[00:00:00] Hi, and welcome to the Scary Goals Club. I am your host, Hazel Robertson, and I believe that to make the impact that you know you are called to make in the world, it requires setting bigger, scarier goals and then becoming the person who creates them. That is what I am here to show you how to do. That's what we are diving into with mindset tools.
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Here we go. We are recording. Hi, and welcome to the Scary Goals Club podcast. I'm your host, Hazel Robertson, and I am here with the amazing Rebbie Webb. Hi. [00:01:00] Welcome to the podcast. Hello. So excited to be on the podcast after listening to so many episodes. It feels like a real privilege to be here.
Thanks Hazel, for having me on. Oh, it is so good. We're both a a little bit in holiday mode re's away. Very soon. I will wait like next week. And so it's like, okay, we'll get this in before holidays and like have a chance to chat and I'm so excited for all you guys to listen to all of the amazing insights and wisdom and tools that Ready has anyway done over the last like five and a bit months.
But first I'm gonna give her an introduction and then you can add anything you want to it. Ready is a Human rights manager at Marks and Spencer's food. She champions fairness in global food supply chains. With roots in business consultancy and NGOs, she spent years listening to workers and farmers and driving change from the inside out.
What a badass she is now In her early thirties, she has landed her dream [00:02:00] role and her aim is to make work feel creative and purposeful and fun while inspiring others and staying fiercely committed to justice. For those behind our food. And also like I must say, bie, like your energy is just so amazing.
Like whenever we're chatting or on calls, you just have this like. Effervescent bubbliness, that just lights up a whole room and it's just amazing. And you also just have so much courage just over the time that we've been working together, like doing the work, catching the thoughts, being willing to do the deep stuff, taking away, doing the practicing, being like, oh, I'm gonna try this, I'm gonna try this.
And actually like just showing up again and again for yourself. And it's been such a privilege to coach you, and I'm so excited to dive in and pull out some juicy, fun bits as well. Oh, can you introduce me in every meeting in that way? My god, I've gotta live up to this now. But no, it's, it is actually really exciting to even hear you.
Make [00:03:00] that, you know, description of, of who I am, when, when we first introduced ourselves to each other and had the, the pre-call before the coaching process started, I actually wasn't even in this role you yet. And I knew who I could be, and it is so that person you've just described. The past six months of coaching with you, Halo's been all about stepping into that person.
I knew I could be, and I'm still on that journey in its imperfect way. But yeah, it's been a a really, it's really nice to get to this point and think, yes, work is quite joyful actually. And yes, I am a human rights manager at m and s Foods and it feels like a real privilege to be in this role. Yeah. And even like.
And interestingly you say work being joyful because that was like one of the first things that we worked together on was actually like building in a bit more joy into [00:04:00] your day and into your work days. But if you can even imagine back like what was work and life, what was it like before, like six months ago, say that's maybe different.
Yeah. Work. Work had become, the words that come to mind are like high pressure, heavy. I felt quite isolated. And what I was trying to deliver, and I felt like I'd lost touch with why I went into this work in the first place and like I had more to give and this vision of me kind of eight years prior working for an NGO in the field in countries like Nepal and Tanzania felt like a version of me.
I couldn't get back to, and actually I knew that this was still within me and the evolution [00:05:00] of work and becoming more senior and trying to deliver to stakeholders and deadlines had made. Work feel like I was in a structure. I didn't quite fit and I constantly felt quite behind. Like what I was doing wasn't good enough.
I was so busy all day every day and working way over my hours and sometimes finishing at unpredictable times, and I, I ultimately, I felt out of control of my own workload and my own vision of. Of who I wanted to be. And the idea of work being fun and joyful and inspiring was a long way away. And I also felt like work was bleeding into my personal life, and I just really wanted to be able to commit to a yoga class at 5:00 PM or hanging out with my boyfriend and going on a walk on a Friday night.
And [00:06:00] yeah, it's been really, really important to me to reengage with. The younger version of me that was originally inspired to go into this work and feel like it wasn't something I'd let go of and do. You know, even as you're saying that, like I remember again in that first session, taking through a process of helping you create a vision for what you wanted your life to be like.
It was maybe, I dunno, maybe it was like halfway through the cochair, maybe it wasn't even that far through, and it was like, like all of these things like that. Having your Friday evenings or spending time with your boyfriend building community around you and being able to say yes to things rather than not being sure if you were gonna finish work on time and then showing up at work like in the way that you wanted to and just feeling like relaxed and confident.
It was like, you're living this now. Like it's just amazing to think back that that was this. Like, oh my gosh, if this could happen, it would be amazing. And literally in such a short space of time. Like a couple months, three months maybe. It's like you're like, oh, this is, this is it. This [00:07:00] is your now. That makes my cheeks hurt just to think about this.
It's such a wonderful opportunity to reflect, and you've said it to me in the past, and it's only just now I've started to actually say I literally am my past self dream. And when you are right. When we first worked together. One of the first things we did was a visualization of who I could be in, in this next role that I, I knew I really wanted Marks and Spencer's food and.
I imagined being in meetings with colleagues from these different functions and inspiring them to understand who the hundreds of thousands of invisible people in the supply chains are and the difference they could make, and giving all these examples from my past work of going and connecting with producers in the field and how they could go and do that too, and have [00:08:00] conversations with them directly.
