and when I got to the first one I set my sights on the next one. The half way marker of 13.1 miles was a real ‘biggie’ for me, but the realisation that I still had miles to go was hard. I heavily relied upon my support network of friends around me and together we lifted our moods by chatting, playing a few games and using our music playlists to help us focus on the final stretch. Dancing in the toilet queue certainly helped to pass the time as well!

This is the first time I have done anything like this so it was a whole new experience for me. Crossing the finish line was both painful and amazing at the same time. The mixture of emotions was unbelievable going from sheer exhaustion and desperation to an inner explosion of happiness, satisfaction and huge achievement.

I am so proud of what I have done to achieve my goals. I have learnt so much about myself and what I am actually capable of. I will be taking what I have learnt with me into both my personal and work life and aim to use my experience to enable others to achieve their goals too.

There are a number of people responsible for inspiring me to do The Moonwalk London 2016:

• Nina Panesar-Woods – thank you for asking me to spend time with you this year and do The Moonwalk with you.
• Steve and Holly Smith – you inspire me everyday, I love you both very much and wanted to make you proud of me.
• Jan Steward – My gorgeous and lovely friend who dealt with breast cancer in such a positive and awe-inspiring way, you are simply amazing.
• Curly Martin – my inspirational mentor, friend and life changing coach, trainer, speaker and author of the soon to be released book ‘Achievement: Cancer free for 20 Years!’ (A very worthwhile read for anyone that has experience directly or indirectly with cancer). Curly was diagnosed with breast cancer by The Royal Marsden Hospital and was told she had 8 months to live – 20 years later she is still here to tell the tale, and now in her new book!
• Stephanie White – An amazing person and teacher in our local community who lost her cancer battle in March 2016. My Moonwalk is dedicated to Steph.
• Jan, Phil, Isobel and Toby Turner-Wilson – this last 9 months have been hard for you all and I wanted to make you smile because you mean the world to me.

I have raised over £1600 for breast cancer which is such an amazing amount of money and I hope that goes towards making a difference for people now and in the future. Thank you so much to everyone that donated to my Moonwalk fund. I really am very very grateful and touched by the generosity and support that people have given me.

Thank you to all my friends and family that have walked with me during my training and got me over the finish line, I could not have done it without you. I am resting this week and recovering from my long walk and hope to be back to full fitness over the next couple of days with the help of Epsom Salts, Arnica cream and massage. Have an outstanding week everybody and see you next week when I am fully recovered.

#MoonwalkLondon

The final countdown to my Moonwalk is here! This time next week I will have completed The Moonwalk London 2016 and achieved my goal to raise money for Breast Cancer.

When I decided to do the Moonwalk I had no idea what  it really involved or what the time commitment  would be. It has been a huge learning experience for me. My job as a coach and mentor has most certainly enabled me to achieve my training requirements and get results by pulling from my knowledge and skill-set.

I really have had to practice what I coach my school students! Here are some of the things I have had to do to complete my training plan:

• Set clear and specific goals
• Plan, prepare and practice walking routes and techniques
• Measure and monitor my progress
• Recognise and reward my own achievements
• Push myself outside of my comfort zone
• Be determined and persevere, even when the going was tough
• Use my specific support network
• Use my toolbox of coping strategies when I hit ‘The Wall’ to push myself through the pain barrier
• Listen actively to what others had to say and picked up useful information to assist me on my journey
• Communicate to friends and family around what I needed to achieve

I have received some fantastic support from my friends and family and I would not be where I am today in my training if it was not for them. Their love and support has really helped to motivate and push me through to achieve results that I did not know I was capable of. It really is surprising what can be achieved when we put our minds to something.

I have 3 more training walks to do then a couple of days of rest before I go into London next Saturday. I look forward to posting next week and letting you know how I get on. If you would like to support me in my Moonwalk which I have dedicated in memory of the fantastic Stephanie White and to raise money for Breast Cancer – please go to my donation page.

Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine.

These last few months have been exceptionally busy for me and I am pleased to say that all my hard work has paid off!

My goal for the first quarter of the year was to study and complete an Autism Awareness Diploma. I finished the work over the Easter holidays and last week I received the fantastic news that I had passed. What a lovely feeling it gave me, one which had a positive, uplifting and energising effect on my working week.

My second goal is to do The Moonwalk in London on the 14th May 2016 to raise funds for Breast Cancer. I will be walking the London Marathon route of 26.2 miles overnight. My training plan is going well and I can walk just over 2 miles in half an hour which means I should complete my Moonwalk in around 7 hours.

My aim is to raise as much money as I can by passing over the finish line on Sunday 15th May 2016.  Having been through a Breast Cancer biopsy, I want to make a difference to the lives of others that may have to go through the same experience.

By staying focused on my training plan, measuring my progress, being realistic in what I am capable of plus lots of determination and perseverance I will achieve my Moonwalk goal. If you would like to support me in raising as much as possible for Breast Cancer then please go to my fundraising page. Have an outstanding week, stay focused and let’s all get some great results.

It is amazing how quickly time flies and the holidays soon pass. It’s already time for me to go back to school and see what my coaching students have achieved over the Easter break.

A large part of my break was spent studying for an Autistic Awareness Diploma. I am pleased to say that I was very productive and managed to complete all nine modules which have now been submitted for marking so fingers crossed!

