More to Life Coaching

🤔 What is Imposter Syndrome?

Have you ever felt like a fraud, despite your achievements? Do you catch yourself thinking, “I’m not as capable as people think,” or “I was just lucky”? If so, you might be experiencing imposter syndrome, a common experience that leaves many people doubting their abilities.

Imposter syndrome is not a mental health disorder, nor is it something you’re born with. Instead, it’s a pattern of thinking that can be overcome with self-awareness and the right tools.

So, what does it look like?
People with imposter syndrome often:
👉 Attribute their success to luck, help from others, or overwork, rather than their own skills
👉 Downplay or dismiss praise and compliments
👉 Fear being "found out" as a fraud, no matter how much they achieve
👉 Hyper-focus on mistakes or criticism while ignoring positive feedback

Sound familiar? It can show up in different ways - some people overwork to "prove" they’re capable, while others procrastinate or avoid new challenges out of fear.

Remember: Imposter syndrome is a feeling, not a fact. It’s not a reflection of your true abilities. With the right mindset and strategies, it can be managed and overcome.

If this resonates with you, know you’re not alone. Many successful people have felt the same way at some point.

Stay tuned for more tips on how to break free from the cycle and if you would like some coaching to really shift things for the better - get in touch!

Reframing Disability: A Powerful Lesson ...

I recently listened to a fascinating podcast “Slay your Dragons with Compassion” hosted by my friend Malcolm Stern, featuring Neil, a filmmaker who has a condition called Klippel-Feil syndrome. Neil's perspective on his own life, and on disability more generally, was incredibly insightful, and it really helped my ‘join the dots’ with something a colleague had shared with me on how we see disability.

Neil doesn't see himself as disabled, he views himself as "just some bloke called Neil who gets on and does what he does”.

This perspective resonated deeply with what I've been learning about the social model of disability. This model, proposes that people are disabled by societal barriers, not by their impairments. These barriers can be physical, like buildings without ramps, or attitudinal, such as assuming that disabled people cannot do certain things.... The social model highlights that it is the way society is built that disables people.

The social model flips the script: it's not about what's "wrong" with the individual, but what's "wrong" with the environment and the attitudes that create barriers. As one person who uses a wheelchair sais: "It's not that my legs don't work that disabling me. It's the fact that if I'm on a flat surface, I can wheel around fine...It's only when I come up to a flight of stairs". Ben gives the example that the chair he is sitting on is comfortable for him but most chairs, such as the ones in the dining room of the host, would be unsuitable. He is ‘disabled’ by a world that isn't built for people with his particular physical attributes.

Neil also stated that people with disabilities are often more creative and stronger problem-solvers, because they have to work harder to be on a level playing field. This really challenges our assumption that having a disability is necessarily a "struggle." As Neil said, "Where's that word struggle...that is your perceptions".

Key takeaways:

The social model of disability emphasizes that disability is caused by societal barriers not by the impairment itself.

People with disabilities often have unique strengths and creative problem-solving skills due to their lived experience.

Challenging our assumptions and preconceived notions about disability is essential for creating a more inclusive society

I love having my perception shifted by a ‘reframe’ and this understanding has shifted how I think about disability. What are your thoughts? When have you had your view on something significantly shifted by a ‘reframe’ to allow you to look at something differently?

How are you doing with your New Year Resolutions?

Sadly only 9-12% of people report feeling successful in achieving their resolutions by the end of the year. 23% of people quit within the first week of January!

How can you feel really committed to your goals and successfully achieve them?

Check out my article for the Life Coach Directory below.

And if you would like help in creating goals that you feel genuinely excited by and are likely to stick to - get in touch!

I have a very special offer running this month - 4 coaching sessions for £100 (normal price £400)!

How to feel really committed to your New Year's resolutions Struggling with your New Year's resolutions? Learn how to align your goals with your values for a more meaningful, lasting commitment.

Support isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a game-changer. 💡 Whether in sports, fame, or everyday life, it’s often the missing piece during tough times.

Think about it:
⚽ After a tough loss recently, Manchester United was booed by their own fans—just a week after celebrating a win together.
🎤 Liam Payne from One Direction has opened up about how public criticism deepened his personal struggles.

These examples remind us of one thing: we all thrive with support. 💪

💬 Before judging someone, consider the battles they might be fighting.
🌱 Celebrate effort, not just results.
❤️ Be the encouragement someone needs today.

Support uplifts. It transforms. And most importantly - it matters.

https://moretolifecoaching.co.uk/squiggly-careers/

Spring is in the air and I felt inspired to share this

http://www.rrlifecoaching.com/what-seeds-are-you-sowing/

what seeds are you sowing? | Richard Rogers Life Coaching and Counselling blog about how we plant the seeds that will grow into what we want in life - achieving your goals

An inspiring wall at one of my london meetings today

Do you have a WAIT problem? I hope you enjoy my latest blog... not just an excuse to publish another cute cat picture on Facebook!

http://www.rrlifecoaching.com/taking-the-next-step-overcoming-a-wait-problem/

Taking the next step – overcoming a WAIT problem | Richard Rogers Life Coaching and Counselling Recently I went to view some kittens with a view to finding one that would become a future member of our household. As I walked into the hallway of the owner’s house, I was greeted by what turned out to be three separate families of kittens and their mothers, 11 kittens in total! I was surrounded by...

