Tips to a Healthier Happier You

“The Four Types of Overload: Cognitive, Emotional, Physical & Stimulation — And How They Impact Your Wellbeing”

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:20:59 GMT

A practical guide to understanding the four types of overload that drain your energy, focus and resilience.

Lay down your Loads and see what happens........

We all carry so much these days, Our brains �� are full and overloaded with our everyday busyness!

The loads we all carry are all different but we can pop them into a few categories, I didn't come up with these they are all discussed and have been thought of by various field leaders in Psychology and neuroscience.

�� The Emotional load

�� The Cognitive load

�� The Stimulation load

�� The Physical load

I've been reflecting on these this week while on holiday, and about all that we carry daily and what happens when we take a break.

When we step away from work, putting things down can feel difficult. I can tell when my clients are heading off on holiday, and I am sure you can tell when your boss or colleagues are going off too, and not just because they tell you!

But when we step back and rest what actually happens?

We put all the noise in our heads aside and allow our brains �� the time to sort through it all.

It takes a little time to relax, shut the thoughts off, and everything slows down.

What is happening is we go from Doing to Being mode. Creativity increases as Cortisol drops (the stress chemical) and we go from one state or level of stress to another.

Often people become ill or very tired as the immune system shifts from high alert to calm as stress leaves the body.

We can't keep going 100 miles an hour and only resting on holiday.

When returning to work after a holiday, take a little time to reflect on how you can take a daily holiday to keep those Cortisol levels down.

Can you find a way to take a proper break, have a walk, relax or meditate during the day.

Don't pick up all that you carry all at once. Find a way to put all the mental loads down to keep from burning out.

We have to recognise that we live in a world that is so fast paced that we must find a way of Being in our everyday of Doing.

No 1 - The Cognitive Load we carry

The way I would describe it is the amount of processing your brain can handle at a time, a bit like how much your computer can do all at the same time without going slowly and crashing! (I am after all a computer nurd)

How many programmes can be running and keep going. We all know the analogy about spinning plates or juggling too many things at once.

John Sweller came up with the Cognitive Load Theory in the 80's, and it is widely used to look at how we learn, how we perform and how productive we are.

For me, I am thinking about this in the sense of how much we hold in our heads all the time.

❓ Where the kids are, what after school clubs they have, the meetings we have during the day, the appointments at the end of the week. The calls we need to make, the emails we need to respond to, the difficult conversation we need to have, the projects we are managing etc...

Decision fatigue, what's for dinner? what to do next?

I think you get the picture.

We have so many things going on in our lives that we cannot possibly hold everything in our heads at once and expect to be able to concentrate on work 100%. Our brains find it difficult to stay focused when we have so much stuff that it must not forget!

We hold all these things and many more in our heads day and night, no wonder so many people are overwhelmed.

Your brain try's to keep all this in the conscious part of your brain. When we rest our subconscious thoughts can come through, but 1st we need to quieten the noise of all this we are processing!

5 things that may help manage your Cognitive Load if you are feeling overwhelmed.

�� Externalise the brain. A few ideas.
Write lists (you probably already do this) boards, notes, anything that gets thoughts out of your head. Have 1 method not 10.

�� Reduce decision making. Routines, defaults, templates, and “good enough” choices. Make life easy for yourself.

�� Chunking. Grouping tasks into themes to reduce having to jump back and forward between things.

�� Prioritisation rituals. Daily or weekly “what actually matters” resets.

�� Daily Holiday. Intentional pauses where the brain is not required to do anything at all. Go for a walk

No 2 - The Emotional Load we carry

The idea of this comes from research in emotional regulation from the work of Arlie Russell Hochschild.

Her research shows that humans carry a measurable “load” when they must regulate, suppress, or perform emotions. When the emotions someone feels do not match the emotions they’re expected to show, this she talks about as emotional labour.

More recently I think we would see this as masking, putting on an act, covering up how you actually feel.

