The Aligned Achiever with Siobhan Barnes

What does your nervous system have to do with your performance? 

With your well-being?

With your ability to be resilient?

In short, everything.

We live in a very cognitive, cerebral, strategic world, which is an important part of your career strategy, but if you’re not feeling motivated, confident or in alignment, then it’s simply not enough to get the outcome that you desire.

This is where your nervous system comes in so that you can leverage the power of your thoughts and feelings to be able to perform and create change in your life and your work.

In this week's episode of The Aligned Achiever Podcast I want to help you to begin building that relationship with your body and your nervous system by getting to know your arousal levels using the Yerkes-Dodson Curve.

For all the show notes come on over to: https://siobhanbarnes.com/116

The busy season is almost upon us and in this episode I want to help set you up to get the most out of the remainder of 2024 whilst feeling present and spacious.

Regardless of whether you’re in the northern hemisphere, like I am in Hong Kong or in the southern hemisphere, the final few months of the year can bring about some extra time management challenges.

There’s often increased social gatherings, tight deadlines and projects to finish up before holidays, and all the fun festive activities that happen towards the end of the year.

We’re already in September, so now is the time to get on top of your calendar and start setting yourself up for a spacious and present end to the year.

In this week's episode of The Aligned Achiever Podcast I’m sharing how you can plan for a busy Q4 this year through identifying the season of life you’re in, setting goals and getting strategic about how you’re going to balance your work and life in Q4.

For all the show notes come on over to: https://siobhanbarnes.com/115

Olympians are driven by an unyielding ambition.

They pursue excellence and have high standards.

You may not be looking to achieve gold at the next olympics, but my guess is that you too are in pursuit of excellence and have gold medal standards in the work you do.

This requires that you embrace your drive to succeed, beginning with defining your goals with clarity.

In this week's episode of The Aligned Achiever Podcast I’m talking about how you can achieve the gold medal standard that you strive for in your career through ambition, hard work, resilience, and a commitment to continuous growth…just like the Olympians that we’ve all been watching.

For all the show notes come on over to: https://siobhanbarnes.com/114

Change is the only constant in life.

Recently, I’ve been having a number of conversations with people who are in a period of transition or change.

The reasons for change vary greatly. From organisation restructuring, promotions or redundancy, or a change in a personal situation.

This means that navigating change is a crucial skill that can make or break your success and happiness.

In this week's episode of The Aligned Achiever Podcast I’m sharing with you why change can be disorienting and stressful and some strategies that you can use as you navigate change to come out the other side stronger.

These strategies can be applied as you navigate transition now, or you can begin to foster them now so that you are prepared as change happens in your life.

For all the show notes come on over to: https://siobhanbarnes.com/113

Do you find yourself feeling stuck?

Perhaps you find yourself procrastinating or you’re not clear on what you want to do. Maybe your self-critic is getting a little bit too loud these days and holding you back from taking action.

Coaches are trained professionals who help you navigate your own path, overcome obstacles that are unique to you and achieve the goals that you desire.

The important thing to know here is that coaches aren’t consultants in that they don’t just provide you with a solution and you go on your way, coaches empower you to find and implement your own solutions so that you develop the tools to do this again and again throughout your life.

In this week's episode of The Aligned Achiever Podcast I’m sharing with you, your guide to why, when and how to work with a coach so that you can get the most out of your coaching experience and walk away feeling empowered and in charge of your own life and goals.

For all the show notes come on over to: https://siobhanbarnes.com/112

Have you ever found yourself struggling in a work environment, wondering if you’re meant to be there?

Maybe you’re unsure if your kindness and empathy belongs in the workplace that you’re in? Or if kindness belongs in leadership and successful companies at all?

Dr Bonnie Hayden Cheng is an Organisational Psychologist, Associate Professor of Management and MBA programme director at the Hong Kong University Business school.

Bonnie is super passionate about corporate wellness and holds a unique position designing and implementing cutting edge, research backed solutions to help companies deliver impact on real world challenges to create awesome corporate cultures where people thrive.

Her research is dedicated to helping employees achieve and maintain wellbeing in the workplace. This includes understanding how and when workplace anxiety can enhance performance, recovering from daily job demands and maintaining proactivity in the workplace. 

Bonnie's body of work is really about bringing humanity back into the workplace. And so if you find that you can't bring your humaneness to work, and you struggle with your mental health, your leadership style, and you're not sure how to best show up at work, then this episode is for you. 

In this week's episode of The Aligned Achiever Podcast with Bonnie Cheng, Bonnie shares more about the return of kindness, why kindness matters, her journey to becoming an Organisational Psychologist, and focussing on a core purpose and passion to navigate your career journey.

