For many people good coffee is a daily accompaniment to their work. For those working on the move – be they freelancers, the self-employed or people on business trips – finding free Wi-Fi hotspots and working from cafes is something of a fine art. Here are some of the ups and downs of working out of coffeehouses.

The advantages:

Work where you want, when you want

Working from cafés gives you real flexibility. It allows you to work near to wherever you need to be. For most people that means being able to work conveniently beyond home and the office. But some business people have taken this to an extreme, working remotely from almost any part of the globe, no matter what the time-zone, and combining the lifestyle they want with earning good money (read Tim Ferris’ The Four Hour Workweek). It is now possible to fund your world travels by working online rather than picking up casual jobs in bars and shops. It also provides the chance to earn a lot more and not have to put your career on hold while you move about.

Smart financial sense for small businesses

Even if you buy several drinks during the course of the day this expense is still likely to be a lot less than hiring your own office space. In major cities even co-working spaces do not come cheap and many small businesses – and especially freelancers – use cafés to work from as a way of reducing overheads.

Meeting interesting people

You may not have your own colleagues around but working on the move gives the opportunity to combat the loneliness of working alone. You can also meet new people, gain experience from outside your industry and even pick up business if you choose to be outgoing. To get the most out of this part of mobile working you do have to become comfortable with starting conversations. If you are self employed you should see this as a vital skill; being able to talk to others about what you do is essential if you want to win new business. So why not practise your small talk and elevator pitch in a relaxed atmosphere over a coffee! If you are stuck for how to start a conversation sit by any power socket in the coffee shop and you will soon meet another fellow worker.

The disadvantages:

A hot-desk is usually a small desk

If you are working on the move you cannot necessarily guarantee your own ‘desk’ and whatever space you get is likely to be limited. It is hard to lug around large screens, printers and other tools that you might require so you have to plan your work differently knowing that these things are not on tap. Batch your work so you have everything you need to do the tasks at hand; this will help you be more productive too.

Hit and miss connectivity

It is hard to get much done these days unless you can connect to the Internet. Finding reliable, fast and free Wi-Fi is getting easier but still requires some hunting around. Most of the large coffee and food chains now provide some sort of Wi-Fi provision so they provide a good back up if you cannot find a smaller, more interesting café to set up shop. There are also an increasing number of sites you can use to find good cafés with free Wi-Fi so you can get the Internet on the move.

The challenge of productivity

Working from home, especially if you do not have dedicated office space, is full of all sorts of distractions but working out of a café can also have its challenges. It takes a lot of self-discipline to get down to work on time if there is no boss checking the clock and it is easier to succumb to the temptation to surf the Internet rather than do what you need to do when you have no colleagues looking over your shoulder. Make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve at the beginning of each day. This is true in any workplace but you will especially need this focus if you want to be productive while working on the move.

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

We need to be continually assessing our decisions and learning from our actions; especially from our mistakes. This goes for everyone, but particularly for leaders.

“If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.” 

George Bernard Shaw

It looked like a good plan until…

After a couple of years of experience in Bomb Disposal, I went to Africa with my unit. We were there to clear an area that was littered with bombs of various descriptions.  My troops, with the help of some local tribesmen, scoured the bush looking for anything that might go bang. They would call me up when they found something.  But, as there was no shortage of ordnance, they would stockpile munitions (if they were safe to move) so that they could be dealt with in one go.

On this particular day, I was with my Non-Commissioned Officers and we went together to sort out the latest haul.  The Staff Sergeant and I had passed our training together and we got on very well, so it was a pleasure to spend some time working in unison.  Today we had a pile of artillery shells to dispose of, a fairly simple task. And so we made a quick plan. We worked the explosive charge we needed to use, then all we had to do was light the fuse and withdraw to a safe distance.  We had not been able to get the Landrover right up to the site, because of the difficult terrain. So, we chose a spot in the distance – a hill that offered some cover from the blast – that we could walk to. We then cut the fuse to the right length in order to allow us enough time to get there.

After checking our work we lit the fuse, checked our watches and set off towards the small hill. That was to be our protective cover.  We chatted about important things, such as how many letters we had received that week and how much we wanted a cold beer.  The funny thing was that the escarpment was not getting any closer; so we increased our pace.  Still, we laughed and joked as we walked briskly along.

But, another look at our watches gave us some cause for alarm.

We realised we had made a mistake

At this point, we broke into a run.

There was no longer laughing or even chatting.  All that was said was, “We are not going to get there in time, do you see any other cover?”  We spotted what seemed to be a series of gullies over to our left so we headed towards them.  Upon reaching them our relief quickly turned back to anxiety. Even though the gullies were deep, the shallow angle of the slopes would afford us little cover.  We ran on.

At this point in the proceedings, I sent up one of my most eloquent prayers. It went something like this: “GOD HELP!”  We only had seconds to go and so we dived into a shallow pit. We had to crouch down with our backs to the sand to keep our heads below the parapet.

For a few seconds, the only sound was our thumping hearts, heavy breathing and the noise of a nonchalant fly investigating my hat. Then we felt the explosion – a pulse through the earth and a punch through the air.  We looked at one another.  No words were exchanged but much was communicated.  We were both thinking the same thing: that was a bigger bang than expected; we felt dreadfully close!

I was hoping that (from the way we had positioned the munitions) the blast would be mostly directed into the ground. But then there came a sound that made me flinch. It was like an angry hornet going past my ear, and then there was another, followed by little thuds and puffs of sand as the shrapnel came down around us.  As the deadly rain struck the ground there was little we could do, so I opted to laugh and my colleague used a varied, colourful (but sadly unrepeatable) string of words to express his feelings.

Learning from mistakes

When our self-induced bombardment came to an end and it was obvious we were both not only alive but also unharmed. Therefore we spent a few precious seconds enjoying the quiet.  After our short pause, we decided to walk back to the site and review our procedures before moving onto the next cache of weaponry.  It was obvious that we had some important lessons to learn.

“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” 

Bill Gates

We had gone through the whole process of making and executing a plan. Something had gone wrong and therefore we needed to reflect and learn from that. In this case, a good plan was undermined by simple heuristics. I used a ‘unit of measure’ heuristic to judge the distance from where we were, to where we needed to get to for our safety. Because of the lack of features in the terrain – things like trees that I knew the size of and could compare – I inaccurately estimated the distance we needed to travel, and therefore underestimated the length of fuse needed for our controlled explosion.

This usually good heuristic was undermined by those spatial effects and my own cognitive bias. I allowed what I thought I could see to affect my perception (a framing effect) and then allowed what I thought my plan should be to shape how I interpreted the data (confirmation bias). In psychological terms, my System 1 (fast) thinking undermined my System 2 (slow) thinking.

As I walked back, post-explosion, I knew that I had other demolition tasks that I had to go to. I reflected, realised my mistake, and that reflective process allowed me to learn from the experience and avoid making the same mistake again.

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

Building reflection into the decision-making process

Sometimes you just can’t help making mistakes. Hopefully, as in my case, you can survive and learn from the error. To enable this we should always build in time to reflect and learn. Fortunately, if you think of decision-making as cyclical, rather than linear, then it lends itself to doing just that.

The fact is that the process of planning, looking at options and making decisions does not ever stop. We may start with a more in-depth planning process but we will constantly be making new decisions, reviewing our progress and adapting our plans. This is why the cycle of decision making never ceases, as we see in the illustration below.

The trick is, as we move forward, to make sure we take time to pause and reassess our plans as we go.

Constant change requires constant reflection and improvement

The world and our situation are constantly changing.  We need flexibility in order to adapt as we go. Sometimes this happens through subtle transformation, sometimes through more formal change management.  However we do it, if we want to learn and be more effective, we need a process of reviewing our actions and decisions.

This can be just taking an objective pause to reflect in the decision-making process, as happens under the ‘which’ step within The Right Questions framework (number 4 in the picture above).

When is the best time for reflection and learning?

Some pauses may be longer than others. We need pit stops as well as the end of race review; time out huddles, as well as the big post-match, debrief.  It is worth planning these in through the life of a project. Sometimes it is hard to stop to review because we feel we should be getting on with something.  At times like this, we need to remember progress is no good if it is in the wrong direction.  We need to take time to stop and check.