So many "Hide" their true feelings and this leads to feeling exhausted, and in many can lead to burnout as it is unsustainable.

So many people answer the question "How are you" with "I'm fine" an auto response but many cover up so much more and this I know leads to burnout, emotional deregulation and emotional dissonance.

Simply put, trying to be someone else and cover up who you really are especially in work takes it's toll, the feelings we are holding, suppressing and navigating all contribute to the emotional load we all carry.

Just a note, the emotional load can also be affected by the emotional draining power of others who are negative or do not align with us, so it is not always about covering up or suppressing your own emotions, it might be that you have to deal as a leader with others you find difficult.

So what can we do about it?

Here are 5 tips that may assist.

��Name the emotion you are feeling. Frustration, sad, angry etc..

Labelling reduces intensity and increases agency. Acknowledge how you feel and in time you can share this with someone else to reduce it's hold even more

��Micro‑processing

Take 2–3 minutes to pause when an emotion comes up, to really feel it, breathe, and release. let it go, put it down

��Emotional boundaries

Notice who's emotion it is, is it yours or are you absorbing someone else's emotions and mirroring them

��Co-regulation

Connecting with the right people. Talk to someone, go for a walk with someone, share how you actually feel with someone you trust

�� Be Creative

Do something you love, moving can release the stress of holding an emotion at bay. Dancing, singing, journaling your thoughts, voice notes being creative in anyway that you enjoy.

No 3 - The Stimulation Load (Overload) we carry

This is most definitely a newer subject and something that previously we weren’t dealing with, this idea is new and become so much bigger because it is made worse with the digital age in which we find ourselves.

We have sensory, digital, environmental, and social input hitting our nervous systems on a continual basis.

As adults we don't know how to deal with this, for our younger generations they have never known anything else! this is another subject but it is not helping them in the slightest!

Simply put we are bombarded with information 24 hours a day from every angle. Let’s face it there is an App for everything and although the tools at our fingertips are there to assist us and they are great, together they create a Nosie that was previously non-existent.

The science is still emerging around this and will continue as we understand the neuroscience of attention, overstimulation from digital tech and the links with dopamine hits, attention fatigue and the impact all these new things have on and affect our nervous system regulation.

The helpful tips I offer here, seem simple but that dopamine hit we seek when a notification goes off on our phones, the number of times we check emails, the feelings we get when we get a like or a comment on a social media post. OR not! Make it harder to lay down the Stimulation Load than we think.

5 ways to help your nervous system

�� Reduce sensory clutter

Sound, light, visual noise, notifications

��Single‑tasking

Multi tasking feels great but it is not as productive as doing 1 thing at a time well

��️ Digital boundaries

App limits, phone in another room, intentional screen breaks

⛰️ Nature immersion

Just spending 5 minutes outside can recalibrate the sensory system

�� Stimulation fasting

Short periods of intentional quiet, stillness, or low input. You can even get lockable boxes to put your phone in.

Give yourself the space, the quiet, the time to just be.

Get bored, allow yourself the space to just be with no stimulation at all. If you can’t find a quiet place, put earphones in. Shut the world out and see how your mind adjusts and let it just be for a while.

No 4 The Physical Load

I am reminded of the story about the professor who asks his class how heavy a glass of water is.

The students give him different measurements of weight, he then asks how long can you hold the glass. The professor wanted to illustrate that it didn’t matter how heavy the glass was, it was all about the fact that we cannot hold it indefinitely as it becomes heavier over time. This is stress.

When I think about physical load, I think about energy, fatigue, tension and the stress our bodies are under. The “Just keep Going” “Just get through it” world we live in. Don't show weakness! Don't give into the stress.

So, what are you doing to your body?

Are you sleeping well or staying up late?

Are you fuelling yourself correctly or are you missing meals and getting by on coffee and sweet things?

Are you moving your body at all or are you exercising too much?

Are you running on empty?