And in this visualization I was, I was walking into the office with my chest open. I could imagine the outfit I was wearing, the fact that I wasn't working from home all the time, and working late and being invisible myself and actually seeing that I had so much potential and I already had this vision of who I was going to be in, in the human rights manager role.
All of the bits of my personality and my mind that I have always felt like don't fit into the conventional world of work or how things should be done, or how I see other people doing them, and actually tap into my uniqueness and the buzziness of my brain and use that to go on and actually create something completely unique and make my own mark on a new role.
So. That has been such a, a weight [00:09:00] lifted off the, the conventional world of, of work and who I felt like I had to become. Oh, it's been like, it's been so fun watching you give yourself permission to do that and understand that some of these quote unquote rules that we have, like, oh, this is how work should be done, and like other people are doing it this way, therefore I should be doing it this way.
Even though it feels really heavy and forced and like icky, it's like, ugh. I just feel like, as you said, like a bit like trapped. And like giving yourself permission to let go of some of those beliefs of like, this is how things should be done. And be like, wait, how do I wanna do things?
Like what lights me up? And leaning into that and actually following that and working in a different way and just seeing you then be able to actually create more impact with that because you're just being you, you're not having to put on a facade or like force something. And so I'm even curious, what are some of the ways that things are different now from before when you were like, oh, I have to work in this way.
This is how work should be done. just for like anyone listening. Also [00:10:00] has a creative buzzy brain and probably is feeling a bit trapped in some areas of their work. 'cause they look around, I know this was me. It was like, oh, okay, I have to work in this way.
And actually when we give ourselves permission not to, it's like, oh, what are some of the ways that you're working in different ways, that might be really helpful for those listening to be like, oh, I could try that too. Ah, yes. Such a good question. I have so much to say.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna try. Everyone's like, great God, I'm gonna try everyone get your notes at the ready. I know. I know. One or two things that immediately spring to mind are. So in the past when the, the day would start to gain momentum, people are coming online. My laptop would, I described it as beating at me.
Like all these people wanted a piece of me, it felt like I was going to war as the day continued, [00:11:00] and I didn't even know. Why I had started feeling like my mood was changing through the day, and I didn't even used to notice this. Suddenly it would just hit five o'clock and I'd feel like, okay, let's draw a line under the day and let's start the day now, because this is the only opportunity I get start work.
So I couldn't even know to notice negative thoughts coming in, the mood changing. And knowing that this would impact how effective I was in role and what I could, the difference I could make in the world. So when we started working together, we started unpicking, like, what actually is that feeling? And I couldn't even put a name to any of these feelings I was having.
I would say, oh, I just feel, ugh. Or like, oh, I feel, oh, ah, like, like there's a weight in my tummy, or, Ugh. Like now I can actually pinpoint like. [00:12:00] Okay. Something else has come in. My mood has shifted. And how can I take a moment to pause? And there's so many different ways we do this now. Sometimes I will be literally at my desk and if there's no one in the kitchen, I shout change.
And it honestly shocks me out my system and to the point where the other day. I was listening to radio and someone said, change on the radio, and I was like, a dog being called or something and like, oh my gosh, I know what that means. But there's been some really practical ways I can go. I see this coming in and this is all an iterative process, right?
Like I try to get this right now. Sometimes I'm not there and it takes a day or two to reflect when I'm journaling and go, okay. That day I didn't show up to the meeting feeling like my best, clear, [00:13:00] engaged self because I let something else kind of hang over. And I, I'm working through that and the tools we have now to question how did I feel?
Can I give it a name, can I try and what story is in my mind behind that? And something that's taken months and is still ongoing for me to unpick is. I've been so hard on myself a lot of the time about what I'm achieving and not achieving and not even taking a moment to celebrate the wins. So something that's been absolutely critical to really change my mindset.
And I love the idea that we have rewired a lot of my kind of, oh yeah. Hard on myself by it. Um. And yeah, I, I do a lot of work now, really every morning if I can. And if I've missed it, I'll give it just 90 seconds or three minutes, [00:14:00] celebrate some wins, write them down. Or if I'm on a run, can I think them through in my head whilst I'm running?
Can these wind power me forward? And sometimes I don't even know where to start on the wind and it will be like. I am on a run now. Win. Yeah, I am taking another step win. And then as you start to identify the winds, they spiral and I finish the run. Like I climbed a really big mountain today.
Win. And. I did an incredible presentation that I never thought I'd be able to have created in just half an hour. Went like, and it's amazing how that kind of positive thought processes just snowballed. And I, even when it drops off, now I, I can actually see how I can slip back and I know exactly what to do to bring myself back in.
Another thing I really wanted to share has been [00:15:00] inserting fun through thinking of. So many new ways that a, a kind of a heavy or a process that I'm, or a, a task that I'm dreading can, can be changed. So, for example, I, I travel. A lot to London for work from where I'm based in Scotland, and sometimes the journey can be long delayed and I arrive feeling quite tired.
So I imagine how I will transform my mood and how I show up in what I describe as shine mode. And just like with change sometimes. If I haven't had enough time that I wanted to have to prepare for the presentation or to think about how I'm gonna enter the room, I can just close my eyes and say, shine.
