How has the summer been going for you? Have you managed to get some time away?

I have been super lucky and having just spent a glorious 9 days in Italy, I am now in France at my summer home where I will spend the rest of August. One of my biggest summer highlights is eating tomatoes that are now at their sweetest – in fact, I’ve been known to eat them like an apple. In this part of the world they are particularly magnificent and I eat them every day.

I use tomatoes in lots of ways, but my hands down favourite is my interpretation of Caprese Salad. Traditionally, a Caprese salad is made from fresh tomato, buffalo mozzarella, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper. It is believed the salad was created in the 1950’s as a symbol of the Italian flag, with the red, the green and the white elements layered in turn on the plate.

I’m really sorry Italy, but I’ve added more colour and more variety to mine. I diverge from the original in...

I am so excited to go on holiday! It really did seem that summer sun was just a dream, but I’m going away on Monday and just can’t wait. I don’t know about you, but for me holiday is about down time and that means lying in the sun and reading a good book. Unfortunately, reading is one of life’s luxuries that I haven’t indulged in recently. However, on holiday I let go and really dive into some great reads – pure heaven!

Did you know that reading a book you really enjoy is a great form of self-care? Letting your mind go to a distant land, think new thoughts or challenge difficult beliefs is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.

If you’re wondering what to read this summer, I have put together a list of a few business books I am currently reading that are AMAZING and a few fiction books as well.  None of these books are hard going though and can be easily enjoyed while lying in the sun.

Business Books

...

I would normally start a post on this topic with something like – are you killing the goals you set in January? Or maybe, time to get back on track! But I have to say, the first thing that comes to my mind is that 2020 has been tough! Speaking for myself, I had all these plans at the beginning of the year about workshops I was going to create, stages where I was going to speak and my signature digital course that I was going to launch in October. It all started well and then Covid hit. Like everyone else, my world was turned upside down and my big plans went on hold.

We now find ourselves 4 months into lockdown with half the year gone at a big potential turning point. The first thing I would like to say to you, my friend, is don’t panic, stay calm and breathe. You have before you an excellent opportunity to reassess the goals you set in January and see if they are still aligned to the person you are today in the new landscape we find ourselves in.

You also...

How do you interact with your audience? Is it by video? Email? Blogs, social media or podcasts?

Here's the bigger question, are you consistent about it?

One of they key factors in achieving lasting results is consistency. By consistently delivering value to your audience, you build a relationship, establish yourself as an expert and move the needle forward on the know, like and trust factor that converts your audience into clients. It's up to you what content to provide, but it would be ideal if it could go out on a weekly basis.  Are you putting out consistent weekly content? If not, we need to talk my friend. If you are, you get a gold star!

Now here's the thing, when you put a huge amount of effort into creating a piece of content, you feel very proud of it and want to share it with the world. But quality and pride aren’t all that’s required for success. There are all kinds of unseen factors that affect how well a content piece...

Imagine waking up in the morning as late as you can, going around in your pyjamas all day as you dabble with work, home chores, social media and netflix. Does this sound like a dream to you? It sounds like a nightmare to me! From my perspective a total lack of structure means that tasks don't get accomplished since there is a lack of focus, difficulty in differentiating between work and home and an unclear set of objectives.

Listen, running your entrepreneurial businesses from home has loads of benefits including the time freedom to work when you want, on what you want and for how long you want. It also enables you to prioritise the non-business parts of your life like family and self-care to give you more overall balance.

However, as millions of people forced into the work from home brigade by Covid have found, working from home can also be quite challenging with:

• Distractions from other people, pets and social media
• An "always on" mindset, causing you to...

Not to be too English, but can I talk to you about the weather?

Here we are at the beginning of June and it feels more like summer in the Med than Spring in the UK! The good news is that even though we haven’t been able to get away, we have had holiday weather and quite a few of us are even tan. I have to say that in over 20 years in London, I have never experienced such a glorious May!

So it is with lifted spirits that I greet the beginning of the month which is when I do a monthly calendar planning session as part of my Productivity System. Using a white board, sticky notes and a pen, I take dedicated time to plan out my weekly and daily actions so that they bring me closer to my longer-term goals. Do you have a goal setting and time management system in place? If not, then that can explain why you might feel like you run around super busy doing lots of “stuff,” but never feel like you’re getting things done. Unfortunately, this lack of system...

I have been hearing from friends and clients lately that it is difficult to keep boredom, negativity and lack of motivation at bay as this lockdown continues to drag on. Do you feel this way?

There does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel as talk circulates about hotels, restaurants and foreign travel once again being a part of our lives. While the hope of these activities can bring some relief, I would challenge you that there is a more proactive action you can take today to lift your spirits that is grounded in acknowledging the upside of the present.

Can you guess what I’m talking about? Gratitude.

Gratitude is a word that is thrown around a lot. But what does it really mean?

What is Gratitude?

We are often told to be grateful, but it can sometimes seem that gratitude is more an obligation than a benefit; just another item on our already overburdened to-do list. We may end up feeling resentful when we are expected to feel grateful particularly under...

 Have you been feeling productive lately?

Has this whole lockdown situation spurred you into action, or has it sent you to the soft cradle of Netflix?  For me it has been a bit of both as I initially struggled but have now found my feet and adjusted to the new reality we are all operating in.

Having just moved house, I have been up to my ears in boxes and have been working hard to be productive and organised, so I am definitely back in the flow. How about you? If you have been taking it easy and are now ready to get going or if you are already being productive and want some extra motivation, then I hope you will love this recent interview with Cindy Logan which took place during the Productivity Mindshift Summit: Discover how to get out of your way to get things done. Cindy knows how perfectionism, fear of failure, and believing there isn’t enough time can keep us bogged down in overwhelm and inaction. So, she created an...

I would never have believed it if you had told me three months ago what life would be like today, but the reality is that the global pandemic that is Corona has ground much of the world to a halt. Worldwide, tens of millions are working from home as part of social distancing and have had to adjust to a different way of communicating. Amazingly, sitting in front of a webcam for hours has become the new normal – for both business meetings and sharing a “quarantini” during virtual happy hours.

So let me ask you a question - do you now enjoy being on camera?

Personally, I love being in front of the camera and rarely suffer a shy moment (although I have had more than my fair share of insecure ones!). I am well aware, however, that many people can feel really uncomfortable in front of the camera and given how Zoom, Skype and other services have taken over our daily lives on both the work and social front, many are wondering how to look as good on the...