Monday 19 August 2013

The Wellbeing Show on UWS Radio

I just wanted to let you know that my new radio show "The Wellbeing Show" is launching on UWS Radio today!
The show theme is wellbeing and I will be interviewing experts in personal development, physical and mental health as well as people who have an inspirational story to tell. I want the show to be educational, informative and raise the profile of mental health issues.

It broadcasts every Monday 5-6pm across SW Scotland on digital radio and online.  Click  here to listen.


To keep up to date like the show on facebook or sign up for updates
 
Upcoming shows and guests
August 19th - Journalist David Lloyd on the highs and lows of working for a local newspaper
August 26th - Psychologist Dr Travis Osborne from BBC 3's "Extreme OCD Camp" talking about how to overcome anxiety using exposure techniques
September 2nd - Neil Thompson, MD of Musichoir Scotland, on the benefits of singing

Saturday 4 May 2013

My interview with four time Emmy award winner Ross King!


I have known Ross since 1994 in the days when I used to want to be a TV presenter.  I used to send him my video showreels and he gave me feedback on how I could improve my presenting skills.
Ross is one of the most inspirational guys I know and in this interview he talks about how he made it from Knightswood to Hollywood.  Click here to listen

Tuesday 23 April 2013

Kevan McKenzie interview

Kevan McKenzie
Sometimes in life things happen to us that can be life changing.  It is not what happens to us that matters it is how we respond.  My interview with Kevan McKenzie shows just how important having a positive attitude and determination are.  Kevan was in a plane crash and sustained serious injuries.  He talks about how he handled the aftermath of the crash and turned his life around.  Click here to listen

Friday 19 April 2013

Sir Chris Hoy interview

Following Sir Chris Hoy's retirement from cycling here is an interview I did with
Chris in 2009.  Click here to listen!

Monday 8 April 2013

Spring into summer! Jan de Vries interview

Well, it looks like Spring may finally be making an appearance!
After an unseasonably cold spell, finally it is getting milder and the sun has been making an appearance!
A lot of people I know recently have been laid up with flu type colds. So today I thought I would share an interview that I did with world renowned Naturopath Jan de Vries. The interview covers a variety of health related issues and Jan gives some alternative remedies and solutions.  Click here to listen!

Thursday 4 April 2013

5 Keys To Take Back Control of And Get Results

Do you ever have times in your life where you have a great idea or feel pulled to do something amazing, to really step up and move forward? You start out filled with enthusiasm, tell the people closest to you, feel full of positivity and excitement then.....somehow you lose momentum, start doubting your ideas, tell yourself you cannot do it and allow negative reactions from others to confirm why it won't work.
Oh...then you beat yourself up for giving up and feel bad. Sound familiar?

It is all too easy in the world we live in today to allow events and circumstances to dictate what we do with our lives and how we feel in a given moment. Over time we can become fearful, anxious, depressed, overwhelmed and unhappy.


So what are the keys to taking back control of your life?

1. Choose how you feel – at any moment you are choosing how to feel by what you are doing with our physiology, how you move and breathe, your focus, and your language. Change any one of those 3 things and you can change how you feel. Ask yourself better questions because by doing this you are instantly changing what you focus on. For example rather than asking “why can’t I do this?” “why is this not working”, ask “How can I turn this around?” or “what can I do right now to move forward.”

2. Be Honest - What do you really want? What excites you? If you could do absolutely anything what would it be? What do you love doing? Brainstorm!

3. Get enough reasons WHY this is important to you. What will it give you? How will your life be different? How will you improve not only your own life for the better but also those around you? How great will it be that you are following your passion? Having enough reasons why is really essential. Those reasons will keep you going through the toughest challenges.

4. Get leverage - If you don't do this how will you feel? If you settle for second best what will your life be like in the future? When you are older and looking back on your life how much will you regret not doing this? Find someone to hold you accountable and encourage you. this is critical. It can be someone you know or ideally a coach who is trained to help you break through limiting beliefs that are holding you back and give you tools you can use to move forward. Accountability is the key!

5. TAKE ACTION - Put together a timescale with small and manageable steps that you can take. Nothing will change if you don't take action. Every step you take is a step closer to your dream becoming reality. Get feedback and learn. If something isn't working then look at different ways to get the results you want.

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Top 5 mistakes businesses make when trying to get featured in the media!


With the economy the way it is these days it is important that you are able to raise the credibility and visibility of your business effectively using TV, Radio and the Press to get your message across without having to spend a lot of money on advertising. In order to do this you must have an effective PR strategy for your business which enables you to get media coverage for free.

So what are the most common mistakes that businesses make when doing their own PR?