And actually just, it opens my chest. I can walk in knowing I have this potential within myself to shine at any point. And. [00:16:00] All of the past negative thoughts just flow over the top of my head, down through my back, and I can enter the room in shine. And, and some of the ways I do that is by telling myself, right, go and do the journey in your cozy clothes, and then know that you're gonna get to the station at St.
Pancreas or something. And. Go down to the loo, get changed into a colorful outfit with shoes that remind me of my run at the weekend 'cause they've got little flowers on. Or get something out that I collected on a walk with my boyfriend like shells from the beach, or go and hold the cap that has the Port Authority logo on.
From that time I visited Fish suppliers and vessel crew. Just taking that moment in the bottom of a lu and a station to come out feeling [00:17:00] like I've been with these things that remind me of who I am, how in touch I am with the people I'm in this for, I'm representing in this role, and then coming out of the station like a butterfly feeling transformed.
it makes me laugh every time I do it because it feels so silly. And I look down at my like flowery shoes and my colorful skirt, and even things like, jewelry that I've collected from all around the world. Feeling like these people, these workers are with me on this journey. It's not just me on my own.
It's not about me, is a really amazing phrase I use all the time, and it creates expansiveness. Deep feeling like say, I'm with this much greater world and picture on people to go and enter that environment. Even when I've had these few hours of stressful and tiring travel beforehand, it has been really, really fun [00:18:00] just knowing that no matter what's been in the past, if I've had a negative travel experience that made me feel stressed or overwhelmed, or I had one meeting that didn't go as I wanted it to go, and tears prickled my eyes and I felt really uncertain.
I can at any point move on from that, draw a line through putting a, a new outfit on, entering shine mode, taking a break, chanting shine, or change, and taking a tool that feels right for the moment and coming back to being who I want to be. It feels like I have a lot more control through doing that now.
Oh, I mean, even just as you share that, I mean what, like, what a gift. Because we as humans, like we experience more quote unquote negative feelings. Like of course they will come up. It's stuff from our past, our brains [00:19:00] trying to protect us. Yeah. And yet before we do this work, it's like we can get almost stuck in it or then we feel heavy and it's for days and we don't understand.
But like for you being able to catch it and like have all these different ways that you can instantly transform to your highest best, most like shiniest self. So powerful. It's like, oh, actually external things don't influence your internal state. Like you get to decide. How you wanna show up in any moment.
It's like the meeting doesn't actually go the way you, or like travel doesn't go the way that you'd hoped. And still you can be like, yeah, but I am showing up how I want to, almost like no matter what is happening around you, you can always bring yourself back. It's amazing. What a gift. Yeah. Yeah. And I think something that I'm trying to work on more and more at the moment is work has such an ebb and flow.
There's these moments. When you feel so proud of the [00:20:00] presentation you gave or the conversation you had with, or I had with a crew member on the East coast of Scotland about their working conditions, for example, and because of the momentum and the pace of work, we just go into the next thing and we open the inbox.
It is got 60 emails built up because your mind was elsewhere and you dedicated yourself to another project and. My mind and, and my thought pattern that I've noticed is I'm behind and I, I suddenly realized with you, Hazel, in some obsession that my brain had this story. We're doing so well, we're in shine mode.
You've done really well. And then I don't take a moment to kind of appreciate it. I open my inbox when I'm landing back to my. My office and suddenly my brain goes, I'm behind. [00:21:00] And what I have started doing and thanks to the prompts of all the one-to-one coaching I've done with you, Hazel, is to say sometimes that's the point at which to so up what's just what you have just achieved and stepping away and knowing that.
You can always put an out of office on at that point that says, I am having some focus time to protect some time for a future project. Please call my mobile if it's urgent. I've said this to you before, Hazel, but I, I have quite a reactive job and things, negative things happen in the supply chain and I have to respond to them, and I am yet to receive a direct call to my mobile when I put this out of office on, because generally.
People will use that as an absolute last resort. And what I have been doing is stepping away at this [00:22:00] point and going, let's go and just reflect on the really amazing thing that I just achieved and some of these visions I had in the start of the coaching process of going and hosting, you know, a forum for suppliers, working with colleagues to unpack a really long-term systemic issue.
And unlocking a way forward that's in the interest of workers. All these things are huge wins that I haven't, sometimes don't allow myself to take a moment to just absorb and celebrate. And for me doing that is it's, it's like I need a feeling of freedom and it's going out on a walk on a run. It's being in an outdoors environment.
In my own space where I feel like no one can interrupt me and I can take my notepad and start halfway through the run and write down all the cool things that happened. And I [00:23:00] think this is something I had certainly lost in in the jobs I had before and before we started the coaching process, was what's actually going incredibly well right now?
And where are we unlocking so much potential and seeing that moment to pause and go and be outdoors. And celebrate all the wins is 100% a productive part of my working day. And I encourage a lot of people I work with now to do exactly the same. And if ever I feel this needs justifying for me, this is about being a human rights manager and a human rights due diligence professional.