In the end, when we need a post-project review, it is easy to put it in the programme but requires real discipline to actually do it.  It can be hard to enforce a time of reflection at a time when people just want to celebrate or they just want to move on it to the next thing.  Once you have achieved a goal, especially when it goes well, the temptation is to skip over the review.  Don’t. There are always important things to learn at this stage. If you discuss them and record them, then others can learn from your experiences too.

History may repeat itself because people fail to read history, but don’t be guilty of not giving people the chance to learn in the first place. Take the time out to share.

Whatever point in our journey we have reached, after a review we can decide which things in our plan need to change and which things remain the same.  Most importantly we can identify success and plan to build on it.

Failing is just learning to succeed

What about things that did not go so well?  We can be afraid of failure and afraid to admit it when we do fail, therefore we need to change the way we see things when they don’t go to plan. If something has gone wrong then we can turn it into a learning opportunity.

Thomas Edison, the great empirical inventor, knew the value of learning from apparent failure. He had thousands of attempts to create an effective electric light bulb, but those that did not work he did not consider failures, just as positive proofs of how not to make a light bulb!  Even after his initial patent, he continued to refine his light bulb design for decades afterwards.  His approach to reviewing and applying lessons was lifelong and contributed to him being the fourth most prolific inventor in history.  Edison said:

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

Thomas Edison

And that is a good lesson to end with. Not to give up, never to give in, no matter what the challenges are. Take a moment to reflect and learn right now: which heroic failures have you learned from?

If you are feeling stressed, take a few moments to look at this picture. Don’t rush and read on just yet; give yourself a few seconds to take in the colours, think about how you feel, and identify the little blue dot.

Don’t try and rub your screen, the dot is supposed to be there! So what is it? A dust particle caught in a ray of sunlight?

Guess again. This is actually a picture of us. The greatest selfie ever taken; this is the photo of our planet that the Voyager 1 probe took from a distance of about 6 billion kilometres, as it passed beyond Neptune. At this distance the Earth takes up less than a pixel’s space on the picture (by the way there are 640,000 other pixels in that image).

The Voyager mission was launched in 1977. It took 13 years for Voyager 1 to travel to the point where it took this photo. Voyager 1 carried on though and in 2013 Voyager 1 actually left the solar system, the first human made object to do so.

How do we manage stress?

Stress is natural, even helpful, but too much of it can be a bad thing. Stress helps us react to challenges and to grow, but too much stress can break us. When we talk about ‘being stressed’ we generally mean being overburdened. When we feel overly stressed it is good to have some techniques to manage the stress and, where possible, turn the pressure into something positive.

One such approach to dealing with stress is keeping a proper perspective.

Have you ever had a challenge in your sights, a test, exam, deadline or project that looked impossibly big, until you were passed it?

Whatever issues we face it is important to acknowledge the facts and have proper situational awareness, but our ability to focus on something – to look closely – often makes challenges seem bigger than they really are.

How do you keep things in perspective?

If you feel yourself getting stressed try to lift your eyes up from the problem and see the bigger picture. I often find that doing this physically can help. Go for a walk somewhere beautiful; look at the ocean, the mountains, the night’s sky.

I find it useful to take time out and contemplate creation to give a broader perspective. Whether I look at the complexity of a blade of grass or the vastness of the solar system, it helps to put my challenges, concerns and ideas into there proper place.

The Wisdom we gain from Perspective

The astronomer Carl Sagan sums things up really well in this thought provoking speech about the Voyager photo:

“We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It’s been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.“

Carl Sagan, speech at Cornell University, October 13, 1994

See the bigger picture

With environmental issues creeping up in the public consciousness and the political agenda, and yet with so much war and strife across much of our planet, it is good to reflect on our place in the universe and the responsibility with have to look after each other on our Pale Blue Dot.

If we want to lead ourselves and others well we need to keep a proper perspective. Perspective helps to reduce stress and gives us the understanding we need to make good decision and plan effectively.

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

I love walking. I also love reading. So here I bring together where these two passions collide in my list of favourite walking books. These that are books that have inspired adventures, instructed me in navigation techniques, educated me in the advantages of walking, helped me plan treks or just simply helped me to relax and escape to another place when my legs are too tired to carry me any further. I help you find something in this list to inspire you too.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein

The Lord of the Rings is simply my favourite fiction book of all time. I love it, I have read it several times and seen the movies, played the games; you name it – I am most definitely a fan! The scale and complexity of the book is of course epic but there is a simple premise at the core, and that is of two friends on a very long walk. The key relationship of lord of the rings is Frodo and Sam, the two hobbits, on their quest to destroy the ring of power. It is a story of universal themes: overcoming adversity and good over evil. It is about ordinary folk doing extraordinary things and a tale of personal discovery and enduring friendship.

I recently read the book again on my kindle while walking the Tour de Mont Blanc and my kids loved my reciting of the story as we walked along. This book, more than any other, taught me that every walk is an adventure; even if you are not going all the way to Mount Doom.

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” – J.R.R. Tolkein

Mind over matter by Ranulph Fiennes

Mind Over Matter was the first real life account of an epic walk that I ever read, and it deeply affected me.  Ranulph Fiennes’ account of his trek across the Antarctic with Mike Stroud is inspiring, educational and scary in equal measure. This book was one of the key reasons for pursuing my Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society and I had the honour to meet Sir Ranulph in person before some of my own expeditions to Svalbard and Greenland. His book prompted me to seek out new paths in the polar wildernesses. One very practical tip I took from this book was the idea of the ‘polar plod’; setting a walking pace that you can maintain all day every day on long expeditions. Setting a new record for the longest unsupported expedition polar journey (1350 miles), this is a story of real endurance.

“There is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.” – Ranulph Fiennes

The Old Ways –  A journey on foot by Robert Macfarlane

If you are a writer and then you will really appreciate the poetic musings of Robert Macfarlane. Quite frankly I get jealous reading his books as I wish I could write as well as him. All his published work is great but The Old Ways is a real love song to walking. Macfarlane seamlessly mixes history, philosophy and detailed observations of the natural world with his own musings. It is a magically evocation of some of the oldest paths and their connection to our present and future.

“The compact between writing and walking is almost as old as literature — a walk is only a step away from a story, and every path tells.” – Robert Macfarlane

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson is very readable and his books are laugh out loud funny. His self depreciating observational humour is nowhere better showcased than in A Walk in the Woods, his account of walking (a large part of) the Appalachian trial. The book has also been made into a film starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. This is fun but if you just see the film you miss a lot. As well as being funny Bryson brilliant captures culture, personalities and the environment so under the waves of humour there are depths of incisive observation. Bryson would be the first to confess he is not your typical athlete so his walking accomplishments are an encouragement to all of us. Reading this made me add the Appalachian trail to my todo list.

“Hunters will tell you that a moose is a wily and ferocious forest creature. Nonsense. A moose is a cow drawn by a three-year-old.” ― Bill Bryson

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

I picked this book up by chance. I was between books, on holiday and wanted something to read. On first inspection I was not expecting to like the book but after the first chapter I was hooked. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is about a simple task – walking round the corner to post a letter – that turns into an odyssey. His walk takes us on a journey through love and loss, regret and forgiveness, desire and hope. The characters and relatable and the story intriguing and plausible and thus you are drawn in to Harold’s quest.

“The least planned part of the journey, however, was the journey itself.” ― Rachel Joyce

In Praise of Walking by Shane O’Mara

Shane O’Mara has written the best book that I know of that encapsulates the science of walking. In Praise of Walking details the evolutionary, physiological, psychological and environmental importance of walking. O’Mara outlines the strong evidence for the beneficial effects of walking on physical and mental health. One of the most important recommendations of the book are his principles for town planning summarised in the acronym EASE. That “cities should be easy (to walk); accessible (to all); safe (for everyone), and enjoyable (for all). But the book is not just a dry thesis. O’Mara has a true passion for walking and he punctuates the evidence with anecdotes and stories that make the book enjoyable as well as educational.

