Author Archives: Matt Smith Personal and Professional Coach

Sitting in The Middle of a Drama Triangle

I woke up this morning feeling run down and out of energy, it was the same yesterday. We were supposed to go see Space (a indie pop band from the 90s). Most of yesterday though I felt nauseas, had a headache and was so tired. We did not end up going, Lisa was not upContinue reading “Sitting in The Middle of a Drama Triangle”

Address the context not the behaviour

There is a lot of focus on poor behaviours from all angles (colleagues, customers, patients, general public). It feels especially a problem since the pandemic. Wherever you look there is divisiveness…”you are either on our side or against us” attitude appears to prevail. We all blame different groups for these behaviours, the right wing, theContinue reading “Address the context not the behaviour”

Reflections

I was up ridiculously early this morning. At 5:30am I was laying in bed wide awake, with the all the activity of the past week playing out in my head. Everything I managed to achieve, all what I didn’t get done, and most importantly all the things I could have done better. The usual whenContinue reading “Reflections”

Does our fear of vulnerability fuel our shame and disconnects us from people around us

In my day job I speak to health professionals about their experiences at work and what they find the most difficult. It nearly always boils down to communication, people being rude and dismissive, being shouted at, and communication being incomplete. This is not just from one direction, this is generally from every and any direction,Continue reading “Does our fear of vulnerability fuel our shame and disconnects us from people around us”

Don’t chase a career path, go where your values take you

You might be at the beginning of your working life, or already on a career path and wondering what is next for you, there are always points in our life when we start to consider our choices on where we want to be in the next few years. There seems to be a popular viewContinue reading “Don’t chase a career path, go where your values take you”

Positivity (Not what it is cracked up to be)

This week I delivered a short talk to a group of Doctors in training about how to manage stress at work and home. I deliver this talk to Foundation Year 2 Doctors on a fairly regular basis. It started life as a straight up signposting session, telling them where to get help if they neededContinue reading “Positivity (Not what it is cracked up to be)”

Courage

I have written this opening sentence about 10 times and deleted it this morning. I just cannot decide what to write. I did contemplate not writing anything this week, as I didn’t think I had anything to say that was new. I am still not sure if I have anything to write. These blogs areContinue reading “Courage”

We all need to be heard, really heard!

I don’t often do 2 blogs, 2 days in a row, but today’s blog is less personal, what I want to talk about today is how we communicate more effectively, by talking less and listening more. Most of us think that we listen well but I would suggest most of do not. I have writtenContinue reading “We all need to be heard, really heard!”