It's about me embodying the world of work. I want to see in the people in the supply chain that I am in this for and. Okay. This is such a unique way that I'm carrying this role forward and it gives me so much bubbly excitement to think that this is who I'm gonna be in more [00:24:00] ways and will evolve through my entire career.
And I just see the positive influence that that can happen. And for anyone listening, I guess like diving into more the like why this works, the celebrating the wins and the actually going out, being outside and like sitting with it is. Our brain will automatically focus on the, uh, the gap. Everything we've not done.
Yeah. The one thing we didn't do, or like, you come back and it's like the 60 emails that you haven't read yet, and like that is by default we have this negativity bias, our brain's scanning for danger, like it will go there. Knowing that then it's like to avoid getting stuck and then a heavy feeling, and then it's like, oh, and that's when we just don't end up doing anything.
We like jump about or we miss something if you can just sit with it or like you're doing, it's like getting outside and just soaking it in. You just feel so much more expansive and energized and then the ideas come, the creativity comes. You come back and suddenly it's like, oh, I only need to reply to two of these emails anyway, like the rest, it was just for info or like whatever it is.
It's like the [00:25:00] solutions are there and things just feel easier and actually you're more, not that productivity is like the be all and end all, but like you're just way more effective and it's more fun. And so when you can just give yourself permission to, to work in a, in a way that's gonna help your brain and help your emotional state, that's gonna change your behavior, which is gonna change your outcomes as well.
And it's like you just tapping into that Exactly. And being like, no, this is, this is the most effective thing I can do right now. Exactly. And I think what has been really interesting to reflect on is since I started this journey, I have had so much more. Autonomy over what I can create always with other people, but what I can lead.
And I felt like in my last role, I was so busy, but I couldn't really tell you exactly what three things I'd delivered that week. And ironically, [00:26:00] since I've become someone who, so quite often, if I'm feeling stuck about. A, a work task that I know needs to be done and is just sitting on the end of my to-do list.
Something we've literally just been working on together, Hazel, these past couple of days, is there are things that I just feel so amazed with. So energized, I just get done. And some of the work, some of the way that's happening currently is. Instead of being at my desk, I'm, I'm actually on a walk. I'm accessing greater thinking.
I'm feeling in this outdoors environment and I actually, a lot of my work gets done in the notes on my phone and it's amazing how sometimes you think you have to read up on a task or you think you have to read the report before you start. You have to be knowledgeable and all. And actually if you just go on a walk for half an hour and just start tapping away some thoughts, suddenly the project is done.
And I think. [00:27:00] One thing that's been a huge, a hugely transformative piece that we're working on at the moment is looking at my to-do list, which we actually have started calling thanks to Hazel Pixels on screen so that, 'cause sometimes the way that we just describe things in work feel really heavy and really inaccessible.
So to-do list to me doesn't really exist anymore. I actually reorganized my to-do list by describing it as it, the document is literally called pixels on screen and, and then every day I pick one or two things off. And then there's always things that sit at the bottom, but that doesn't bother me 'cause I'm picking up what I, I think is increasingly important.
I actually then still have the kind of brain that goes, oh, but what about these things? What about the other thing? The thing, the thing, the thing. So I jot them all down on a piece of paper and then I turn the piece of paper over and go, what's the one thing. 30 minutes, four, five minutes. What's the [00:28:00] one thing?
And for some reason this just really works for me, and I think a huge thing that I've learned with working with you, Hazel, is Hazel provides so much advice to me on all these tips and tools, and that's through one-to-one coaching. But also I, I actually found this podcast incredibly insightful and a lot of the podcast episodes I've written down in helpful tips to myself in the notes on my phone, I then go and write down the one thing on the flip side of the piece of paper.
And for me, this just draws a line and I just close all the tabs, all the beating things down on my laptop and think, okay, where do we start now? What's my first step now? And it might be go on a walk, start writing notes on the phone about what needs to be done, or sometimes I can just do this on my, on my laptop and just open it and it fe, it honestly feels like a superpower and.
The last piece I would say on this 'cause it's so relevant to the work we're doing literally this [00:29:00] morning and, and right now is sometimes the to-do list items in the pixels on screen document. I've actually gone back to and said, why do you sit at the bottom of the to-do list every day and then suddenly the date is here and the thing is not done.
Actually it's because, well, Hazel's helped me see that the description of the to-do list item is really vague and really scary and through unpicking them and just taking, sometimes set the time of like, I did this this morning. Set the time for one minute to unpick the to-do list item. And the ESG forum that I was supposed to report into actually wasn't even that, and I needed to understand what the forum was and do.
Presentation is really vague and not helpful to me. So now I'm trying to get really clear what is the point of [00:30:00] this, what will I change? Can I even visualize who's gonna receive the document or the presentation, get really, really specific about what it is I'm going to do and then I can enter the task.
And it has really helped, even just a day unlock going after something and even just half an hour can enable me to be 80% of the way there. And often a lot of the work is already done. That's so good. And again, this is like working in a way that works with your brain. It's like. Put a timer on, make it like fun and a challenge.
It's like, okay, can I do the thing here? And getting it super clear. 'cause like as you said, when things are vague, our brain's like, eh. Or when it's even not even the right description, it feels like this big thing. And then actually you realize, wait, it can literally be done in 30 minutes. Even though it's been on my to do list for three weeks, like staring back at me.