“Although walking arises from our deep, evolutionary past, it is our future too: for walking will do you all the good that you now know it does.” ― Shane O’Mara

Mountaincraft and Leadership Eric Langmuir

This book was the set text for those wanting to be qualified Mountain Leaders in the UK. Even if you do not aspire to getting a qualification, Mountaincraft and Leadership, or its successor, Hillwalking by Steve Long are manuals that covers all the key skills you will need as you start to make your walks more adventurous. Navigation, first aid, weather, camp craft and team leadership are among the subjects he covers. I still use the equipment lists in the book as a useful reference and prompt when planning for a trip. Another similar manual I would recommend is the US equivalent, Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills, but this gets into more technical climbing techniques so goes beyond the needs of most walkers.

“A decision without the pressure of consequence is hardly a decision at all.” Eric Langmuir.

Cicerone guides (by various authors)

Cicerone publishes a wide range of excellent guides and these books are often the starting place for my long distance walks and expeditions. The guides are amazingly helpful with route planning, navigation (they generally contain good maps), and logistical details such as potential accommodation and camping sites. I have recently walked the Tour De Mont Blanc (TMB guide by Kev Reynolds) and South West Coastal Path (Minehead to South Haven Point guide by Paddy Dillon) and both books were excellent. The Camino de Santiago guide is also on my shelf, as that is the next big (COVID-19 delayed) trip I am planning. I would recommend these to any one thinking of a multi-day walking, trekking or hiking holiday.

“On blue-sky days it (Mont Blanc) dazzles in the sunshine or floats on a raft of cloud, commanding one’s attention with it’s dominating height, for it has regal presence equal both to its appearance and stature.” Kev Reynolds

Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book

If you want to go for a walk, one of the best things you can do is just look at a map and piece together your own route. When I go to a new place one of the first things I want to do is look at a map and get out for a walk. There is nothing better than walking for really getting to know a new area, be it a bustling city or an empty wilderness. A detailed map, such as those produced by ordinance survey, are ideal for planning a walk but to get the most out of them you need to learn to read them properly so that the two-dimensional symbols and lines can be interpreted and allow you to picture the ground in your mind.

If you want a fun way to improve your map reading skills then check out the Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book. It will really help you focus in on the detail and appreciate the insight that a map can provide. The original was so popular there is now more, such as the Puzzle Tour of Britain.

“A map does not just chart, it unlocks and formulates meaning; it forms bridges between here and there, between disparate ideas that we did not know were previously connected.” – Reif Larsen

Want to know what kit to use for an ultra trail race? Here are recommendations and the best kit available for The Dragons Back and similar multi-day ultra-marathon races.

While preparing for the Berghaus Dragons Back Race in 2019 I was asked a lot of questions about the best kit and equipment to use while ultra-running. So I have listed the kit I used in training and during the race. Using the recommended kit list (from the official website) as the outline for this post hopefully it should be easy to follow. I have also included a few top bits of kit from other people with whom I have raced with.

For ease, I have included hyperlinks for most of the kit mentioned so you can see exactly what I am talking about. You are under no compulsion to use these links and feel free to shop around if you like! If you have any other recommendations, then please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts. Enjoy!

MANDATORY ‘HILL’ KIT

According to the race rules the following kit must be worn or carried by the participants in their ‘hill bags’ at all times. I have made my recommendations under each bullet point:

Ultra-running Backpack or Vest

• Hill bag
  • Salomon Sense Ultra 8. Eight litres can sound small but if you purchase and pack carefully this little pack has enough capacity to see you through a very long day, and it weighs next to nothing.
  • Salomon quiver (for poles) attached to the above
  • Salmon ADV Skin 12. A little more space (and weight) than the Sense Ultra 8 but a very popular bag/running vest. This was my second choice for the race.
  • Inov8 RaceLite 16. I used this little bag for training in the winter as I could get more wet and cold weather kit in it. I have raced with it before as well but I prefer a bag with water bottles on the front rather than relying on a water bladder. The link is to the latest version now called the Race Elite 16.

Ultra-marathon Clothing

• Waterproof Jacket or Smock (with taped seams and a hood)
  • Inov8 Ultrashell half-zip jacket (recommend that purchased large enough to put on over your hill bag if possible).
  • Previously I had the Montane Minimus Jacket which is also great.
• Waterproof Trousers (with taped seams)
  • Inov8 Ultra pants. These match the Ultrashell jacket and are equally small and light.
• Spare warm top (spare means unworn at the start)
  • I tend to use a very light down jacket as an emergency top. I have the Arc’teryx Cerium Jacket (my version is without the hood). It isn’t cheap but it is incredibly warm considering how small and light it is when packed away.
• Hat and gloves suitable for the weather conditions
  • Warm hat – I have a beanie hat with a waterproof lining. Mine is out of production but Sealskinz makes an equivalent.
  • Running cap – I have a cheap Kalenji cap from Decathlon but Salomon also make some very good ones
  • Waterproof mitts – I use the Inov8 Race Ultra mitts
  • Running gloves – I always have a thin pair of gloves for running that I can also wear under my mitts if needed. Silk liner gloves are good for this.

Trail Running Shoes

• Fell or mountain running shoes
  • Hoka One One Mafate Speed 2 – I have now done several ultras in these shoes. Do check the fit as people can find the toe box quite narrow on Hokas but they provide amazing cushioning and great traction at a low weight.
  • Salomon Speedcross 4 – these are the spare trainers that I use for technical terrain and for wet conditions. They have great support and are amazing on wet grass and mud when other trainers fail the traction test.

Other Items

• Survival bag (not a blanket)Recommended: Sol Survival Bag
• The equivalent from Amazon: Shayson Survival Sleeping Bag
• Map (as supplied by race organisers) and compass (magnetic and full size)Silva Ranger Compass. Small and simple to use.
• I did not have a race map for Dragon’s Back training so I used the Ordnance Survey Landranger 1:50 000 series. They generally have more detail than the race maps which is useful for route finding on practice days:
  • Snowdon/ Yr Wyddfa – (Day 1) Landranger 115
  • Dolgellau (Day 2) Landranger 124
  • Aberystwyth (Day 3) Landranger 135
  • Elan Valley and Builth Wells (Day 4) Landranger 147
  • Landranger 160 (Brecon Beacons) and 159 (Swansea and Gower) for Day 5
• Headlamp AND spare battery OR spare torch (with sufficient light to be able to navigate in the darkness)I like 300+ for my main lamp and prefer AAA batteries rather than rechargeable due to the weight and longevity of the power. Therefore my choices are the:
  • Petzl Actik (I use this as my main head torch for this sort of event but if you are doing long periods in the dark you might want something even brighter)
  • Petzl Zipka (spare/back up)
• Whistle. If you get one of the bags listed above your whistle will already be fitted to the running pack.
• If you want an alternative, then Lifesystems make a good one I use for general mountain use.

Trail Food and Water

• Sufficient food. I prefer to have as much ‘normal’ food as possible for this sort of long event. I tend to make up a bag of savoury snack s (cheese and dried meat) and a bag of sweets snacks (nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate).
• Energy gels/bars (for emergencies). You can quickly get bored of energy bars and gels, so it is worth having these in reserve to top up your other food. They really are an acquired taste, so it is worth experimenting with a few brands and types to see which you find palatable. I generally use:High5 Energy Gels
• Clif Shot Bloks (these are like yummy sweets that you can leave to dissolve in your mouth)
• High5 Electrolyte Sports Drink (you can drop these tablets into your water bottles – especially good in hot weather)
• Water bottle and/or hydration system: Salomon Soft Flask 500ml – I have two of these that came with my Salomon running vest. They are great; easy to drink from without removing from your vest and easy to remove and clean too.
• Camelbak Reservoir (1.5 litres) – I prefer not to use a reservoir or bladder but I have a Camelbak for really hot days where I definitely need to carry more water and cannot rely on streams.
• Steritabs – it is worth have some purification tablets on you just in case you need to fill up from a stream.

