Insights

29 September 2025

Our internal noise of nerves, pressure, and “what ifs” can be loud — especially in moments of uncertainty or significance.

What if you had a short phrase to anchor yourself when it matters most? 

Mantras have lasted for centuries because they cut through the noise and bring us back to what matters. They are simple in form, but often the most effective tools are.

Neuroscience backs this up: repeating a mantra can enhance our executive function, regulate our emotions and improve attention control - amongst many other benefits!

Here are a few that inspire me:

✨ Cathy Freeman – “Do what I know.” A reminder to trust the sum of your experience.

✨ Nike – “Just do it.” One step. Then the next. Momentum beats perfection.

✨ Brené Brown – “People.” We’re wired for connection; remember who you’re doing it for.

Your performance mantra can be whatever you like — gentle, directive, even playful.

The key is that it resonates with you, and brings you back to your big picture when things feel overwhelming.

Midway through my dance career, with the help of a coach, I found my own three words. They became my way to quiet the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions before stepping on stage. 

Courage. Focus. Joy. 

COURAGE — Confidence is both a feeling and an action, and they don’t always arrive hand in hand. Even the highest achievers experience nerves, fear, and doubt. Courage reframes confidence: it’s the active choice to face challenges with commitment and bravery, even when it feels uncomfortable.

FOCUS — Focus doesn’t have to mean perfect clarity or shutting everything else out. Focus is presence — noticing where you are and trusting your capacity to respond, moment by moment. Like a muscle, it strengthens with practice.

JOY — Joy is fuel — and it can be cultivated. It’s about noticing small sparks of delight, not just waiting for big moments. Joy reminds us why we started, gives us perspective when things get hard, and connects us with others.

If you had a mantra for this season of your life, what would it be?

6th October 2025

Every day, our minds weave narratives to make sense of what’s happening — we’re natural storytellers. Our inner stories are the narrative arcs that guide how we move through change and uncertainty.

Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey captures a universal rhythm to human stories — a framework that can serve as a powerful psychological tool.

It unfolds in three phases:
• A Call to adventure
• A Trial or challenge
• The Return home with new wisdom

This idea endures because it mirrors something fundamental about being human: we all face invitations to grow, moments of struggle, and chances to integrate what we’ve learned.

If the hero’s journey offers a mythic view of transformation, psychology gives us a biological one. When something challenges us, the body feels it first — a physiological call to adventure. The trial follows as the mind scrambles to make sense of it, and the return comes with perspective — ideally, new wisdom integrated.

We can judge ourselves harshly during difficult chapters. It’s not our fault — our interpretations are shaped by past experience, beliefs, and emotional memories.

With support and awareness, we can zoom out, recognise where we are in the story, and respond intentionally. Seeing our stories as cyclical rather than linear reframes discomfort as useful information for growth.

In high-performance settings, this cycle is constant. Using it as a mindset helps us meet challenges with steadiness rather than self-criticism.

• Call — to be curious and open to change
• Trials — to persevere and learn from our challenges
• Return — to reflect on what we’ve learnt and renew direction

It helps to ask:
• What story am I telling myself today?
• Is it helping me stay aligned with my values, or making me retreat?
• If I rewrote it slightly, what new meaning might emerge?

As the saying goes, ‘Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.’

Compassion for your inner protagonist is key. The language we use can keep us confined or help us expand.

The power lies not in perfecting our stories, but in noticing when they no longer fit — and choosing what comes next.

13th October, 2025

How good is that feeling?!

You’ve crossed a threshold — completely focused, effortlessly in control, time suspended. That quiet rush of arrival.

This is flow.

Flow states— as psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi described them — are fleeting: a glimpse of alignment, not a place we can stay for long.

That’s the paradox: the more we cling to flow, the quicker it disappears.

Think of a surfer. They dream of the perfect wave — standing tall, flying across green water. But to reach this moment, they have to build the commitment and skills to navigate the work beneath the crest of the wave.

There are non-negotiables:

• Diving into cold water

• Paddling out through the current

• Waiting, sometimes for a long time

• Getting dumped, losing your board, starting again

These moments aren’t interruptions to the journey — they are the journey.

If we only value the high point, we risk missing the deeper growth that comes from persistence, patience, and recovery.

So ask yourself:

• What helps me when I feel like I’m drowning?

• What keeps me paddling when progress feels slow?

• How do I meet the waiting?

• Do I let myself celebrate when flow arrives?

Building this awareness — and personal strategies that support it — helps us move through the cycle of work and reward with steadiness and self-trust.

Amidst moments of discomfort, can you see where you are, and what you might need?

The goal isn’t to stay in flow forever — it’s to meet it fully when it arrives, and meet all the other phases with skill, compassion, and trust in your own capacity and process.

20 October 2025

Working toward something meaningful — a career shift, a training goal, a creative project — will always present challenges. 

Our willpower and motivation naturally ebb and flow — to keep on track, we need rhythm and structure. This isn’t only true for big achievements — it matters just as much in the smaller, more personal places we want to grow.

A handy acronym I use for myself and clients for growth mindset is: GRACE. 

It’s simple, but it works.

G — GOAL
Choose one clear goal. Make it specific and meaningful to you. 

Break it down into chunks to lay the path forward.
Well-formed goals give us direction and energy.
(More on goal-setting in future posts.)

R — RESPONSIBILITY
Progress begins with self-responsibility.

Be accountable by making your goal visible. 

Write it down. Put it where you’ll see it every day — on your mirror, desk, or phone background. 

Make it tangible outside of yourself - tell someone you trust who can check in. 

A — ACTION
Do the thing.
Take it step by step and build momentum.
Clarity comes from Action, not waiting for motivation.

Just Start. 

C — CHECK IN
After an effort - Pause to reflect.
What went well? What was hard? What surprised you?
Note down your High, Low, and Buffalo (a weird/funny/unexpected takeaway) — a quick, honest debrief that embeds your learning for your next round of action. 

E — EXHALE
The step most of us skip.
Rest. Breathe. Do something for no purpose other than joy or relaxation.
Not recreation that is still goal oriented — actual rest.
Our nervous system needs this recovery, without it we burn out rather than grow. 

There will always be obstacles that disrupt the rhythm (I’ll cover some in future posts), but simple tools like this help us move forward with consistency.

Growth isn’t about perfection — it’s about rhythm and movement. 

GRACE helps us stay in motion with clarity and self-compassion.