5 tips to help you manage your physical load

��️ Restorative rest

Not just sleep, but micro-rest, lying down, stillness

��‍♂️‍➡️ Movement that releases, not depletes

Stretching, walking, shaking, mobility

��‍♀️ Stress management techniques

Breathwork, long exhales, grounding, meditation, mindfulness

�� Nutrition and hydration

Stabilising energy rather than spiking it

�� Body scanning

Notice where in your body you are holding your stress and relax that specific part

My final thought on the physical load we carry, is that we only have one body. If you were given a car on the day you were born and told that you have to look after it because it is the only one you will ever have in your lifetime, how would you treat that car? Would you take care of it, you can't have another one!

We only have one body, and it gives us signals all the time about what it needs.

Listen to your body, what does it need?

These are the 4 Loads we all carry, each one takes it toll on our wellbeing. Each one slightly differernt and weighs us down differently at differernt times depending on what is going on.

One thing though is clear. To live a happy and healthy life we have to take care not to try to carry too much at once.

Notice what you are carrying, what is too heavy and lighten your load.

If you need help exploring these loads then book a call in and let me take some of the weight off your shoulders.

How Leaders Can Support Their Teams’ Wellbeing When Everything Feels Uncertain

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 10:43:09 GMT

Discover how leaders can support team wellbeing, prevent burnout, and lead with clarity during uncertain times. Practical insights and coaching questions included.

Supporting Your Team’s Wellbeing When Everything Feels Uncertain

“How do I support my team’s wellbeing, prevent them burning out, and keep the business going when everything feels uncertain?”

A client said this to me recently, and the weight of it was unmistakable.

It wasn’t just a question, it was a quiet admission of how heavy leadership feels right now.

She felt pulled in every direction.
She couldn’t see what to do first.
Her mind was racing, her emotions were high, and the responsibility she carried felt bigger than her capacity to hold it.

And she’s not the only one.

Across organisations, industries, and sectors, leaders are being asked to do more with less.

The pressure is relentless, the expectations are rising, and the people who hold everything together, the leaders, are often the ones with the least space to breathe.

The emotional load leaders aren’t talking about

When leaders come to me, they’re not just overwhelmed by workload.

They’re overwhelmed by:

the responsibility of keeping people safe and well
the fear of making the wrong call
the pressure to stay strong when they feel anything but
the constant overthinking that comes with caring deeply
the identity shift that happens under prolonged stress
the feeling they have lost themselves in some way and not knowing when that happened

This emotional load is real.

And when it goes unacknowledged, it becomes the silent driver of burnout, not just for leaders, but for their teams too.

Where my client and I started

We didn’t start with strategy.

We didn’t start with workload.
We didn’t start with her team.

We started with her.

What was going on internally.
What she was feeling.
Where the pressure was coming from.
How it was showing up in her behaviour, her decisions, and her leadership identity.

Because when a leader is overwhelmed, everything becomes reactive. And when everything is reactive, clarity disappears.

Once we acknowledged the emotional load and focused on what was actually controllable, her thinking became clearer.

She reconnected with who she needed to be, and from that place, everything else became possible.

Why this matters for your team

Teams don’t burn out because of workload alone.

They burn out when:

communication becomes unclear
decisions feel inconsistent
leaders seem overwhelmed or unavailable
psychological safety drops
fear creeps into the culture
trust is lost and they lose motivation

Your team takes its emotional cues from you.
If you’re grounded, they feel grounded.
If you’re overwhelmed, they feel unsafe.

This isn’t about perfection , it’s about presence.

Here are 5 coaching questions to help you lead with clarity

These are the questions I use with leaders who feel stretched, pressured, or emotionally overloaded:

What part of this pressure is coming from outside you, and what part is coming from within?

If you paused for a moment, what would you notice about how this is affecting your thinking?

What is actually within your control today — and what isn’t?

Who do you need to be right now for your team to feel safe and supported?

What one conversation, boundary, or decision would make everything else feel lighter?

These questions aren’t about fixing everything.
They’re about helping you return to yourself, the grounded, capable, values‑led leader your team needs.

