Do you know what you will be doing in 5 years’ time? How about 5 months’ time? Tomorrow? Does it matter if you have no clue as to where your life is heading and what you want to be doing with it? The answer is yes if you want to succeed in life, if you want to grow and progress and see yourself flourish and live life to the full.

Goal setting is there for you to get the best out of life. Without goals in front of you, you will lack focus and drive. Goal setting gives you not only the impetus to get out there and do something, but it also gives you structure and determination.

Let’s be honest no matter how we sugar coat it, it isn’t easy getting older, and the big milestones, seem even more daunting. Changes that occur in our body can make us start to think about ageing and our own mortality. Those little aches and pains we get, joint stiffness when we move, and our eyesight deteriorating can all be depressing signs that we are getting older.

Newly divorced, separated or bereaved and starting your life again on your own can be overwhelming. All of the couples things that you used to take for granted, dining out, holidays, always having a plus one may now have ended but that doesn’t mean that your life has. Navigating through can certainly have its hard moments but there are ways that you can get through and come out much stronger.

Life coaches work with you to clarify your goals and ambitions and to set plans for them to be realised. During your sessions, they can identify any obstacles that may set you back and can give you tools to motivate and keep you on track. They will identify strengths and weaknesses, gifts and talents that you can use to change your situation and become the person that you want to be.

One thing that we all need to be aware of in life, is that there are going to be times when it really sucks, times when we seem to just keep getting knocked down and don’t seem to be able to get up. These feelings are going to happen to everyone at some time in life, no one will escape them. Life is all about positive and negative experiences. What we need to know is how to deal with them when it happens, how to face up to living when it feels like you are falling apart.

As the year ends and a new start is just around the corner, it is traditionally a time that many of us start thinking about making changes in our lives, goal setting and developing positive intentions for the coming year. On average a quarter of the population will make new year resolutions, resolutions such as to lose weight, quit smoking reduce drinking, exercise more, live a healthier lifestyle, improve relationships, get a better job, set new goals and start relaxing more.

People are naturally more optimistic at the beginning of the new year, it’s a fresh start and they fully believe that they will stick to the resolutions and goals that they have set and will accomplish them. Despite all these grand plans and ideas though only a small number of people will achieve their goals, with the majority of people giving up before the month of January is out.

Anchors can also be used metaphorically by coaches with clients during NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) sessions when they are experiencing stress or anxiety, want to appear more confident, or want to change learned behaviour from a negative into a positive. These anchors are usually external stimuli, that when applied can trigger an internal response or feeling. If you thought of your own anchors for instance, how do you feel if you hear a particular piece of music that reminds you of a favourite time or a smell that reminds you of a loved one? Or think about an alarm going off and it may bring back memories of stress or fear.

The brain is a complex organ in the body and can work either for us or against us. Much of how we live our lives is governed entirely by the thoughts that we have in our brain, from socializing to what job we do, to where we live and what we wear, we listen to the thoughts that our brain sends us, and act on them.

It isn’t just people who suffer from SAD (seasonally adjusted disorder) who suffer from winter blues. For many people, the winter months can prove to be a source of unhappiness and lethargy, that can leave them feeling depressed, unmotivated, and unhealthy. With shorter days, less natural light, and colder weather it can mean that even the most positive person can have days where they feel a bit blah!!

We all know the scenario, you wake up and before you even check your clock, you know that it’s going to be 3.00 am and that you will then spend the next hour or so, tossing and turning, trying to get back to sleep, all the while your brain will be ruminating on all of the things that you really don’t want to be thinking about. Everyone will have been in this situation at some time or another but why does it happen? And what can we do to stop it from becoming a regular pattern?

Even though we now live in an age where we have more time-saving devices than ever before, many of us never have enough time and the time that we do have is spent in a whirlwind. The time-saving devices have meant that we take on more and more commitments and, as a result, our lives have become more hectic.

Instead of revelling in having more quality time to enjoy doing what we love, we often find ourselves bemoaning the fact that we don’t have enough time which leaves many of us stressed and unhappy.

Who remembers sitting in their bedroom when they were younger, writing in their diary. Writing down all of that was going on in life; who said what, who did what, and most importantly, how you felt about it all.

Childhood diaries encapsulated our personalities; stickers of our favourite pop stars. actors or celebrities, written in multi-coloured ink with drawings inside; or diaries with a lock and key so nosey siblings couldn't go peeking to see what had been written.

Self-worth, one of those buzz words that we hear so often now, but what exactly does it mean? There seem to be so many “self” words, from self-worth, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-care, that it is hard to distinguish one from another.

Self-worth comes from within, it is an internal sense of being that is achieved by acquiring self-love, self-acceptance, and self-understanding.

At different times in our lives, we are all required to take risks; without them, there can be no real growth in life. This ability to take risks and step outside of our comfort zone can change our lives in many ways.

For many though, the mere thought of stepping out of their comfort zone brings about severe anxiety which leaves them rooted in the same place in life.

What to wear, what to eat, what to watch on Netflix, what to do at the weekend?…….the list of questions that we ask ourselves and decisions that we have to make on a daily basis sometimes seem exhausting. And for the most part, the smaller, more inconsequential questions are the ones that cause us so much deliberation, whilst more important life-changing decisions can be made in what seems a fraction of the time.

From time to time, we’ve all had that feeling, a sinking sensation in the pit of our stomach when we realize that we have done something wrong; forgotten someone’s birthday, spent too much money on a purchase, made an excuse to not socialize with a friend, usually harmless occurrences, but they leave us feeling guilty none the less. Guilt, a powerful emotion that we have in life that can overtake us at times.

We are often led to believe in life that following a certain path and achieving set goals will give us everything that we want and that this will lead to us being happy as if in some way, happiness is a goal to be reached, an endpoint in life. This is not what being happy is about. Happiness is not some final destination or something to be earned once you have put in the hard work, happiness is about living, day to day doing things that you love, that bring you satisfaction, and things that you want to be doing.

We will all have many varied relationships during our lifetime, from school to work to home life and social life. These relationships will bring us joy and sorrow, will be complex and long-lasting, fun and fleeting. They will see us through the good times and the bad times of our lives.

We live in a society where we are led to believe that there are certain markers we should hit by a certain age; finishing school, college, getting your first job and meeting your life partner usually by your late 20s. Then marriage, family, buying a home, career advancement by your late 30’s. Life up until this point is all mapped out. We are programmed from an early age to follow this formula to bring us success and happiness, and to set us up for our later years, with a family we can rely on as we get older, financial security as we retire, and all the trappings of the world that we live in.

When people think of investment their minds will go straight to shares, hedge funds, property, or business. These are the areas in life that people tend to place real value on when it comes to investing short-term for long-term gain. The reason generally is, that people value wealth and material possessions above everything else. For many, it’s a way of showing their worth, other people can see how far they have come.