Imagine if you could follow your ambition without drowning in it – how much more fulfilling life would be? That’s what Pause Purpose Play is all about – finding balance over burnout by setting you free from needing to be perfect, so that you can take action and get started with what matters to you, instead of getting stuck in procrastination and holding yourself back with self-limiting beliefs your inner critic tells you. In this podcast, Michaela Thomas, Clinical Psychologist, Couples Therapist and founder of The Thomas Connection, shares bite-sized learning around psychology of performance, habits, self-confidence, stress, anxiety, perfectionism, parenthood and couples relationships. The podcast will mix solo episodes with guest interviews; diving deep into their professional zone of genius and learning about how they have found pause, purpose and play in their life and in their work. My new book, The Lasting Connection, is available now from all good bookshops.
Episodes
Thursday Oct 01, 2020
Thursday Oct 01, 2020
In this episode, I talk to Executive Coach and founder of Wisdom for Working Mums, Nicky Lowe about when her body told her in no uncertain terms to pause. She experienced burnout in a corporate career, following her high standards and need for striving.
Nicky is a qualified and accredited Executive Coach who is an advocate for achievement orientated, motivated, ambitious women who also want to be amazing mums. She's spent the last 15 years being invited by some of the world’s largest organisations to support their leaders as an executive coach. Many of these are working mums and this led her to contribute to the book “Mentoring for Working Parents” based on her experience. As a busy working mum of 2 she knows only too well the challenges of combining motherhood with the work that fulfils her. Her passion is helping women combine their work and motherhood in a successful and sustainable way - without losing their sanity or wellbeing!
03:30 Nicky finding herself trapped as a ‘corporate prisoner’ and retraining as a coach
05:45 Hitting a brick wall of exhaustion as a new mum - adrenal fatigue
09:30 How Nicky turned a painful episode into a life change
14:30 Finding the balance between motherhood and work on our own terms
20:00 Consciously choosing to pause as an ambitious woman
21:20 Redefining self worth away from productivity
24:45 What Nicky does to rest and recover
29:30 Recalibrating needs as circumstances change
32:15 How Nicky allows herself to play
35:40 Finding joy in imperfect play
Website: www.wisdomforworkingmums.co.uk
Instagram: www.instagram.com/nicky_wisdomforworkingmums/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wisdomforworkingmums/
Thursday Sep 24, 2020
Thursday Sep 24, 2020
This episode focuses on how a lack of problem-solving can get you stuck going around in circles in your life, and your relationship, but even if you’re not in a relationship, this episode is still for you. I will tell you about getting started, continuing and completing problem-solving, guiding you through a step by step approach to productive problem solving, if you stay with me to the end of the episode. I know you have lots to do, but if you keep addressing your problems the wrong way, you’ll have even less time to do those things.
You can't solve your problems when you're overwhelmed, exhausted and stuck.
- Hands up if you've kept going in an argument with your partner long after any chance of resolving things.
- Hands up if you've kept thinking about something you NEED to solve, and it just goes around and around in your head.
- Hands up if you feel so overwhelmed and anxious by the problem that you don't even START to find a resolution.
- Hands up if you often don't even notice how much time you've wasted on trying to figure something out.
Imagine how your relationship would be if you could approach your problems together.
Thursday Sep 17, 2020
Thursday Sep 17, 2020
In this episode, I talk to actor, personal branding coach and host of Dreaming and Doing podcast, Nicky Raby, about her career, how we find the courage to pause and reflect on what we want from our careers. We touch on making mistakes in business and finding play through flexibility. And we finish with Nicky's one piece of advice for you.
Nicky is a huge advocate of the portfolio career; she’s an actor, personal branding coach, writer and speaker. She is passionate about supporting other women (and men!) to create a business and life that defines their version of success. She trained at Mountview and continues to enjoy a thriving career across theatre, television, film and commercial work. She has worked with Stylist Magazine, Nat West, MTV, Google to name a few.
Her podcast ‘Dreaming and Doing with Nicky Raby’ regularly features on the top 100 business podcasts on iTunes and is heard worldwide. She has worked with over 1000 clients to help them consolidate their personal brand and become visible so they can do more of what they love and get paid for it.
She has a son and a daughter and lives in London.