Other Essential Kit

• Money (at least £50 or equivalent in case you need to get a taxi to the overnight camp)
  • Keep in a waterproof case with your phone. I use an Aquapac case.
• Waterproof pen/pencil/chinagraph writing implement
  • Sharpie pen (I find these permanent pens are good for map marking)
  • Pencil

RECOMMENDED ‘HILL’ KIT

The following kit is also recommended:

• Mobile Phone (Although we recommend that all participants carry a mobile phone there is no guarantee of phone reception along many sections of the route).
  • Whichever phone you chose to carry I can recommend the following Apps:
    • ViewRanger
    • OS Locate
    • LiveRun by LiveTrail (generally used on ITRA races)
• Altimeter (Very useful aid for navigation in low visibility conditions).
  • I have various altimeter watches. At present, I have a Garmin Fenix5 that is also a GPS and activity tracker.
• GPS (For participants who are not completely confident of their map and compass skills in all conditions).
  • Garmin Fenix5 – This is great at giving your location, but I am still trying to programme it to follow a plotted route. When the GPS function is running it may not last a full day so having it on all the time may not be the best plan anyway. Either way remember the charging cable so you can re-charge in the evenings!
  • Garmin Foretrex – The battery life is better than the Fenix5 but still small and light enough to not be a bother. I would not use this on most endurance events but for something like the Dragons Back, when the navigation is such a challenge, it is worth considering.

MANDATORY ‘CAMP’ KIT

The following kit must be included in the participants’ Overnight Bag (max 60L):

• Overnight bag.
  • 60L is not much to keep you going for a week, but it can be done! You want it to be waterproof and hardwearing (it will get chucked around). I have an old Ortlieb canoe style dry bag for this purpose. I have not been able to find one online so I would offer the following two as alternatives:
    • Ortlieb Duffle Bag – this is what I am thinking of upgrading to as it is much easier to manage your kit compared to a normal dry bag.
    • Lomo Dry Bag. A friend has recommended this one to me which is a cheaper and simpler version of the Ortlieb Duffle.

Sleeping Kit

• A complete change of clothing including spare shoes that can be worn at the overnight camp.
  • Spare trainers (as above; whichever I am not using between my Hokas or, Salomons)
  • Flip-flops or sandals – I tend to have some, when space allows, as they are good for letting feet air in the evenings and avoid rubbing blisters etc. I have some Reef flip flops.
  • Outdoor clothing that can be used on the hill if necessary.  For example, clean running t-shirts, running leggings/tracksuit.
• Warm sleeping bag (3 Season recommended)
  • Robens Caucasus 600. I used this 3-season down bag for walking the Tour de Mont Blanc and it dealt with the varying conditions up and down the hill. It packs down nicely. Unfortunately, it seems to be discontinued so I would recommend:
    • Rab Ascent 600 – Rab make excellent down bags and this one is warmer, but as light, as the Robens bag
    • Silk liner – I have a silk liner mainly to keep the sleeping bag clean but I also often sleep in this with the sleeping bag draped over like a duvet if it’s hot. I have one from Decathlon. If you want top-quality then go for the Rab version but these are a bit more pricy.
• Sleeping mat (Thermarest style inflatable mat recommended)
  • Forclaz Air – I was converted to this sleeping mat from Decathlon while on the TMB last year. It is compact when deflated and gives you about 4cm thickness of comfort when inflated. And it’s cheap!
  • Therm-a-Rest – Therm-a-rest is the Rolls-Royce of sleeping mats and is of great quality. This one offers the sort of comfort you want on a multi-day event.

Other Camp Kit

• Plate/bowl, mug and cutlery
  • Plastic spoon. The Light My Fire spork is hard to beat.
  • Camelbak Forge thermal mug. This is a luxury that I carry with me almost everywhere (mainly due to my love of coffee!)
  • I tend to use a sealable plastic container (approx 0.5l) to use as a plate/bowl. The Sistema boxes are good for this.
• Sponge and cloth for washing and drying your plate etc
  • I use a microfibre cleaning cloth (could double up as a towel in extremis)
• Sunblock (minimum factor 30) –I am a big fan of Neutrogena sunblock.
• Sufficient personal food for eating on the hill each day.
  • The race organisers recommend that you don’t underestimate this as there will be no additional ‘snack’ food available at the overnight camp. Therefore, it is worth seeing what you need on your training days.
  • See more notes on food in the ‘hill kit’ section above.
• Personal First Aid kit to include plasters, blister treatment, antiseptic ointment, and painkillers as a minimum.
• The Dragons Back website has a Blister Treatment Kit containing:
  • Sterile Medical Scalpel Blade (size #11) x5
  • Antiseptic Ointment 30ml / Antiseptic Wipes x5
  • Steropore Sterile Island dressings (7cm x 6cm) x5
  • Sterile Cotton Swabs x10
  • Hydrocolloid Dressings (such as Compeed) x4
  • Kinesiology Tape (5cm x 5m) x1
  • Small Scissors x1

OTHER RECOMMENDED KIT

Other Clothing

• Midge head net and insect repellent (you may want this on the hill depending on the weather). Note that a mosquito head net is of no use.
• An insulated ‘duvet’ jacket
  • Arcteryx Cerium SL Jacket. I carry this as part of my hill kit (see above) but it is great for the evenings too.
• A fresh set of running clothes for each day.
  • My running kit usually comprises of:
    • Long sleeve t-shirt – Run and Become have a great selection
    • Short sleeve t-shirt – my favourite is made by Columbia
    • Compression shorts – I use either Skins or 2XU compression tights
    • Leggings/tights – I have some Nike Power Tech running leggings which I have used for training but am thinking about getting some Skins or 2XUfull length compression tights for the race.
    • Running shorts – The Kalenji Trail Running Shorts from Decathlon as seriously good value.
    • Socks – My favourite socks for comfort and reducing blisters are the Injinji toe socks. 

Other Bits and Pieces

• A power bank (ca. 10,000-20,000mAh) for recharging devices.
  • Juice power station – These are more robust than some other power banks. I have the XL 16800mAh version.
  • Remember to take your charging cables for your phone, watch/GPS too!
• Travel pillow or pillowcase
  •  I often just use my duvet jacket as a pillow but Thermarest makes a good travel pillow and there are some cheap ones on Amazon.
• Wallet, credit card and/or sufficient cash to enable you to return to the start/finish early if needed. Keep waterproofed in an Aquapac case or similar.
• Any luxury food items you want.

Hygiene and Wellbeing

• Personal washing things and towel
  • LifeVenture trek towel. I have used these for races, treks and expeditions all around the world.
  • Bodywash/clothes wash.  LifeVenture makes an all-purpose soap which I like. It is environmentally friendly and can wash your clothes as well and your body!
  • Deodorant. Keep it small, but you will want it (and you will want everyone else to have it too!)
  • Foot powder.  A top tip is to decant into a thick plastic bag or dry bag that is big enough to put your foot in.  You can then easily powder your feet while avoiding wasting the powder or spilling it everywhere. If it is really hot and you are prone to suffer from athlete’s foot then I recommend Mycota powder.
  • Toothbrush/paste
  • Shaving kit – as required of course! I try and have an electric shaver to keep the beard at bay.
  • Anti-septic gel.  Hand gels are great, especially when living in tented camps, to keep stomach bugs at bay.
• Earplugs
  • I find the cheap mouldable foam ones are best.  Get a few sets as spares.
• Anti-chaffing / lubrication ointment
  • The thought of chaffing is amusing until you have it. Chaffing can literally be excruciating and a race-ending problem. I have used Glide for several races and avoided discomfort.

FURTHER RECOMMENDED KIT

Here are some kit recommendations that go beyond the list on the Dragons Back website:

• Foam Roller or ball. It may be a squeeze to get a roller into your kit bag but it is certainly good for training. I will take at least a ball to help ease off the muscles after each day’s racing. I got this pack that includes a couple of rollers and balls from FitBeast.
• Walking poles. I find poles really useful for very steep terrain and are also great if you get injured and need to self-assist to get off the hill. I am a massive fan of my Black Diamond Carbon Z Poles. You have to pick the correct length as they are not adjustable but they are very light and sturdy. I can also recommend The Leki Micro RCM poles are a popular equivalent.
• Buff. I always have a buff, and usually, carry it on my wrist. Highly versatile it works as a sweatband, a neck warmer, hat or sun cover depending on the need.
• Sunglasses. As with my Buff, I always carry sunglasses. Glasses with interchangeable lenses are not great for the high street or beach but can be a lifesaver when racing! I often have yellow lenses for use in overcast conditions. I have some made by Bloc which is not too expensive.

