Making the right decision can feel tricky, especially when they involve important life transitions. But there's a way out, and it starts with asking ourselves some fundamental questions around why we want what we want, and what we truly hope to gain when we get it. Download the episode’s podsheet . You can use it for reflection and to submit for your appraisal as part of your CPD. Download your free Overwhelm SOS guide Join the You Are Not a Frog Facebook group The Mole and the Mountain: A ...
Apr 08, 2024•46 min•Ep. 215
If you're questioning whether a job or a relationship is right for you, it's worth exploring further, and taking those thoughts seriously. Remember that change is often a sign of growth, not failure. So focus on the potential positives that can arise from change, rather than asking “what if it doesn’t work?” Download your free Overwhelm SOS guide How to Ditch the Saviour Complex and Feel More Alive – Episode 88, with Rob Bell How to Decide if You Need to Stay or Leave a Difficult Situ...
Apr 01, 2024•20 min•Ep. 214
It’s easy to to find ourselves thinking that money holds the key to our happiness, security, and freedom. We can project our desires and aversions onto money, believing that once we have “enough”, we can finally get the life we want. But thinking like this often keeps us from truly living our lives; instead we're stuck constantly chasing the next thing. ⭐️ Work Well Webinars Money is a story we create, not something with inherent power. It's a piece of paper; a digit in a computer we assign valu...
Mar 25, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 213
What happens when we're not feeling well, or when we're feeling overwhelmed at work? Often, we turn to our colleagues for support. But what happens when that support doesn't come, or it's not as helpful as we’d hoped? 🛟 Download your free Overwhelm SOS guide When we're all in the same boat, it's tricky to get a different perspective. Even well-meaning advice from a colleague can feel misplaced or missing the mark, as it’s shaped by their own experiences and limitations. This can leave us f...
Mar 18, 2024•23 min•Ep. 212
Women in medicine are often undervalued and taken less seriously than their male counterparts. They’re also made to feel less safe at work, and encounter pushback when they make a complaint. This week’s guest is Professor Dame Jane Dacre, and the episode is recorded in partnership with the Physician Mums Facebook Group (PMGUK). In her discussion with Rachel, Dame Jane lays out what needs to change at structural and interpersonal levels. She invites members of the industry to shine a light on ina...
Mar 14, 2024•47 min
Saying what you really feel – especially in a high-stress job – is no easy task. Crucial conversations are often avoided for fear of damaging relationships. These unaired grievances get bottled up and over time can increase our level of stress. ⭐️ Work Well Webinars But there are three core conditions for effective conversation that can help here: empathy (stepping into someone else’s shoes), unconditional respect (accepting the other’s right to be as they are), and congruence (expressing our th...
Mar 11, 2024•54 min•Ep. 211
We often set goals in the belief they’ll make us happier. But setting goals alone might not be enough to truly help us thrive.In this quick dip, Rachel discusses why that’s the case, and offers a different approach to finding satisfaction and success. ⭐️ Work Well Webinars It all begins with a shift in focus from goals to desires. Instead of starting with specific goals, we should first identify what we truly desire and what our basic needs are. This helps us align our actions and ro...
Mar 04, 2024•20 min•Ep. 210
There are times working in medicine or other high-stress jobs, when you feel trapped and unhappy. And maybe you’ve told yourself you have no other option but to stay put. These “shoulds” can come from societal expectations or the idea that you’ve put so much into your job already that it would be silly – or even irresponsible – to quit now. ⭐️ Work Well Webinars These myths and pressures keep us feeling stuck, and prevent us from exploring alternative possibilities within or outside of our curre...
Feb 26, 2024•53 min•Ep. 209
We’re all seeking the perfect job or career path that will bring us happiness and fulfilment. But while we’re focused on achieving success, we can overlook the bigger stuff – and it’s possible that our current career trajectory might not take us there. That’s why we need to find and then follow our North Star. Finding it starts with prioritising four fundamental needs: feeling fully human, deep connections, meaning and purpose, and growth and learning. By aligning our goals with these needs, we ...
Feb 19, 2024•23 min•Ep. 208
We all experience moments of feeling stuck. Sometimes we have the motivation, but something’s in our way. On other days the simplest things can feel like pushing a boulder up a hill. Now matter how competent we know we are, that feeling of inertia can wreak havoc on our self-confidence. If we’re going to get unstuck and move forwards, we first need to find out what’s blocking us. ⭐️ Book Your FrogFest Ticket Now The solution is to take a conscious leadership approach. This means shifting our min...