The truth leaders rarely say out loud

Leaders are carrying more than ever.

They’re holding the emotional wellbeing of their teams while trying to manage their own.
They’re navigating uncertainty while being expected to provide certainty.

They’re trying to stay human in systems that often forget they are human.

And they deserve support too.

I am seeing these issues with the organisations I am working with and I am helping them focus on the solutions to make sure they can continue to support their staff in a time that feels more difficult than ever.

Through 1:1 coaching , I create space for clarity, confidence, and emotional regulation, the foundations of strong, sustainable leadership.

Through team workshops , I help people understand themselves and each other, reduce friction, and build cultures where wellbeing and performance can coexist.

If you’re feeling the weight of it, or you’re seeing it in your organisation then book a 20 minute call with me and let me see if I can assist you to move forward with clarity and confidence.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling in Your Mind and Your Money Zena Hall & Gretchen Bett

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:42:25 GMT

She Finance: Women Talking Money, breaking the taboo of talking about money, understanding your money story and your money mindset can free you from holding yourself back in life and business.

In this episode of Women Talking Money, host Gretchen Betts chats with Zena Hall, Positive Psychology, Mindset & Confidence Coach with over 27 years of experience in HR and personal development.

Zena shares her journey from growing up on a farm with scarcity beliefs to embracing abundance, and how early experiences and societal expectations shaped her money mindset. They explore the connection between identity, self-worth, and financial confidence, and why shifting limiting beliefs is essential for women wanting to take control of their finances.

From reframing money stories to breaking mindset blocks and building resilience, Zena offers practical advice and actionable steps to help you develop a healthier relationship with money and unlock your financial potential.

This episode is packed with insights to inspire you to rethink your finances, explore your options, and grow your confidence.

You might also like to listen to other conversations that Zena has had with other Podcast hosts this is the full list of Blogs and Podcasts are HERE

When Drinking Stops But Life Continues | Zena Hall on Relationships & Alcohol Choices

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:49:08 GMT

A Deep Dive into Sobriety, Relationship Dynamics & Personal Growth, with Zena Hall on The Relationship Breakthrough Show

When one person in a relationship decides to stop drinking alcohol, it can quietly, and sometimes dramatically, change the dynamic between partners. In this honest and compassionate conversation on The Relationship Breakthrough Show with Matt and Rebeca, as a Positive Mindset and Confidence Coach Zena Hall explores what happens when drinking stops, but life, and relationships continue.

The episode speaks directly to anyone navigating sobriety within a relationship, particularly when one partner is choosing to take a break from alcohol and the other is not. I share personal insight and professional expertise on the emotional, psychological and relational shifts that can occur when alcohol is removed from the equation. From subtle changes in communication to deeper questions around identity, boundaries and self-trust, this conversation sheds light on experiences that are often felt but rarely discussed.

Together, Zena and Matt explore the pressure that can arise when routines change, how unspoken expectations can surface, and why alcohol often plays a much bigger role in relationships than we realise. We discuss how choosing not to drink can challenge existing dynamics, from social habits and connection to conflict avoidance and emotional regulation, and how couples can navigate these changes with greater awareness and compassion.

A key theme of this episode is self-permission : giving yourself permission to make choices that support your wellbeing, even when they disrupt the status quo. Zena talks about the importance of staying grounded in your “why,” learning to tolerate discomfort without reverting to old coping mechanisms, and communicating needs clearly without defensiveness or guilt. This is especially powerful for those who worry about being judged, misunderstood, or seen as “difficult” when they stop drinking.

The conversation also addresses the silent emotional labour that can fall on the person who stops drinking, the expectation to reassure others, manage reactions, or minimise their own needs to keep the peace. Zena offers practical insight into how to hold boundaries kindly, rebuild confidence, and remain emotionally connected without compromising personal values.