Phew! Quite a list I know. As I mentioned at the beginning this is just the kit, I have had experience of so please do add your recommendations to the comments.

Also, just to say that the links to Amazon affiliate links so I do get something if you did purchase something after following the link. All of the kit above comes from real testing and recommendations and Amazon is generally my go-to for shopping but if you feel uncomfortable with using the links then feel free just to use the recommendations in your search engine. To put your mind at rest I generally only earn pennies but it does go a little way to supporting the running of the website so thank you if you do use the links!

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

I am on a trip in the mountains at the moment. I am there for several purposes (as I will explain over the next few days) but one reason is to challenge myself. I like a challenge. One of my core values is adventure and part of adventure is getting out of your comfort zone.

I love the mountains but they can still scare me. I know that while climbing I can experience an exposure – a feeling of vulnerability and fear – that helps me test my limits. By pushing at my barriers I learn more about myself and build my resilience at the same time.

A surprising challenge

But guess what is funny. On day one I went to climb a mountain. Was it the exertion that I found most challenging? Was it the sheer drops that triggered me? Was it the height that exposed my character? No. The first day’s biggest challenge came before I even started climbing. It happened in the airport.

Ok, so this might say something (or a lot) about me, but my biggest challenge was queuing for my hire car. Although, like most Brits, I am a very accomplished and practiced at queuing, I don’t much like it. And this time I was in the queue for over an hour. To put this into context, it was nearly the same time it took me to fly from the UK to the Alps. Just standing there. Waiting. Slowly. One step. Then stand. Then another. Wasting. Time.

And of course there was the archetypal troublesome customer at the front of this long queue. They questioned every aspect of the contract. They prevaricated over the choice of vehicle. They required detailed explanation to use the tablet for the electronic signatures. All the while completely oblivious to the Paddington states boring holes into their back from the entire line of people behind them.

Rising to the challenge

Some groups sent for coffee. Some split to take breaks outside. But I was alone. The sole guardian of my place on the queue. The queue continued to grow (much faster than it was depleting) and the ambiance of the line did not encourage asking favours such as ‘could you keep my place for 5 minutes?’

As way of proof, I tried to crack a joke with the people next to me. It was coming up to the hour and I said that the desk would shortly be closing for an extended lunch break. It nearly caused a riot and it took me some time to explain the concept of irony to my international friends.

So I waited and I worked hard on not being triggered. I was very close to having my big red button firmly pressed but it didn’t happen. I kept my composure. I have yet to master a state of meditative while queuing but I will get there someday. On this day at least I was able to breathe, keep calm and carry on.

What do you find challenging?

So what do I find really challenging? Queuing apparently. Maybe because it goes against that value of adventure. It is hard to make queuing adventurous (unless you are waiting to clip onto the rope to go up the Hillary step on Mount Everest!)

How about you? What do you find challenging? Whatever it is embrace it. Find your boundaries and find new ways to manage yourself on the brink. And if I’m doubt, take a deep breathe, keep calm and carry on!

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

We all know, even if just at some intuitive level, how important regulating our breathing is. Most of us have been told to “count to 10” or “take a deep breath” at some time. Maybe it was a time you were anxious about giving a presentation. Or perhaps it was when you felt yourself losing your temper. But most likely you were asked to slow your breathing in response to some stressful situation.

There is an ever-growing body of research that backs up these practices. It turns out that controlling breathing is one of the most effective ways to relieve stress. And, the good news is, learning a technique to regulate your breathing as a stress reliever, is simple to achieve.

As a leader, breathing techniques are something I use (and teach others to use) on a regular basis because they don’t just relieve anxiety, they also improve thinking and decision-making.

Why is breathing so effective at reducing stress and anxiety?

So why is breathing so good at reducing anxiety? Well, neuroscience research demonstrates that slow breathing techniques have positive effects on our central nervous system and psychological state. Using effective breathing techniques to slow respiration increases positives such as comfort, relaxation, vigour, and alertness. It does this while reducing negatives such as anxiety, stress, depression, anger, or confusion.

How does this happen? Physiologically, slowing breathing promotes autonomic (involuntary) responses in our nervous system. For example, changing the rate of your breathing changes your heart rate. This is due to respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Put simply, if you increase your breaths, your heart rate increases; slow your breathing and your pulse rate will also go down.

Psychologically, these responses have a positive effect. The changes to the nervous system reverse the mental as well as physical symptoms of stress and anxiety. The exact mechanism for this is still debated but the fact that this happens is no surprise neurologically.

From “fight or flight” to “rest and digest”

Slow breathing is a sign of a parasympathetic (non-stressed) state. The central nervous system identifies slower breathing, through the vagus nerve that runs from the brain to the abdomen. The thalamus and limbic systems (the emotional centres) receive the signals. They interpret slow breathing as reflecting a low-threat situation. The subsequent change of activity in the limbic system further reinforces the parasympathetic state and also frees the pre-frontal cortex to be predominant, improving rational, creative and decision-making neurological processes (reversing amygdala hijack).

This process moves the body and mind from the “fight or flight” (sympathetic) mode to the “rest and digest” (parasympathetic) state. As a result, the body moves from hyper-alert to more relaxed.

How did breathing techniques develop?

There is a long history of breathing techniques but the eastern traditions are perhaps the best known. For instance, in yoga, breathing is an essential element. The “prana” (breath or energy) is used to help achieve a meditative state. This is done through “pranayama” (“Yama” meaning control) where breathing is consciously regulated.

In western traditions, breathing techniques are not so closely linked to meditation. Controlled or paced breathing is primarily seen as a therapy for physical ailments (for example, as an aid for asthma sufferers) or for psychological benefits (such as reducing stress and improving well-being). Generally, in the Western tradition, this is removed from any religious or spiritual link. But, whatever the primary purpose of the practice, using a slow breathing technique has the same physiological and psychological benefits.

Why should you practice breathing techniques?

Any simple slowing of your breathing is likely to have a positive effect when you are in a stressed situation. But it is worth knowing some techniques – and practising them – for at least two reasons.

The first is that when you are in a highly stressful situation you cannot properly use your prefrontal cortex to rationally think about what you need to do. Therefore, your body relies on muscle memory and pre-existing neural pathways. If you have trained in a breathing technique before the stressful stimulus, you are more likely to be able to control your breathing while in an anxious state. That is why (if we have not practised) we often need to be told by someone to “count to 10” or “take a breath” as it is hard to think clearly for ourselves in the heat of the moment. The more one rehearses for these situations, the more likely we are to be able to deal with them effectively on our own.

The second reason is that breathing techniques are more effective. Specific regulation methods ensure that our breaths are slowed to the correct rate and for the correct duration. They also help us consciously achieve deeper breaths and override auto-motive systems to hold the breath on inhalation or exhalation.

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

How frequently should you practice slow breathing?

Even practising breathing for a few minutes per day will help train the body and mind. Even taking 10 slow breaths (around 2 minutes) will be beneficial.  To get the best out of a breathing technique it is most effective to either concentrate on your breathing or work towards a more meditative state, but you can practice while doing something else. Try slow breathing when you are in a queue, reading emails or watching TV. It might help in more ways than one!

How do you regulate your breathing to reduce stress?

The normal respiratory rate for adults is between 12-20 breaths per minute. Hyperventilation, the sort of breathing triggered during high stress, is usually counted as anything over 20 breaths per minute. Slow breathing is considered to be around 4-10 breaths per minute.

Most breathing techniques will allow people to achieve a slow breathing rate of between 4-10 breaths per minute. They do this by applying the principles of respiratory sinus arrhythmia and the fact that when you breathe in your heart rate speeds up, whereas when you exhale your heart rate slows down. Therefore, breathing techniques either look to elongate the exhalation or achieve the same effect by holding the breath between inhaling or expelling air.

Which posture is best for breathing?

Most breathing techniques can be achieved when either standing, sitting, or lying down but sitting or lying down – if the situation allows it – can help with relaxing the body. It is generally good to keep your feet hip-width apart, opening the body into a neutral but relaxed posture. It is also recommended to loosen any restrictive clothing.

