We explore how our comfort zones gradually become less comfortable, leaving us with the choice of familiar discomfort or unknown discomfort…and the longer term possibility of a bigger and better comfort zone.

We offer 4 tips to help you take that first step out of your comfort zone: focus on what you want; commit to one small action; journaling, and…coaching. Well, we would say that, wouldn’t we - but it really helps!

Key takeaways: don’t get an earful of sand; eat more biscuits, and be nice to frogs.

Today’s question for you to mull over and which we also answer in the episode:

What might make you want to leave your comfort zone?

Resources:

https://www.coachingbykirsty.co.uk/post/your-comfort-zone-is-not-necessarily-comfortable

https://www.kbmindfulcoaching.com/post/are-you-staying-on-discomfort-island

Find us here:

Kirsty: www.coachingbykirsty.co.uk

Kathryn: www.kbmindfulcoaching.com

And on social media here:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coachingbykirsty/

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/kathryneball

It’s probably no surprise we are talking about new year resolutions for this episode, our first of 2025!

We discuss our aversion to SMART goals, and some general pitfalls of new year resolutions… and yet we both concede that we are in favour of direction, purpose and thinking about how we want to be and feel. So we’ve decided to talk about resolutions (at any time) the Kirsty and Kathryn way!

We also discover that Kathryn can’t say ‘2025’ which could be problematic for the next 364 days, and Kirsty ties us in knots with a double negative brain teaser and coins the term ‘mental biscuit’.

Today’s question for you to mull over and which we also answer in the episode:

‘How do you want to be feeling at the end of 2025?’

Resources:

The 4 questions to journal on about what you want to do differently:

What happens if I do do this?

What happens if I don’t do this?

What doesn’t happen if I do this?

What doesn’t happen if I don’t do this?

Kathryn’s blog on the anti-resolutions perspective: https://www.kbmindfulcoaching.com/post/the-anti-new-year-resolutions-perspective

Kirsty’s blog on goals: https://www.coachingbykirsty.co.uk/post/we-all-have-goals-even-if-we-ve-chosen-not-to

Find us here:

Kathryn: www.kbmindfulcoaching.com Kirsty: www.coachingbykirsty.co.uk

And on social media here:

Kathryn on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/kathryneball

Kirsty on Instagram - www.instagram.com/coachingbykirsty/

Something a little different for Christmas Day and the lead-in to the new year: inspired by the 12 days of Christmas, we have a series of coaching questions for you, (very) loosely connected to the days of the song.

Don’t worry: there’s no singing from us…relief all around!

Today’s (last!) question for you to mull over and which we also answer in the episode:

‘Which of the suggestions for the 12 days of Christmas do you definitely want (or don’t want) to do?’

Here's a copy of the 12 days of Christmas 'worksheet' with all the questions we ask during the episode: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WgMhARI0ojz4jKQm89DKC8rLLnxJRKy6/view?usp=sharing

Find us here:

Kirsty: www.coachingbykirsty.co.uk

Kathryn: www.kbmindfulcoaching.com

And on social media here:

Kirsty on Instagram - www.instagram.com/coachingbykirsty/

Kathryn on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/kathryneball

The paradox of selflessness…we tie ourselves in knots considering how you’re supposed to give of yourself if you’re not supposed to have a self; ponder the middle ground between selfless and selfish (self-full??); discuss whether the practice of preventative mental and emotional self-care is really fully ingrained in society, and agree that giving of ourselves doesn’t mean sacrificing ourselves.

We also use the word frippery, which should happen more often, and reference being burnt at the stake, which shouldn’t.

Today’s question for you to mull over and which we also answer in the episode:

Consider an area in your life where you’re feeling drained and resentful (or in danger of being so) by what you’re giving: what are you telling yourself about why you have to keep doing it, and how true is it?

Resources:

https://www.coachingbykirsty.co.uk/post/the-selfless-paradox

Find us here:

Kirsty: www.coachingbykirsty.co.uk

Kathryn: www.kbmindfulcoaching.com

And on social media here:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coachingbykirsty/

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/kathryneball

It may not be in the dictionary – yet – but what we mean by ‘comparisonitis’ (comparing ourselves, mostly unfavourably, to others) is a trap we can often fall into! We discuss how comparisons start but how they actually provide an unhelpful and unfair measure of ‘how am I doing?’ – which is really the question we want to be answering.

Today’s question for you to mull over and which we also answer in the episode:

‘If you find yourself comparing, what can you say to yourself that is helpful in that moment?’

Find us here:

Kathryn: www.kbmindfulcoaching.com

Kirsty: www.coachingbykirsty.co.uk

And on social media here:

Kathryn on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/kathryneball

Kirsty on Instagram - www.instagram.com/coachingbykirsty/

Christmas = jolly, right?! As much as we love the word jolly (and roly-poly), we know that unfortunately the festive season can be a source of stress rather than joy sometimes. In this episode, we discuss some of those sources of stress, and more importantly what we can do to counter them.

Also, Kirsty admits to sometimes being Scrooge (but that’s not a bad thing!), our views on Christmas games vary and we debate if biscuits can in fact be festive.

Today’s question for you to mull over and which we also answer in the episode:

‘What will you say no to (or yes to) this festive season to reduce stress?’

Resources:

Kathryn’s blogs on the December (mother)load:

https://www.kbmindfulcoaching.com/post/lightening-the-december-mother-load

and a stress free Christmas:

https://www.kbmindfulcoaching.com/post/a-stress-free-christmas

Find us here:

Kathryn: www.kbmindfulcoaching.comKirsty: www.coachingbykirsty.co.uk

And on social media here:

Kathryn on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/kathryneball

Kirsty on Instagram - www.instagram.com/coachingbykirsty/

The power of a pause is our topic this week – to rest, review, regroup, re-energise. In a busy world of ‘doing’, sometimes we need to take a pause, and it’s a great antidote to the ‘autopilot trap’. We discuss conscious awareness and when we might want to tune in and tune out in a moment of pause.

Today’s question for you to mull over and which we also answer in the episode:

‘Where in your day to day life might pausing help you and what will help you pause?’

Find us here:

Kathryn: www.kbmindfulcoaching.com

Kirsty: www.coachingbykirsty.co.uk

And on social media here:

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/kathryneball

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coachingbykirsty/

If you’re waiting for the Confidence Fairy Godmother to wave her wand before you take action, then this is for you. We talk about the Confidence Catch-22 and the importance of various c-words (no, not that one – behave!) in building confidence: having the courage to start, offering yourself compassion as you learn, letting go of self criticism, and developing competence.

Remarkably, we fail to mention biscuits…but Donald Trump crops up…we promise to try harder with the biscuits in future.

Today’s question for you to mull over and which we also answer in the episode:

Think of something you are confident doing - and then think ‘around’ it – has it always been this way? Why is that? What changed? And can you apply this to something in your life you’d like to feel more confident at?

Resources:

https://www.kbmindfulcoaching.com/post/n-comes-before-u-except-for-confidence-and-courage

Find us here:

Kirsty: www.coachingbykirsty.co.uk Kathryn: www.kbmindfulcoaching.com

And on social media here:

Kirsty on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/coachingbykirsty/

Kathryn on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/kathryneball