This episode will resonate deeply if you are:

Taking a break from alcohol while your partner continues to drink
Questioning how sobriety is affecting your relationship
Learning to communicate more honestly without alcohol as a buffer
Navigating identity shifts, confidence, and emotional resilience
Exploring what alcohol freedom means for connection and self-growth

Whether you are sober curious, alcohol-free, or simply reflecting on the role alcohol plays in your relationship, this conversation offers reassurance, clarity and perspective. It reminds us that growth can feel uncomfortable, but it also opens the door to deeper authenticity, stronger communication, and more conscious connection.

You might also like to read Zena's Alcohol Change UK Blog that is part of the #dryjanuary 2026 campaign HERE IS THE LINK

Feeling the Pressure of New Year’s Resolutions? | Zena Hall on Goal Setting & Growth with MHR

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 10:49:02 GMT

How to Set Achievable Personal & Organisational Goals — Insights from MHR’s Breakfast Show with me Zena Hall

In this interview on the MHR Show this January we explore how we need to make sure as leaders that our teams personal goals are supported, misalignment leads to discontentment. We also find out how to stick to New Year’s resolutions.

We all have goals, organisations and businesses have goals, projects, targets and strategies to grow, we are all striving for more.

But where the goals of the business and the personal goals of individuals don't align you are left with staff feeling undervalued, unsupported and ultimately unhappy.

Where staff are unhappy with their personal needs not being met, organisation goals will suffer.

This all comes back to the well-being of staff and how as an organisation individuals and teams are supported by their leaders.

Whether you are a leader considering how to support your staff or an individual being asked to dismiss your personal goals for your employer in some way, This short video can assist, showing how coaching lead conversations can build trust and alignment with organisations and employees.

How to Create Sustainable Habits in the New Year: The Real Work of Behaviour Change

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 12:09:43 GMT

Why understanding your triggers, mindset and environment is the key to habits that actually stick

Every January, the world seems to split into two groups: those who are buzzing with fresh resolutions… and those who are already exhausted by the pressure to reinvent themselves.

I’ve been in both camps and so have you I am guessing.

My own journey with habits always seems to begin with a New Year’s, feeling rather than a resolution. Moments of truth and realisation that I needed to make a change of some sort. Private moments where I realised something had to shift.

I've done it a few times now. I didn’t know it then, but those single decision would become the catalyst for a complete transformation each time I made the simple decision that something needed to change.

I lost weight started Jan 9th 2020
I became an athlete in my forties 2021
I experimented with removing alcohol by doing Dry January 2022
I retrained started Jan 2023

None of that happened because I “tried harder.”

It happened because I understood the science of behaviour change, and I learned how to work with my brain instead of against it.

Why Habit Change Isn’t About Willpower

Most people think habits fail because they lack discipline, but the truth is far more compassionate, and far more empowering.

Habits fail because we try to change the behaviour without changing the conditions that drive it.

When I stopped drinking, it wasn’t willpower that carried me through. It was understanding my triggers, my emotional patterns, my identity, and the environments that shaped my choices. It was learning to regulate discomfort and how I felt instead of numbing it. It was building systems that supported the person I wanted to become.

This is the heart of behavioural change:

You don’t simply rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. And it's those systems that are built on what I see as the seven key foundations for change, the same seven areas I explore in my new YouTube series throughout January 2026.

The 7 areas are; Identity, environment, emotional regulation, mindset & beliefs, motivation & reward, structure & systems, community & accountability

Mindset: The Quiet Engine Behind Every Habit

If there’s one thing my journey has taught me, it’s this: Mindset is everything, hence being a Positive Mindset Coach!

Not the fluffy, “think positive and everything will be fine” kind of mindset, that is not positive psychology.

I’m talking about the deep, grounded belief that you are capable of change, and that you deserve the life you’re trying to build.

When I started running, I didn’t feel like an athlete exactly but I told myself I was an athlete.

When I retrained, I didn’t have all the skills of a coach on day 1 but I believed I was becoming a great coach.

