Why We Still Struggle to Prioritise Our Health | Steph Hardcastle.

Why We Still Struggle to Prioritise Our Health | Steph Hardcastle

The gap between knowing what helps and making it work in real life

 In this episode of Unlocking Human Potential, I sit down with health coach Steph Hardcastle for a deeply honest conversation about stress, health, behaviour change and why so many of us find it hard to turn healthy intentions into healthy habits.

 Most people already know what would help them feel better. Eat well. Sleep more. Slow down. Move more. Reduce stress.

 But they still struggle to make those changes happen consistently in real life.

 Why?

 Because knowledge alone isn’t enough. The key to change is knowing how to make it happen. 

 In this conversation, we explore:

• The link between identity, behaviour change and healthy habits 
• Why health often falls to the bottom of the priority list 
• The role environment plays in the workplace and at home
• How wellbeing affects performance at work
• How women’s health changes in midlife 
• The role of lifestyle medicine in prevention and long-term health
• How health coaching creates real change by bridging the gap between intention and action 

 Steph shares her own experience of navigating stress and explains how that journey shaped her work as a health coach. Today, her work focuses on helping women make lasting health changes feel possible, manageable and sustainable in everyday life, and on helping organisations understand how the environments we create at work can directly affect performance, energy and resilience.

 This is an honest, grounded conversation about health, pressure, identity and what it really takes to create meaningful change. 

If you’re stretched thin, overwhelmed or disconnected from your health, this conversation will leave you thinking differently about stress, habits and lasting change.

 🎧 Listen now and start unlocking your human potential.

About Steph

What happens when someone stops chasing “healthy” and starts looking at what helps them truly live well?

Today’s guest is Steph Hardcastle, a Health and Wellbeing Coach whose work focuses on helping women in midlife reduce stress, improve energy and create health changes that actually last.

 What I really like about Steph’s approach is that it cuts through the noise. No extreme fixes. No perfection culture. No pretending life isn’t busy and complicated. Her work is grounded in real-life wellbeing, helping people understand the link between stress, nutrition, sleep, hormones, and the everyday habits that impact how they think, feel and function.

 Steph’s own path into health coaching was shaped by both professional and lived experience. A linguist initially, Steph went on to have a career in marketing and communications, running her own business in Australia. But after navigating the pressures of becoming a single parent to a child with additional needs, she became deeply interested in what helps people regain a sense of control over their health and lives.

In this conversation, we explore the human side of health: the relationship between pressure, purpose, and behaviour change - and what it really takes to make change happen in real life.

 Because knowing what to do is one thing. Having the clarity, consistency and confidence to live it is something else entirely.

 The truth is, high performance means nothing if your health is constantly being pushed to the bottom of the list.

 So if you’ve been running on adrenaline, feeling stretched thin, or wondering why you don’t quite feel like yourself anymore, this conversation is going to resonate.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:11

Welcome to Unlocking Human Potential. With me, Andy Hoscood, a show dedicated to exploring what it really takes psychologically, behaviourally and practically to help humans thrive, do conversations with leaders, founders, coaches, behavioural experts, people shaping how humans perform and grow. Is it for you? But if you're a leader, a founder, a business owner, or an ambitious professional, they want to do more than just perform. They want to grow, inspire, and bring the best out in themselves and their people, and keep listening. Because the mission is simple to explore how individuals and teams unlock potential in themselves, in others, and the organizations they shape. Every episode is a deep but relaxed conversation built around three core questions. How do you optimize yourself? How do you unlock potential in others? And the best advice for you, the listener. Now, over to the episode. Really hope you find it helpful and insightful. Just before we introduce our next guest, please make sure you press the follow button to keep updated with the latest episodes. Additionally, special thanks to 246 Photography and PixelMate Brands for making this podcast a reality. Now over to the episode. Steph, welcome. Thank you very much, Andy. Thank you very much for joining me today. And we're in the studio that you recommended, so this is awesome. So thank you very much for this. It's brilliant. So our guest today, what happens when someone stops chasing healthy and starts looking at what helps them to truly live well? Today's guest, today's guest, let me get my teeth back in, Steph Harcastle, a health and wellness coach whose work focuses on helping women in midlife reduce stress, improve energy, and create health changes that actually last. What I really like about Steph's approach is she cuts through the noise, no extreme fixes, no perfection culture, no pretending life isn't busy and complicated. Her work is grounded in real-life well-being, helping people understand the link between stress, nutrition, sleep, hormones, and everyday habits that impact what they think, feel, and function. Steph's own path into health coaching is shaped by both professional and lived experience, a linguist initially. Steph went on to a career of marketing and communications, running her own business in Australia. But after navigating the pressures of becoming a single parent with a child with additional needs, she became deeply interested in what helps people regain a sense of control with their health and lives. In this conversation, we explore the human side of health, the relationship between pressure, purpose, and behavioural change, and what it takes to make change happen in real life. Because knowing what to do is one thing, having the clarity and consistency and the confidence to live it is something entirely else. The truth is, high performance means nothing if your health is constantly pushed to the bottom of the list. So if you're running on adrenaline, feeling stretched thin, or wondering why you don't quite feel yourself anymore, then this conversation is gonna resonate. Made me really think a lot when I was when I was, you know, kind of putting this together. So I'm really, really looking forward to the depth of the conversation that we're gonna have today. I think partly led by the conversations that we've had an awful lot on this podcast around how people I've come to the understanding that putting health first has come to them later in life through, you know, maybe not always good experiences. So I think it's really important conversation that we're gonna have, and I'm really looking to explore this with yeah, because I think I think you're right. I think people do put it down the list of them and fail to look after themselves and fail to look after their own health.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

So yeah, they do, because we're all human, aren't we? Yeah, we're all human and everything else gets in the way, and we don't have the time, the resources, anything to put into ourselves at some stage in our life.

SPEAKER_03 4:21

No, I think it is so I think there's a lot, hopefully there's gonna be a lot of lessons that resonate with the audience today, and there's gonna be lots of action points that we can uh then people can take.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Yeah, I think so, but I think that we talk about lessons, but actually we already know what we need to do. So I think it's not about telling people more or giving people more information, it's about helping them to make the change. So it's about bridging that gap between information and actually making the change.

SPEAKER_03 4:50

So that's maybe where we can spend a lot of the time exploring of how people kind of take action. Yeah, which is good because a lot of this podcast is about that, isn't it? Talk is talk is certainly something that a lot of people are good at, and I think we like you've said, I think I agree. I think we've we've we're especially in a world now with information abundance, aren't we?

