Tag Archive for: clarity

A Better Beginning

Since I was 12 years old and my morning paper round, I’ve been up early, usually around 04.45.
It’s been a lifelong habit.
Over the years however, I’ve noticed something creeping into my morning study routines.
So, on the 1st of March, I began a simple experiment.
It was nothing hugely dramatic and it certainly wasn’t some big life overhaul.
It was simply just one small act of self-discipline: I stopped picking up my phone first thing in the morning.
For some years, it had been automatic.
Wake up, walk through to the living room and pick up my phone.
Result – good intentions to aid my studies, but inevitably there were distractions – messages, emails, news and…noise! 🤨
For the month of March – I decided to wait…
Just one hour.
Instead, I gave that first hour to quiet.
To my personal study, prayer, meditation, to thought.
To an unhurried, more disciplined slower start.
And the difference has been very noticeable.
My mornings feel calmer.
My mind feels clearer.
I’m less reactive, more intentional.
It’s as if I’ve taken back control of the tone of my day, rather than outsourcing it to whatever happens to be trending overnight.
Interestingly, I’ve also been reading The Anxious Generation, which reinforces just how much our devices – especially first thing – shape our emotional baseline in ways we often underestimate.
This isn’t about rejecting technology, or pretending the world isn’t happening.
It’s about sequence.
What we give our attention to first seems to matter more than we think.
For me, one simple boundary – no phone for the first hour – has become a quiet anchor and provides a better beginning to the day.
If you were to experiment…
What might your first hour look like – without your phone?

Care as a response to Chaos…

After a long and productive day of team meetings in London yesterday, returning to my hotel room late in the evening, (somewhat foolishly on reflection now) I turned the news on.

Some words came to mind as I watched the stories unfold, and wrote them in my journal.

Conflict.
Confusion.
Calamities.
Commotion.
Conspiracies.

I didn’t invite those words into my thoughts; they simply arrived there.

We do, indeed, live in perilous times.

For some, there is a growing collective anxiety, as these c’s of chaos flooded into my mind.

“What can I do?” I thought.

Then I recalled one of Stephen Covey’s simple models mentioned earlier in the day, the circle of influence and control. Thankfully, it brought some peace to my mind.

The model reminds us that there are many things we are concerned about, yet there are only a smaller number of things we can truly influence.

The trouble begins when we spend too much emotional energy living in the outer circle, where the headlines, the geopolitics, the speculation, the fear and anxiety can flourish – if unchecked.

But when I consciously stepped back into my own circle of influence, something shifted for me.

In the quiet of the hotel room, I drew a simple circle on the hotel notepaper and wrote down the C’s that matter most to me.

I realised that I can choose a different set of C’s to live by.

Again, my mind returned to one of Aviva’s core values that we’d been talking about earlier in the day – care.  As I did so, some other c’s came to mind…

Within my own circle of influence, I can choose care in how I treat others. I can practice compassion when fear shows up in a conversation. I can seek clarity in what I choose to watch and share. I can also cultivate calm rather than constant reaction. But above all I can act with courage by living my values quietly and consistently.

Of course, none of this will change the news headlines.

But it does change something closer to home.

It steadies my own inner world.

And perhaps, in some small way, it might help steady yours too.

Because when the C’s of chaos feel overwhelming, choosing the C’s of care within our own circle of influence, may be the most personal and the most powerful response we have.

Where can you choose care today?

A different kind of tired

I’ve had a great, but exhausting week!

At the start of the new leadership programme – Lead the Way, with Aviva in Perth, there’s a familiar pattern emerging.

People arrive mid-afternoon, often after an early start and a long journey.

They mostly arrive with a little travel tiredness, having transitioned from back-to-back meetings into something unknown.

After all, they’ve just stepped away from the buzz of their day jobs, where decisions are constant and time is tight.

So, we slow them down.

It’s one of the quiet, yet very special gifts of this programme: two full days where they’re not doing the day job, rather, they’re encouraged to think differently.

Reflecting.

Paying attention to themselves and others in ways they usually don’t have time for.

A New Tired

And yet by the end of those two days, my discovery this week is they’re still tired, just in a completely other way.

It’s not the tiredness of logistics or deadlines.

It’s the stretch that comes from working with new models, testing fresh ideas, and forming new connections, not only in their minds, but with each other too.

It takes a great deal of effort to tune into those emotions, to have honest conversations, and explore their own leadership habits.

It’s also the kind of tired that comes from meaningful work.

And somewhere in all that effort, I have witnessed many who start to see a shift in mindset.

A quiet clarity.

The occasional Aha moment where something lands differently and opens up in a new way.

It’s not always comfortable, but it is purposeful. And for many, it’s long overdue.

So yes, they do leave tired.

But it’s a good tired, for each of them.

A stretched, thoughtful, worthwhile kind of tired.

And from what I’ve seen, it’s the kind that stays with you.

When was the last time you were stretched in a way that felt meaningful?

Unpredictable, and That’s Okay!

“Help me understand how this works for you?”
That’s a question I’ve used a lot in my coaching practice recently.
Especially when working with minds of all kinds, each one wired differently, each one worthy of being understood on its own terms.
There have been a few sessions where, being honest, I thought, “We didn’t go anywhere today.”
Lately, I’ve been learning to see those moments differently.
What’s changed?
I have been doing a bit of work with clients who are neurodivergent.
Those living with ADHD, Autism, anxiety, or simply a different way of processing the world.
I’ve realised: We always go somewhere.
…It just might not be where I expected, or how I expected to get there!
The pace of any progress is much less linear and far more unpredictable.
I’ve noticed that some clients speak in bursts, that are full of energy, with fast and fragmented thoughts being expressed simultaneously.
It’s often messy!
I hold that space without rushing to fill it or “tidy it up.”
And so, I adapt.
I shift.
I follow their cues.
Listening, observing even more.
I flex.
I slow down.
Interestingly, I’ve also noticed my own routines and habits more closely.
I’m growing curious about the ways my own neurodiverse traits and stress responses show up.
In many ways, it feels like I’m becoming a student again.
I used to think my job as a coach was to guide people to clarity.
But now, I wonder if it’s more about staying curious while they create their own clarity, in their own way, and most importantly, in their own time.
And as they evolve… so do I.
I’m still learning.
Who in your life might need you to slow down, adapt, and simply ask, “Help me understand how this works for you”?

5am; No Hype, Just Habit

Over the last few days, my social media feeds have been flooded with ads for something called The 5am Club – endorsed by a host of famous celebrities.
Curious, I explored further.
What’s the big deal?
The concept is a simple one: wake up at 5am, then spend 20 minutes exercising, 20 minutes in meditation, reflection or prayer, and 20 minutes learning something new in personal study.
Done and dusted by 6am, and you’re supposedly on the fast track to success, wisdom, and eternal youth (OK, maybe not the last one…).
But here’s the thing – I’ve basically been doing this for years.
In fact, I go for the deluxe version.
Two hours every morning.
No fanfare, no hashtags, no glossy book deal – just a quiet commitment to starting my day with purpose, movement, and meaning.
The benefits?
Increased productivity, improved health and well-being, enhanced self-awareness, and (perhaps best of all) a head start while the rest of the world hits snooze for the second or even third time.
So, to all those influencers and early risers out there just discovering the magic of a morning routine… welcome!
But as for me, I think I’ve been unknowingly running the 5am Club – Advanced Edition.
And guess what?
You don’t need celebrity endorsements when the results are clarity, discipline, and a morning filled with purpose.
See you at sunrise. 🙂