When I began Dry January, I didn’t feel like someone who could go alcohol‑free for a month, but I kept showing up and I kept the ritual but dropped the alcohol.

And every time I did something to support my new choice, my identity shifted, not because I forced it, but because I proved to myself, one tiny action at a time, that I was becoming someone new.

Positivity isn’t the goal, Positivity is the by product of self‑trust, a nd self‑trust is built through consistent, compassionate action.

The Power of Understanding Your Own Behaviour

One of the most liberating parts of my journey was learning the science behind habits. Once you understand them it becomes easier and you become more in control of what you are choosing to do.

Understanding why I reached for certain behaviours helped me stop judging myself and start supporting myself.

When you understand your triggers, your emotional patterns, your environment, and your beliefs, you stop feeling like you’re fighting yourself. You start feeling like you’re partnering with yourself.

That’s why I created the Habit Reset Companion and the Habit Reset YouTube series , to give you the tools, the insight, and the structure that I wish I’d had at the beginning. Sustainable change isn’t about perfection, it’s about awareness, compassion, and alignment.

This year, I’m inviting you to approach January differently. Not with pressure, not with unrealistic expectations, but with curiosity, clarity, and a willingness to explore what’s possible when you understand how habits actually work, how you work, simply put you are human and you are programmed to behave in certain ways, understanding that helps you rewrite your programming.

Throughout January, I’ll be releasing a series of videos that walk you through the seven key areas of behavioural change, the same foundations that transformed my life. These videos and the journal can be used at anytime, they are not specific to January or taking a break from alcohol, they are practical tools that are designed to help you make changes when you are ready to do so.

You can watch the full series on my YouTube channel, and you can download the free Habit Reset Companion Journal to support you as you go.

And if you feel called to go deeper, if you want personalised support, accountability, and a space to explore your own behavioural patterns, you’re welcome to reach out and explore working with me. No pressure. No push. Just an open door.

Because you deserve to become who you are here to be.

And I’d love to walk alongside you as you do. Habit change is not easy but if you understand yourself, and you change just a few things and consistently show up for you, you can do anything.

Take care, your coach Zena

What Dry January Gave Me, And Still Gives Me Every Day: A Personal Story

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 10:33:59 GMT

How giving up alcohol for a month helped me rediscover myself, improve sleep and energy, and show up fully, benefits that still shape my life today

In this my personal Dry January 2026 reflection as a positive psychology and confidence coach I share how taking a break from alcohol helped me sleep better, boost energy and presence, rediscover joy, and live more confidently, and how those benefits continue beyond January. Read my full story here.

This blog was written for Alcohol Change UK to support all those taking the Break in Dry January 2026

Halloween Masks we Wear All Year

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:22:56 GMT

Hiding behind the many masks!

I love Halloween, although I am not a fan of being frightened. At this time of year we are surrounded by masks, playful, spooky, dramatic. But what about the many masks we wear every day?

The polished professional mask.
The “I’m fine” mask.
The people pleaser, the perfectionist, the always in control.

We wear them to feel safe. To fit in. To protect ourselves from judgment, rejection, or vulnerability. But over time, these masks can become heavy. They blur the lines between who we are and who we think we should be and we all wear them.

So I want to invite you to pause and ask yourself a few questions.

What am I hiding behind?
What am I afraid others might see?
What would it feel like to be fully seen, by myself and by others?

A little quote for you

“We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin.”

André Berthiaume

It’s not about ripping off the mask, this can be too much, it’s about gently loosening it. Getting curious. Reconnecting with the self beneath the performance, when we hide and perform we are usually covering up our insecurities. My hope is that the following 5 tips can help you peel away the masks gently.

5 Ways to Begin Unmasking with Confidence

Notice Your Masks
Pay attention to when you shift personas. What roles do you play? Who are you trying to protect?
Name the Fear
Is it fear of rejection? Of not being enough? Of being too much? Naming it is the first step to disarming it.
Practice Micro Bravery
Share a truth. Say no. Let someone see the real you in a small, safe way. Confidence grows through action.
Step Into the Light
Where are you dimming your light to stay comfortable? What part of you is longing to be seen?
Get Support
You don’t have to do this alone. Coaching can help you explore your masks with compassion and build the courage to live unfiltered.

