Why hire a coach?

Making the decision to hire a coach is a very personal one. The reason I hired a coach in 2010 was because I was overwhelmed with the responsibility of a very busy business and fear was keeping me stuck. In one conversation, I was able to dig deeper into that fear and understand it better. What I discovered was that the surface fear was simply a mask for the underlying anxiety. The coach helped me Read more…

Words of Wisdom

“Amanda, you can’t pick up all the pebbles on the beach”. These words of wisdom were said to me years ago by a colleague at work. I had just returned from maternity leave, having accepted a big promotion, and I was struggling to cope. The promotion was exciting. I had a team of 35 and our company was going through a large and complicated merger. But I had a baby to consider, and my mom, Read more…

Guest Blog: A chat with Amanda

Guest Blog written by Christine Hollywood “I’m different now,” Amanda says. What made you different? I ask. “Well It was a slow burn rather than a short stab…”  It was while Amanda was the franchise owner of Molly Maid Horsham, the cleaning company she built from scratch, that she realised she had to change. Although the business was making money from the start and her family life was happy she was experiencing ongoing work stress. Read more…

Acceptance

In his book Letting Go, David Hawkins describes the state of acceptance as one in which you enjoy the experience of harmony. You feel as though events are flowing. You feel secure. Hawkins says, ‘there is the feeling. I’m okay. You’re okay. And it’s okay.’ And because of the security this state provides, you can allow yourself to be flexible, easy-going, and natural. There is joy. There is the feeling that nothing needs to be Read more…

Working with your Shadow

Carl Jung first explored the notion of the shadow personality. The shadow represents those traits in your personality that you do not like or do not accept about yourself. Typically, these ugly, disowned aspects that you do not acknowledge become repressed in your mind. Shadow Work is the process of acknowledging and accepting those hidden parts of your personality. “Everyone carries a shadow and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the Read more…

The Power of Surrender: going with the flow

    In 2020, my word of the year was “surrender”. Little did I know at the beginning of that fateful year, that my word would have such significance, not just for me, but for the rest of the world. But what is surrender? It is important to point out that what I am talking about here has nothing to do with war. It is all about spiritual surrender. Let’s start with what it is Read more…

Manifesting Your Dreams

Manifesting What is it manifesting? This is simply bringing something we do or do not want into our reality. We can all do it; we are all doing it. We do it by thought. Everything starts with thought. In the book The Secret, author Rhonda Byrne encourages us to Ask, Believe & Receive. This instruction simply follows the words in the bible: Matthew 7:7-11 – Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; Read more…

You are naturally creative, resourceful, and whole.

To me, this is what coaching is all about. One of the four cornerstones of the Co-Active Training Institute coaching model is ~ People are Naturally Creative, Resourceful, and Whole. You do not need rescuing; you are not broken. You are whole, you are powerful, and although it might not seem like it right now, you have all the resources you need inside of you. It is incredible and thrilling for me to watch my clients go Read more…

How to manage self-doubt

Do you doubt yourself?   There are many people that believe self-doubt to be a bad thing. Well, I disagree. I think it’s good to doubt yourself – a little. I believe it’s good to have doubts, to question everything – challenge is healthy. A little self-doubt can lead you to think more critically and gain more clarity before taking the next step. It nudges you to prepare more, which creates familiarity, gives you more Read more…

Comparison is the Thief of Joy

I sat in the hot, busy maternity ward, and I cried. I’d been a mother less than 24 hours, and I already felt like a failure. My beautiful newborn son, lay sleeping in the crib beside me. I’d tried to nurse him already several times but failed. It seemed to be getting harder with every attempt. To make things worse, I had just had breakfast, and sat opposite me was a confident young mother, babe Read more…