SPEAKER_02 5:09

Yeah, of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:10

You know, so actually what we do with that information, how we take action is cool.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

And we absorb it, don't we? We go online and we look at all the influences, and the influences are saying you should do this, you should do this, you should do this, and so you get this overload of oh gosh, I should be doing this, and I'm not doing well enough, I'm not doing the things I should be doing. Um, so then you it feeds a bit of a negative cycle, doesn't it? But actually, what you need to be knowing is is how to do it. What do you need to do in terms of the the things that you're telling yourself in terms of what you'd shape in your environment that actually makes the change?

SPEAKER_03 5:41

And is that what is the kind of the you know, that whole health coat that's the coaching part of it? Helping people kind of almost you know, we've like we say we've all got the knowledge within us, but actually what we do with that and how we do that rather than telling it's people working out their own journeys, is that my interpretation of the coaching part?

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Yeah, it is. I mean, that's coaching, isn't it? Coaching is is not prescribing, it's not telling somebody what to do, it's helping them see the right path because everybody has that information inside them. Everybody knows really. If you if you start to talk to somebody and let them open up and you make a really safe space for them, they're gonna start to talk to you about what's really going on in their lives. And even though they know that themselves, they might not actually have grasped it, they might not have found that you know that really important point that is the thing that will move them on to better and bigger things. So it is it's about um it's about opening up that conversation and then it's about guiding them to better, better solutions, which you know that you you know that very well. It's but it's it's the fundamentals of coaching, it's not dwelling on what's happened, what's caused that trauma, what's caused that problem. It's okay, we acknowledge that, but then we're moving forward and we're we're gonna make changes.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

Nice, and I think both of us, I think one of the things we talked to off there, and I think where we're both very strong gods is is keeping that non-judgmental space, isn't it? Yeah, and hopefully we can keep it on ourselves as we go through this because that's that's the that's the other challenge, isn't it? That you know we judge ourselves quite heavily.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Yeah, and actually one of the things that I find really inspiring is unconditional positive regard. Nice, and I think that that's so important, it's something that we learn, um, and something you don't realize in your own life so much until you you really stop and think about it, you know, that you approach people completely without judgment, that you learn and in a coaching context that that means that you sit down with them, you have absolutely no judgment about them as a person, about what the story is that they're telling you, and they they then feel safe, they then feel able to talk to you about all the things that they need to talk to you. Yeah, yeah, it's really important.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

No, I love it. Can we just just we always start with curiosity with this? Yeah, and I'm gonna kind of take a curveball a little bit. Just just uh hopefully it's not too much of a but curve ball for must for my structure, is ask you a curious question. So I'm familiar with the kind of the the role a health coach plays, but it is quite a new role within some people's awareness. Could you just expand a little bit about what the what a role of a health coach does?

SPEAKER_02 8:16

Yeah, it's it's interesting really because it isn't very well known within the UK, it's quite a new profession, really. Very big in the US, less big here. So I well, I know that in 2020 there were 60 health coaches in the UK, so small, small numbers, right? By last year that had gone up to about 1200, right? Okay, so big increase, yeah, but knowledge hasn't expanded um alongside it. And I guess what I'm curious about is where what will it take to make health coaching part of the mainstream conversation about health? And um I think what's happening within the NHS is really quite important, and that is that they're recognising health coaching, but then they're still not making it a big part of the NHS provision. Um, so they are also having to explain what it is because it's different to it's a different approach to what they had before because health coaching is more preventive, yeah. Preventative whereas um what the NHS usually deals with is having to mop up after something's happened, I guess. Um, and what that leads into really nicely is lifestyle medicine, which is something that Rangan Chatterjee is really, really big on, and he's been a big proponent of that um school of thought, really, and that is that the the changes that you make to your health are the things that will stop you becoming ill or will reduce the impact of things like diabetes, um heart disease, things like that, and that's what the NHS is now recognising, and health coaches are now part of the NHS, okay, but it is still not something that's that's widely recognised, and I think often part of my work in in talking to potential clients is education, is having to say why does this approach work? What is this appra approach? How is it new? How does it help me? Um, and I know that I I was at um I was at a wellness fair at the weekend, and whilst I was waiting for people to come into my talk, I just talked to the people that were there and said, Can I just ask, just out of curiosity, do you know what a health coach is? Nobody did.

SPEAKER_03 10:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

Which is is is quite astonishing, really, because it is it is it is established, it is important, but it's I guess people are are just not getting enough exposure to it to know. So that's hopefully we can help with this as well.

SPEAKER_03 10:52

Yeah, that'd be amazing. Yeah. So I I you know, one of the things I've just hearing that and listen, it's you know, we're trying to take a more proactive and less reactive approach to our health. Yeah. Because I think you're right. I think you know, majority of people are, you know, when we feel unwell, we think we need to do something about it. You know, from my background as a healthcare professional, as a physio, is people would come to you when they've in pain rather than going, okay, so what would could you have done to keep this at bay or things, you know, and reoccurrence. So I think it's really important conversation of one. I'm actually quite excited now to get delved into this because no, because I think that I mean I'm I see it from a place where you know what what resonates with me and I'll share this with you. So I'm the kind of person that gets my blood stun because I'm going, okay, so where am I? I supplement quite well, I my diet and nutrition, my training, all a part of that, you know. I m monitor my sleep, I calorie track, I do all these things because I want to be the best version of me. One, how do I determine the best version to turn up as being a dad, which is I I see my primary role. I happen to have a few other jobs as well and projects I'm involved in. But how do I get the best version of me so people see the best version of me? But also, how do I be the best version of me in my 80s, 90s, and hundreds? And I'm making that decision in my 40s because I think by the time I get to that point it's too late. So that productive approach really resonates with me. And I know when you reached out, I was like, oh yeah, I'm gonna like this because it's something that sits close to me.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

So yeah, but I think it you know that it's that's great for you. That's your you're able to do that, and that's that's where your mindset is right now, but for so many people they're not they're not there yet, and that can feel quite daunting. What you're already achieving is a lot, right? Yeah, um, so if if people start small, yeah, they can get to where they want to go, and they shouldn't necessarily have such a big goal that it's it's not helpful. So if people are thinking of changing their health, then it does start really, really small. And I know, you know, when I was younger, I just used to push through, you know, talking about what we what we can change. And I I wasn't thinking about my health because I was really healthy, I was really I'd push through. That was just what I did, you know. If something wasn't quite right, you know, talking about what people coming into your physio thing, if they'd have come to you earlier. But as you get older and as life hits you, um, you don't recover as quickly, and you start to notice um, you know, the impact of stress in particular, yeah, that compounds and that really creates it it wreaks havoc with your whole body. Not just it's not just a mental thing, stress, it actually has a physical impact as well. And um, that's the point really, where before that causes the damage that it can, and it has with me, I've experienced that. Um you need to be aware of the signs, and you know, a lot of this work is talking about um awareness, I guess, being aware of what's happening to you, being aware of what your body's telling you long before it starts to shut down.