 1. They don’t consider the possibility of free media coverage 

Some businesses don’t even consider the possibility that they could generate media coverage for free so they cut off any possibility of getting featured because they don’t even try! They then consider paying for advertising space which has no guaranteed return. One thing to keep in mind is that your business will gain a lot more credibility by being in a feature / interview written by a third party such as a journalist.

2. They don’t consistently convey a clear core message

When businesses do decide to contact the media a very common mistake is that they don’t have a core message which they are conveying. The temptation can be to try and please everyone all of the time resulting in a number of different messages being put across. Without a clear message two things can happen –the media will not pick up on the story because the message is not clear enough or if they do the business runs the risk of a confused message being put across.


3. They don’t write a newsworthy press release

The most effective way of putting your message across to the media is by writing a press release. All too often businesses put too much information in a press release and not always in the correct format. They also put too much emphasis on selling their product or service and not enough on giving the press a newsworthy story. As the media receive thousands of press releases everyday it is important to make your message clear, concise and as unique as possible.

4. They don’t directly contact the people who can give them coverage

Once the press release has been written it is then time to research and get into contact with the specific members of the media who can put across your message. Many businesses make the mistake of sending press releases to general email addresses and do not directly speak with the individual members of the media who are in a position to make a difference and use their information. Doing your own PR relies on creating and building media contacts on an ongoing basis. In building contacts it also enables you to get feedback on how newsworthy and effective your press releases are. Persistence is the key!


5. They don’t do enough research before doing a media interview

When doing media interviews many businesses make the mistake of trying to get too much information across which can result in their message being diluted. They also haven’t researched the media organization that they are being interviewed for. This can mean that they don’t come across with as much impact that they could have.




Tuesday 5 February 2013

F*#* Everything And Run?

Also known as FEAR!  I remember a few years ago I was on a training course in Florida and one of the things we had to do was challenge our fear and take a leap of faith.  The task was to stand 5 feet up on a cherry picker on a beautiful beach on Treasure Island, and fall back allowing people to catch me.  As I looked out I could see the ocean and it was beautiful.  Then I looked backwards, below me and the reality hit!  Although I was in a gorgeous location having a great time I was going to have to challenge my fear and fall backwards hoping that 10 people would catch me!
At that moment, everything was telling me to run, but I also knew that I wouldn't be facing my fear if I did!
So, I took a breath and fell, and I was caught!  
Today's tip of the day...face your fears (as long as it is safe to do so)!  Start with the smallest fears you have and do something each day to challenge them!

Friday 1 February 2013

Breathe and smile!

When feeling stressed it is easy to let things get the better of you!  One of the simplest ways to calm yourself, feel good and make better decisions is to breathe and smile.
Most of the time people will say take a deep breath in.  What is missed out is the most important thing first!  To breathe out with a sigh!
When stressed people are normally chest breathing rather than breathing from the belly.  This can cause hyperventilation, feeling dizzy and light headed, rushing thoughts and many more physical symptoms.  The trick is to be able to realise when this is happening, sigh,  and then allow the breath in to happen naturally.  What this does is bring the breathing down to the belly which has a calming effect.  It is a good idea to practise this as the more you do it the more automatic it will become to breathe this way and feel calmer.
The other tip for today is to smile!  Research has shown that smiling actually changes brain chemistry and makes you feel good!

Wednesday 30 January 2013

How to deal with anxious thoughts-Part 2-Questions are the answer!

I talked in yesterday's blog about how one way of dealing with anxious thoughts is to do some blue sky thinking.                                                                                                                        
Today, I want to look at another very effective way of changing how you feel - changing the questions you ask yourself.
When we are feeling anxious we tend to ask ourselves one main question "What if?".....(fill in the blanks)
The majority of the time when we are feeling anxious the "What if" questions that we ask ourselves are just a sign that we are feeling anxious and not a prediction that the worst possible outcome will happen. As we talked about yesterday, just because we have a thought it doesn't mean that the thought is true!
So today there are 2 questions that you can ask yourself when you are caught in the middle of anxiety provoking "what if" questions!
1.  Is what I am thinking right now true?
2.  What else could this mean?
By all means check out whether your thoughts at any moment are giving you some useful information in which case take relevant action.  If you find that you are just in an old pattern of unhelpful anxious thinking then by asking "Is this true" and "What else could this mean" you are then changing the meaning of your thoughts and helping to break the cycle of anxious thoughts leading to feeling anxious, more anxious thoughts and so on!

