Hi Friend,

I'm leading an evening workshop in Clapham Junction on June 9 and thought you might be interested in coming to it.

The title is:

What a Brain Injury Taught Me About Performance: 6 Lessons to Help You Truly Live.

Here's the thing: This isn't a presentation.

Each attendee will leave with new ideas, tools and goals for how they want to live.

Coaching has taught me that, whilst our circumstances differ, we're all battling similar challenges too - fatigue, distraction, confidence to name a few.

After my stint in the ICU, my new side quest became:‘What tools can I leverage to better perform?’

So we'll work through 6 practical tools, reflections, and behaviour changes that helped me regain clarity, energy, and direction.

Expect real conversation, interactive exercises, a guided workbook, and space to connect with others.

You will leave this workshop with just the right amount of 'whelm'.

So if this sounds up your street, and you're free on Tuesday 9th, you can find your ticket here: Visit EventBrite

In the meantime, just a quick thought this week.

The inability to find calm is the inability to truly live.

I've been living with a very stressed rescue dog this week.

We had to look after it whilst the 'parents' were away on an emergency - and it was an odd experience.

I love dogs. Their cute faces, wagging tails and everlasting excitement fill me with joy.

But this poor rescue was too fearful and restless to embody many of the typically dog-like behaviours. It wasn't calm enough to 'be a dog'.

This got me thinking about humans.

Stress, fear, anxiety, and agitation are all high energy negative emotions that many of us encounter.

Typically, these four are associated with high adrenaline - the fight and flight hormone.

We've all felt this before: in a fight, after a sky dive, when surprised...

The high heart rate, alertness and a vibration of the muscles (usually the legs).

This hormone, injected into any mammal would cause a similar feeling - a huge energetic proclivity to MOVE.

Animals have evolved this hormonal psychology to adrenaline because - for 99.9% of our time on this planet - we've needed to move.

To fight or flight.

This rescue dog has unfortunately been conditioned to feel fear when in a totally safe kitchen.

He would be lying on the sofa visibly shaking, pulsing with un-spent adrenaline. He'd pant, he'd sweat, he'd lose his appetite.

What he needed was a huge run.

Then, he'd be able to calm down. To rest. To play. To BE.

See, hormones - in dogs or humans - need to be released.

We call this an emotion (energy in motion - which may read cliche to some of you, but truly novel to others!).

Emotions change our state, and the only way to return is to release (express) the emotion.

Like this dog, humans can accumulate adrenaline and other hormones.

These are biological, neuro-chemical, quantifiable combinations of hormones in our blood and brain.

In the same way that being drunk is a chemical state, anxiety is too. It's not 'all in the head'.

In fact: We cannot think our way out of it, in the same way we can't really think our way into sneezing or falling asleep.

Most men need to re-read that last sentence. I'm guilty of forgetting this too often.

No matter who we are, we should find opportunities to express (release, discharge, spend) our emotions where possible.

Some release is reactive and perhaps regrettable: shouting, crying, door slamming. But intentional avenues exist too: sprinting, writing, dancing and breathing.

After expressing our emotions, we're free - again - to return to our natural state: humans, BEING.

If we're not calm, everything is harder.

We're trying to drive through life with our feet pressing both peddles.

We're not present with our friends, we're not focussed at work, we're not able to sleep at night (yet exhausted in the morning).

Not being calm is not really living.

And that's the one thing we've been put on this earth to do.

Go do it.

Cheers

Live by design, not default.

James - humans BEING

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Disclaimer:The information I share is for education and general interest only. It is not medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or a substitute for professional care. Please do not start or stop any medication or supplement without guidance from a qualified health professional who knows your personal history.

The views expressed are my own, based on sources available at the time of writing. Logos, images, and short excerpts may appear for identification, critique, or educational purposes; all trademarks and copyrights remain with their owners. I aim to be accurate, and if you believe something here is incorrect, please let me know so I can review and, if needed, correct it.

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