It's like, oh, interesting. And it's so fun just like using these fun little practices or like naming something differently. Like the other one I actually was remembering was. You know, [00:31:00] blocks of time that, like a time block, it felt like this, like prison or like, ugh. And then through coaching you were like, oh wait, it's like a meadow.
It's this expansive time that I get to create and dream and create something that wasn't there before. And just like the language that we use is so powerful. And so being able to then use it in a way that. You're like, oh, I wanna do this thing. This feels really fun, or This is really easy, or this is like gonna be really simple.
Yeah, so, so fun, so, so, so powerful. I think that's such a good description and I think one of the things I've really unlocked is that. Uh, my mind is so powerful, and I never realized this before. We, we talked a lot in coaching in the one-to-one sessions about how we can bend time and, mm-hmm. Actually, it's, it's taken a long time for me to know what that really means, and like we said, like what that means for me.[00:32:00]
So sometimes bending time for me is. So I always used to get told in roles, oh, just block time out for this thing. So I would block the time out and then the time would come round and like, like you've mentioned, Hazel, we had a session whereby I actually, we did a lot of processing and why is it that that doesn't really work for me?
Why don't I actually get the thing done in the time that I've blocked out and I make myself busy with small tasks that feel good? It's like that difference of like. It's like, oh yeah, just block the time out. But it's like, but you can still not do the thing just because it's blocked out if there's an emotional response and you don't wanna do it, like you can put your calendar and not do it.
Yeah. And again, the thought after the block of time is like, I failed. What's wrong with me? Everyone else can do this. I look at their calendars and they produce a beautiful document after their two hours. And I think I was working really hard. I was really busy, but I didn't get the thing done. And this is where I used to end up doing overtime because the [00:33:00] thing would still need to be done.
Yeah. But what's been so important is matching through the coaching, not just the small tools that I've been describing here, but also sometimes digging a lot deeper and processing through. What is it that's stopping me? What am I worried about? What do I imagine? And nine times out of 10 when we've revisited the dread and the stickiness around the time block, it's like, oh, in a previous role, you know, this felt like a prison or something went wrong because of it.
Or I have an old team member's voice in my head saying. You know this, this still isn't done or there's like a, what I've really learned is I'm a communicator and I pride myself on being really good at being a people person, but because I don't want to let people down and this [00:34:00] naughty little voice in my brain says I failed, I then don't reach out to people to let them know like, I've got a problem.
I've got too much on and we need to re delegate. And it's so simple, but I found it so hard. To admit that I had a problem. So I think processing it through unpicking the saw or the problem I think I have, and sitting with it sometimes honestly having a little cry or a shake or. It's not uncommon for me now to have a desk disco and put Shakira on for a few minutes just to shake it out and like if you've got your headphones on and you work from home and any family members enter the flat at that point, or friends, it can be incredibly embarrassing.
But I think just being really, again, this piece, right, being, having permission to just be really human and know. That actually, once you've worked through and processed the [00:35:00] emotion or the negative memory that you have, putting a name to it and sending it kind of on its way when you've worked through it.
Has enabled me to access huge potential in renaming the calendar block with the padlock in the prison as a meadow of time and often now that isn't actually the conventional me at my desk writing the presentation. It'll be me going on a walk and thinking about some my days actually had really productive time.
So fun. So good. And what about like, I mean, you've talked about loads of them. Are there any other tools that you've found really helpful that you've like used in the day to day or anything else that maybe you've not touched on? Ah, so many, so many. Um, one that comes to mind straight away is visualization and.
I actually, I'm a really keen runner and I've, I have [00:36:00] listened to podcasts, read lots about athletes and Olympians who kind of visualize getting to the end of their marathon and, and winning and breaking the tape. And when we, when we first did this in the coaching, I just, I've, I had never done anything like it and I actually found.
I, I found I couldn't, when we were imagining the best case scenario, I kind of couldn't believe what I'd discovered my brain could do, and I went out and thought, okay, let's do this with work. But like, but like, ha does, Hazel doesn't need to know I'm, I'm gonna try and do this in other aspects of my life.
And. I went and did it. Um, I, I basically made 10 minutes before I went to park, run two Saturday mornings on the trot, two as in two weeks on the run. And before I set off for the park [00:37:00] run, I, I got up and before I'd even left my bed, I thought, I'm just gonna do the visualization. And Hazel's got this incredible recording of what it means, like a six.
It's only six minutes. You just go through kind of. Like a guided, um, there's one for meditation and one for visualization. And the visualization one I did before park. When I sat in bed, I thought to myself, let's just imagine. I, I'm the first lady at park when I'm like, I, I just thought, let's just be ridiculous.
Like, it'd be so fun. Like imagine, imagine coming through the finish line as the first lady at the park. Interestingly on, on the jog there, I started unpacking in my mind like, Hmm, why do I always put myself at the back of the pack when I start? And basically in my thinking, why don't I ever just see what's possible?
And because I was starting to access this much more positive thinking, I [00:38:00] didn't feel like, oh, it's gonna feel awful when I try and push further and faster. And I just went just. This thing just came into my mind. Just run like a kid. Like just run as if you were a kid on, on in the playground with no shoes on.
