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I Choose How I Feel, and Today I Choose Happiness!

The last few days before Christmas always end up a big rush with everything going 100 miles an hour, and that was just me as I circumnavigated Oxford Street two Sundays before the big day... "absolutely mad" I hear you say; and perhaps you're right..!
 
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However, red ribbon and a Christmas jumper were my goals, as my daughter Iona was performing for MXM at the Actor’s Church in Covent Garden that evening, for their Christmas Concert to raise money for the Children’s Cancer Trust. 

Almost as quick as Santa, and courtesy of everyone’s favourite partners John Lewis, I achieved my goals with a smile on my face! As I was walking with purpose among the crowds, enjoying the festive decorations, I smiled. It's very easy to forget to stop and pause and remember to be kind to yourself, as well as others, as you hurtle towards Christmas. I know we do this at other times of the year too, however for some reason at Christmas it seems to be worse and all sense of pragmatism goes out the window. When you are being pulled from pillar to post, it's still ok to put yourself first. Everyone should follow a good friend of mine’s view of “just saying no” (cue an ‘80’s song, I hear you say), especially before Christmas, rather than rush about trying to please everybody else.
 
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In order to be the best you can be, and in turn be your best self for others, you have to look after yourself first! You have to remember to recharge your batteries and the things that develop your resilience; your ability to bounce back so that you can come back stronger. For me, that was leaving my husband to have his hair cut and a shave, relaxing and dispelling his Christmas Grinch!

As you go into the last week at work before the Christmas break, and for all of you who are have jobs that mean you don’t get a break at Christmas at all, here are some tips for you to build up your resilience:

  1. Get enough sleep and exercise, and learn to manage stress,
  2. Practice thought awareness,
  3. Practice a positive attitude and mindset; change the way that you think about negative situations and bad events.Choose positivity!
  4. Learn from your mistakes and failures, and see them as opportunities and the chance to grow,
  5. Choose your response,
  6. Maintain perspective.

Finally,

Realise that you're only human
Aspire to spread that Christmas spirit, and
Do smile and choose happiness!

Blog Posts

  • “If you do what you’ve always done; you’ll get what you’ve always got”
    This old adage is so true whether applied to recruitment methods, meetings or retaining talent to name but a few areas.

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  • One of the positives of the pandemic is that there is no longer the monopoly on leadership due to position.
  • I have previously written about "Belonging - what does this mean to you?" (http://j-w-c.co.uk/blog-display/293). I want to now build on this and consider it from a team's perspective and what it means if you are a manager leading a team currently.
  • Earlier this year, I completed my Mental Health First Aider Training (MHFA) England, something I had wanted to do for a little while.
  • Recently, I was delivering the "First 90 Days in your New Role" for LHH. This is a workshop which generates great discussion around helping people who are still interviewing to find their next appropriate opportunity and to think about how they would answer this question at interview.
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