SPEAKER_03 14:06

Nice, okay.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

And is that where the education part that you said, a lot of the work you do is around education, is that uh well the education part is really in saying what health coaches do, in saying what what the approach is and why it why it benefits you and how it's helpful. But of course, health coaching is also education because a lot of people um whilst a lot of people do know what they have to do, a lot of people don't necessarily know. And in fact, um I was speaking to somebody at the weekend and um he said that he has a problem, he just wants sweet cake. Okay, and um he said he does everything, he trains really, really well, does everything he needs to do, eats loads of protein, but he just wants sweet cake in the afternoon. Okay. So we delved a bit deeper, and you'd think that you know he he knows what to do, great, why is that happening? It turned out that his breakfast was a banana. Okay, okay, well, you know, I know that that's not a great breakfast. Yeah, um, but he didn't.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

So he knows a lot, but that one little thing he didn't really know about, and um so the education part of it is making people aware of the things that they can do to change their health. Nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

Nice so the podcast is kind of in three, so for new listeners, or just to kind of share, you know, we're gonna we're gonna try and I think already people have got a flavour for what we're gonna talk about, so it's great. But the unlocking human potential for me comes in three things how do we get the best out of ourselves, and so I'd like to kind of explore that with you, and then how do we get the best out of others and and and what we do with that? So, again, maybe the role as a coach, how that how that role plays out to help other people, and then I think if people have listened to us for an hour, I know we'll probably have a really good conversation, but uh, I always think it's not always that obvious when we listen to conversations, okay. So, what can I do with this? So, what we'll try and do at the end is try and pull it together so we can go, okay, so you know, what actions, like you said, what what can people actually be doing to make maybe the smallest of habit that people could start today? You know, we might even set the audience some, well we will be setting the audience some challenges to try and to try and because I think it I think it's important, like you've said, I think we are in a world of knowledge, but actually then how do we you know what we we've certainly found with those the podcast is by just setting some little challenges and from people to just choosing to explore those and actually seeing those small little changes and what they feel like for them, it makes the you know the impossible possible or it makes that first step to go and actually this is something I can do. If it's moving from a banana to actually, you know, some toast in a banana or a bit of pottage in a banana, you know then there's little steps in the in a direction there, so yeah, and I can I can actually I can set up a challenge on my website, that would be no problem at all.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

They can get somebody to follow that, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:08

Perfect. So when we talk around optimising ourselves and unlocking our own potential, where does that land with you in the world that you do?

SPEAKER_02 17:18

Oh my gosh. Um I think so. I I I'd always been quite healthy, quite fit. Um, I was lived in Australia for quite a long time. Um so that's quite a uh healthy place, right? Um I think um oh gosh, I think it for me it was about taking control back and finding my purpose.

SPEAKER_01 17:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

So optimising myself is living the living by the things that I teach, that's really important, but also um finding my purpose fine because you talked earlier about being a parent and a parent being a parent can be all-consuming, and um you sacrifice a lot and you do that gladly, you do that happily. Um, and when you're a parent of a special needs child, I think um, I think when you when you when you're a standard parent, there's a point where um it shifts a little bit and you can start to look at yourself a little bit more again. And when you're a special needs parent, I think that shift doesn't always come as easily because there are always needs. Um and I think that there was there was a lot going on. I went through quite a lot of stressful life events all at the same time. Um, there were a lot of difficulties with my son's school, which became quite um had quite an impact on me. Um and I think when when all that happens the the you just become overwhelmed with it. There's at no point are you looking at what should I be eating right now? Or I must go out and have a walk. Um, you know, I've I I I must just meditate for a few minutes or I must just have some time in the garden because that that that's just not even possible, it's not even there. And I think um for me stress caused so many problems. I my my hair fell out, um I got reflux, I got IBS, I got lots of lots of things happening with with my body that that weren't good, cortisol everywhere. Um I think it's only when you allow yourself the time and the understanding to say this isn't okay anymore, it's not okay for this to be my normal, that you you step back and you look at what actually you need in life. And one of the things that I realised that I needed, my son was older, um, he was settled, I knew that he was doing okay. And for the first few years as a special needs parent, you that's that's not often your your um it's not often a given really because you're fighting a lot, you've you're battling to get help and support and just to help them progress, really. And but there was a point for me, there was a tipping point where I said, Okay, um what do I need? I'd always had you know a good life. I'd been I'd been all over the world, I'd lived all over the world, different places, I'd run my own business, I'd been out and about, I'd been networking, and my life had become really, really small. Um, so it was about finding purpose. I didn't know that at the time necessarily, but I knew that I needed something that I could I could make mine, and that was it was it was really strange actually because I knew that I wanted to help people. I knew I didn't want to do marketing anymore, I knew that wasn't that wasn't my world anymore because your perspectives changed. Yeah, you've got a special person, you're not really interested in, you know, how am I gonna sell somebody's biscuits that's all or insurance products, you know, that's not it. Um and I think that I just wanted to help people, and my first thought was that I'd help people with autism, yeah, or people affected by autism, um, but that was too close to home. And then um I was just I was looking at some magazines one day, um, and picked up a magazine and there was a there was an advertisement for a health coaching course, and I read it through and I went, that is everything I've been looking for, but I didn't know it existed. It's amazing. Rang them and the course was starting the next day, okay, and I just jumped on. And for me, that was everything, it it pivoted, everything changed because it was everything, it was the health side of things, it was the mental side of things, it was the helping side of things, and the importance of it is is so great, and also just how much it changed my life.

SPEAKER_03 21:45

Yeah, I can feel that.

SPEAKER_02 21:47

Yeah, I'm I'm really passionate about it. I love it. I love it, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:51

And it's something that I picked up on, and I'm gonna bring it up. And if you feel comfortable going in with it, then and if not, we can move on. You use the word. Allowed yourself. So there was almost like a point where you because of the role you play as the parent. There was a permission you almost gave yourself, it felt like you used where you said allowed myself to think or allowed myself to start thinking differently.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

About myself. Yeah. Yeah, I well, I think that's true. I think you do have to allow yourself because yeah, you almost have to give yourself permission because everything in you is about the child. Yeah. And quite rightly. Yeah. Um, but you also have to say, but this is you know, I have a life, this is my life. And if I'm not showing up in the right way, yeah, then I'm not showing up the best way for my child either. You know, and it was about long-term health as well. It's about being here for him. Um, you know, and that what what more powerful motivator can you have?

SPEAKER_03 22:53

The reason why I did that, I don't know if you reckon, but when you said that, there was a shift in you. Oh, was there? Yeah, and it just went there's a shift, and then you went, and then you said, I found this thing, and then I could just feel the energy shift. And I think, you know, that it was lovely to witness. And that I just thought that's why I just thought of bring it back in because I thought it was quite a and it's quite a nice thing to hear, I think, because I think people don't give themselves permission to be something different, you know. We play a role, you know, and you know, and it must be challenging well, I don't know, so I can't, you know, I'm so it it must be a very challenging when like you say, you can't even have a a minute to yourself. So then must but to have that moment where you kind of there's a realisation of gonna go actually for me to be the person I want to be for my child, I need to.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

But I think it's about balance as well. I think you know, I I choose to run my own business, um, but that but that also has benefits because I have flexibility, yeah, you know, and flexibility is so important in in my life, it's allowed me to do so much that I wouldn't have been able to do had I been um in employment, I wouldn't have been able to do half the things that I've done for him and for for us. Um yeah, I I I think it it it can be all-consuming, um, but it's also amazingly rewarding because you know you have a child that is so special, so talented, so um yeah, incredible. Um, and in some ways, and it it was said to me, it's been said before, it's a privilege to take them on that journey because they don't have a disability, they have a different ability. And and you know, and I think you know, you ask about curiosity, and one of the things that I'm curious about is when will people learn to realise that that it that it isn't that and not treat people as if they have disabilities but as if they have different abilities, you know? That that becomes more our norm.

SPEAKER_03 24:59

I like that. I think that's an that's a nice reframed of it as for people.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

Yeah, yeah. You know, and when when I have the conversation with my son, it's that that you know it it's always about what he can. It's amazing, that has amazing skills, you know, and his superpower is making people happy. Yeah, I've always I always said that to him because he does, he's a joy, right? He lights up the he lights up the room. So um it's about how you it's about messaging, isn't it? It's about how you reframe things, but that's so important in coaching as well, because you have to help people reframe the way that they talk to themselves and the negative self-talk, you know.

SPEAKER_03 25:41

And I love the fact that you've framed it in a way that you've you've almost named it a superpower. I th I think it's such a I love that, and I think and that resonates with people of all ages, you know, even adults. If you say, Well, is that your superpower? They kind of yeah, maybe, yeah, you know, we can we can we can stand behind that, can't we? Yeah, I like that. So, what do you feel then? You know, moving into this health coaching thing, and you know, and it was lovely watching you just smile when you were talking about it, and obviously moving into that reminiscing of going, and I was booked on it the fact the next day, I thought it to just it resonated so much. So, for kind of people listening who are, you know, maybe don't don't feel optimal all of the time, they might not have the challenges you faced, but they might have their own challenges in the world and whatever that might look like for them. Where do where does like health coaching and what you do help kind of get the best out of, or what could they be doing to kind of get the best out of themselves?

SPEAKER_02 26:46

Well they're two different questions, aren't they? So one if you want to get the best out of yourself, um you've got to be honest with yourself, I think, haven't you? You've got to you've got to look at what you think is not working in your life, and and I think one of the most important things is is looking to see how you can get control back as well, because often um things will take our power, if you like. If we feel that we're not in control, then we feel like we can't influence anything about our health either, because we you know we're we're lacking um authority over anything, we're lacking agency, aren't we? And I think um you know the the people are most successful at making change when they believe that they are responsible for the change around them, and people are less likely to be able to change if they believe that external forces are the things that are creating the problems, yeah. So, you know, um well i i if I made this improvement that would work and we'd get we'd get some advancements, but if you say, well, it's because that's not working over there and they keep doing that, then you're not gonna you're not gonna make as many improvements because you're you're shifting the responsibility for your own change, aren't you?

SPEAKER_03 28:10

So it's it it's so it starts with self and responsibility of self and almost the accountability of what you can control. Is that what we're saying?

SPEAKER_02 28:19

In a way, but I think that comes further down the track. I think first of all, it's it's being prepared to be honest with yourself. I think accountability and um being aware of what it is that's happening, happen a little bit later on. I think you've got to be really gentle with yourself at first. Okay. Um I like that. Yeah, it it's really important, and I think when when you do talk to a uh a health coach, what you do initially is to sit there and make goals. Now, not goals in the in the traditional sense of goals where they become unreachable and you know that you know I'm gonna I'm gonna improve my health, I'm gonna lose 14 stone by next week. That that kind of it's not about that, it's it's looking at where you want to go, and then it's about exploring your lifestyle, exploring your environment. What can you change to make that goal happen? And as you go through the health coaching process, often those goals will change because you think that you're gonna be happy if you if you lose four stone, but actually, when you go through it, that's not what's making you unhappy. What's making you unhappy is something else that's going on in your life, and um it's that that you need to focus on, and that it it's it's um it's a moving feast, you know. Yeah, um, so it's about exploring where you are, your environment, your lifestyle, and then looking at what's getting in your way of making the changes that you need to do, and then moving forward by putting new habits in place in small chunks.

SPEAKER_03 29:53

So is the first step just being you said honest with yourself, is it just accepting where you are?

SPEAKER_02 29:59

Yeah, that's a really good way to say it. Yeah, you accept where you are, you accept that things aren't quite right, you know you need to make change. You might not know what the change is, but you know that you've gotta um look honestly at it and maybe get help.

SPEAKER_03 30:16

Because I think that's where a lot of people struggle, don't they? They don't they're not happy where they are.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:21

And like you've said, you know, they're putting those barriers or excuses or blame blame on other things. Whereas I think if you can come back to I hear an awful lot, I'll be happy when. Yes, yeah. And my always response is going, Well, why can't you fight happy today?

SPEAKER_02 30:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:41

You know, why do you have to wait until you've achieved that for you to be happy?

SPEAKER_02 30:45

Well, I I know someone who um wants needs to make changes to their health, but has said, Well, I can't yet, because I've I've that's got to happen. I can't yet 'cause I'm that I'm working on this and I can't yet because I'm working on that.

SPEAKER_03 30:57

Right.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

But but y your your health underpins everything, you know. That when at what point are you gonna realise that the health is the thing that needs the the the action?

SPEAKER_03 31:08

Yeah how this is a this could be a big question of which I know So how do we help people accept themselves?

SPEAKER_02 31:26

I I I I again I think it's about um changing reframing things, isn't it? So it's it's about changing the way that we talk to ourselves. Okay. And I think women are particularly bad at that, to be honest. Um I think um I I had one client who thought that she needed to improve herself all the time. That's what she did. Self-help books, loads of you know, courses, anything that she could get hold of because she wanted to be better. But what and it it was probably one of the most moving clients I've had actually, that because after about four sessions, things shifted completely and became it became very emotional, but but that was because it was a realization that she didn't need to be anybody else, she didn't need to be better, she was perfect as she was, but she needed to accept herself and make changes in a life that would underpin the person that she is, you know? Yeah. Um so it's it's it i it's teaching people to accept themselves, but also helping them to to be on a a better, healthier path, I suppose.

SPEAKER_03 32:40

Yeah, and and I think it's I think it is important, isn't it, that someone and I think for me anyway, listening to what you're saying, you know, what resonates for me is that that's the environment of which a coach can help. Because, you know, sometimes when we whatever you want to describe it, peel down the layers of the onion or whatever, actually what we're getting to is something, you know, we have this surface level issue that we are blaming or thinking is the problem. But actually once we start to, you know, let's lean into the the name of the part, we unlock other parts of us.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_03 33:21

We actually realise probably what is the root cause or the core of it. And I agree, I think you know, that can be quite emotional part to be too, which obviously, if it's an emotional, it can also add resistance, can't it? Because people can go, well, actually, I don't really want to go there. But you know, the power of seeing people come to that realisation, you know, selfishly as a coach, it's like one of those things when you see people have those moments, those light bulb moments, and they go, you go, Oh, something's going on there, aren't they? And they're like, Yeah, that's that's brought something up for me then. So I think they're really nice moments, and it you know, it's helping people, isn't it, get to that point.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:02

And would you say then getting to that point helps them, that long-term sustainable change? Because I know that's something you're really passionate about, aren't you? It's not just, you know, all right, eat a bit better or sleep a bit better, but it's actually creating those healthier habits.

SPEAKER_02 34:18

I don't think you can get to that long-term sustainable change until you've sort of found that core person or that core being that you that you are, because you've got to accept that and you've got to accept the boundaries and the environment and everything around you and make the changes that you need to within those things to be able to make long-term change because you you've got to make it so that it works in your life, yeah. So you've first got to unpack your life a little bit, I suppose, haven't you? Yeah, yeah. Because you've got you've got to say, well, these are the things within my life, these are the things that aren't working, these are the things that are working, these are the things I can capitalise on because I know that they work in other areas. How can I bring these things that work really well in other areas into the areas that aren't working so well? Like what skills do I have that are going to help these areas? And then you you optimise your environment, I think.

SPEAKER_03 35:12

Um yeah, it's interesting to say because that that was the bit that was resonating for me thinking, you know, once we've learned to accept, there's a you know, and I guess I'd gone to thinking, you know, it's all of a sudden if I'm in a if I'm in a family dynamics relationship, friend groups, whatever other relationships people have got in the world, and I'm my habits are mirrored by others or accepted by others, and then I start to change, you know, it's about then how do I if I start to learn to accept myself, how do we get other people to or uh surround myself with people that are going to support me on my journey as well, aren't I? Which I think leans into the environment piece that you were saying.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

100% because it's really difficult, isn't it? Because if you if you want to start eating healthily, but you've got a family that likes takeaways, or exactly um, you know, you're surrounded by people who are negative or who don't support your your your growth or your health journey, that's really really difficult. And that's something that you then have to learn to navigate in a different way because you're not going to change those people. Yeah. So you've got to you've got to place yourself within that world with a new a new a new understanding of your place in that world and and and confidence to be yourself um within that world, but be different. And I I know my my son's godson, a godfather, in fact, he didn't drink, he didn't drink alcohol when he was at school, you know, in the older years when they were all going out. And at first he got laughed at, you know, he got the Mickey taken, but eventually people accepted that that was just who he was. He didn't want to drink alcohol and he was just as much fun, and he was he was a great guy, and it wasn't something to be um laughed at, you know. And I think that you've got to have the confidence to just roll with the punches for a little while and just assert your place in that environment.

SPEAKER_03 37:09

And I think so, and and I think that happens in adults, you know. I've got lots of friends of mine that don't drink. And if we're out on a night out and they are having a non-alcoholic beer, or oh, what's the point of that? What's what you're or if they're having a glass of coke or something, they're like, You're not even having one beer. There's almost uh the ridicule that rolls with it, don't you? And I think so. Having that ability to, as you say, stay strong under the peer pressure of things.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:38

And even when I guess if you are making healthier habits, healthier choices, and you're going out for meals, you know, there is the oh, just have a night off from that. You know, there are there is external pressures that I think a lot of people do face, don't they?

SPEAKER_02 37:54

When they're yeah, but it's amazing how people will if you stick to it, how people will start to look at it differently too, you know. And if you if you're in a restaurant and you say, Oh, do you mind if I have that but without the sauce? and you start to bring different ways of making meals together, then um people see that differently and they they stop eventually, you know.

SPEAKER_03 38:14

It's not no, but I think that's what it is, but you've got to ride the you know you've got to ride the storm. You have haven't yet that's a really important that we we talk about because yeah, I think a lot of people start with good intentions and then and again I was just thinking, you know, that round that environment that sometimes you can be really good, and I'm sure if they're working with you, they're in a really supportive space and they've probably got some both, you know, but then moving into different environments, yeah. You know, that the challenges are still out there, isn't it? And it's how we and again it's that piece of how we change ourselves and how we accept ourselves of and comfortable who we are. So when we do go into those things, we are confident enough to turn around and go, Oh, I'm cool with who I am. Yeah, and if I want my sauce on the side, I'm gonna have my sauce on the side, and you can have your source covered all over whatever, but I'm cool with who I am.

SPEAKER_02 39:00

Well, that's about identity, isn't it? That's about being the person. So instead of saying, you know, I want to be a healthy person, you embody that you say I am a healthy person, and so it doesn't really matter what happens on the outside or what tries to knock you knock you off your path, you are a healthy person, so therefore you do the actions of a healthy person, right? Yeah, it's the same with anything. If you identify as, you know, I am a good dad, yeah, then you act as a good dad. Yeah, it's true though. Yeah, you don't want to be a good dad.

