Most of us want to take care of our physical and mental health and one of the simplest ways of doing so is to recharge our batteries as much as possible. This means taking some well-earned rest and time for ourselves, stepping away from life’s pressures and doing something that we love and having a mental and physical rest.

Recharging your batteries is an essential way to eliminate stress and overwhelm from your life, and to remove the build-up of pressure that modern living brings.

Charles Duhigg in his book “The Power of Habit“ coined the phrase keystone habit. These small habits lead to routines that can impact unintentionally other areas of our lives. They are according to Duhigg, “they are that central stone in an arch which locks the whole structure together.”

How many of us have had one of those nights when we just lie there, looking at the ceiling with thoughts ruminating around our heads and unable to turn them off? Nearly all of us will have experienced this at some time or another but for many people, this is a common problem that causes them to have night after night of broken sleep.

We all have goals that we want to achieve in life, whether it is to purchase your dream home, find your ideal partner, reach your ideal weight or attain your perfect career, goals that we set ourselves propel us forward to gaining bigger and better rewards in life.

How often do we wish happiness on other people? Birthdays, weddings, the birth of a child. obtaining a great job or just signing off from work at the weekend. For most of us, granting other people happiness comes automatically and with real sincerity. Why then do we find it so hard to grant ourselves happiness?

Are you tired of you, of who you are and what you are doing? Do you wake up dissatisfied even though you may have the “good life” that we are all told is what we should be aiming for? Do you have a nagging feeling that you want something else, that there is something missing in your life but you don’t know what it is?

We generally tend to spend a lot of our lives working on automatic thoughts. You don’t think, “I will get up in the morning and go to work”, instead you just do. The same with getting dressed, showering, having your breakfast or locking your front door. These are all actions that the brain just does automatically without you needing to think about them. The brain works from habits, habits learned over a long period of time. In the main these automatic thoughts help us in our day to day activities they save us time and aid our progress throughout the day.

Building habits and sticking to them can be tricky. I am sure that most of us at some time or another have set out with the best of intentions when it comes to starting a new routine, giving something up, exercising more, eating or drinking less, only to break the habit almost as soon as it has started. Why is it that we find setting good habits and sticking to them so difficult?

Do you know what you will be doing in 5 years’ time? How about 5 months’ time? Tomorrow? Does it matter if you have no clue as to where your life is heading and what you want to be doing with it? The answer is yes if you want to succeed in life, if you want to grow and progress and see yourself flourish and live life to the full.

Goal setting is there for you to get the best out of life. Without goals in front of you, you will lack focus and drive. Goal setting gives you not only the impetus to get out there and do something, but it also gives you structure and determination.

Let’s be honest no matter how we sugar coat it, it isn’t easy getting older, and the big milestones, seem even more daunting. Changes that occur in our body can make us start to think about ageing and our own mortality. Those little aches and pains we get, joint stiffness when we move, and our eyesight deteriorating can all be depressing signs that we are getting older.

Newly divorced, separated or bereaved and starting your life again on your own can be overwhelming. All of the couples things that you used to take for granted, dining out, holidays, always having a plus one may now have ended but that doesn’t mean that your life has. Navigating through can certainly have its hard moments but there are ways that you can get through and come out much stronger.

Life coaches work with you to clarify your goals and ambitions and to set plans for them to be realised. During your sessions, they can identify any obstacles that may set you back and can give you tools to motivate and keep you on track. They will identify strengths and weaknesses, gifts and talents that you can use to change your situation and become the person that you want to be.

One thing that we all need to be aware of in life, is that there are going to be times when it really sucks, times when we seem to just keep getting knocked down and don’t seem to be able to get up. These feelings are going to happen to everyone at some time in life, no one will escape them. Life is all about positive and negative experiences. What we need to know is how to deal with them when it happens, how to face up to living when it feels like you are falling apart.

As the year ends and a new start is just around the corner, it is traditionally a time that many of us start thinking about making changes in our lives, goal setting and developing positive intentions for the coming year. On average a quarter of the population will make new year resolutions, resolutions such as to lose weight, quit smoking reduce drinking, exercise more, live a healthier lifestyle, improve relationships, get a better job, set new goals and start relaxing more.

People are naturally more optimistic at the beginning of the new year, it’s a fresh start and they fully believe that they will stick to the resolutions and goals that they have set and will accomplish them. Despite all these grand plans and ideas though only a small number of people will achieve their goals, with the majority of people giving up before the month of January is out.

Anchors can also be used metaphorically by coaches with clients during NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) sessions when they are experiencing stress or anxiety, want to appear more confident, or want to change learned behaviour from a negative into a positive. These anchors are usually external stimuli, that when applied can trigger an internal response or feeling. If you thought of your own anchors for instance, how do you feel if you hear a particular piece of music that reminds you of a favourite time or a smell that reminds you of a loved one? Or think about an alarm going off and it may bring back memories of stress or fear.

The brain is a complex organ in the body and can work either for us or against us. Much of how we live our lives is governed entirely by the thoughts that we have in our brain, from socializing to what job we do, to where we live and what we wear, we listen to the thoughts that our brain sends us, and act on them.

It isn’t just people who suffer from SAD (seasonally adjusted disorder) who suffer from winter blues. For many people, the winter months can prove to be a source of unhappiness and lethargy, that can leave them feeling depressed, unmotivated, and unhealthy. With shorter days, less natural light, and colder weather it can mean that even the most positive person can have days where they feel a bit blah!!

We all know the scenario, you wake up and before you even check your clock, you know that it’s going to be 3.00 am and that you will then spend the next hour or so, tossing and turning, trying to get back to sleep, all the while your brain will be ruminating on all of the things that you really don’t want to be thinking about. Everyone will have been in this situation at some time or another but why does it happen? And what can we do to stop it from becoming a regular pattern?

Even though we now live in an age where we have more time-saving devices than ever before, many of us never have enough time and the time that we do have is spent in a whirlwind. The time-saving devices have meant that we take on more and more commitments and, as a result, our lives have become more hectic.

Instead of revelling in having more quality time to enjoy doing what we love, we often find ourselves bemoaning the fact that we don’t have enough time which leaves many of us stressed and unhappy.

Who remembers sitting in their bedroom when they were younger, writing in their diary. Writing down all of that was going on in life; who said what, who did what, and most importantly, how you felt about it all.

Childhood diaries encapsulated our personalities; stickers of our favourite pop stars. actors or celebrities, written in multi-coloured ink with drawings inside; or diaries with a lock and key so nosey siblings couldn't go peeking to see what had been written.