Does anyone else feel a sense of overwhelm about how much information we ‘should’ know. I am constantly walking into situations where I feel less knowledgeable about current affairs, the latest coaching trends, the latest music (we could delve into whether I am less knowledgeable or whether that’s in my head, but I think that is another blog!). Sometimes I find it difficult to know where to start. I was heartened to hear a colleague tell me that she deleted a podcast recommendation from a friend – not because she wasn’t interested, in fact she thought it sounded fascinating, but because she knew that given everything else, she didn’t have the capacity to listen to it. It’s taken me a long time to be ok with dipping into random episodes from a podcast series. The completist in me used to struggle with this but I realised that I was unlikely to ever get through every episode and, more importantly, not all episodes were of interest to me. What I consume needs to be serving me. I notice that sometimes I embrace learning new things whole heartedly and other times I am more resistant – is that because it’s too hard, I’m fine as I am, I’m scared, I have no interest, or I’ve got distracted? We owe it to ourselves to remain curious so what’s the answer in a world of information overload? Think about how you find meaning, your values and what makes you come alive and which content can support that Be more conscious about the information that you would like to consume. Where does your focus lie – is it current affairs, trends in your industry, purpose-driven, general knowledge or something to bring you joy? All of these are valid - it’s knowing what you want Know yourself and how you best consume information. It took me a long time to realise that I consume complex issues better when it’s audio rather than written. I also value time away from screens so I still love a paper book as I engage with it differently Think about which sources will be best for your information – in the case of something like current affairs, you may choose multiple sources to give you a balanced view Schedule time and be more mindful about what you would like to do in that time. Endless scrolling can mean at the end of an hour we haven’t looked at anything intentional. If I see an interesting article, I make a note and save it for my scheduled time rather than feeling the pressure to read it immediately I learnt a concept a few years ago about time being elastic – if you have an hour free before a meeting, you often perceive the first 30 minutes to be more productive than the second 30 minutes. Use what you know about the time you have and your energy levels to schedule accordingly Remember that multi-tasking is a myth. If you are trying to focus on two things at once, one is probably suffering. Decide where your focus is at any one time Be conscious about the harder stuff that you’d like to learn but that might take more coaxing. I know I need to understand AI more and I have been resistant because of the unknown. My solution is to ask a friend to help me rather than me searching online and feeling more overwhelmed on top of the fear Sprinkle joy amongst the harder stuff – I love listening to comedy podcasts and new music. If friends are talking about something you don’t know about, have the courage to ask them to tell you more – you might learn all you need over dinner, rather than spending that time being anxious and faking your knowledge Remember that it’s ok to say no, even if something sounds brilliant. None of this should be at the detriment of your own wellbeing. Know your limits and know that you will have to make value choices about the information for you  Most of all remember that being curious and learning new stuff is really fun so let’s find a way to still love it rather than making it feel like a chore.

It’s January and lots of you might be thinking about whether you have made the right resolutions for the year. I find the word resolution so cut and dried – it’s defined as “a firm decision to do or not to do something”. No wonder we feel a strong sense of failure when we don’t manage to keep up our resolutions. Instead, I like to think about making intentions and forming healthy habits to help me get there. And it’s totally ok to change those habits to find a way that will fit comfortably with the rhythm of your life. The key is to be self-aware and know whether you are avoiding something slightly challenging or scary, or whether there is genuinely a good reason for changing that habit. My intention for this year is to take on a big swim and to get there I have upped my training. Whilst I’m excited about the swim, I am also really scared and it triggers my old narrative of ‘I’m rubbish at sport’ and in turn, my embarrassment doing sport around other people. Last week I found myself considering cancelling a swimming training session and I stopped to reflect and ask myself why? Did I need to change the time because of other important commitments or was it because I was fearing the session and looking for an excuse to cancel? I realised I was anxious about the session and there was no other good reason to cancel. I sat with the fear, I sat with the discomfort, and I thought about how good I would feel at the end of the session. More importantly for me, I reminded myself that I wouldn’t have even considered going to a session like this 3 years ago. I am swimming in higher circles than before and sometimes I don’t give myself credit for this. The path to growth means we constantly put ourselves in discomfort, then get more comfortable and aim for the next big thing and face the discomfort again. We often forget how far we have come and don’t take the time to celebrate the successes along the way. What did I learn from my session? This is my session and no-one else’s. I have to set my own targets and be honest with myself afterwards about my successes and what I would like to work more on I often have imposter syndrome and the fear that other people are judging me for being too slow. After the session I realised that I couldn’t remember a single thing about anyone else’s technique, so I doubt they can remember anything about me! Most people are concentrating on themselves in those situations I always think I am the only one worried about something and yet whenever I share this, I realise that I am not alone. Being more vulnerable with others has helped me form stronger relationships and embrace my fears Kindness is an important part of my life and yet I don’t always consider how harshly I am judging myself – talking to myself as I would support a friend helps me to encourage myself, celebrate how far I have come and know when to push myself more I know that my habits work best when they are things I want to do rather than things I feel I have to do. I wanted to do this session, even if I did feel the fear, because I enjoy learning, getting fitter and the positive impact on my mental health There will be discomfort but when I analysed it, I realised that most of that discomfort was my limiting beliefs rather than anything tangible stopping me doing it I know I need flexibility, so I have picked sessions where I have flexibility each week to fit around my other commitments I need to be self-aware and honest with myself about why a habit is not embedding itself successfully – Is it the wrong time? Am I really interested in doing this? Or is fear getting in the way?  And for me personally, I need to remind myself that every swim I have ever done has made me happier, stronger, braver and better equipped to conquer the world.