As a coach, a lot of the time the most important work I do with my clients is just holding space for them. Holding space for self-discovery, mindset shifts, productive action planning, and ultimately a transformation from where they are now to where they want to be in their creative work and life.

So much of the time we can feel like we need fixing, when in reality there’s so much more we can achieve by holding space and existing in that space instead of trying to fight our way around it.

Ideas worth spreading.

That’s the TED Talk tagline. It also sums up in just three words my entire belief system when it comes to the work I do: I’m all about sharing and spreading ideas that encourage and inspire growth, discovery, and change. 

We’re all showing up online to share ideas that we believe are worth paying attention to. It may be through the content we share to market our services, or a lifestyle blog where we share personal insights and lessons learned, or podcasts and videos where we make space for our message and our purpose to come to life.

And it’s awesome. Honing our message, creating content that resonates and connects, and being brave enough to really put our best, most meaningful work out there is what I spend my days doing - in both my own journey and as a partner in crime in my clients journeys too.

Here’s the thing I’ve learned: sometimes we create around our best ideas, instead of honing in on what it is really want to say and share. We fill space with content that isn’t fully doing our message and our voice justice, and we keep ourselves small by staying in our comfort zones along the way.

So my question today for you is this: if you had to give a TED Talk tomorrow, what would it be about?

On a recent coaching call with a client, we were talking about how easy it is to fall into the trap of writing for our peers and ourselves instead of intentionally writing to our dream clients. Although so much magic can happen when we create the type of content we ourselves would really like to read, if we want to utilise our digital space as a place to connect with the people we’d like to serve through our business, getting as intentional and focused as possible can make all the difference.

This topic comes up time and time again with my coaching clients. We’re always exploring together how to create content (whether it’s blog posts, podcasts, videos, newsletters, or even just Instagram captions) that truly resonates and connects with their dream clients and customers along the way. A homework task I often set them is a five-part content creation exercise with writing prompts to help them carve out some space to really bring to life pieces of content that speaks directly to the people they’re aching to work with. I put this together into a free email course over a year ago now and I want to share it again with you today in the hopes it can support you to create big-hearted content that helps you connect with your dreamiest of dream clients along the way. 

There’s something I’ve been encouraging my clients to explore recently in their business and creative journey. I ask them:

"What would it look like to be the boss and the employee in your creative business?"

Because here’s the thing: I see my clients struggling over and over again with not feeling productive, feeling unsure of what to prioritise in their business, and feeling frustrated because they aren’t holding themselves accountable to the goals they set for themselves along the way.

With all the joys that come with being your own boss (being able to work in yoga pants from the sofa, being able to wake up whenever you want, never needing permission to take time off, the lack of limit on your earning potential) there are some struggles that come with this journey too.

I am super excited to share a brand new season of Make It Happen with you today...

After taking a six month break from the show, I am beyond excited to finally be sharing Season 4 with you today. And even more exciting is that I’m sharing the season in its entirety, so all eight episodes are ready and available for you to stream and listen to straight away.

I’ve switched things up a little for Season 4 and I’m just sharing short and sweet solo episodes with me - in the format of my usual mini episodes - and there are eight for you to listen to covering topics such as choosing abundance over scarcity in your business, what to do when you’re freaking out about money, the lessons I’ve learned about making things happen from over 600 coaching calls, and more.

After taking a six month break from the show, it was an absolute pleasure to get behind the microphone again and create these episodes that I’m sharing with you today. More than anything, my hope is that this season can connect and resonate with you and support and encourage you to keep on living your creative life on your own terms every step of the way.

A few weeks back, a client emailed me to ask for some support and encouragement as she was feeling a little burned out and overwhelmed by her client workload...

I emailed back some workday exercises that I’ve found useful for whenever I’m feeling a little disconnected, or overwhelmed, or fatigued by my client work. As much as we love serving our clients as big-hearted service based creatives, there’s no denying that from time to time we can get a little burned out along the way. 

If you’re currently feeling in a slump with your client workload, I have five exercises for you today to hopefully help you reconnect to the joy in your work and find some clarity and energy moving forward...

For 2017, I want to try something a little different over here on the blog...

During the second half of 2016 I dabbled with sharing some snippets of my day-to-day life over on Instagram Stories, but ultimately I realised that I'm just way happier and more present in my life when I have no social media apps connected to my phone. As much as I know that social media just isn't for me, I also know that I do want to share a little bit more of my life online as I don't want things to be all business, business, business without actually sharing the more personal and life-related stuff too. So my plan is to end each month this year with a more stripped back blog post than usual with some photos and highlights from the month that's just come and gone and also some intentions for the new month ahead too!

A big part of January was just about getting back into the swing of things in work and life after taking a couple of weeks off at the end of December. Alongside days spent working on my business and on calls with my awesome clients, we also filled our month with some mini UK city breaks and day adventures too to help ward off the January blues and start the year off as we mean to go on - with as much living as there is working!

So to kickstart today's post, here's a little snapshot of some of my highlights from January...

Sometime’s, our health is going to kick our business’s ass.

Building and running a business is enough of a challenge at times, but when you add health struggles into the mix it can be even more of a battle to keep your head above water along the way.

Whether it’s through a chronic illness, or an unexpected health crisis, or anything and everything else in-between, sometimes the struggles and battles our minds and body’s face can affect our ability to get stuff done and make things happen in our work.

And it can be heartbreaking. I’ve had many days where I’ve wondered: if I wasn’t living alongside illness, how much more would I be able to get done each day? Would I feel happier in my work and my life? 

But there’s also joy to be found too. Living with illness has, without a doubt, been my catalyst for more intentional and wholehearted living - living alongside the limitations my health struggles can bring has taught me to prioritise what truly matters most to me in life, and to not waste time on the things that don’t matter along the way. And the fact that I’m able to work for myself and manage my health on my own terms is something I’m so damn grateful for every single day.

So if your health is kicking your business’s ass right now, I want to share with you 5 things from around the web that I’ve found encouraging, insightful, and comforting in my own journey along the way so far. My hope is that they may be able to be the same for you too. 

Hello 2017, it’s very good to see you. 

I can’t wait to see what you have in store.

To kick start the new year, I have a journal prompt for you:

Dear 2017, this is what I promise to you...

How would you finish this sentence? It’s a question I asked myself at the end of last year and it really helped me to get laser-focused on how I wanted to show up for my work and my life in 2016. For 2016 I outlined:

• To play bigger
• To only ask of my life what I’m willing to make happen myself
• To explore and live more

These were the perfect anchors for me as I entered the brand new year, as they empowered me to truly take responsibility for my own growth, joy, and happiness throughout the year along the way. At the end of 2016 I sat down to ask myself the same question: what do I want to promise this brand new year ahead? What's come to the surface for me for 2017 is:

• To show up wholeheartedly to my work and my life
• To fill this year with travel and adventures
• To prioritise taking care of myself
• To live my truth out loud
• To continue to run a big-hearted business
• To run in the direction of a life that feels most meaningful and true to me

To help you dive deeper into what’s coming to the surface for you as you explore this, I have six questions for you: