In this second part of my reflections, I go into more depth of pushing through but not through work! Persevering with the things we know we love doing - even and especially when we don't feel like it.

A big realisation for me over the past few months is that one of my core values is connection.

Yet when I've not been feeling myself I've done the classic thing of hiding myself away. And while it's been restorative to heal and get better in the quiet of my own head it's also meant I've not allowed the one thing I know to really lift me.

I'll be digging into:

• Why we shy away from the things we know are good for us
• The tricks our brain plays on us to keep us safe
• How positive connections can help us feel happier
• Why we need to do the things we love especially when we aren't in the mood!

Listen in and let me know - what's the one thing you LOVE doing but let slip, and what commitment can you make TODAY to bring it back into your life?

Welcome back to the mindful business podcast! After a 6 month break in this episode I share with you why being in paradise isn't all it's made out to be and why my recent PAUSE has been the best thing to ever happen to me. I talk openly about how:

• Burnout isn't a one off thing and can happen multiple times
• My biggest lessons from the past 6 months of overwhelm, reflection and pause
• Why I feel more resilient than ever
• The single most important thing you can do when you're feeling on the road to burn out

There's a part 2 on it's way so get stuck into this episode and I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Sarah Cardwell is Diamond President for the Bodyshop at Home and Founder of Find Your Purpose. Having struggled with her own mental health and being diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, Sarah has had to be adaptable and work around mental illness, showing others that it's possible to do the same. 3 years ago she launched her own business and found her purpose, now she helps others find theirs and live a life where they feel free!

Sarah puts wellbeing at the heart of what she does and strives to be an open and honest mental health advocate.

We had a great chat about:

- How leading with honesty and kindness can inspire your team

- How finding your passion makes you even better at what you do

- Managing your mental health alongside building a business

- How to manage your well-being when you're on social media

- Thriving out of lockdown and feeling good about change

I can't wait for you to listen to this final episode in the series on Inspiring Leaders- what a great guest to round up the series!

Whether you're looking for a bit of extra cash for something special, an enjoyable side hustle or you want to build a career, the Bodyshop at Home can work for you. Drop Sarah a message for more information or to get started today.

Sarah Cardwell on facebook, on insta @sarahwithpurpose or here!

Heading up the wellbeing at Ocado Group is a role made for Arti, having cut her wellness teeth at Deloitte as a Wellbeing Lead. Having connected with Arti when in her role at Deloitte, it's been inspiring to see her roles develop in an ever changing landscape so I'm delighted she came on the show!

We spoke about:

• What wellbeing looks like in the corporate space
• What needs to be top of the agenda for businesses coming out of a global pandemic
• Where wellbeing fits in a business
• What role leaders and employees play in creating a strong wellbeing culture
• What businesses can do differently now and for the future

Arti Kashyap-Aynsley started her career by qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, whilst also embarking on a 15 year journey in the Professional Services Sector. Working and travelling the globe opened Arti's eyes up to the impacts of what our working lives can have on our overall wellbeing, along with the truth behind not being able to easily compartmentalise the lives we live between home and work.

With the experience she gained in her career, she decided to pivot a few years ago into the world of wellbeing, where she first worked with Deloitte in Consulting in the UK, to design, develop and deliver on a comprehensive wellbeing strategy that was linked to the overall business focus.

By being able to create positive shifts and change in the business, Arti was inspired to continue to grow in this area and is now leading the Ocado Group Globally from a wellbeing standpoint. Outside of her day to day working life Arti continues to emulate a life committed to the wellbeing agenda as she is also a qualified executive & life coach and personal trainer, as well as an Advisor to organisations such as Mind and HR Grapevine on topics surrounding the Responsible Business Agenda.

Ben Branson-Gateley is currently the co-founder & CEO of CharlieHR, previously the founder & COO of Born Social and The Eleven. Ben is a thought leader in the company culture space and is passionate about mental health, progressive policies and supporting teams to enable their best work. Find him on Twitter at @gateley or hosting the CultureOps podcast.

In this episode we talk about:

- The importance of being an open, vulnerable leader

- Do you need to have experienced poor mental health to understand it in your employees?

- Why business leaders and sherpas have similar roles

- It's the boss serving his people, not the employee serving the business

- How to create simple routines as a business leader to support your mental health

- How to encourage good wellbeing practices in your teams

Christopher Ross created Convoy Community to take the loneliness out of job hunting. Having experienced redundancy at the start of lockdown he knew how tough job seeking can be on your mental health and so created a community to support others.

Convoy believes that, on your own, being consistent on any journey is hard, and a threat to good mental well-being. Convoy generates powerful structures so that anyone striving to reach a particular goal has Accountability to get it done, and Community to stay sane while they do it.

A father of three grown-up children, and IT Director by trade (Infrastructure & Operations), Christopher is a natural trouble-shooter and problem-solver.

In a career spanning over 3 decades, he has experience in a wide range of industry sectors, leading and managing teams of up to 55.

