Welcome to the A Bit Of A Boost: Fit to Perform Series.

We all know that looking after ourselves is important, but when you're busy, under pressure and juggling competing priorities, it's not always easy to stay consistent.

Exercise and wellbeing can quickly become things we know we should do, rather than things we make time for.

But what if looking after yourself isn't a distraction from your professional performance, but one of the things that helps you perform at your best?

In this series, I'm talking to busy professionals who make exercise and looking after themselves a priority, despite the demands of their working lives.

These aren't professional athletes or fitness influencers. They're people with demanding careers, deadlines, meetings and responsibilities, who have found ways to make their health and fitness part of their lives without having to get everything perfect.

We'll explore what motivates them, how training affects the way they feel, think and perform, and what happens when life inevitably gets in the way.

We'll also get into the challenges of maintaining consistency, the habits and mindset strategies that help them stay on track, and how they get back into their routines after periods of disruption.

My hope is that these conversations will inspire you to think differently about your own health and fitness, and perhaps recognise that you don't need more time or a perfect routine. You just need to find an approach that works for you.

In this episode, I'm joined by Alex Board, production group control leader at Red Bull Powertrains.

In our conversation, we explore some of the pressures of operating inside F1, how consistent exercise has been a support system, finding the motivation for training even when you don't feel like it, and the need for a flexible approach to routines.

You can find out more about Alex or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Consistency is the holy grail of habits.

Instead of frustrating cycles of all-or-nothing, actually doing what you say you're going to do without interruption or deviation.

I wanted to return to recording the podcast with this topic because it feels very relevant, given how it's now May and this is the first episode I have published since the start of the year.

I share my own challenges but also the ways I try to overcome them, how I apply these strategies to everything from pubslishing a podcast, exercise and business development.

If any of your habits have drifted or fallen away completely, maybe there'll be something in this short episode to help you get back on track at the next logical point.

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By Design Not Default >>

Welcome to the A Bit Of A Boost Burnout Series!

This is a topic I've explored on the podcast before, and one that comes up regularly in coaching sessions, workshops and conversations with high performing professionals.

What's become clear is that it doesn't just suddenly hit you. It creeps up, gets normalised and isn't always easy to spot until it's too late.

In this series I'm sharing real conversations with people who've experienced burnout firsthand.

Not the theories or frameworks, but the personal stories of what happened.

How it felt, what was going on at the time, the contributing factors, and the signs that were missed, that in hindsight seem so obvious.

We also explore what people learned from the experience, and the changes they made to avoid ending up in the same place again.

You may recognise yourself in parts of these stories. Either because they echo your own experience, or reflect something you're going through right now.

My final guest in this series is Matt Adamson, now a career coach after a 20 year career in banking.

In this conversation, Matt shares his personal experience of burnout - and how some of his tendencies to seek validation and positive feedback lead to unsustainable self-expectations and work practices.

You can find out more about Matt or connect with him via LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattadamsoncoaching

Welcome to the A Bit Of A Boost Burnout Series!

This is a topic I've explored on the podcast before, and one that comes up regularly in coaching sessions, workshops and conversations with high performing professionals.

What's become clear is that it doesn't just suddenly hit you. It creeps up, gets normalised and isn't always easy to spot until it's too late.

In this series I'm sharing real conversations with people who've experienced burnout firsthand.

Not the theories or frameworks, but the personal stories of what happened.

How it felt, what was going on at the time, the contributing factors, and the signs that were missed, that in hindsight seem so obvious.

We also explore what people learned from the experience, and the changes they made to avoid ending up in the same place again.

You may recognise yourself in parts of these stories. Either because they echo your own experience, or reflect something you're going through right now.

My next guest in this series is Lucinda Powell, a psychology teacher at an Oxfordshire secondary school .

In this conversation, Lucinda shares her personal experience of burnout - how she normalised being exhausted all the time, and regularly weighed up the relative merits of going into work versus crashing the car on the drive there

You can connect with Lucinda here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucinda-powell-fbpss-635120a3

Welcome to the A Bit Of A Boost Burnout Series!