SPEAKER_03 39:32

But but but again, yeah, and that and yeah, you've you you resonated with something that made me smiling because I think that is certainly my that is my definite identity, and it's also something that all the decisions I make through my lifestyle choices, my health choices, my work choices revolve around that. Yeah, you know, so I'm very comfortable. So how we even eat and cook at home, I see it as yes, I I enjoy to be healthy, I enjoy to I'm prepared to sit and cook fresh and cut vegetables and all those kind of things. But subliminally, I'm hoping Isabel's looking and going, you know, everything, you know, we're not just getting, and there's nothing wrong with it if you want to get a sauce out of a cupboard. I choose to show that everything we made is fresh and we eat well because I think it's important, especially because I spent my whole life telling people to make good choices. I think it'd be ironic at home if I wasn't doing the same thing. You know, I take her to the gym, I train with her, she comes exercising with me because again, one, and I will say this out loud, it's also accountability to me because if I've worked all day and I'm tired and she comes home from school, won't we go in the gym? I can't go, oh no, I'm tired of having a tough day. I've got to go. Oh god, she's keeping me accountable, which is helpful to me, but also you know, she sees we're working out two, three times a week. So I'm hoping, and you can only hope, you know, by being that person that she some of those habits then rub off that then when she goes to become an adult, you know, she makes smarter choices and more intelligent choices. She might not, and it all might backfire, and we're looking we'll we're having a giggle about that in a few years' time on part two of this. But you know, and I think that I think it's important because I you know, hopefully we're building that environment around us, which you know that only comes from myself and how hopefully I can influence others in my environment.

SPEAKER_02 41:30

And the same thing applies to workplaces, you know, it's not just home, it's you you're creating an environment in a workplace. Is that also helping people to be the best that they can possibly be? Or is that um stopping them from achieving their full potential? You know, it's exactly the same.

SPEAKER_03 41:48

So kind of brilliant caveat into the next part of this pod. Brilliant. Lovely, lovely, brilliant better than I would have done it. But on that, so you know, I think I think we've covered some really good ground things, some really nice things about one, what health coach is and how we can obviously get the best out of ourselves and what we can do, and I think there's a lot about that, but then if you're like say getting the best out of others, so work environments and stuff, and that's a big part of what you do. So can you just explore that a little bit around this because it I think it is that isn't it? That you know I talk around my environment at home, but in in a work situation, it's how do we encourage the people around us to make healthy habits because I want them to be, you know, for for reasons, I want them to be optimal.

SPEAKER_02 42:38

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_03 42:38

Because I want them to be well, I want them because if they're well and healthy, one part of me from a leader, yeah, I want them to turn up to work, yeah. I want them to deliver the best service they possibly can. So I want to create an environment where they feel that they can eat healthy, they've got time to eat, they've got time to rest, they can have a drink, they can have a cup of tea or a coffee when they need to have it. So, in your experience of what you do, you know, what what could people be potentially doing within a workplace, or how could we encourage some more?

SPEAKER_02 43:07

I think um living it and not just giving lip service to it is is really important. Um I think workplace wellness is is is more than just you know a fruit bowl in the in the kitchen or um lunchtime awareness session. In fact, lunch lunchtime sessions that that almost says, you know, um employee well-being isn't really important because we're doing it in your lunchtime. Okay, yeah, yeah. So there's a that's quite an important shift. Interesting. Um it's it's about creating an environment where people feel comfortable, feel empowered, don't absorb the stresses. And if the stresses are becoming too much, then they have a pathway where they can go to manage that. And also, I think you know, you don't stop being human when you go to work.

SPEAKER_00 43:57

No.

SPEAKER_02 43:57

You still, if you've got lack of sleep. Stress at home, then that's going to come into the workplace with you. Well, how does that is there any help for that in the workplace? Is there understanding of that in the workplace? Because ultimately that's going to affect performance, that's going to affect decision making, it's going to affect how you lead, right? So if you have a culture that says we're supportive, we'll do what we can to help, then I think that the person feels safer.

SPEAKER_03 44:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:24

And when a person feels safe, then they are more likely to recover. But if they're then, you know, you've got to get this done, you've got to get this done. If there's more pressure put upon them, then they're going to really struggle to recover and and and make good decisions, really.

SPEAKER_03 44:40

Oh massively, because I think that's we've got and we've got to understand where people are that, you know. I mean people listen to this. I don't know how many people they might have in their office. But we if we don't understand where they're at, you know, they could have young kids that have kept them awake all night. So that you know, they're gonna arrive and they've probably had very little sleep or very disturbed sleep. Yeah. So we all know the power of sleep and the kind of effects that can have. It might be, you know, just thinking of my own world and my own friends who've got ill parents and and you know, sort of different, you know, for people might have kids at one end where they're like going, oh my god, keeping them awake, but the other end they've got parents that they're you know, they're finishing work and they're they're jotting off to see them, the parents, and making sure they're looking after them, or keeping an eye on them, or you know, worrying about them at night. There's lots of things, isn't it, that goes on and it affects the way we turn up.

SPEAKER_02 45:32

Because they they call that the sandwich generation, right? That that um you've got kids on the one side and you've got elderly parents on the other, so you're in the middle and you're holding everything together. And I think for women in particular, um that becomes a a bit of a problem because it also then coincides with the menopause often.

SPEAKER_03 45:49

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 45:49

Um, and at the that point where where that happens, then you're trying to make changes in your life or you're trying to get things done, but but your body's fighting against you in some ways because you're going through changes that are making things a lot harder to to cope with. Stress becomes different, stress actually impacts on um the hormone uh creates hormone imbalance, you know, it or it it adds to hormone imbalance, and the hormone imbalance fuels the stress. Yeah, so you get a bit of a double whammy in midlife. So um it's another thing that that employers have to understand that um women are gonna go through changes and they're gonna be going through difficulties, you know, they're gonna get hot flushes, they're gonna get um brain fog, they're gonna get things that um can't just be um managed out of them, if you like. There's got to be some awareness of that, and I think education within the workplace is really important, and doing workplace well-being sessions is really important because it takes them through, you know, how do I cope with stress in the workplace? How do I cope with stress at home? How do I eat better for nutrition sake so that you know in the afternoon I'm not running in on empty and I can I can feel like I can get through my day. You know, it's it's it's such a big area, but it's one that that isn't yet being looked at necessarily.

SPEAKER_03 47:12

Well, that was a question that was kind of resonating in my head of where do we sit with this in your experience? Because I where I was sitting, I think there's lots of stuff that's changed, isn't it? So there's the awareness piece, I think people are getting better. And I don't know if you'll challenge that or not, but certainly I would hope that and I think sitting here as a male, we're more aware of it existing, especially you know, and that but also as I understand it, and I'm certainly not going to get into this depth conversation, I'll let you take the lead on this, but certainly going into knowing that a lot of women that start with the symptoms are navigating their own what's going on for me, what works for me, what you know, and so they're almost having to re-learn a different version to accept as well.

