Every change management initiative experiences setbacks and slumps. Think about when you’ve made a change in your personal life – committing to a workout plan, for example. Were you motivated every day, ready to take on the world? Probably not. Some days you were full of energy, while other times you may have lacked the motivation, felt tired, or sore. If you kept going despite resistance, it’s likely because you continued to focus on the end goal. Here are 3 ways to be an in

Have you attended a Zoom birthday party or another virtual celebration recently? When physical distancing took effect, we didn't stop celebrating. We just changed the way we celebrate. Why do we celebrate? Celebrations and rituals play an important part in supporting well-being and optimizing brain health. It's important to celebrate successes, both large and small. Why? 👉Feelings of accomplishment stimulate serotonin and dopamine, two key 'feel good' hormones in the brain �

Think about the last time you made a routine trip, to the grocery store or to work, for example. It might have been awhile ago, I know! Have you ever made this trip and realized that you didn't remember how you go to your destination? When we repeat behaviours, the brain creates neural pathways that make it easier to repeat these behaviours. It takes less energy for our brains to go on auto-pilot, which is a useful survival mechanism designed to help us. This same auto-pilot

Having difficulty concentrating? Feeling distracted? Experiencing brain fog? You're not alone. The massive change we've experienced over the past year creates brain stress and unpleasant symptoms. According to psychologist John Sweller, brain fog can be explained by Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). To paraphrase CLT, working memory is an important part of the brain 'machine' when we work on new tasks. Consider a marathon runner vs a sprinter. 🏃‍♀️ Working memory is like a sp

There are 3 C"s for successful communication to support a change: Clear Concise Compare As an example, let's examine the latest pandemic messaging for certain regions in Ontario. 1. Communicate clearly Is saying "we're moving to the grey zone" clear? No. What does grey zone even mean? If something is a 'grey area', it means it's unclear and without boundaries. As a colour, grey isn't associated with a sense of urgency. 2. Be concise Is it concise? No. When I saw the messaging

Quarantine. Lockdown. Stay home. Save lives. Shelter in place. Pandemic. These are survival words. What do survival words do? They trigger our brain to go into survival mode. Your brain is designed to keep you safe and protect you from harm at all times. When your brain senses danger, it triggers the stress response, also known as this 'fight/flight/freeze' response. Your body responds to the threat by producing cortisol, the stress hormone. Your heart may race, your muscles

Whether you're a gourmet chef or a one-dish wonder, at some point you need to prepare a meal. Changing your life for the better is a lot like making dinner. It takes planning, preparation, guidance and action. If you're missing any of these ingredients, your life won't turn out the way you expect or want. The secret ingredient you're missing Every recipe has a secret or special ingredient that gives it 'oomph'. Without it, the recipe wouldn't be the same, or stand out. What's

I get it. You’ve got a lot going on and are powering through a project, the week, even your life. I have two questions for you: Does ‘powering through’ feel powerful? Or does it feel more like running on empty? What happens when you finish powering through something? You get to the end and then what? Do you finally give yourself permission take a break? Or do you just power through the next thing? I’ve been there. Powering through, running on fumes - whatever you want to call

What are you scared of right now? When I ask clients or workshop participants that question, pretty much everybody tenses up and the automatic answer is “nothing”. As adults, we’re not used to talking about what scares us. It makes us feel vulnerable and exposed. As human beings, we all experience fear – it’s one of the things that’s helped us survive as a species. Our brains are set up to automatically always be on the lookout for, and quickly respond to, anything that could

A friend of mine said to me the other day that we've had a few years' worth of change in a couple of months! Collectively we've had to adapt to new schedules, new ways of working, restricted movement, being isolated from most people and perhaps spending more time than usual with those in our household. Thankfully there are signs that the situation related to #COVID19 is starting to improve in many parts of the world. There's a collective desire for things to "get back to norm