Blog - Clara Kennedy Coaching

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Career Management

Thursday June 24th, 2021

How To Gain Clarity When You’re In A Career Rut

I completely understand the feeling of being overwhelmed and stuck in a rut. A few…

Stress Management

Thursday April 29th, 2021

Reflections Of A Recovering People Pleaser

Hello, my name is Clara Kennedy and I am a recovering people pleaser. Even though…

Saturday January 9th, 2021

Is Coaching For Me?

Thinking about working with a coach? Coaching is really beneficial when you’re ready for a…

Stress Management

Monday June 1st, 2020

Am I Heading For A Burnout?

Burnout can gradually creep up on us and take us by surprise. Before you get…

Tuesday April 28th, 2020

The Roots Of Positive Psychology

“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” - Aristotle An interesting recent…

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It’s Dogmas! 🎄🐶🐾 And safe to say we’

It’s Dogmas! 🎄🐶🐾 And safe to say we’re obsessed with Beau. She has made our Christmas so special ❤️ When she goes back home with her mamma, there’ll be a puppy shaped hole in our lives 😭 Hope everyone is eating up, drinking up, and resting up for these disorientating in betweeny days!

We often stay in our comfort zone in work because

We often stay in our comfort zone in work because we are afraid of failure, even when the comfort zone isn’t particularly comfortable. This is a normal human reaction but this fear often comes from not having a safe space to return to within ourselves if failure occurs. Instead of being compassionate, we berate ourselves and this keeps us stuck in a rut. With practice, we can reframe our thoughts from the inner critic to the inner mentor meaning we are much more likely to push ourselves from the comfort zone to the growth zone. Start creating distance between you and that inner critic by tuning into your inner mentor! 💫Give your critic a name. Have fun with it! 💫Start to notice situations where the critic arises. You may notice the emotions that arise first. Then you can trace back to the thought. 💫Instead of saying to yourself, for example, "If I take a break and don't keep working then I will let people down" say "My inner critic (or whatever name you choose to give it) thinks that if I take a break and don't keep working then I will let people down". 💫When you notice it, pause for 10 seconds: take 3 deep breaths, and count to 10 with your fingers by touching your thumb off each finger. This exercise can be done in any situation discreetly. 💫Tune into your inner mentor / sage voice which has a much more compassionate tone of voice (as if you were talking to a friend who you have unconditional love for). 💫What you are doing by pausing for 10 seconds and counting with your fingers is consciously shifting from survival brain to our "sage brain" which is the middle prefrontal cortex and our right brain. 💫Use distant self-talk ie. use your name when giving yourself wise advice via “Chatter” by Ethan Kross For more tips and tricks, keep up to date with @clarakennedycoach

It can be extremely difficult to focus on our care

It can be extremely difficult to focus on our career progression when we have a very high workload.
For my own work, I have tried and tested different ways to manage this and one of my favourites is the simple but effective "Eisenhower Decision Matrix". “I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower This matrix is a decision making tool which helps you differentiate tasks into important, not important, urgent, and not urgent. It splits tasks into four boxes that prioritise which tasks you should focus on first and which you should delegate or delete. Funnily enough, the Not Urgent But Important box is where we really should be spending the majority of our time since this is dedicated to our career / personal development and our overall well being. However, this is the area that is the easiest to procrastinate on because we tend to get stuck in the other quadrants, fighting fires all day. In order to use this, it is important to start tracking daily tasks and separating them into the 4 quadrants. If you are finding that most of your tasks are falling into Quadrant 1, 3, and 4, then it is time to rebalance the situation so you can focus more time on the Quadrant 2 - the Quadrant of Quality. Quadrant 1 tasks do need to be worked on urgently but you can put time into strategic planning which lessens the need to fire fight. Quadrant 3 tasks are what we classify as "busy work" and often can be delegated or deleted. Quadrant 4 tasks are tasks that don't add much value whatsoever to career or business goals. These can be completely stopped/deleted. When you work on reprioritising your tasks, you can discuss with a manager or supervisor on how to focus more time on Quadrant 2. Create time for yourself on a Friday afternoon to check in with your "Eisenhower Decision Matrix" each week and reflect on what you can change for the coming week. For more tips and tricks, keep up to date with @clarakennedycoach

🌟 Attention 🌟 I'm doing some research into

🌟 Attention 🌟 I'm doing some research into career transition at the moment and would love your input. I've made this short survey around career development / transitioning, and it would be a great help if you could fill it out (all anonymous). Please feel free to share with your network. Survey link in bio @clarakennedycoach

“I completely understand the feeling of being ov

“I completely understand the feeling of being overwhelmed and stuck in a rut. A few years back I was completely blocked and unsure of what the next step was for my career. I was so deeply entangled in my situation that I couldn’t see the wood for the trees and it was difficult waking up every day having this cloud over me. As overly dramatic as it all sounds, feeling directionless affected me hugely. What I was able to ascertain during that time was that I had to break free of my comfort zone (even though it wasn’t really as cosy as it sounds) and get back in control of the wheel…..” Continue reading my blog post on “How To Gain Clarity When You’re In A Career Rut” by clicking the link in bio.

I love having my Sundays for relaxing and unapolog

I love having my Sundays for relaxing and unapologetically napping, like this cute puppy (not mine unfortunately 😭). Take some time today to plan for the week ahead. Specifically how to incorporate more rest into your days ahead. If you often find yourself sitting for hours without taking a real brain break, read on for some methods on how to take effective breaks. 💫 The 52:17 rule: A study from DeskTime found that the most productive people they surveyed worked for 52 minutes and had a break for 17 minutes. Use an app such as Focus Keeper to remind yourself when to take a break. 💫Rest like you mean it. Be intentional with your breaks. Whether you want to use the time to scroll through your Instagram or get outside for some fresh air, allow yourself to completely disengage from work. Don’t keep one eye on your slack or email. 💫When you are in flow, rather than taking longer breaks, take shorter 30 sec - 3 minute breaks to do some breathing exercises, rest your eyes or get a short meditation in. Even these short breaks will benefit your energy levels.

I’m always so grateful when people take the time

I’m always so grateful when people take the time to give feedback and kind words of encouragement. It is such a boost to receive such gorgeous testimonials from the fantastic people I work with ❤️

We often stay in our comfort zone in work because

We often stay in our comfort zone in work because we are afraid of failure, even when the comfort zone isn’t particularly comfortable. This is a normal human reaction but this fear often comes from not having a safe space to return to within ourselves if failure occurs. Instead of being compassionate, we berate ourselves and this keeps us stuck in a rut. With practice, we can reframe our thoughts from the inner critic to the inner mentor meaning we are much more likely to push ourselves from the comfort zone to the growth zone. Start creating distance between you and that inner critic by tuning into your inner mentor! 💫Give your critic a name. Have fun with it! 💫Start to notice situations where the critic arises. You may notice the emotions that arise first. Then you can trace back to the thought. 💫Instead of saying to yourself, for example, "If I take a break and don't keep working then I will let people down" say "My inner critic (or whatever name you choose to give it) thinks that if I take a break and don't keep working then I will let people down". 💫When you notice it, pause for 10 seconds: take 3 deep breaths, and count to 10 with your fingers by touching your thumb off each finger. This exercise can be done in any situation discreetly. 💫Tune into your inner mentor / sage voice which has a much more compassionate tone of voice (as if you were talking to a friend who you have unconditional love for). 💫What you are doing by pausing for 10 seconds and counting with your fingers is consciously shifting from survival brain to our "sage brain" which is the middle prefrontal cortex and our right brain. 💫Use distant self-talk ie. use your name when giving yourself wise advice