The timing for completing my course aligned with World Autism Awareness Week which ran from Saturday 2 April to Friday 8 April 2016. Raising my own awareness and understanding of Autism is so important when symptoms and behaviours are presented during my coaching sessions. Being able to identify Autistic behaviours means that I can:

• Alter my coaching approach to communicate effectively in an autistic map of the world
• Understand what causes challenging behaviour
• Develop specific strategies and solutions to enable clients to deal with particular situations

Autism awareness is on the increase but still more needs to be done. If you would like to assist in getting the word around then please do feel free to share my post.

Have a great week and if you know of a young person who is struggling and would benefit from coaching then please contact me.

I received something very special from a student this week to say thank you for making a difference to her life. She gave me some home-made cake and a lovely letter acknowledging the success she has achieved during the time we have worked together.

Through our coaching sessions this young lady committed to making some significant changes to her life. Combining determination and perseverance she has improved her behaviour in school over the last 3 months. This is a huge achievement and I feel very privileged to have been part of her successful journey.

Because of a change in her family circumstances she will be moving away from the area and starting at a new school after Easter. This helped give her the motivation and drive to do something different. Her goal was to start her new school with a positive reputation.

She achieved her goal with flying colours and if she continues with the strategies we have put in place then I am sure that she will do very well in her new school.

Coaching life skills to young people and seeing the difference it can make to their world is the whole reason I do what I do. It is rewarding, satisfying and sometimes mind blowing to see what they are capable of achieving and that makes me love my job.

If you know of a young person who is struggling in or out of school then please contact me.

Have a great week and a Happy Easter and see you after the holidays.

As my coaching business grows and develops in local schools, so does my exposure to children who are considered a self-harm or a suicide risk. This in itself is so sad and it makes me ask myself “What leads so many students down this harmful path?”

Sadly there is no clear answer to that question for me.  What I do know from my coaching experience is that social media impacts significantly on young peoples lives. Information can be shared widely and  immediately, especially with the technology at teenagers’ fingers. Communication becomes detached with minimal face to face contact which is a worry for later life in the workplace. Then there is the pressure to perform knowing that results will be published for all to see. These were definitely not around when I went to secondary school.

According to the Mental Health Foundation, 10% of young people self-harm which means that it is likely that two students in an average secondary school classroom have self-harmed at some point. Some young people can take this further and exhibit suicidal behaviour which could include death by suicide, suicide attempt and suicidal ideation.

The reason for self-harm can vary from student to student. Some of the triggers that can lead to self-harm are:

• Difficulties at home – problems with siblings impacting on home-life, divorce of parents, death of a family member
• Friendship issues – arguments/problems with friends, bullying
• School pressures – GCSEs, A Levels, presentations
• Panic and anxiety – social exclusion and interaction, confidence issues
• Depression – low mood and self-esteem, retracting from daily life
• Transition and changes – moving house or school
• Alcohol and drug use

When someone self-harms, they usually do not intend to take their own life. They self-harm as a method to cope with stress and enable them to control upsetting feelings. Others do so to dissociate from their problems by distracting themselves from emotional pain. Some research suggests that self-harm can activate different chemicals in the brain which relieve emotional stress for a short period of time.

Other motivations for self-harm include:

• To reduce sadness/loneliness
• To reduce tension/anxiety
• To alleviate anger
• To get help or show distress to others
• As a punishment to oneself due to self-hatred
• To escape feelings of numbness – to feel something rather than nothing

To assist young people in dealing with self-harm I find it useful to:

• Listen actively to what they have to say
• Understand their triggers and symptoms
• Build rapport and a relationship based on trust
• Establish if they are ready to make some changes
• Confirm who can make that change happen and who has control

Clarifying the above means I can then start to work with the student to build their specific solutions and strategies to move them forward. It is important for them to know that they will not always feel the way that they do currently. Applying a little determination with planning, preparation and practice will start to initiate the necessary change to move them towards a happier life.

With the right support most people that self-harm can and do fully recover. If you know of a young person that is struggling with self-harm and would benefit from life coaching then please contact me.

The awareness day for Self Injury and Self Harm is on 1st March every year.

As a topic which comes up in my work I found this very appropriate, and spent some time thinking about the issue and those who work to build awareness and education around it.

As always, if you know of a young person that would benefit from working with me then please contact me.

This week I attended a very useful and informative workshop at The Berkshire College of Agriculture (BCA) regarding Mindset Strategies for Competition Success. The workshop was taken by Helen Rennie, an Equestrian Performance Coach and author of the book Transform Pressure To Power.

Helen explained how to manage your Mindset and covered techniques that would:

• Overcome nerves and indecision – at intense moments
• Beat the freeze – powering through hesitation and overthinking
• Focus and concentrate – retaining control of your performance

The workshop was interactive and included several exercises to help understand where your specific nerves come from and what situations cause you problems. Understanding these issues makes dealing with them much easier and assists in building confidence and can revolutionise  performance.

Helen’s techniques are practical, real life tools that could easily be used in any environment – not just in the equestrian arena.

Learning about Helen’s mindset strategies for success has given me a lot to think about, especially regarding my coaching students. I am looking forward to school next week and seeing what results I can help my students achieve by utilising these strategies.

Have an outstanding week and if you know of a young person who is struggling with confidence, low self-esteem or panic and anxiety then please contact me.