What are your goals at the moment? Perhaps you want to achieve something in your career. Maybe you want to change something in your personal life – to do with your fitness, health, or relationships, for example.

I’ve written before on how to set motivating goals. But in doing one-on-one coaching with a couple of clients recently, I was reminded of the need to set really specific goals.

For … Read more

What kind of emotions do you tend to experience when you feel bad? Are you prone to anger or depression? Or are you someone who gets tense and anxious a lot? I frequently run masterclasses and webinars for client organisations on how employees as well as leaders can help to protect their mental health. Often, the individuals that I coach on a one-to-one basis benefit from advice on handling their … Read more

Psychological science is increasingly coming to the conclusion that curiosity is a rather powerful force in our lives. Let’s look at 5 evidence-based facts about curiosity (what I called ‘Awe’ in Chapter 1 of my book, E is for Exceptional: The New Science of Success), what it is, and why it matters.

Many students are willing to learn … Read more

I’ve written before on the importance of gratitude in our lives. For example, reminding ourselves about the good things we have in our lives is a surprisingly powerful way to lift our psychological wellbeing.

However, it turns out that expressing gratitude – showing our appreciation and saying thanks – towards others also has some powerful effects. Let’s look at 5 reasons we should all be expressing gratitude to the people … Read more

I often coach people who wish they could be more assertive. However, I also sometimes coach people who are too assertive: they are good at spotting errors and quick to point them out. As a result, they may come across as impatient and overly critical about other people’s mistakes.

If you have been told (or suspect) that you are someone who is a bit impatient and overly critical, here’s some … Read more

We talk about other people’s personalities in terms of the adjectives we use to describe them. So, one person might be “talkative but rude” while another person may be “quiet and inquisitive”. But in psychological terms, personality is broadly defined as a set of enduring traits and processes within the individual that influence that person’s interactions with the world.

Most psychologists agree that there are at least five (but possibly … Read more

Imagine an interviewer asking you questions such as “Are you a good team player?” or “How would you rate yourself as a manager?”

It’s all very well answering by saying “Yes, I’m a good team player” or “I rate myself as a very inspiring and motivating manager.” But if you really want to impress an interviewer, you should answer by providing an example – a short story – explaining why… Read more

The use of automation, robots and artificial intelligence (AI) continues. Unfortunately, increasing numbers of human jobs are being taken over by AI. Looking forwards, it’s likely that even more of your work will be done by AI. So how can you protect your career – and perhaps even enhance your employability and chances of promotion – in a world of AI? Here are 5 ways to stay ahead.