Many things may have come up while reading the above, but remember, you are not too much. You are not too little. We all hide our true self at times and with this in mind I have included a few further journaling prompts that might help you go even deeper. Find a time to come back to these and get curious about what you might uncover.

Journaling Prompts

What mask do I wear most often, and what does it protect me from?
Explore the role this mask plays in your life. What fear is it shielding you from?
When do I feel safe enough to take off the mask?
Reflect on the people, places, or moments where you feel most authentic.
What part of me is longing to be seen, and what small step can I take to honour it?
Consider one way you can show up more fully, even if it feels vulnerable.

If you want to explore these further then please just drop me a message @ zena@zenascoaching.com

Finally one more little quote that I wanted to add in here because it is so powerful.

"We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others, that in the end, we become disguised to ourselves.”

François de La Rochefoucauld

Multi Generational Workforces

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 15:35:57 GMT

The World of Work in 2050 - Webinar with MHR

The world of work is changing and when we start to peel back the layers of what the differernt generations need in the workplace it becomes clear that our leaders and managers need to consider the differences between what our employees need in todays workplace.

Together we demystify the myths around the different generations.

How to be a great Leader and Plant the seeds your team needs to grow

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 16:47:55 GMT

Planting Seeds of Leadership: Why Bold Action Starts Now

As a leader it is never to early to plant seeds to help support and grow your team members

This morning, I walked beneath trees that have stood for decades. Normally, they’d be heavy with hazelnuts in October, but this year’s harvest came early. Much earlier than expected. As a farmer’s daughter, I know my dad would have had a wise explanation, something about the weather, the soil, the rhythm of the seasons. He always understood nature’s timing.

But as I stood there, holding a handful of hazelnuts, I realised something: these aren’t just snacks for squirrels or toppings for my muesli. They’re seeds. Seeds of next year’s harvest. Seeds of something bigger. Seeds that if nurtured like team members can grow into those who will follow you and be there long after you have stood at the helm.

And it made me think, how often do we forget that the seeds we plant today are the ones that shape our tomorrow, especially with those we nurture and lead in life.

Leadership Begins With Planting

Whether you’re leading a team, building a business, or navigating personal change, leadership starts with intention. It starts with planting. Bold leadership isn’t about waiting for the perfect moment, it’s about recognising that every moment holds potential, as well as everyone in your team has potential, and, by the way so do you.

Hazelnuts don’t grow overnight. Some of the trees I walked under this morning have taken 60 years to reach their full height. But someone planted them anyway, knowing they might never sit in their shade.

As Rabindranath Tagore said:

“The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.”

So I ask you:

What could you plant today?

Is it a bold decision you’ve been circling for months?
A conversation you’ve been avoiding?

Advice you know a team member may not want to hear, but would assist them in the future to help them and you?
A promise you’ve made to yourself but haven’t yet honoured? maybe about delegating, letting go of a piece of work someone else can do?

Whatever it is, start sowing the seeds. Because the sooner you plant, the sooner something begins to grow.

For Seeds to flourish and grow they need perfect conditions.

The environment must be right.

Everyone needs to feel comfortable.

The atmosphere needs to be right.

You need everyone to feel safe, emotionally and physically.

Everyone needs individual attention, every plant just like people need something slightly differernt, as a leader you need to know what each person in your team needs.

You need to think about pest control! what will get in the way of your team members flourishing?

You need to invest in each person.

This analogy may not work for you, but if you consider as a leader what you need to flourish, you could easily assume that all those who are in your care need the same thing. As a leader have a think about what you could do differently so that each person in your team will grow to their full potential.

If this is of interest to you and you want to explore how you can improve your leadership skills then get in touch.