Another general tip is to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Breathing in through your nose introduces a small restriction in the airflow that helps elongate the breath. Some yogic breathing encourages a restriction in the throat on the out-breath to achieve a similar thing.

When taking a breath, it should be deep into the lungs. You should feel the stomach move out, not just your chest, on each breath. Placing a hand on the chest and another on the stomach, to feel the movement, can help ensure that you are breathing in this way.

Which are the best, simple and easy-to-remember breathing techniques?

Here are four simple, proven and effective breathing patterns and techniques that you try:

The 5:5 breathing technique

The 5:5 breathing control technique is simply breathing in for a count of five, then out for a count of five. Keeping the count to about one number a second will mean that one full breath will take about 10 seconds and the breathing rate will be reduced to about 6 breaths per minute.

The 5:5:5:5 breathing technique

Having mastered the 5:5 pattern, the breathing rate can be slowed further by introducing a pause (holding the breath) at the end of the inhalation or exhalation. With this technique, one breathes in for a count of five, then holds the breath for five, then breathes out for a count of five, and again holds for a count of five.

The 4:6 breathing technique

If holding your breath feels a little uncomfortable, then the easy alternative is to lengthen the exhalation process. The 4:6 pattern achieves this with an inhale for a count of four and exhale for a count of six. With practice, the exhale can be extended further (up to about ten) but initially, a count of six is recommended. As with 5:5 breathing, aim for the count to be around one per second so the breathing rate is slowed to about six breaths a minute.

5-finger breathing technique

Another great thing to add to breathing patterns is tracing the fingers on your hand. This is often referred to as the 5-finger breathing technique and I have seen it used by school children and special forces soldiers alike, so it is definitely both easy and effective! All you do is use the finger of one hand (usually the forefinger) to trace up and down the fingers on the other hand. Move up to the tip of the finger while breathing in, then down the other side on the out-breath.

Tracing your fingers has several key benefits. Firstly, using your hand removes the need to count your overall breaths. You know, by tracing your fingers one way you will get five breaths and another five if you work your way back. If I am feeling stressed, I usually aim for at least one complete cycle of ten breaths; from the little finger to the thumb and back. If I don’t feel relaxed enough, I simply trace my hand there and back again.

The second benefit is if you place your hand on your diaphragm you can ensure that you are taking breaths deep into your lungs. The third benefit is that you get a self-soothing effect from the touch. Physical touch increases dopamine and serotonin levels, enhancing the parasympathetic state and reducing cortisol responses to stress.

Do yourself a favour: take a deep breath (and then another)!

So, if you want to reduce stress or anxiety, start by controlling your breath and reducing your overall breathing rate. Use one of the simple techniques listed above to take your breathing to below 10 breaths per minute. Then introduce the 5-finger technique to further enhance the benefits.

But even before you feel stressed, take some time, and take a breath. Take five or ten slow breaths now. I promise you will feel better for doing it and you will be better prepared for your next stressful situation.

What are the most important life skills? How should we navigate work, survive challenges, and thrive in our relationships? This is a question that United Nations organisations UNICEF and UNESCO, along with the World Health Organisation (WHO), sought to answer. The subsequent study identified 10 essential life skills, strategies, and techniques, common to the well-being of everyone, no matter their age, sex, colour, creed, or nationality. Therefore, we should all seek to develop these abilities in ourselves, our teams, and our children.

But what do we mean by life skills? How do these differ from academic learning? The WHO has defined life skills as,

“The abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”.

In other words, these are attributes we need to navigate and thrive in life. They promote mental health and well-being, setting us up for success in the fullest sense of the word.

The Top 10 life skills according to the WHO, UNICEF, and UNESCO

This is the list of the ten most important life skills, as per the WHO, UNICEF, and UNESCO research:

1. Self-awareness
2. Empathy
3. Critical thinking
4. Creative thinking
5. Decision-making
6. Problem-solving
7. Effective communication
8. Interpersonal relationships
9. Coping with stress
10. Coping with emotions

This list is not all that surprising. These are generally skills we recognise as important and the same ones that many people pursue with their life coaches. As a leadership coach, I spend a lot of time working with people on these exact proficiencies. Again, there is little surprise that this list overlaps with skills lists for leaders such as those developed by Robert Katz.

These skills can also be grouped into three broad areas, referred to as components by the WHO. These three areas are:

• Critical thinking and decision-making skills
• Interpersonal and communication skills
• Coping and self-management skills

Now let’s look at a short explanation of each component area and individual skill and some pointers for personal development.

Critical thinking and decision-making skills

The first component area includes the foundational cognitive skills of critical thinking, creative thinking, decision making and problem skills. In neurological terms these deal with thinking dominated by the pre-frontal cortex.

Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to think objectively and logically about things. This reflects the need to be able to analyse data, understand an argument and come to a judgement about information. Knowing how to ask effective questions is also an important aspect of critical thinking.

Creative thinking

Creative thinking is taking the initiative, generating new ideas, and developing original perspectives. Creativity is frequently linked to the quality of the thinking environment. There needs to be time and space allocated to creation. Given the correct environment, developing associated skills such as lateral thinking can help with thinking outside the box and inventing novel solutions.

Decision-making

Being able to choose from alternative options is crucial for safety, productivity and taking responsibility for our lives. Knowing an effective process is important if we want to make better decisions. Equally, if you want to really develop your decision-making ability then it is helpful to understand some of the psychology relating to heuristics (the quick rules of thumb we employ to make choices) and the cognitive biases that impact our decisions.

Problem-solving

Problem-solving involves understanding a problem (knowing the sort of problem you are facing) and then coming up with a workable solution, with an appropriate strategy or set of steps to overcome the issue.

People often fall at the first hurdle in problem-solving; that being problem identification. Problem typology models such as the Cynefin Framework or Keith Grint’s problem classification can help with this.

Interpersonal and communication skills

The second component includes skills vital to establishing and maintaining successful relationships. These are empathy, interpersonal skills, and effective communication.

Empathy

Empathy allows us to build rapport with people and build relationships. Empathising is being able to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes; it is critical to understanding other people’s feelings, accepting their differences and overcoming conflict. Empathy is a vital component of Emotional Intelligence or EQ.

Interpersonal relationships

As noted above, having empathy is the start of building interpersonal relationships. To deepen our ability to have meaningful relationships, work in teams and influence others, we can layer on capabilities such as social skills, negotiation skills, and managing difficult conversations.

Effective communication

Effective communication is the ability to convey our needs, thoughts, and feelings. This includes verbal and non-verbal communication. People often forget that constructive communication often starts with quality listening, which – as you will notice – makes listening an essential element of empathy, interpersonal relationships and effective communication. So, be sure you know how to improve your listening skills! Other forms of communication such as writing and public speaking can also be added here. The Rule of 3 is a good tool for both of these.

Coping and self-management skills

The third component area deals with managing ourselves, particularly our feelings. Whereas the first component was dealing with the pre-frontal cortex, here we are concerned with how we manage our limbic system; the emotional centre of the brain.

Self-awareness

Self-awareness is being cognisant of one’s own interests, feelings, strengths, and weaknesses. Doing a personal SWOT analysis is a great way to quickly assess your strengths and weaknesses. If you want a deeper delve into self then exploring your personal values (your core principles, priorities, and passions), is a very worthwhile exercise. This will also help inform your decision-making.

Coping with stress

Being able to cope with stress is vital. Stress is a natural part of life, but it can be overwhelming unless managed. We can build our resilience by facing and overcoming challenges, but understanding the neuroscience behind stress (and particularly amygdala hijack) can be very beneficial to creating effective coping strategies. Breathing techniques are one of the simplest and most effective ways of dealing with stress. Knowing and practising controlled breathing is a proven way to manage moments of anxiety.

Coping with emotions

Emotions, similarly to stress, can be overwhelming. Poor emotional management can lead to mental health problems and negatively impact our relationships. Emotional management strategies start with being able to identify and label emotions. Next, once the emotion is identified, it can be managed through exercise (such as going for a walk), distraction, expression (for example writing a journal) and improving self-talk (such as using positive affirmations to build self-confidence).