SPEAKER_02 48:01

Is that yeah, but often they don't know that what's happening.

SPEAKER_03 48:04

Well, that's I guess my point they know there's a change, it might be like you say, the brain fog thing of going, I don't feel as clear. So there's there's this misunderstanding of what's going on for them. Is it lack of sleep? Is it busyness? Is it hormonal change? Is it part of the world? But then there's the whole thing of going, okay, so what do I need to do differently to allow me to function a little bit better? It's trying to work that piece out, so it's navigating that piece, and then it's being comfortable with the environment. I know, keep comfortable with the environment that you know, as an employer or a leader, that you're that someone can have the confidence and belief to turn around and go, I don't know what's going on with me, but yeah, I feel less clear clear of this, you know, and so there's a level of understanding because I think that clarity of conversation can be helpful, can't it?

SPEAKER_02 48:52

Yes, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:54

And then there's a trust of going, okay, well, if you're doing all you can, and when as an environment we're trying to create a supportive environment to allow you to find and navigate that.

SPEAKER_00 49:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:04

So I'm just curious then with that, is where do we in your experience of the work you do, how how good are we getting?

SPEAKER_02 49:12

Awareness is there. Yeah, okay. Awareness is definitely there, but awareness is is different to action, I suppose. Okay. So I think some some companies are really trying now. Right, good. Um, but I think there needs to be more. I think there needs to be it's not a tick box. Yeah. It's not, you know, yeah, we're doing well in this. As I said, you know, you've we've put a bit of fruit out, and um we've, you know, I don't know, we've got yoga at lunchtime or something. Yeah, I don't know. But it it's it's much more than that. It's making um the workforce feel empowered, I think, to be well and to feel confident at work that their health is being looked after. Yeah. And I you you know, some companies do that really, really well, and people feel good in their environment, don't they? But there are so many companies that aren't yet doing that.

SPEAKER_03 49:59

And does that align with then if the company is attempting to do that, then the responsibility also comes down to the individual to take that as well, can't they? Do you understand? So if you're feeling less good, you could lean into it and say, Well, I'm not working because I feel like this, but it comes back to that acceptance of who we are and taking responsibility for yourself as well. Does that do you under mean by that? So I know I'm not no okay. Let me explain myself a bit better. Because I think, you know, we can create an environment where we can support people, but still the person's gotta take the responsibility to take the action, isn't it? It's all great saying, Oh, I've got, you know, I feel a bit brain fogged, but the the so what piece comes okay. So what what do we need to do to support you and what actions are you gonna take to support yourself? 100%.

SPEAKER_02 50:45

Yeah, sorry.

SPEAKER_03 50:46

It's cool, it's cool.

SPEAKER_02 50:47

Yeah, I was thinking articulate myself, um no, I think I think that's absolutely right, but it comes down again to education. Yeah, correct. So that person accepting that they have responsibility and agency and not blaming their environment because uh I think you know, often disgruntled employees, people that aren't very happy in what they're doing, yeah, they will blame the environment. Um, and there's a balance again, isn't there, where they have to accept that that that they can also make changes, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:19

Yeah, and and I think it the the word balance seems to always sit in a lot of these conversations because I think we've got to, you know, it's that we'll meet you halfway and we can give you all the tools to do, and then how do you do that? But I I I really I like the point of going. I think if we can create an environment as a leader or a business owner that people feel safe to do stuff, they are more likely then to kind of do that on me. Whereas if you if there's an environment where you don't feel sporting and safe.

SPEAKER_02 51:48

But also you you know yourself, if if you feel empowered, if you like a brand that um really gives you what you need, uh and you really feel um a loyalty to that brand. It's the same with it's the same with workplace, right? If they if you feel that you're being looked after, if your human needs, you know, look at Maslow's hierarchy, if you're yeah, if you're getting looked at at work in that kind of in in that kind of way, then you're gonna feel a loyalty to that company and you're less likely to go moving on because you know you're not you're not feeling valued. So um it it's it's it's interesting because you would think it would be a no-brainer that if you look after your employees, they're gonna stay. But I think you know, businesses are busy busy running businesses, so it's not necessarily something that they can easily slot in, but it is something that they need to start to do a bit more consistently, I think.

SPEAKER_03 52:42

I think so, and you know, and I probably don't spend as much time on this topic as you, so I'll I'll sit from an outside observer looking in. Certainly from what I've seen, there's there's been a change, and I agree. I think people are becoming more aware of you know that actually the more I think people come more as leaders becoming aware of we need to but get better ourselves, and you know, certainly people on this podcast have said to us that you know strong leaders have got to like 50, and they they have been males, let's put it out there, that have said, and I've got to 50 and realised actually I'm not as fit as I should be. My lifestyle isn't really good, so I need to now optimize myself. But what that's then is then they've looked at themselves and gone, hold on a minute, I need to be incorporating these further down the lines. Well, what we're saying, going back to where we started this conversation, we can actually be proactive from the back. We don't have to, you know, if you're a leader listening to this, you don't have to get to the point of you getting stressed and unwell for you to think, oh, I can be proactive in myself, but also if I apply that same lens to my team and how do I create a proactive and how do I support each and every person in my organisation, and how can I help support them feel optimal, then there is there is an element where that loyalty and how people turn up to work is going to be better as well, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 54:06

Of course, and also you think about what that does for a team as well. If you if you know you're all singing from the same hymn sheet, you're all in that supportive environment, you're all feeling the need to um look after each other's health, look after create an environment where people feel safe and supported, then your your team cohesion is better.

SPEAKER_03 54:24

And uh, you know, we talk a lot about in organizations that psychological safety part of what we develop, and I think it's very easy to put lip service to that, isn't it? I think that you were saying before. But actually, an action is if we're actually actioning and we're actually looking at going, okay, so what truly will make you all feel optimal at work, that is a really good action point to say actually they do care about us, so therefore, you know, the cohesion is better, isn't it? Because that environment, that culture comes from it.

SPEAKER_02 54:51

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_03 54:53

I love it. Before we start moving into advice for the listeners, is there anything that regarding either optimising ourselves or optimising team that we haven't really covered that you feel is appropriate?

SPEAKER_02 55:09

Oh now.

SPEAKER_03 55:11

You can't say no.

SPEAKER_02 55:12

No, my brain was just shut down as soon as you started to speak it, my brain shut down.

SPEAKER_03 55:17

I do that to a lot of people don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_02 55:19

Um if it if there is, it'll come to me in a second.

