Wise Wednesdays

It’s well and truly the Autumn in the UK and this could be a busy period for you as projects start to pick up momentum again. Things have certainly been getting busier in the past couple of months with the coaching practice. In the past, I could operate like a machine to get work done. In fact, a couple of bosses asked me to be less efficient! Productivity was never an issue. But as a recovering overachiever who deliberately took time out to slow down, I’m very sensitive to overactivity these days and try to protect my headspace and heart-space because that enables me to do my best work. So when an exciting project or opportunity presents itself, I check in with my intuition and scan for any whiff of a fear of overwhelm. I’ve had a few conversations recently on this theme which inspired me to think about it in more depth. The people I work with tend to be super-competent and super-efficient in their organisations and can have many demands placed on them. Thi...

Few things are more challenging for someone with impostor syndrome than being at the top of your cohort for most of your education, then finding yourself surrounded by thousands of similar people… That’s exactly what happened to me when I started medicine at Cambridge University… The place itself was quite a culture shock for an Algerian kid from a Franco-Soviet-Islamic schooling system. I quickly realised it was a waste of time trying to be the best…So I naturally started digging deeper to find out who I was beyond the top grades… After, a couple of close brushes with religious extremism, bra-burning feminism and eco-activism (the twists and turns of the search for identity), I found something to put my heart into... I became fascinated by the social, political and economic factors that shape our health. I wanted to understanding the relationship between the individual and the wider context of our lives; and how the one can transform the other. In medical term...

I work with some of the world’s most incredible doctors and high performing professionals. The courage in the challenges they take; and their effectiveness of execution are awesome. Legend in the making: Dr C is a star in her organisation and on track to become one of its few women leaders. She signed up to work with me after a short call and wanted to ensure she built freedom and balance into this next phase of her life and reconfigured her career accordingly. In less than six months, she learned to reclaim her time from a highly demanding job, invested in a new home and created a long term passion project that could offer financial freedom. She also secured an exciting and more autonomous role as a deputy Chief Medical Officer with the UN Peacekeeping Mission. Congratulations, Dr C!!! Your dreams are closer than you think. Of course, there are scary moments along the way to your goals. You’re not sure where you’re going and might panic. If you don’t have support, it can...