Hi, how are you getting on? I thought that it was about time to open up a little more and tell you a bit more about me. My ulterior motive is to get you to tell me a bit more about you. I'd love to know more about who is reading this, what they would like to get out of this blog and how I can help you more. I'm hoping by sharing a bit more about who I am, you'll feel comfortable sharing with me (either in the comments, or in the Forum, or on the FB page).
Where am I from?
I'm originally from South Wales, hence the Welsh name. (Pronounced Ang-HA-rad. No hard G here thank you!) But I moved to Manchester when I was 11 and then back to Cardiff for Uni and then joined the RAF and moved around for 19 years so my accent is pretty flat. It usually comes out when I say here or tooth. (Then sometimes people say 'you're Welsh!' as if I didn't know.)
What's my job?
Ah, a difficult one. I'm a portfolio careerist, which means I do lots of things! As well as Coaching, I sometimes do change management consultancy and I run a sewing business called Vanilla Monkey Creations. One day, I may go back to full-time employment but not for now. I love the variety in my life and the ability to arrange my day the way I want it. I love the flexibility that means I can take time off to go to an assembly at my daughter's school, or make the most of the weather to fit in a longer run.
Why did I become a coach?
I did a lot of coaching during the latter half of my RAF career, especially after completing my Masters in Occupational Psychology. I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping people to come up with a happier way to live their lives. I'm not sure I really knew it was an option when I was doing my resettlement but eventually someone asked me why I wasn't doing it and I realised it would be perfect for me. I did the taught element of a Post Graduate Certificate in Personal and Business Coaching with Barefoot (who I thoroughly recommend as they are accredited by the International Coaching Federation) last year. I still need to submit 3 essays. I will by the end of the summer!
What do I like doing outside of work?
I like to exercise. I'm a runner and triathlete (not with any great times!) but have suffered a lot of injuries over the last 2 years so if you follow me on IG or FB, you'll see me posting pleased looking pictures of myself after short
runs. This photo of me is one of my favourites as it was taken just after a lake swim, no make up, wet hair, feeling happy with my place in the world. That's what exercise brings to me, a feeling of joy, satisfaction and being in the right place. However, I also really, really like food so it doesn't matter how much exercise I do, I'll always be at least a, ahem, healthy weight!
I love to read too. I read about 2 fiction novels a week (I've just finished Seven Bridges by LJ Ross and Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon, the last book in the Outlander series and I am desperately awaiting the publication of the next one). I'm also re-reading Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy, which I recommend to all of my clients. I should tell him that, see if I can get a commission! I am also committing to reading the stack of magazines I've not opened in a while, so at the moment there are a couple of copies of Psychologies magazine next to my bed.
What are my bad habits?
I spend too much time on my phone. Partly because it has the Kindle app and I read from that a lot. But I also do too much circulating through social media sites. I love Instagram and Pinterest is definitely my happy place. Sometimes I get in arguments with people on Facebook (almost always about politics) and I get livid about seeing some of the intolerant things people write and I have to give myself a break from it. I sometimes use Twitter, but I don't think I'm very good at it. I recently had 7 people like a tweet and this represents my all time high! I go through patches of liking LinkedIn but still need to work to make that work for me.
I also have a habit of overplaying my day. I think it is just optimism which makes me think that I can get through 9 hours of work in 6.... I am more or less on top of that at the moment, but know it is something I have to keep an eye on!
What is my guilty secret?
I massively fangirl on Sam Heughan's IG account. (I'm not sure my husband knows this, actually. This is interesting, let's see if he reads my blog posts! If you are reading this sweetie, you are my number one!) Sam plays Jamie in the Outlander series and is seriously swoon worthy. And I'm not even a swoony kind of woman.
Some of my favourite things.
My favourite radio station is Country 104 which is a Canadian Country music station that I listen to through my Sonos speakers. I know it's a bit random, but I love it. There's very little news that I understand on it, the music is great and the chat is just at a level where I'm ok to tune out if I need to but I can tune in if I want.
My favourite drinks are Vanilla Latte and tea. Usually both decaf! I do like a glass of wine but those are more and more limited as my hangovers get worse and worse. Being hungover in your 20s is so different to nearly 40 and having a 5 year old to look after!
My favourite food is probably a toss up between chocolate and cheese. I do like a lot of savoury things (cheese, crisps, chips) but could never really give up chocolate. I like all of the good 70% cocoa solid chocolate stuff but a big bar of Cadbury Fruit and Nut is a guilty pleasure!
My favourite feeling is waking up, knowing exactly what I have coming up in the day, that I have a great balance between work, family and me and that I feel energy matched with what I have ahead. But I especially love it if the sun is shining!
So that's about enough of me for now. What about you?