How do you know if someone cares about you? The answer may not be as obvious as you think.
http://www.rrlifecoaching.com/speak-my-langauge/

Speak my langauge | Richard Rogers Life Coaching and Counselling Blog about understanding each other better, improving relationships and making better decisions. Understanding our value and map of the World

Hope you are curious enough to read my latest Blog.
I would love to hear your thoughts

Are you curious? Blog highlighting the importance of curiosity in coaching and personal growth. How to nurture your curiosity to give you a richer experience of life

Is your life out of balance?

When life is busy, or all your energy is focused on a special project, it's all too easy to find yourself ‘off balance’ - not paying enough attention to important areas of your life. While you need to have drive and focus if you're going to get things done, taking this too far can lead to frustration, stress or a sense of dissatisfaction. Almost without noticing, having an intense focus on one area of our lives can cause us to neglect other areas of life, which are important to us. For example, we may become absorbed by our work, spending more of our time in the office, whilst home/family life suffers. That's when it's time to take a "helicopter view" of your life, so that you can bring things back into balance.

This is where the ‘Life Wheel’ can help. It helps you consider each area of your life in turn and assess what's off balance. As such, it helps you identify areas that may need more attention. Contact me at RRlifecoaching.com to explore how you can restore a sense of balance in your life and invest your energy where it matters most.

How could you be an inspiration to yourself?

I was asked this coaching question towards the end of last year and it lead to an unexpected result. My answer was "Ill talk to someone about how you go about creating a website". The idea was to just gather some information, but that conversation led, within a month, to my first fully blown website, blog, page, Twitter handle (admittedly I haven't used it yet!) and new private clients. So, it was an unplanned pregnancy, but after a short and intense gestation, I feel like I have given birth to something, and it feels important to me.

If you feel moved to have a look or like my page I would be honoured.

At the very least I would recommend, instead of looking for sources of inspiration outside of yourself (although that can be good too), ask "what could I do to be an inspiration to myself?"

www.rrlifecoaching.com

Richard Rogers Life Coaching and Counselling | Guildford Surrey

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Are your New Years Resolutions NEW?

It's the time of year to make resolutions. Many of us, armed with our new diary system, learn a new language CDs, healthy cookbooks and shiny new gym memberships, start the year with a new burst of enthusiasm for the things we would like more or less of in our lives. Unfortunately, for many people, a large percentage of these sincere intentions - seem to fall by the wayside; accompanied by a sense of failure and feelings of guilt. These feelings typically subside – overtaken by busyness, distraction and changing priorities driven by life’s uncanny habit of throwing up the unexpected.

Undaunted we return to the resolution ritual the following year, but how often have you noticed that many of the same resolutions keep popping up – lose weight, spend more time with family etc?

Dr Johnson (author of the Dictionary), who was apparently a massive sleepyhead, always used to resolve to "rise early" the following year - a promise he never managed to keep. A perennial favourite is to lose weight. The normal way of approaching this is to basically draw up a plan - to eat less and exercise more. Unfortunately research has shown that a year later most people, having initially succeeded in reaching their weight loss targets, have put on the weight they lost plus an extra 7%! It has even been found in a study of patients with a heart condition that only 1 in 7 follow their doctor’s advice to the letter regarding taking their medication.

So what is going on? Why do people with so often fail in achieving things they genuinely wanted and had a real commitment to do?

There are many aspects of goal setting (eg being unrealistic, too rigid or not specific enough) that I will discuss at another time, but here we are talking about a failure to achieve something we are really clear that we WANT. It seems that at some point something more important than resisting that extra bar of chocolate or using that expensive gym membership gets in the way, and the willpower simply runs out.

What I have discovered is that in these instances – when we are not achieving the things we really WANT and not doing the things we sincerely set out to do, we find ourselves do all manner of other things instead. Behind this there is usually some attachment to the way that things are now that creates a resistance to change – almost like an immune system. When I work with people I help them to reveal their psychological immune system; helping them challenge some of their beliefs and assumptions on which it is based and gently establish new, more empowering beliefs that are supportive of doing the things that ultimately lead to them achieving the things that are important to them.

So next time you seem to be hitting a wall of resistance to achieving what you would actually love to achieve, stop trying to push through it, doing what you have been doing, and ask yourself “do I still really want to achieve this goal?” (it is possible that it is no longer as important to you). If the answer is yes, then, perhaps with the help of a trained coach, inquire into what ‘hidden commitments’ you may have that are keeping you attached to keeping things the way they are now.