Feb 12, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 207
If you were in a life-or-death scenario and the only path out was over hot coals, would you take it? Of course. But when it comes to situations that are making us uncomfortable or even miserable, we seldom want to experience that discomfort to get to what we know will be better for us. ⭐️ Book Your FrogFest Ticket Now In this quick dip episode, Rachel explores the importance of considering the long-term impact of our work, and offers a single question you can ask yourself right now, to discover ...
Feb 05, 2024•12 min•Ep. 206
If you’re in a job where you use your brain a lot, it can be easy to feel disconnected from your body and emotions. This in turn can lead to a lack of self-awareness and even difficulty in expressing yourself. That lack of awareness changes how we outwardly express ourselves, even in ways we’re not aware of. But by becoming consciously connected with our body, we can get a bit more control over our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, and over how others see us. ⭐️ Book Your FrogFest Ticket Now T...
Jan 29, 2024•51 min•Ep. 205
We all experience shame from time to time, but when it becomes toxic, we can end up in a shame spiral from which it's difficult to escape. When we’re called out on something about which we feel shameful, it can make us defensive. And so often, no-one can punish us as harshly as we punish ourselves. In this quick dip episode, Rachel shares her strategy to break free from shame spirals and cultivate a healthier mindset; by sharing our shame, taking some perspective, and seeking support from others...
Jan 22, 2024•24 min•Ep. 204
When we’re presented with a difficult problem, naturally we use logic and reasoning to solve it. But some problems – like stress and burnout – can’t be solved with logic alone. The left hemisphere is the area of the brain focused on tasks, logic, and problem-solving. But the right hemisphere deals with relationships, connections, and new perspectives. It’s also visual and metaphorical, so it can help us see problems in a different way. So our right brain can help us live more easily with problem...
Jan 15, 2024•52 min•Ep. 203
So you’ve got a problem, maybe a relationship issue at work or difficulties managing your workload. You’ve talked it with friends, but the solution won’t present itself. Often the problem isn't that we lack solutions, but rather that we haven't fully understood what the problem is in the first place. In this quick dip episode, Rachel shares her three-step model to help you identify and address the real problem you’re facing. It involves recognising we have choices, embracing our human needs and ...
Jan 08, 2024•14 min•Ep. 202
Faced with a difficult situation, we often ask the question “should I stay or should I go?” It could be about work, a relationship, or something more personal. We all face this question at various times in our life, and it can be overwhelming to make a choice when we’re scared of the unknown. This week, we’re revisiting a discussion with Corrina Gordon-Barnes , about how to tackle the decision-making process. Instead of relying on traditional methods like pros and cons lists or seeking adv...
Jan 01, 2024•54 min•Ep. 201
If you have a high-stakes job like medicine, shame can show up in unexpected and unwelcome places. Doctors have incredibly high societal expectations, with constant pressure to be invulnerable. It’s time to challenge these unrealistic expectations and foster an environment that supports doctors in their vulnerability. This week, we’re featuring one of our most popular and impactful episodes from 2023 to help you identify and combat shame. In this episode, Dr Sandy Miles discusses the impact of s...
Dec 25, 2023•55 min•Ep. 200
The Christmas season can be a time of stress and disappointment, especially when our expectations don't match up with reality. We can find ourselves dealing with difficult family members, feeling overwhelmed with work and family obligations, or experiencing a general sense of dissatisfaction.But there’s plenty we can do to make the festive period more enjoyable and less overwhelming. This week, we’re revisiting a previous conversation on the podcast, with Corrina Gordon-Barnes. In her chat with ...
Dec 18, 2023•55 min•Ep. 199
If you're like most people, you'll have experienced moments when your confidence wavers, leaving you unsure of yourself and holding back from reaching your full potential. But what if there was a way to increase your confidence and make a greater impact in your personal and professional life? This week, Dr Claire Kaye joins Rachel to explore the power of confidence and how it influences our lives. They dive into the common challenges we face when it comes to confidence, whether it's feeling unde...
Dec 11, 2023•55 min•Ep. 198
We can learn how to say no to other people, but often don’t say no to ourselves or to our inner critic who’s always telling us we can do more or be better. We become our own worst enemy when it comes to setting boundaries and prioritising our own needs. This is why we need self-compassion, and to overcome the toxic self-talk that often fuels our negative self-talk. In this quick dip, Rachel will help you name the critical voice and acknowledge its presence, explore the underlying triggers and ne...
