This month’s blog comes to you from Istanbul, Turkey, which was inspired as I watched a lonely old lady sitting on the road selling socks she had knitted. People have a much higher life expectancy now and this is taking its toll and we really need to make some changes...
Many of us believe that to achieve something great we have to struggle. Along my entrepreneurial journey I became immersed in this paradigm. Everyone was talking about how hard it is to build a business (or achieve any big dream). I was always hearing stories of...
Difficult things happen to us all. Through no fault of our own we and our loved ones can be hurt by people, lose our jobs, experience relationship break ups and so on. Even innocent children may experience severe trauma at the hands of others. Blame is a common human...
Much research on resilience to date has focused on the notion that there must be some sort of ‘significant adversity’ present before resilience can occur. However, with the constant pressures of the modern age, longer working hours and the added pressure social media...
When is it time to remove yourself from a group or quit a job? How about when you’re in a volunteer group or an organization you joined for fun? You join a group or organisation for fun then something happens along the way and you get that feeling in your gut that...
The other day when I was swimming laps, I surprised myself when halfway down the lap lane, I stopped. I stopped suddenly and for no apparent reason. As I stopped, I pondered, “Why did you stop, Julie?” I responded to myself, “I wondered that, too.” And, so, I pondered...
They say the magic happens outside of your comfort zone. I agree. But, it’s a little more complex than this because something else also happens outside of your comfort zone: panic. Panic is a state of terror and uncontrollable anxiety. What would put you in that...
When life goes downhill our natural defence mechanisms usually kick in, that is, our flight, fight or freeze responses. Let’s say your relationship ends, the pain of heartbreak might make you shut down and freeze. What if you got fired from your job? Some people might...
In her book Love 2.0, Barbara Fredrickson (Fredrickson, 2013) claims we can experience micro-moments of love numerous times a day, even with complete strangers. She goes on to say that any moment of connection with another person gives the same pleasure as felt when...
Intelligence is commonly associated with intellect. With book smarts. With good grades. In fact, that’s almost the only definition of intelligence in mainstream society. But, is this an accurate measure of human intelligence? Are there other types of intelligence that...