Just go and sprint and go and blow yourself up if it's what it takes and just, just see what happens. It'll just be funny if you blow up and you have to walk and then you end up telling the story afterwards, like, I'll never regret it. And two weeks on the run I came through was like my quickest park runs ever like.
Okay. I was like ahead of the pack. I did have to come first lady and I could not fathom. I don't think you told me that. You told me you got your fastest five. I didn't realize. First. Very embarrassed. Embarrassed. Take it all day. I, you honest, like just run like you're a kid. Just do it like you're a kid.
Has been with me ever since. Something about just doing it in like my personal life, just for a [00:39:00] park, made me think who knows what's possible. And now so many times I have something at work, I think, oh, I'm not clear on what the outcome is. I, oh gosh, I've got to do with this whole presentation. I've only been in the company for two weeks.
This is really intimidating. I'm worried about it. What am I gonna say? Knowing I can access a visualization and, uh, uh, just make that six minutes for the meeting is so powerful. It calms me down. It allows me to see where my own mind is going off. Track what? Whilst I'm in the meeting. I've done made 10 minutes before meetings with others to catch their thinking and visualizing how you want the, the meeting to go, the run to go.
The what has been really powerful and sometimes I haven't had time to find 10 minutes, sorry. I've gotten myself in a faf beforehand and actually. On the tube on the way [00:40:00] to a day when I was facilitating and presenting at a forum with British Retail Consortium, I found myself on the tube going, oh, I'm not prepared.
I didn't make time for visualization. I've not rehearsed everything. I dunno what I'm doing. And then I thought I caught it. I actually caught the thought and went, I have time now. Now I know this tube ride is 25 minutes around about. Let's spend 10 minutes with my headphones on, looking at the screen of the door, the black kind of, and I pictured my whole presentation for 10 minutes, like didn't quite close my eyes, had a bit of a fuzzy, and I went into the day just knowing exactly who I wanted to be, exactly how my presentation would go.
Oh, it was the best feeling. And now whenever anything really exciting happens or something just comes up. Um, I do a visualization just for fun, just to see where it might go and it's definitely driving my next steps, like in life, in work. It's really cool and it's so fun. Like [00:41:00] even we've done, we did a visualization just in a recent session, like a kind of more a life one and a like looking further ahead.
And it was so fun even just knowing that your very first visualization that we did, it was like, this would be amazing if this was my life. And like in a few months you're like, oh. This is my life, like I've created it. And then this other one that we did that was a bit further ahead and it's like just your like consciousness I guess, or like what you were able to imagine and dream about was just so much bigger.
Like imagine imagining that like a few months ago you would've been like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on? But like, because you'd imagined and then created this, and then it's like, okay, now what? Like it's just expanding what you're. Almost like giving yourself permission to dream about and to imagine is gonna be possible for your life in the next few years.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think sometimes part of the, part of the visualization work is, is actually about [00:42:00] overcoming some big things that I'm like really dreading and some of those things. I think we just let sit, and something I've really learned is that when we don't process the things we're dreading, the conversations we're worried about having they sit.
And then Hazel, you've really helped me see that. This is what we call a mood. And when you suddenly find you are like trying to wipe tears before every meeting or getting really fricking grumpy, it's because there's something you are avoiding and understanding our own minds. And for me, understanding why those moments feel heavy in work have been really uplifting and.
This has meant that like vice, it's bled into every aspect of [00:43:00] my life. Like whether it's a social interaction that didn't feel quite right and I'm wanting to know how to process that, or I've actually found, like when I'm lifting these moods and I'm finishing work on time, actually a lot of my friendships are flourishing.
I do visualizations now like with my boyfriend about what we, what holiday we wanna do, like. I share so much of these tools and techniques Yeah. With my boyfriend and with the people around me. And one thing that they have really noticed about me is that I'm, I'm wanting them to be with me like on this journey.
If I reflect on things that I'm grateful for, how can they do that with me? And like my boyfriend and I sometimes reflect together, like, let's share our gratitudes. So amazing. It's amazing what comes out and the, the depth of, um, of conversations we have sometimes. [00:44:00] Led by some of these visualizations and prompts have been really helpful.
And there is one more thing that's come to mind that I has been such an incredible tool I, I would love to share, is in, in one of our sessions, Hazel, we tapped into intuition and mm-hmm. This was all prompted by one of your amazing podcasts where you talked about looking for signs and um. Uh, this really, this intuition piece is like, just really particularly spoken to me, and I find when I feel like I'm, I'm, I'm looking for something to drive me forward or to kind help me decide what the next step is or what to do about a problem.
I am increasingly in and around my life, like looking for signs and it's amazing how suddenly, like you can. You can think, oh, I'm just going to, you know, I followed it particularly like when I'm out and about, you know, oh, I just see what happens if I, I feel like I just wanna turn that street corner, or I just wanna [00:45:00] see what happens if I, I do this at work as well.
Sometimes I think. I'm just quite curious about that conversation someone had. Can I just ask a bit more? Can I go and see them? Can I go and recently I went to go and visit a retired fisherman in the Northeast who's transforming fishing nets into, into bras and clothing. And um, I actually was really curious out there, like, it's not really something that's specifically in my remit at work, but it just felt really fascinating to me.