Tuesday 29 January 2013

How to deal with anxious thoughts - Part 1 - Blue sky thinking

I was walking along the beach the other day... the sky was blue and the sun was shining...as I walked passed people they were generally smiling and saying "hi".Contrast that with many of the cold windy and overcast days of late and passing dog walkers are much less likely to share a smile and say "hi" more interested in getting back home out of the cold and wind as soon as possible.
How does this relate to when you are worrying a lot and feeling anxious and panicky, not quite able to relax?
We think thousands of thoughts a day - some make us feel good, some neutral and some not so great.  How we feel depends on which of those thoughts that we are choosing to focus on and buy into.  Until we put attention on any thoughts all of them are equal.  By the way just because we think a thought does it make it true? Of course not!  But when we are feeling low already it is easy to buy into and believe all the negative thoughts we are having, discounting all the positive ones.  If we do that enough we can go from having a few anxious thoughts to taking on the identity of being an anxious person which makes it a lot more difficult to get out of the negative cycle of thinking the negative thoughts leading to feeling anxious and then behaving differently to try and either prove those thoughts wrong or to try and not think them.
So ...my first tip for you if you are having a lot of anxious thoughts is to do some mindfulness and some blue sky thinking.  What I mean by that is imagine that your mind is the blue sky...and your thoughts are the clouds in the sky...some positive and some negative but like the clouds in the sky our thoughts always pass.  The aim of doing this is to start observing your thoughts positive and negative without buying into them and believing them.  Realise that no matter how many anxious thoughts you are having, they do pass.  By doing this you can begin to break the chain of one anxious thought leading to another and another and another....they just become thoughts that don't mean anything apart from the fact that you are thinking!
Try that out and let me know how you get on!
Part 2 coming soon!

Friday 25 January 2013

Watch my interview with Head Tony Robbins Trainer and Ultimate Performance Specialist Joseph McClendon!

One of the perks of presenting my radio show is that I get the opportunity to interview world leading coaches and experts in business and lifestyle.
I thought I would share this interview that I did with Ultimate Performance Specialist Joseph McClendon.  In this interview Joseph talks about the importance of deciding what it is that you want, taking continued action, dealing with negative emotions that stop you and making sure that you have the energy to follow through.
I agree with Joseph. A really great way to get inspired to move past feelings of fear and procrastination is to ask yourself "why do I want this"  and brainstorm all the reasons why you want the thing you want.  When you have enough reasons then you will stay more inspired and be more motivated to get past the emotions that may have stopped you in the past.


Top tips to deal with stress and anxiety

In today's 24-7 society it can be easy to get swept away with busy-ness which in turn can lead to it being more difficult to relax and sleep at night.  Over a prolonged period of time this can lead to increased levels of stress and anxiety which in some cases can lead to feeling of panic.  As a start on this topic I thought I would share a few of my tips on what you can do if you are feeling anxious and stressed to become more  relaxed.


  •         Realise that you are not the anxiety you feel.  You may sometimes have anxious thoughts and feelings but equally there are times when you feel different emotions for example happy, excited, sad, proud etc.  Realise that just like every other emotion anxiety also passes.
  •        Do something each day to challenge your fear.  Just taking small steps and facing your fear will make a huge difference to your life.  Fear can only remain when you avoid what it is you are scared of and never challenge the thoughts and feelings that you have
  •          When feeling anxious over a period it can affect your mood and your belief in your ability to do certain things.  Make an effort to focus on what you want and take actions towards that each day.
  •          When feeling anxious and having anxious thoughts practice observing your thoughts and feelings rather than buying into and believing them.  Practicing Mindfulness is a great way to do this.
  •          Do some exercise.  Even if that means just going for a walk exercise can help you to feel more positive.
  •         Keep a diary which shows your progress in overcoming your fears.  This will help you keep momentum and focus on the positive steps that you are taking.         
  •       You can change how you feel by changing your physiology (how you move and breathe), your focus and your language (the questions that you are asking yourself).  Notice the difference of what you do when you are feeling great and when you are feeling anxious.  Next time you are feeling negative change your physiology, focus and questions you ask yourself, maybe remember a time when you felt great and see how you feel!


It's been a while!! Exciting times ahead!

Hello!  It has been a while since I have posted here!  I have been busy working with clients helping them to overcome anxiety and panic and I am continuing to work with businesses to raise their profile and get media coverage.  I have continued presenting my Be Inspired radio shows live on 3TFM radio.  There are lots of great guests lined up so look out for details soon and have a listen to some of my previous interviews
I have also been writing the lifestyle column for Spizz Magazine and I am pleased to announce that I am now also writing for The Irvine Herald!
I am going to be updating my blog regularly with lots of information on how to deal with anxiety and panic and also for businesses how to most effectively raise your profile and get people talking about your business. Feel free to follow my blog to get the latest updates!