This is a topic I've explored on the podcast before, and one that comes up regularly in coaching sessions, workshops and conversations with high performing professionals.

What's become clear is that it doesn't just suddenly hit you. It creeps up, gets normalised and isn't always easy to spot until it's too late.

In this series I'm sharing real conversations with people who've experienced burnout firsthand.

Not the theories or frameworks, but the personal stories of what happened.

How it felt, what was going on at the time, the contributing factors, and the signs that were missed, that in hindsight seem so obvious.

We also explore what people learned from the experience, and the changes they made to avoid ending up in the same place again.

You may recognise yourself in parts of these stories. Either because they echo your own experience, or reflect something you're going through right now.

My next guest in this series is Severine Helms, an in-house business coach at Nestle.

In this conversation, Severine shares her personal experience of burnout - and how talking about some of the early signs is something she encourages within her team

.

You can find out more about Severine or connect with her via LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/severine-hemms

Welcome to the A Bit Of A Boost Burnout Series!

This is a topic I've explored on the podcast before, and one that comes up regularly in coaching sessions, workshops and conversations with high performing professionals.

What's become clear is that it doesn't just suddenly hit you. It creeps up, gets normalised and isn't always easy to spot until it's too late.

In this series I'm sharing real conversations with people who've experienced burnout firsthand.

Not the theories or frameworks, but the personal stories of what happened.

How it felt, what was going on at the time, the contributing factors, and the signs that were missed, that in hindsight seem so obvious.

We also explore what people learned from the experience, and the changes they made to avoid ending up in the same place again.

You may recognise yourself in parts of these stories. Either because they echo your own experience, or reflect something you're going through right now.

My next guest in this series is Martin Summerhayes, Managed Services Director at Northdoor.

In this conversation, Martin shares his personal experience of burnout - how it built up over time without him realising, and how some of his behaviours changed in that time.

You can find out more about Martin or connect with him via LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinsummerhayes

Welcome to the A Bit Of A Boost Burnout Series!

This is a topic I've explored on the podcast before, and one that comes up regularly in coaching sessions, workshops and conversations with high performing professionals.

What's become clear is that it doesn't just suddenly hit you. It creeps up, gets normalised and isn't always easy to spot until it's too late.

In this series I'm sharing real conversations with people who've experienced burnout firsthand.

Not the theories or frameworks, but the personal stories of what happened.

How it felt, what was going on at the time, the contributing factors, and the signs that were missed, that in hindsight seem so obvious.

We also explore what people learned from the experience, and the changes they made to avoid ending up in the same place again.

You may recognise yourself in parts of these stories. Either because they echo your own experience, or reflect something you're going through right now.

My next guest in this series is James Perryman, a leadership development consultant with a corporate background in the telecommunications industry.

In this conversation, James shares her personal experience of burnout - the physical symptoms he noticed before a doctor eventually told him what was happening, and how he has found better work life balance with a set of non-negotiable practices.

You can find out more about James or connect with him via LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesperryman1

Welcome to the A Bit Of A Boost Burnout Series!

This is a topic I've explored on the podcast before, and one that comes up regularly in coaching sessions, workshops and conversations with high performing professionals.

What's become clear is that it doesn't just suddenly hit you. It creeps up, gets normalised and isn't always easy to spot until it's too late.

In this series I'm sharing real conversations with people who've experienced burnout firsthand.

Not the theories or frameworks, but the personal stories of what happened.

How it felt, what was going on at the time, the contributing factors, and the signs that were missed, that in hindsight seem so obvious.

We also explore what people learned from the experience, and the changes they made to avoid ending up in the same place again.

You may recognise yourself in parts of these stories. Either because they echo your own experience, or reflect something you're going through right now.

My third guest in this series is Paige Wheeler, senior account executive at SugarCRM.

In this conversation, Paige shares her personal experience of burnout - how it has recurred several times, the patterns she's figured out and how to hopefully catch it before it gets a hold next time.

.

You can find out more about Paige or connect with her via LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paige-wheeler-68004362