Dec 04, 2023•13 min•Ep. 197
Do you find yourself trapped by the expectations and pressures of what you think you “should” be doing? Is there a voice in your head, berating you for not living up to their standards? If so, you might be experiencing the tyranny of the shoulds. You’re not alone in feeling overwhelmed or uncertain. But it turns out that hearing others' stories can help you realise that your struggles are common. Also, if you rely on others for feedback it’s important to know whom to ask and when, so you don’t e...
Nov 27, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 196
If your job is demanding, jou've probably wondered at some point if you're burning out. The constant stress and pressure in health and social care especially can leave us feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. But ignoring the signs of burnout can have serious consequences, affecting not only our performance but our wellbeing and our relationships too. In this quick dip episode, Rachel introduces the Stress Curve and how it can help you recognise if you're nearing burnout. She explains the different...
Nov 20, 2023•19 min•Ep. 195
Managing your energy can be a challenge at the best of times. But if you’re a highly sensitive person, you might be more prone to burning out due to your unique traits and the demands of your work. Being highly sensitive doesn’t mean being touchy, but having a high degree of empathy and a particular way of processing sensory input. That means it might take longer to recover from a tricky situation like a conflict with a colleague, or witnessing something traumatic at work. The key to managing en...
Nov 13, 2023•45 min•Ep. 194
Saying no and setting boundaries are core to avoiding burnout. But if saying no might put a patient at harm – or worse – what can you do? In this quick dip episode, Rachel explains the concept of core and flex boundaries along with core and flex consequences. Core boundaries are non-negotiables that we always enforce, rather than preferences we’d like to enforce but can be flexible around.Key to this approach is also recognising the short- and long-term consequences of saying no. By not setting ...
Nov 06, 2023•23 min•Ep. 193
Interactions between team members can have a big impact on performance and outcomes. Disrespect and hostility can create a threatening environment and hinder collaboration and productivity. In a medical setting, it could literally be a life-or-death situation. The Civility Saves Lives movement aims to raise awareness about the importance of behaviour and promote a culture of civility. By showing respect and support towards each-other, teams can enhance their performance, deliver better outcomes,...
Oct 30, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 192
When someone else sets boundaries, do you feel able to do the same, or do you resent their ability to say no? Often, our anger towards others' boundaries comes from our own unmet needs and desires, and what presents itself as resentment is actually envy. Guilt, shame, and fear often prevent us from expressing our own needs, which just compounds those negative emotions. Without shifting our mindset, we can end up adopting a victim mindset and feeling even more trapped. In this quick dip episode, ...
Oct 23, 2023•15 min•Ep. 191
Productivity and time management are difficult at the best of times. But when your job directly affects people’s lives, it can be tricky to make time to get organised, so that we have control over our days, and our inbox isn’t overflowing. What we need is to manage our attention and make space for what matters. In this episode, Rachel is joined by productivity expert Graham Allcott. Graham shares ways we can prioritise and delegate tasks, make dedicated time for deep work, and get on top of our ...
Oct 16, 2023•43 min•Ep. 190
We’ve all had weeks where our schedules are packed tightly and there’s no time for ourselves, leaving us exhausted and overwhelmed. The problem is we often make commitments for our future selves without thinking about what might be on their plate in the future. In this quick dip episode, Rachel uncovers ways we can make space for the the big and important things in our lives, set rules and boundaries to prevent over-committing, and creating space to cope with challenging times ahead. Not everyth...
Oct 09, 2023•14 min•Ep. 189
Do you give yourself permission to rest? If you’re like many people in caring professions, you worry that taking time out to look after yourself means not spending that time helping others. That thinking may have got you to your position now, but is it serving you, or is it time to update your operating system? The problem with rest is that we often confuse it with inaction. But rest from work doesn’t have to mean rest from activity. As this week’s guest, Nick Petrie discovered, for high achieve...
Oct 02, 2023•58 min•Ep. 188
We all get stressed or overwhelmed with our daily responsibilities from time to time. But we’re not always good at telling them apart. And this is important, because the way out of overwhelm is different form the way out of stress. Stress is caused when the demands on us outweigh the resources we feel we have to cope. Overwhelm happens when high amounts of stress make us feel like we can't cope with our lives' demands. The way out of overwhelm is non-doing, resting, and letting our nervous syste...
Sep 25, 2023•10 min•Ep. 187