'The Power of Positivity' How to take action and find your purpose

looka_production_130629772 — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 10:49:39 GMT

Live Visualisation - LinkedIn Live with Ben Hill

The Power of Positivity.

A 40-minute LinkedIn Live discussion, where the focus was on how you can take action, so you can find your purpose.

Ben Hill and I discuss

✅ The power of a positive mindset for true wellbeing

✅ How our beliefs make or break our day

✅ How visualisation can help you take action and have a clear personal *vision with guided example

✅ Practical strategies to support

also there is a guided visualisation for anyone curious about the power of integrating this in to your day for enhanced wellbeing and focus.

Visualisation is a powerful tool that leaders and creators are implementing in to their lives, come on a 10 minute journey and see what changes.

Picture a confident future self, Prioritise the day ahead, or get ready for a big presentation - this will give you a motivational kick.

Podcast with Andy Ramage

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 14:38:21 GMT

Andy Ramage Podcast - Guest appearance

My story as discussed on the Andy Ramage Podcast.

I trained as a Positive Psychology Coach with Andy, and he invited me to appear on his Podcast, we discuss why I trained as a coach, my hero's journey and why I love coaching and do what I do.

Watch the episode on YouTube right HERE

Why is Coaching Like Scuba Diving

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 14:28:23 GMT

I love a metaphor and this one really helps when trying to explain coaching! bear with me, coaching is a unique experience, just like scuba diving.

Coaching conversations are not normal conversations, they are powerful deep and help you uncover a whole new world that previously was invisible to you, a lot like scuba diving when you go really deep under the water and discover an entirely new world that you simply can't see from the land ��

Snorkelling is like a good, but normal intelligent conversation, you go a little deep, you are curious, see things differently maybe, but you only see what is just under the surface. A normal conversation is a 2 way exchange when each person listens to respond, learn and discuss.

Coaching and scuba diving go deeper. When you go scuba diving, what you hear, see and experience is different, just like in coaching. When you are coached you are really heard, possibly for the 1st time ever! you are listened to, you are really understood, you can hear your own words replayed to you, which can sound different when you hear them back and replayed by an alternative, understanding voice, and you are asked to consider different view points and can see options that were previously not visible to you.

To be really heard, to be really understood and given the opportunity to explore your own world in a new way is magical, just like scuba diving.

The world we view above and below the surface of the water, is different for each and everyone of us, I love the quote "the map is not the territory", Alfred Korzybski where he introduces the concept that we each see the world through a different lens. How powerful is that view point? to think I see the world in one way and you see it in a different way. The colours are different, our perceptions are different.

Maybe ponder on that thought for a little while when you next have a conversation with someone, ask yourself if their view is the same as yours, I wonder what they think coaching is or isn't, how do they interpret a conversation.

Your coach Zena ��

How to get back to sleep

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 17:46:39 GMT

How to get back to sleep when your mind is looping around and around

How do you stop your mind when you can't sleep ��

Thought loops! The times when you wake at 2am and you just can't get back to sleep because of the noise in your head and your thoughts going around and around in a loop!

You can't get back to sleep, and everything feels out of control.

As humans, we automatically have a negative bias, and we catastrophise everything, and at night, it's even worse.

For years, I had a notebook by my bed to write these thoughts down, or I emailed myself in the middle of the night ��

This happened the other night, so I got up and sat quietly in my darkened sitting room and asked 4 questions of the thoughts. This can really help, a little self coaching in the middle of the night ��

1. What am I worrying about? Write down your thoughts ✍️

2. What is the worst that can happen? Write them down ✍️

3. What are the best outcomes, possibilities, and opportunities? Again, write them down ✍️

4. What is the 1st step i can take to control the outcome? ✍️

Stats - 97% of the worst possible stories and worries of what might happen will never happen, and of the 3% of your worries of what might happen, it won't be anywhere near as bad as you think!

So stop worrying and stop the thought loops with a little coaching in the middle of the night ��