In this episode we talk about:

- How the world of job seeking has changed

- The challenges facing businesses and job seekers post covid

- How you can look after your mental health while looking for a job

- Practical ways to improve your job search

- The role businesses play in job searches and how they can do better

- The impact of community when seeking and working alone

Links that we talked about:

Articles:

LinkedIn - People need People to work with: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/people-need-work-christopher-ross

What's in the mind of a hiring manager (well, in my mind anyway!): https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/inside-mind-hiring-manager-christopher-ross

Books:

"Deep Work", by Cal Newport

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/0349411905/

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Deep-Work-by-Cal-Newport/9780349411903

"The One Thing", Gary Keller

https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Thing-Surprisingly-Extraordinary-bestselling-ebook/dp/B00D3J2QKW/

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-One-Thing-by-Gary-Keller-Jay-Papasan/9781848549258

Situational Leadership II - Open programs from Ken Blanchard: https://www.kenblanchard.com/Solutions/SLII

A book for business leaders wanting to trust their people:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Ship-Around-Building-Breaking/dp/0241250943/

For job-seekers:

JobScan - makes use of the same ATS (Applicant Tracking System) algorithms to compare applicant materials (CV, Cover Letter, etc.) with job descriptions:

https://www.jobscan.co?ref=799874&utm_source=referral-program&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=10-scan-referral-program

(Full disclosure: this is an affiliate link, but sign up is free!)

Resume Worded - CV/Resume and LinkedIn optimisation tools

https://resumeworded.com/

Matthew Knight created Leapers to support the mental health of the freelance & self- employed. As a freelancer himself Matthew knows how lonely and tough it can be to work alone and the community he has created now has thousands of members, supporting each other's wellness in community.

There was so much to talk about in this episode!

Some nuggets of wisdom are:

- The challenges of working alone

- How late payment can have a huge impact on your well-being when you work for yourself

- Some of the necessary evils of solo working and how to manage them

- What businesses can do to support the freelancers they work with

- How to look after your mental health when building a long term self-employed future

- What a supportive community can do for your well-being

Matthew Knight is founder and Chief Freelance Officer at Leapers - a project supporting the mental health of the self-employed. Founded in 2017, Leapers has helped over 70,000 people through its award winning peer-support community, curating and creating resources that work, and helping businesses work better together with freelancers. Matthew is also an independent strategist working with businesses including LEGO, P&G, Klarna, adidas and Accenture. He lives with his two daughters in West London.

Find him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkplaymake/

If you're self-employed or a freelancer, you can join the Leapers slack-based community for free at https://www.leapers.co/

Whatever your wellbeing strategy, it starts with getting to know your people better.

Mike is the Founder & CEO of TeamOnUP, a company that keeps CEOs and teams on the same page with simple goal management software.

Prior to TeamOnUP, Mike was the CEO of a 1,700 person company in the financial technology sector where he led a successful turnaround. Mike, his wife Jessica and their three great kids make their home in Franklin, TN.

When Mike took on that role as CEO of a business he had no idea how well-being would change his own life and that of the business! This is a brilliant episode where Mike shares his inspirational story of leading a business by example, from the heart.

We chat all about:

- How human centric businesses are the future

- If you can create an amazing experience for your user, you can also do it for your people

- Laying the foundations of a strong business culture makes navigating challenges that much easier

- Knowing your costs DO matter and it helps you understand the impact of productive people

- Leading with the heart and intention is the best way to build a successful business

You can find out all about TeamOnUP here https://www.teamonup.com/

The Laughter Man, Pete Cann is on a fun filled mission to bring the positive benefits of laughter to the world. Since discovering Laughter Yoga, company owner Pete has transformed his business and family life and now wants to share his infectious secrets and get the planet laughing along with him.

We laughed our way through some big topics- including:

• What laughter yoga is and how it works
• The challenges workplaces are facing with remote working
• How businesses can bring more connection and fun into the workplace
• Tips for business leaders to support their team with compassion and humour
• How to support your own well-being the Laughter Man way!

We even did a laughter exercise that you can do too when you listen in – I guarantee you'll be chuckling for the whole episode!

**Apologies for the banging in the background towards the end of the chat - unexpected work at Pete's meant some background noise but hopefully it won't spoil your listening!

As part of the interview, Pete would love to offer you the opportunity to try his 5 day laughter challenge - https://petecann.com/5-day-challenge-opt-in/

Where you can use laughter to help complete a creative goal that they have.

You'll find Pete, his trademark red hat and his happy vibe on the following channels;

[email protected]

www.petecann.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thelaughterman/

https://www.instagram.com/petecannthelaughterman/

https://www.facebook.com/thelaughterman

https://www.youtube.com/c/petecannthelaughterman

https://www.tiktok.com/@petecannthelaughterman

Personal Stylist and Fashion Blogger Claire Hall is passionate about helping women unlock their inner style confidence. Claire built a successful blog and social media platform with the aim of encouraging women to enjoy fashion in their 40s and beyond. She now works with women on a one-to-one basis, hosts events and creates content for fashion brands.

She talks about how our style and dress impacts our well-being and how by bringing mindfulness to our wardrobe, we can create a happier life!

In this episode we talk about:

• The power of dressing to be seen – how we can intentionally show up through our clothes as well as our words
• The best question to ask yourself – how do you want to feel?
• Exploring the importance of how we dress on our mental well-being
• What workplaces can do to encourage us to dress with confidence
• How we can dress in alignment with our true selves
• Tips for businesses to support their people to create happy positive workplaces
• A tip for you the listener to dress mindfully, for a more confident you!

You can find out more about Claire and her work on Insta or her blog.