Subtle shifts
There are some subtle shifts happening around here - you may have noticed updated website copy and social media bios (or you might not!), but I wanted to give some space to the changes I’m making and why. After trying to launch a coaching business and subsequently burning out in 2020, I took a break and realised I wanted to focus on education - experimenting with courses, workshops and e-books which I’ve…
Looking ahead to 2020
Hello everyone and happy New Year! Welcome to the brand new Blue Jay of Happiness site - what do you think? I’m really happy with it. The colours, the navigation - all of it just flows better and is more functional. While blogging is a key part of my work, so is coaching and now podcasting and I feel this new site communicates this well. I want to say a…
Seedling Ep 13. Coaching - a year in business
This week I’m taking you behind the scenes of my business over the last year. I talk about why I decided to become a coach in the first place, what happened after I launched, where I am a year in (including how much money I’ve made) and my hopes for 2020. My intention with this episode is to help you realise that slow progress is still progress and not to…
BRB - new website coming!
Hello everyone - how are you doing? I wanted to let you know that the blog is going to go quiet over the next couple of weeks because very exciting things are happening behind the scenes and a brand new website is going to be coming your way in January! Blue Jay of Happiness launched on January 1st 2017 and as it approaches its third birthday I’ve decided it’s time…
Why my first session as a coach ended in tears (and what I learnt)
This is one of those posts I’m scared to share, but I think it’s an important one. When we make career decisions that involve trying something new, there is *always* a learning curve. But I feel like this curve is very rarely talked about or shared. Many of us (myself included) want to give the impression that we’re immediately great at this new thing. We share when things go well,…
Are you making an impact?
Every now and then, I’ll ask myself why I’m bothering with all this blogging and coaching malarky. There’s usually a trigger for this feeling. Maybe an instagram post will bomb, a newsletter triggers more unsubscribes than normal or I’ll just go through a period of time when it feels like I’m just shouting into a void. But then, just when I feel ready to throw in the towel, I’ll get…
It’s OK to change your mind
If you asked me six months ago what my career plan was, the answer would have been different to what it is today. My answer today is, honestly - I’m not sure. The careful plan I made back then was, it turns out, too rigid and not realistic. And that’s OK. In fact, since letting go of the pressure I’d put on myself to follow one set path, everything’s felt…
How to stay consistent with your content (without burning out)
A comment I sometimes get from those who follow me online is how consistent I am with my content. It’s worth saying here that creating content, whether it’s a blog post, a newsletter or even an instagram story, can be…. a lot. Individually it may not seem like much, but pull all of the different strands together and - well, that’s a big old tapestry of content. Here’s a breakdown…
The discomfort of success
Well, this is a bit of an ominous title isn’t it? It’s an idea that’s been niggling at the back of my mind for a while now. It started when I listened to an episode of Sara Tasker’s podcast Hashtag Authentic where she interviewed Farrah Storr, editor of Cosmopolitan magazine and author of the book ‘The Discomfort Zone’. In the episode she discussed why it’s important for us to get…
Why is everyone becoming a coach?
If you’re in the online business world, I’m sure you will have noticed that lots of people are becoming coaches. I knew, even when I launched my coaching services last year, that people might roll their eyes and think to themselves “not another coach.” And as it turns out, I was right! When I announced my new services to my newsletter subscribers, some of my long-time subscribers unsubscribed. This is…