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

Setting your life skills coaching goals

To take this theory into practice we can set a personal life skills development goal. When it comes to goal setting, habit creation or behaviour change it is worth focussing on one thing at a time, so we need to make a choice as well as a plan. We can do this in four steps:

1. Choose the skill

Which skill do you most want to work on? What would help you the most? When choosing something it could be a weakness that is holding you back. Equally, it could be a strength you want to hone. Thus, looking at the list below, which would you choose to develop?

• Self-awareness
• Empathy
• Critical thinking
• Creative thinking
• Decision-making
• Problem-solving
• Effective communication
• Interpersonal relationships
• Coping with stress
• Coping with emotions

2. Score your existing ability

Once you have identified the attribute you want to prioritise, ask yourself a question. How would you score yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 (a one being having no skill in that area, a ten being mastery of that competency)? Write your score down.

3. Identify what good looks like

Now, given your score (and assuming you are not a 10), think about what you might need to do to increase your score by 1 or 2 points. What would be different about your behaviour? What does better look like for you? If you are unsure, use the links in the related section above to do a little more reading and research on the area.

4. Plan small actions to help you improve

Finally, set yourself some small actions to experiment with and help you improve. These can be little things at first, just enough to nudge your confidence in these competencies.

For example, if you are wanting to improve your listening skills you might commit not to interrupting anyone in your next meeting. If you want to improve your ability to cope with stress, you could set aside 5 minutes a day to practice breathing techniques. Whatever you choose, make it achievable. You can then work on making it scalable, but the small steps will help to change behaviour and build new habits in your chosen area.

5. Get some help

To really help you focus and stay committed to your development it is great to have some help. A friend (one that can challenge you) is good, but (as research has shown) if you want to maximise your chances of success then get a coach.

If you would like any support in this manner then please do drop me a line via the contact page.

So, if you have not done it already, why not take a few minutes now to identify the life skill that you want to work on? After all, what are a few minutes when the impact could be a boost in happiness and effectiveness in your life, work, and relationships?

What is your personality type?

If you have ever done a specific personality test, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) then you may even answer that question with a four-letter acronym such as ‘INTJ’, or ‘ESTP’.

The Myers-Briggs psychometric questionnaire, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (or MBTI®) was the first personality test that I came across in my career. It is a very popular tool (the Myers-Briggs Foundation claims that over 2 million people use the system every year), hence it is not uncommon for people in conversation to describe themselves according to their MBTI profile.

When I first used the MBTI tool, I found it informative, but upon repeat use (and further research) I started to discover issues with the system. But to understand these limitations we need to understand a little of this field of psychology and the approach used by Myers-Briggs.

What is personality in psychology?

Before we explore the idea of types, we first need to clarify what we mean by personality. It is a word that encompasses so much significance and yet we can often struggle to explain it. So let us turn to a couple of definitions.

The Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of personality is:

“The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character.”

This is a common understanding of personality, but this definition is worth expanding upon when trying to quantify the psychological elements of character. For example, the American Psychological Society has a slightly fuller definition:

“Personality refers to the enduring characteristics and behaviour that comprise a person’s unique adjustment to life, including major traits, interests, drives, values, self-concept, abilities, and emotional patterns.”

As you can see from the later definition there is an emphasis on behaviour and personality traits. This reflects the current predominant psychological thinking in this field. Traits are aspects of our character, particular qualities, the makeup of which makes us unique.

The trait theory of personality – from Hippocrates to Jung

The idea of personality traits goes at least as far back as Hippocrates (c.460-377/359BC) who wrote about the Four Humours. The Four Humours or Temperaments can be translated as cheerful (sanguine), sombre(melancholic), enthusiastic (choleric) or calm (phlegmatic), and the idea of identifying these was to assist in the diagnosis of physical medical conditions.

This thinking on personality did not really change until the late 1800s and this four-element system informed the next person who revolutionised theories about personality, that person being Carl Jung (1875-1961).

Early in his career, Jung developed a friendship with neurologist Sigmund Freud (founder of psychoanalysis) and for a while, they collaborated in their work. However, these two heavyweights of psychology eventually parted ways as Jung’s theories of personality (and broader psychology) started to diverge from Freud’s. Key to the differences was Jung’s downplaying of the importance of libido (sex drive) on the subconscious, a cornerstone of Freudian psychology. Instead, he started to theorise about personality types and how they reflected the balance of conscious and unconscious thought in human behaviour.

The (slightly misunderstood) importance of extroversion and introversion

Jung approached the idea of personality from the perspective of types (or archetypes) rather than traits. As with Hippocrates, his motivation behind identifying types was from a medical perspective, but in Jung’s case (as with Freud) his was primarily concerned with psychological maladies rather than purely physical ones.

The most widely known concept that Jung introduced was the concept of extraversion (extroversion) and introversion. What many people don’t know is that these two types are primarily concerned with psychic energy (where people get their vitality from) rather than just a way of describing if someone is outgoing or shy. An introvert’s psychic energy is internally focused, whereas an extrovert’s psychic energy is externally directed.

Thus, an extroverted person gets energy from external stimulation, from being around other people and having a large social network. They tend to think out loud, enjoy variety and seek broad experience. They like being the centre of attention.

By contrast, an introverted person dislikes being the centre of attention. They get energy from having less external stimulation and will often withdraw from social interaction to reflect and recharge. They tend towards fewer, deeper relationships, think before speaking and tend towards developing deep knowledge rather than broader experience.

These two attitudes are foundational to the other personality types that Jung identified.

Jung’s Functional Personality Types

Jung divided his four functional types into the ‘rational’ aspects of thinking and feeling (reflecting preference as to how people make judgements), and the ‘irrational’ elements of sensation and intuition (regarding preferences in how people perceive the world).

By this typology, the thinker tends to be objective and analytic, whereas the feeler is more subjective and gives more weight to emotions. Those who predominantly rely on sensation tend to be practical and look to real-world solutions in the here and now. Someone who is more intuitive tends to use their imagination and speculate about the future.

By adding these four functions to the base personality types (introverted or extroverted), one can extrapolate eight personality types. For example, an introvert can be linked to thinking or feeling, sensation or intuition (creating eight types) and similarly again from extroverts. Thus, you might have an Extraverted Thinking Intuition ET(N) type or an Introverted Feeling Sensation IF(S) type.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Tool

The MBTI model was developed by Isabel Briggs Myers, alongside her mother Katherine Briggs, and sought to apply Jung’s theories to understanding behaviour, not just abnormal behaviour, or psychiatric disorders. Thus, the tool aims to identify and clarify individual behavioural preferences in everyday life.

They added two further personality aspects to Jung’s model, that of judging and perceiving. In this case, Someone who is high on the judgement scale is more decisive and likely to stick to their choice, whereas those with a higher perceiver score are more flexible and spontaneous. 

These functions were originally taken as implicit in Jung’s model but were made more explicit in the MBTI model. By adding these final two factors to the eight Jungian types, they then become the sixteen personality types of the Myers-Briggs profiles.

When I first used the tool, I found it helpful in this manner. It introduced me to the psychology of personality. It also helped me to better clarify my own preferences and better understand my strengths and weaknesses.

In my experience, anything that helps us understand ourselves and others better is a good thing. And to that degree, I think MBTI can be useful. However, I soon found some limitations with the methodology.

Can you have a specific personality type if the results differ?

The first problem I encountered was that when I did the test again, I got a different result. And then again, the next time. From further tests, and from analysing my results, I found that I sat on the cusp of four different personality types.

For example, I sit at the threshold between introverted and extroverted. I prefer to withdraw to quiet spaces to recharge my energy and I primarily process internally. But, much of my work is done in a social context and I enjoy variety. But this means that I often get seemingly contradictory results in MBTI tests.

Therefore, it was hard to say I was an exact type, as I did not sit neatly into one of the 16 categories. I found that it was hard to define exactly what my personality was, if hard boundaries were enforced between the profiles.

The problem with putting people into boxes

This leads to the second problem I have with MBTI: at a philosophical level, I don’t like the way it puts people into boxes.

At first, I didn’t like this on an intuitive level but as I researched more of the psychology of personality this was backed up by not liking this on an empirical level. The increasing evidence is that personality can (and does) change over time. Therefore, it is not helpful to think about ourselves as a fixed ‘type’.