So I just followed my intuition. This, this like curiosity and enabling myself to do this and allowing myself to go after these things has come from tapping into intuition. And what I mean by that is it's very, so it comes from the session we had where Hazel got me to say statements that were or weren't true for myself.
And to really sit with how I felt when the thing was true or the thing was not true. And. What this led us to do was to [00:46:00] help me uncover like, who am I and my, like alter ego, best self. Mm-hmm. And um, through the one-to-one session. We eventually came to this point where I had a whole suite of smells and sounds and images from my life and from my inspirations when I was in my original role with the NGO that drove me into this work that led me to create an Aussie ego, which we describe as the Eagle Communicator and.
It was honest that day. I actually wasn't on my best form if I'm honest. I'd landed from a flight the night before. I was feeling really tired and scatty, and by the end of this session I had with Hazel, I imagined I had like these enormous eagle wings that. Um, Paul Simon was playing in the background great fund.
I literally had like, instead of diamonds on my [00:47:00] shoes, I had flowers and I could smell like the dust in this forum of people that I was consulting with on how much they get paid in their jobs and what their working conditions are like, and how hard the rising temperatures are on this farm. I was there and I was with them as this eagle communicator, like enveloping them, like into my wings and getting all these findings out from them and coming back to base and, and making the difference I wanted to make in the world.
And this all came from me tapping into like, who am I and what feels right for me and role. And this thing we call intuition. And now every time I go to London and I enter the London office, I don't necessarily always feel like this is. My sweet spot environment and it's not full of the outdoors. So for a second, I think imagine being the Eagle communicator and I say go up the steps into the office.
Often voice noting Hazel on Voxer coaching tour app. [00:48:00] I go in and imagine my wings and for a second I sit with the Graceland music. I imagine the dust, I picture the people that I'm in this for on that farm in that place. And it just is so empowering to go in and be like, this is me in my own unique way and I'm gonna go and shine and I'm gonna bring my best self.
This idea of intuition and having an honest ego that I can tap into at any point has just been so powerful and led me to be a leader in ways I, I never thought it would be at work. Not so quickly, that's for sure. Oh, it's just, yeah, and just watching like that transformation that you have stepped into and it's like, oh, it's okay.
Like I can show up in this way. I'm like, I think with the Eagle communicator also, it's so connected to your bigger. Why and that purpose and like, it's like, you know, there's the day to day you're in the London office, but it's like actually your mind is like, no, it's not about the office or this [00:49:00] meeting, it's about the people and like why you're helping them, why you do what you do, and just having that bigger purpose and that bigger connection.
It's like, oh, okay. It's, as you said, it's like it's not about me. It's like just being able to and just, yeah. Watching you step into that leadership role. And just own that you are a leader. Yeah. And just, just show up. Like it has just been, and, and it's like you always were a leader, but actually just giving yourself permission to be like, oh, I am.
It's like you've almost like embodied that identity. So fun. Exactly. And, and through the whole process we have kept, um, a tab on like evidence of when I have done these things in the past and sometimes. An idea just comes out of nowhere, doesn't it? You know, you're walking along and it's, it's like this, like sunflower shoots out of the ground and goes, hello, here's an idea, and you dunno where it comes from.
But [00:50:00] these ideas sometimes are quite scary. And actually this is the first time where I felt like I've enabled myself an environment. To go and just experiment and not see the thing I want to deliver as the end goal that might destroy my career. I, you have, again, noticing the negative thought and going.
Maybe this could just be quite fun and let, okay, is there, is there a negative outcome? Let's go there. And sometimes here you really encouraged me to go, okay, if you're really dreading it, let's go and imagine. Let's go and let's go there. On the worst case, is it actually that bad? And I have done so many things that were just silly and fun in this job.
That I, I literally never would've done before. It feels like these are steps that just follow really organically and always go somewhere positive. And sometimes it's [00:51:00] okay to make a mistake or things not go how you like. There's always benefit from trying something new or just introducing people to each other.
It just felt right in the moment and I had the confidence in myself to know that this was an important thing to do. Oh, it's so, yeah, that confidence. And the other thing is like, yeah, that trusting yourself as well and knowing that like, like that's a huge shift I've seen is that trusting these nudges, trusting your intuition and knowing that if it doesn't work out how you thought, like you're gonna be okay.
Yes. And you will be kind to yourself and you're not gonna beat yourself up. And it's like that, like when we have that, when we know we've got our own back and that we will back ourselves, we can take these bigger, bolder. Moves and do things that we're like, I'm not sure quite how this fits, but I know that this is the next step.
Because it's like, even if it doesn't work out, I know that I've got me and that everything is gonna be okay. Yeah, and we have done a lot of work around that, haven't we? I think sometimes we all have it. It's like, yeah, so many of us have [00:52:00] it. Yeah. Feeling like sometimes you don't get the positive response you want, or something that you thought was absolutely brilliant, maybe just isn't that exciting to someone else.
And I've really learned to know how to let that. Feeling wash in and wash through and take myself away from the environment, whether that's just outside the building to the loo on my lunch hour. Check in with myself and know that I need to just be kind with myself. Absolutely know that I'm glad I made this step.