03:00 - The power of a portfolio career
05:41 - How Nicky has navigated the mindset behind self-promotion
08:30 - Allowing yourself to be a work in progress
12:00 - The limiting beliefs of ‘enough’
14:14 - Handling criticism in your career
18:46 - Achieving success without burnout
22:15 - How does Nicky pause? - pausing through movement
26:16 - Doing more of what you love
29:35 - Making mistakes in business
33:55 - Finding play in her work - flexibility
38:48 - Investing in yourself
44:08 - Nicky’s gift for the audience - finding the right answers
Website: www.nickyraby.com/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/nickyraby
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nickyraby/
Thursday Sep 03, 2020
Thursday Sep 03, 2020
A tricky lesson from Eastern philosophy is about the impermanence of things, of how everything changes rather than stays the same. This is a hard pill to swallow in the Western world, where we focus so much of our time and efforts around chasing and clinging onto happiness.
Especially now, as we have spent almost half a year in the global pandemic of the Corona virus.
But these lessons are valid regardless of what pain or hardship we find ourselves in.
Join Michaela Thomas this week, as she talks about how hard it is to just let things be as they are, and reminds us that this too shall pass. Then join in with an exercise to Stop the Struggle.
Thursday Aug 27, 2020
Thursday Aug 27, 2020
In this episode, Natalie Costa, performance coach, author and founder of Power Thoughts, talks about how we support our children’s emotional wellbeing, to build greater confidence and resilience by noticing their inner critic and also sitting with their big feelings.
We end this episode thinking about how we can support children returning back to school in September, after the Coronavirus crisis.
Natalie Costa provides a teaching and coaching service designed to give children the ‘power’ over their own thoughts. With a background in psychology and having spent 12 years within the educational sector as well as becoming an accredited Performance Coach, Power Thoughts was born - which blends her past experience and deep understanding of children and their needs, now providing them with the tools to help them cope and thrive in the modern world.
Natalie has been featured in national press and TV, such as Stella Magazine, BBC Breakfast, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph and Good Morning Britain and had co-authored two books called "Find your Power" and "Stretch your Confidence”.
3:50 – Natalie’s busy mind, and what she does to take a break from productivity
7:02 – Switching off through pausing and being still, versus switching off with creativity
10:20 – Rewriting the belief that it has to be hard work to be successful
12:04 – Finding purpose, fulfilment and opportunity in an evolving start up business
15:30 – Helping children to be aware of their internal dialogue, their inner critic
18:10 – Becoming mindful of Big Feelings, locating them in the body
19:54 – The power of breath and Take Five Breathing exercise
21:45 – The internal weather report of feelings, to get the power back and self-soothe
24:39 – How we create purpose and meaning for children, what lights you up?
28:35 – Working on our own confidence and inner critic alongside our children
29:40 – Coping with negative thoughts with the compassionate voice we use with friends
33:20 – The power of modelling to our children all the feelings, not trying to be perfect
35:16 – Returning to school after COVID-19, having done the best you could in a crisis
37:40 – The life lessons from lockdown around resilience, adaptation and dealing with grief
41:10 – The importance of play for both adults and children, helping them soothe feelings
Website: https://www.powerthoughts.co.uk/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/powerthoughtsbync
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/powerthoughtsnataliecosta
Friday Aug 07, 2020
Friday Aug 07, 2020
It's hard to get started. When we fear something, we are more likely to procrastinate. The inner critical voice shows up and has an opinion. It’s fearful of failure, so naturally it would show up when we're trying to do something new. Something which means stepping out of the comfort zone.
If you only look at where you currently are, and seeing all that you haven’t yet mastered, you’re likely to feel daunted. Stuck. Overwhelmed. Looking up at the next mountain towering over you.
But life isn’t just one mountain, it’s a mountain range of peaks and valleys. Of challenges and of rest.
If you also look back down, you’ll see that you’ve already wandered really far, climbed a few peaks on this mountain range already.
So the secret to getting up the next mountain, is to start the climb.
Join Michaela Thomas on this first episode of The Pause Purpose Play podcast, covering how hard it is for ambitious professionals to get started, have support, appreciate their achievements and also knowing when to slow down and take in the view.
Friday Aug 07, 2020
Friday Aug 07, 2020
Welcome to this new podcast. I hope you’ve tuned in because in one way or another, you’re looking for some more pause, purpose and play in your life.
This trailer covers what Pause Purpose Play is all about - finding balance over burnout so you can follow your ambition without drowning in it.
The first season has 12 episodes, with a mixture of solo episodes and guest interviews, to help you find more joy and vitality.
The solo episodes cover psychology concepts such as procrastination, impostor syndrome, the inner critic, joy, connection and compassion.
The guest interviews dive deep into the guests' zone of genius and learning about how they have found pause, purpose and play in their life and in their work.