This philosophical divergence is linked to my belief in one’s ability to change. My roles, both as a leader and as a coach revolve around change. Leaders seek to bring about change, a vision of a better future. Coaches help to facilitate change by helping individuals think more clearly, to achieve goals or change behaviours.

Bringing about individual evolution is about shifting behaviours and this is hard to do if people have a fixed idea about who they are. The ability to change, at an individual level, is fundamental to the idea of having a growth mindset. The same is true for building better habits. As James Clear highlights in his book Atomic Habits,

“It’s hard to change your habits if you never change the underlying beliefs that led to your past behaviour. You have a new goal and a new plan, but you haven’t changed who you are.”

Therefore, it is important to avoid beliefs that fix us to the idea that we must behave in a certain way. It is a wrong assumption to believe we cannot change just because we are constrained by personality type. Personality is just one factor, and though it might evolve slowly, it is not static.

Do you have a personality type or just preferences depending upon certain traits?

Carl Jung changed the way we understand personality today, particularly with his introduction of the concepts of introversion and extroversion. But we must be careful not to see ourselves as fixed types. And therein lies the fundamental problem with the Myers-Briggs interpretation of Jung’s psychology. It is too easy to see ourselves defined by a specific personality type.

If we want to be better, to improve ourselves, then we should seek to understand our preferences but not be restricted by them. We should identify and play to our strengths, but not consider that we are fixed in our character and behaviour. Don’t put yourself in a box.

“Know thyself” – Socrates

So, the next time you do a personality test, don’t let that constrain your thinking of who you are. Use it as helpful data to better understand yourself, not a judgment to be constrained by.

And if you want to do a personality test then I recommend the Big 5 (OCEAN) model rather than MBTI (and no, I am not paid to say that or earn money from Big 5 psychometric tests!). I recommend the Big 5 as it is now the preferred standard test of most psychologists and has better scientific backing, as you can read about in How to work out your personality with the Big 5 (OCEAN) model.

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

The ‘why’ represents our values.  Our values are part of our identity; they are the things we love, the ideals we prioritise.  They are central things that define why we have a certain vision, why we do the things we do, why we attract or are attracted to certain people. I often think values as being summed up by 3 Ps; our:

• Principles
• Passions and
• Priorities

Values shape our beliefs, our worldview and the paradigm that we operate from. These are often things we hold in common with others at one level, but the particular combination and application of the values make them unique to us as an individual or specific organisation.

“I’d asked around 10 or 15 people for suggestions. Finally one lady friend asked the right question, ‘Well, what do you love most?’ That’s how I started painting for money.” 

Andy Warhol

Should we ask the question ‘why?’

People often avoid asking ‘why’ questions because they can elicit an emotional response. They can make people defensive, or make the questioner appear judgemental. But if we fail to ask ‘why’ questions of ourselves we can really miss a trick.  If, or rather when, things get tough people do start to ask ‘why’ questions. We need to make sure we have some answers before then, particularly if you are a leader.  Let’s face it; things will inevitably get difficult at some point on our journey.  In challenging times we need to understand the deep things that motivate us towards a vision or mission.  It is much better to get those ideals clear ahead of time rather than having to discover them in a time of crisis.

When it comes to why questions we can learn from young children, as they are very good at asking the question ‘why?’  They will often keep asking why until they get a satisfactory answer; children are hard to fool! You can tell when children are following this line of questioning as there are usually accompanied by a red-faced adult who is becoming increasingly irate! The parent’s frustration grows as they start to run out of responses and realise that perhaps they do not actually know the answer themselves.  As adults, it seems we are much better at fooling ourselves and settling for a more superficial answer to a why question.

Simon Sinek identified the importance of asking why in his book Start with why. He argues that people who know their ‘why’ are the ones who lead and inspire others. Therefore we need to ask why, but we can also choose to construct our why questions in such a way that is less confrontational. For example, asking someone ‘what motivates you?’ is often better than ‘why are you doing that?’

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe”

Simon Sinek

The 5 Whys

Asking why several times over and applying the why to each subsequent answer can help us dig down to the motivational root of an issue.

I was out running one day and spotted someone fishing by a riverbank. Apart from eating the fish, I had never really understood the allure of fishing, so I asked them why they enjoyed it.  Their first answer was because they enjoyed being outdoors.  Instead of asking directly ‘why’ again, I said: “that’s interesting, I love being outdoors too, what particularly do you like about it?” They answered that it was the only time they really slowed down and felt at peace.  When I questioned further they said that the most important thing was getting the time to reflect.  I then left them to enjoy their peace and reflection but by asking ‘why’ several times over I had gained a deeper understanding into the motivations of that person and learned that fishing was not just about catching fish!

The art of asking why in this way was used by great effect by Sakichi Toyoda who developed the ‘5 whys’ approach to problem-solving within the Toyota Motor Corporation and helped to revolutionise their manufacturing and make Toyota production far more efficient. Every system and action was analysed by asking why over and over until the primary reason was revealed and the process could be refined.

Reflection question:

• Which work processes could you do this for? Choose a process that you follow and ask why you do it. Keep asking why until you get the real reason for the existence of the process. Once you know the answer, consider, how could this be done better?

Revealing our values

So we need to look at why we do things and ask ‘why’ of ourselves many times over.  Then, as we delve into our answers we begin to see our principles and values revealed.

As we go through this process we will soon see that there are actually many things that we value or that we would agree are good principles.  The key here is working out what are the things that you value the most.  For example, you could say that you value making new friends as well as maintaining long-standing relationships. But, if in looking at both these activities you see that you spend a lot more time on one than the other, then arguably that is the one you value the most.  Equally, you could say that you value two worthy charities. But again, the one you give the most money to would probably give a good indication of where your priorities lie.

These are simple examples but the principle applies even to more abstract concepts.  Loyalty and integrity are both excellent things to value. It might require some careful thought working out which one you prioritise most, but it can be done. There are further exercises in the posts and links below to help you.

Identifying core values

You will probably start with quite a long list but it is a worthwhile exercise to drill down to a list of 4-6 core values for yourself or your organisation. Any more than that and it becomes harder to see how your values differentiate you from other people.  If you are an organisation trying to discover, agree and instil values into your workforce it is also hard for people to remember many more than this!

Then, of this shortlist, identify your top two. Brené Brown (author of Dare to Lead) has done a lot of research that backs up the importance of knowing your top values and priorities.

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

Refining the expression of your core values

As you hone down to your core values it can also be useful to use adjectives to really help capture the particular nature of a value.  So, for example, you might value of community, but what sort of community?  Is it close community, global community, fun community, caring community, inclusive community, or diverse community you are thinking about?  Adding the right adjective moves you closer to your unique perspective and combination of values.

There are further exercises and advice on how to identify and refine your values in the post What are your personal values?

The importance of values

The process of exploring your values is one worth spending time on. Values are at least as essential as the discovery of our vision and mission. Don’t worry about getting them perfectly captured, especially on a first try. Even our values evolve over time so think of this as a cyclical process, as with other decision making approaches. Do some thinking, record or communicate your thoughts, and then return to reflect on them again regularly in the future.

Once we have identified our values we may not always need to refer to them all the time but they are always there steering us, even if it is just at a subconscious level.

When I was in the Alps for the first time I had a particular dream in mind: a dream of standing on the summit of Mont Blanc.  Success was therefore easy to define; my aim was to get to the top of Mont Blanc and back safely.  Most of the time the vision was there to see, as Mont Blanc loomed large above me. The mission was also clear when I looked at the route on the map.  But, as I climbed higher up and the cloud started to roll in, I could no longer see the mountain clearly.  I could see the route on the map but I could not relate it to the ground.  It was at this point that I had to rely on my compass and altimeter to keep me on the right track.

Values are like a compass; they help us keep on track even when the route to achieving our dream is unclear or the mission is challenged.  Values are therefore invaluable.

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.“

Friedrich Nietzsche

Reflection question:

• Once you have identified them, what can you do to keep your values in mind?

One thing I do is to have my personal values and vision at the top of my to-do list. My list of tasks is organised by role and having my values at the top helps me to weigh my priorities correctly.

If you want to read more about values then check out why things we value define our personal identity.