What is, what is next? Remind myself to be kind, be very grateful to myself that I did this and, and kind of have a little internal voice, like you said, like, I've, you've, I've got this like, yeah. And I even imagine when I'm having this moment, like I put my heart on my, my hand, on my heart, check in, close my eyes, calm my breathing, [00:53:00] and think I'm safe.
Yeah. We can move past this. I actually imagine a lot of the time when I have this little moments for myself, like. I pick my fuzzy little, a little bit sensitive brain and heart back up and I carry them back up the stairs and we sit down at the desk and we're okay. So good. Um, yeah, it's been so, so helpful to feel like I've got my back like that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And just while we kind of wrap up here, it's been so fun. It's like absolutely flown the time. Is there. Anything else you wanna add? Anything else you think would be useful? Yeah, I'm just gonna give one really practical piece of advice that's really helped me, and it's inspired by the Hazel Podcast, um, that you're all, and people are gonna be making notes on this one and be like, yes.
I just, I [00:54:00] love, I love the Scary Girls podcast. Um, one. Um, thing that's, uh, so there's been a couple of episodes you've put out there about, about your experience doing like expeditions and what you learned about yourself and processes and things as you like. Did these expeditions and what's been carried through into your, um, I was gonna say more conventional life, but it doesn't, it sounds like way more fun.
Expedition life. Yeah. And one thing I've really learned is like. So I, I can be really forgetful, um, about small little things because my, my buzzy brain is going really, really quick and it's got all these ideas and I'm thinking about how am I'm gonna change the world all day, every day. And it means that sometimes I forget where my headphones are, I forget to bring my keys, I turn up at the office without my lanyard.
And trying to imagine where on earth these things are is. Really difficult for me, and I have left in the past like really key [00:55:00] bits of documents including passports, uh, water bottles all over. And it has, it's added to this picture that people sometimes go, oh, you know, maybe so Scatty, and I thought, oh yeah, okay.
I'm so scatty. And then I see myself at work. Bossing it and I'm like, clearly I'm not scatty and I have got it together. That's just part of my buzzy brain that just forgets these things and I need to stop like punishing myself for this and actually find a little system that works. So I listen to some of your podcasts about what you draw from expedition life and something I've started doing.
Everywhere I go now is taking my bum bag that I love Bumba. I was on my first little expedition. It was like a world challenge thing. When I was about 16, I decided I didn't need to get a brand new Bumba. I don't need anything new. I don't need to develop a whole new process. I just need to hark back to a really [00:56:00] practical world when I needed to keep all my most precious possessions close to me so that they didn't get stolen, I didn't forget them, and this system worked really well for me.
Was on my first expedition when I was 16 on all these trips I've done around the world since. So. Why not be an on expedition? When I'm traveling from my home in Scotland to London and when I'm going to meetings and now I take much to the distress of my lovely boyfriend, I take this little jack wills bumba around with me everywhere, and I literally.
Well now I wear it, you know, that kind of cross my chest, like the hips, the cool kids do. You know, not actually around my bum anymore, but it is the most transformative thing. I don't even have to worry about where things are. It doesn't feel particularly deeper emotional, this one, but it's just been so, so helpful.
Yeah. Everyone everywhere should find their little tools and trips they used when they were in their expedition mode, I guess, and carry that things fan. [00:57:00] Yeah, so good. And that's it. I guess with all of these things, it's like there's the emotional stuff and the mindset stuff. And then there's the like super practical and it's just figuring out which combination of things works best for you.
Yeah. And like that's what you've been so amazing at is like experimenting and testing and like taking things and using them as inspiration to be like. Oh, I could do my own version of this and it looks like this not being like, I have to do it this way. It's like, okay, here are the tools. Let's figure out a process and figure out like what's gonna work best for me.
And just playing, like experimenting with the whole thing. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So fun. Okay, we have to add there. We'll have to do another one. It just makes me realize like how far I've come, how much. Uh, how much we've covered, how many aspects of my life have been influenced in this incredibly [00:58:00] positive, deep, like, transformative way, and I just feel so much lighter and happier, and.
Whilst there are moments like on Monday evening this week when my flight was delayed and I was like, oh, what am I doing with my life? I, of course, we are all so human and we all have emotions we can't predict, and God, that is so who I am as well. Like I think actually I am really sensitive. I'm really deep and really emotional and I, I do take anything.
Anyone says with so much heart and depth, but that is clearly what makes me so perfect, this role I'm in and for this point in my life I'm at right now. And it's not about trying to be someone else is actually about like uncovering all the parts of me. [00:59:00] That we're gathering a bit of dust and not shining in the best way, and just doing more of the things that light me up.
And if there's work out there that, that, it just doesn't feel like it's my natural, sweet spot and I don't thrive in. Oh, just find an easier, shorter way to get it done or outsource it or, okay. And otherwise, just kind of really sit into like the person I am now and I just really want to continue. That worked really.
And becoming that, that version of myself, I knew I could be. Oh, and you are that, that is you being, it's so fun. Oh, amazing. Right. Thank you. Thank you so much. Ah, no, not at all. I will put how, if you wanna get in touch with re I'll put it in the show notes and that's it. Okay. Thank you. Amazing. Thanks so much.
Yes, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