For all the show notes come on over to: https://siobhanbarnes.com/111

The middle of 2024 is fast approaching and whether you feel like everything is going to plan or if you feel like you need to hit reset, this is for you.

It’s not unusual to look back on 3, 6 or 12 months and realise that somewhere along the way life happened and you feel like you haven’t gotten a whole lot closer to achieving your goals, or that things seem to be taking much longer than anticipated.

Whether this relates to your career goals or life goals, putting aside some time to reflect and review is a critical step in getting back on track to making your goals a reality.

In this week's episode of The Aligned Achiever Podcast, I’m sharing 4 simple questions that you can use to guide your own mid-year review and get back on track with your goals and intentions.

For all the show notes come on over to: https://siobhanbarnes.com/110

Have you ever had to deal with a “bad” boss, a challenging work culture or felt like you’re not sure if you’re in the right place to work anymore? 

This thinking is something that a lot of us struggle with (past me included).

When you’re in a toxic work environment, we often feel like we can fix the situation on our own if only we could do more. In reality this usually doesn’t work and we end up leaving or being let go which we can take very personally because our identity is tied up in our career.

Not only is it draining when you’re stuck in an environment that doesn’t work for you, but company culture impacts our mental health, can result in physical pain and memory problems to name a few.

There are some things that you can do to take care of yourself if you’re not in a position to leave right away.

In this week's episode of The Aligned Achiever Podcast, I’m sharing why it’s so important that we talk about terrible bosses and toxic workplace culture and 4 things that are in your control in these situations, as well as how you can handle a painful ending to a job.

For all the show notes come on over to: https://siobhanbarnes.com/109

During the podcast I mentioned Magic Mind and how it's been helping me to boost my energy. If you're interested in giving it a try head on over to https://www.magicmind.com/siobhan to secure your special discount with the coupon code: SIOBHAN20. 

Health and fitness matters…we all know that. Multiple studies speak to not just the physical benefits but the mental and emotional ones too. And yet finding the time and motivation to get healthy can be hard. Especially when you’re busy doing all the things at work and at home. 

Personally, figuring out a routine to stay healthy and fit has been a journey. I’ve transitioned from team sports (netball) in my twenties and early thirties to needing to shift things up to do something else that fits in around my life with 3 kids and a business to run. 

The answer for me was joining a female specific gym: Pherform (here in Hong Kong).  My routine has become so much easier after joining a supportive gym environment, focusing on strength training and getting coaching to help me along the way. Not only do I feel physically strong, I feel the effects it’s had on my personal growth, self-awareness, confidence and habits in other areas of my life. 

The woman behind Pherform is Steph Poelman. She is an incredible human with a passion for empowering women to push their edges around their health, strength and well-being. 

Steph’s background is in HR, with experience managing over 9 multi-disciplinary fitness facilities around the world. 

Now living in Hong Kong, Steph is the owner and managing director of Pherform, a female specific strength and conditioning gym. She was voted as one of Prestige Magazine’s 40 under 40 class of 2023.

In this week's episode of The Aligned Achiever Podcast with Steph Poelman, we’re exploring how Steph achieved her goal to own a gym within 10 years of setting her intention. She shares so many juicy nuggets of wisdom from her own entrepreneurial journey, how she balances passion and professionalism, the role of fitness and strength training in personal growth and building confidence, creating habits and finding accountability in fitness programs, and much, much more.

Have you ever made yourself wrong for being too emotional or sensitive at work? 

Maybe you’ve had a difficult conversation, faced a micro-aggression or frozen on the spot…

In your mind you want to let things go but physically you find yourself unable to release the residual emotions that are there?

Emotional dexterity is the capacity to effectively recognise, understand and manage a wider range of emotions both within yourself and in others.

If you’re feeling disconnected from your emotions or your body, or perhaps you’re stuck in your head overthinking or in analysis paralysis, or even if you simply identify with being quite a sensitive person then emotional dexterity is a really important skill for you.

The skill of emotional dexterity is a complex one that encompasses empathy, emotional intelligence and the capability to maintain composure and make thoughtful decisions amidst challenging circumstances.

In this week's episode of The Aligned Achiever Podcast, I’m sharing all about emotional dexterity and why it’s important for you, as an individual to develop and why I encourage organisations to foster environments where emotional intelligence and psychological safety are a given. I also share how you can start to build emotional dexterity to reap the benefits.

For all the show notes come on over to: https://siobhanbarnes.com/107

During the podcast I mentioned Magic Mind and how it's been helping me to boost my energy. If you're interested in giving it a try head on over to https://www.magicmind.com/siobhan to secure your special discount with the coupon code: SIOBHAN20.