The Christmas season is pitched as the most wonderful time of the year when everything and everyone is merry and nice. But is it really like this? Christmastime often brings with it a huge amount of expectation and pressure. For many, this picture-perfect ideal isn’t their reality, causing stress and pressure to mount. Can you avoid the common burnout this time of year throws so many people by having your own perfect festive time?

It often feels impossible to be healthy and be social. Society leads you to believe you can’t have one and the other. This results in so many people throwing their usual habits and routines out the window when Christmas comes along. But do you really have to sacrifice good health to have a social life? Is it actually possible to have good health all year round, whilst still being as social as you want to be?

The physical act of sleep takes up around one-third of our lives - if you’re getting enough!

So why do so many of us knowingly deprive ourselves of getting enough or the right type of sleep?

I thought about what I wanted my life to be like. What changes did I want to make? What goals did I want to set myself?

Then I kept asking myself ‘Why?’

How many times have you heard the saying “you have to learn to walk before you can run?”

I’ve been reminding myself to do this, telling myself to slow down, not to get too ahead of myself, take it one step at a time, go at a steady pace.

Time is a funny thing. You put so much into having enough time but is this what is actually putting you under the most pressure and leading to you feeling like you’re falling behind?

Imagine always living with one eye over your shoulder, keeping a look out to protect yourself. Carrying an imposter through life is draining and makes you always cast doubt on yourself and life.

Facing sudden change can be daunting and fill you with lots of negative emotions. How do you show resilience to overcome the adversity in your way? How can you adapt your brain to think positive when the situation seems anything but?

It can be easy to feel like you’re failing and not progressing. We often focus only on what hasn’t been done and how many things are outstanding on our ever-growing ‘To-Do’ list. Our minds are set in default mode to go straight to these things and worry about when we’ll get to them. Instead, we should be reflecting on what we have done and how much we’ve achieved.

I hadn’t significantly climbed the career ladder, I’d progressed steadily with great performance and feedback on my contribution to the business. I didn’t step up to a director role, like some of those I’d interviewed and brought into the company years before. I suppose I'd plodded, always contributing and diligent, but never taking the next big leap. Something had held me back, that inner voice chattering endlessly, making sure I knew my limits. 

When all you can see are pound signs no matter what time of day or night and your brain feels like a huge calculator churning the numbers, pushing them out onto those large printed rolls of paper from a great big noisy printer.

I’d been at Nike for 20 years, dedicated nearly half my life to the company. I’d earned the respect of my colleagues and was a valued member of an international team, at one of the biggest brands in the world. I’d always get an appreciative reaction when I introduced myself in meetings, gave my Nike story and said how long I’d been with the company. I wasn’t smug about it; I was proud. I’d committed myself to Nike and could be relied upon. The longer I was there, the more settled and content I felt. I guess it made me feel safe.