Hello Courageous Pals,

As ever, thanks to everyone who joined me for Courage Pie yesterday. We did a bit of reconnecting with our inner best selves, so we can feel ready to access that most resourceful state more of the time. We did a very brief visualisation to help us tune in to our inner wisdom, that state when you feel most resourced, grounded in your truth, prepared to face anything, excited by the world and by your role in it. Then we invited our best self to write us a note telling us whatever it is that we most needed to hear (some people had a specific question; you don’t really need one to do this exercise - you just need to be open to receiving words of wisdom from your best self.)

You might find that spending a bit of time on this every few days - it doesn’t have to be a novel; just a few short lines to yourself - helps you hear that intuition from your best self more easily. And if you’re really feeling stuck, like you don’t know what to ask or you’re being overwhelmed by those critical voices and you can’t hear the inner wise self at all: get out your ‘resourceful self’ notes and read back what you wrote! Just looking back at them can help re-open the channel to that best part of yourself and get you out of a ‘stuck’ moment and into a more fully resourced state. I actually keep a special journal just for this.

Science behind the slice

In case you’re ever doubting that intuition is a ‘real’ thing, neuroscience has made some progress towards identifying its mechanisms in the brain - so embrace your inner woo-woo intuitive self!

Psychologist Richard Wiseman has gone a step further, running studies which show that people who have a highly developed sense of intuition are actually luckier than other people, so by practicing some of these intuitive techniques you can actually genuinely improve your luck! Whomst among us doesn’t need a bit more luck? (There’s more to it than that, of course - but intuition is one of the luck factors.)

But the best self isn’t just about listening to your intuition, it’s also about embracing a positive psychology approach and believing good of the world and of yourself. Wiseman recommends doing daily “luck affirmations” as part of his tried-and-tested strategy to help improve your luck daily - and there is evidence from several scientific studies to show that a reflective practice focused on considering things from the perspective of your ‘best possible self’ can indeed improve your wellbeing, optimism, and general happy-go-lucky attitude to the world. (There is also some evidence that over-used or poorly applied positive psychology can be counter-productive - so if you’re sitting there thinking “Positive affirmations have never worked for me! They turn me right off!” you’re not alone - as with all these things, if this route doesn’t work for you, find another thing that does. Maybe try asking your inner wise self what you should try instead…)

Upcoming events & offers

I’ll be chairing a panel on Coaching for Creatives during International Coaching Week on 16 May - a topic we think is so important we’re running it twice, at 10 AM and 6 PM. I’ll be joined by a group of brilliant coaches who believe everyone deserves the transformative power of coaching, with lots of experience applying coaching for the unique needs of people working in the creative sector.

I still have a few spaces left for my ‘Pick Your Own Price’ offer: 3 30-minute sessions with me for any price at all you choose to pay (yes, really!) From a penny to a pennyroyal plant, I’ll accept whatever works for you for these shorter sessions. It would help me greatly to be able to record them for my ongoing professional development and credentialling but it’s not a requirement of the coaching.

Have you been along to a Courage Pie and found it useful? I’d love a few words from you as a testimonial - just shoot me an email (you can reply to this message) with a sentence or two about what you found especially valuable about it.

Next month we’ll be learning and practicing the liberating power of no during Courage Pie! Something I think we could all do a bit more of. Do you have any friends who could use a bit of liberating too? Bring them along! Until then, have a wonderful month and keep tuning in to your best self - practice will make it easier to hear that voice.

Very best,

Caitlin