SPEAKER_03 55:22

Okay. Because I'm conscious that look, I mean, this I'm conscious of our listeners that you know we've promised them an hour podcast, and I don't, you know, I'm there's about 42,000 questions that I've got that love to delve into. So we there could be definitely a part. No, I think there's a part two if I want to do this, because it there's lots of things I I'd like to explore. I think if we could just start to put it in for listeners to wrap it up, if there were kind of three practical things that we, you know, and it might be those small little steps that you talked about at the start that we think listeners could begin with. What would those, what would some of those three things be?

SPEAKER_02 56:01

Um, well, I knew you were going to ask this, so I did I did have a bit of a think about it. But I think it's you know, we s we talked about being honest earlier and and having a really honest check-in with yourself and saying, How am I? But that's not just how am I, it's how am I really, isn't it? How am I really? Actually, you know, what's going on with me. Um and not how I'm performing, but how am I actually doing? And what can I what can I change about what I'm doing if it's if it's not working the way that I want it to? Um so another thing that you can do is choose a habit that would make the most difference and something that you can repeat on every day, and every day of normal life, not every day of some beautiful imaginary life that you think you might lead. But on a specific on a normal day that you're leading, what change can you repeat? Because it's only habits that are repeatable that will make the change, you know. You you know really well. Um, and you've got to make it small enough that you'll genuinely, genuinely enjoy doing it. Because if you make it too big, you're not gonna carry on. But if you make it small enough, you'll carry it on, you can build on it. You've got to standardize it before you can optimise it. So as soon as you that's not me, that's James Clear. I don't, I don't we're keeping that in now, that's good. It's so good, I think it's so brilliant because you can't just go, you know, we we do have these huge, ugly messages that we say to ourselves, I'm gonna be healthy, it's too big. And you can't get to that optimal, you can't get to that optimized outcome until you've standardise the little steps that you need to take. So you take one step, you do it well, you build on it, you build on it, you build on it, and soon you're running a marathon, you know.

SPEAKER_03 57:49

I can't ever see me running a marathon, but I'm with you, yeah. I know the analogy, you know, it's good. Yeah, yeah. My thing of that is if you're trying to get steps in, just get a Labrador because you've got no choice, but people do it as well. Well, there's a little bit of that, but it someone always said to me when we were talking about getting steps in, and they were like, 'Oh, I will struggle to get my steps in.' I went, Oh, no problem. I said, 'I could fix that really, really quickly.' And they went, 'Oh, how would you do that?' I went, I'll end you my dog. And I went, because twice in every single day, when you're out pounding the streets, you'll definitely eat 10,000 steps in. They're like, All right. Yeah, but yeah, they come with an awful lot of other responsibility rather than the walk. So no, I'll get that. No, I like that. And I think and I think it is nice that standardised to optimise. I think that you know, James Clinton may have said it, but you articulated it very well. So I think we can give you some credit for that as well. Um, oh nice. Any other practical things that I know you were quite prepared for this before I move on.

SPEAKER_02 58:46

I've got loads. I've got loads of things. Well, give us one more.

SPEAKER_03 58:49

What would one more be?

SPEAKER_02 58:51

Um, I think if life feels out of control, then start with one thing that will help you feel more in charge of your next choice. So life does, you know, it does throw us curveballs, and sometimes we can feel really overwhelmed. Um, you can't you can't change all that, but you can start to bring that control back, make one choice, um, that one change that will make you feel more in charge of what happens next of your next choice. So I think really I think all of it can be summarized in in terms of breaking things down into small parts. You you you know, you can't eat an elephant all in one go, can you? You've you've got to break it down into small chunks, and it's the same with change. And I think um what health coaching does is help people move from the knowledge that they have to making those changes. It's it's bridging that knowledge gap and it's by helping them make small changes, start new habits, but in a way that's manageable, in a way that's repeatable and doable.

SPEAKER_03 59:55

I love that. What's one principle you wish every leader understood?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:02

Um that you can't separate well-being from performance for very long. Yeah. Because people will be stressed and people will function whilst they're stressed. That's a fact, because we've all done it. Yeah, 100%, yeah. But there will be a point where the stress overtakes them. So and at that point performance will suffer. So if you're not looking after your employees' well-being, then what you talked about earlier, um, the performance, um, their ability to show up for work will suffer, and then your company suffers. So you can't you can't separate well-being from performance, you just can't.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:48

I think that's such an important message. I'm glad you've made it because you articulate it a lot better than I was. So just thinking about, you know, we've the there's been quite a lot of depth this conversation, and I think there'll be a lot, there's loads of insights that certainly when we listen back will resonate a lot with me and a lot of the you know. I think we're very aligned in how we view the world. That's the compliment, by the way. I don't know if you take I don't know if you take that the same way. Yeah, I always I always play that out. So, you know, thinking about action. I know we've talked around some, but if we had to take some of these insight into action, again, what could we encourage other people to be doing or people listening to do with with some of these things?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:36

Is there anything else that kind of resonates with I th I think it's it's don't be hard on yourself, but you know, um you are human and you you've got to be gentle with yourself. You've got you you you can't just overhaul everything. You know, you you've got to go back to the basics and look at what you can change gently, um, because that's the only way that it's gonna work over the long term. But just be gentle with yourself, be kind to yourself and stop the negative self-talk. So reframe things, not you know, why is this happening to me? But what can I do to change this? Um so maybe start there, maybe start by reframing the the the talk that you tell yourself.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:24

My addition to that I would say, and if you are listening to this and feel that all right, well that's easier said than done, then maybe that leads to my next question of where people can find you.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:37

I love that segue, that's very good. Um so I can be found at wellhealth.uk. Yeah. I can be found on social media.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:47

Um we will put all these links in the notes as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:51

Yeah, yeah. And so I offer one-to-one sessions, group programs, and um workplace well-being.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:00

Nice. Um what are you working on next? What can people be looking at for the work you're doing?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:06

Um, I've got a group programme running in Clitheroe. Awesome starting next week. Okay. Um, and then we'll be opening up some more online group programs as well, which are really good because um there's accountability, there's support. Nice, there's people that are at the same stage of life and understand the pressures. Um, so it's uh a really supportive safe space.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:30

Perfect. So again, once those links are in, if you want to share them and we can we can share them. Is there one final challenge you'd like to set our audience? Oh no. Um we love setting action and challenges on this pod, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:43

Um follow me, join my group. Ah, yes, I've got a Facebook group, you can join the Facebook group, um, which is the midlife health reset, I think. Um so that that is what I that's my framework, is the midlife reset.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:59

Um yeah, that's so it doesn't beep because Nick got mad at just so don't worry. So well listen, it's been lovely. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. I really, really appreciate um a conversation. And thank you for your time. Thank you, Andrew. It's been lovely. Yeah, thank you.