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For a long time, I loved goal setting. I loved the clean slate of a new year, the notebooks, the plans, the sense that if I just thought hard enough and planned well enough, I could shape the year exactly how I wanted it to be. And to be fair — that approach worked , to a point. It helped me build a career, move countries, write books, run an ultramarathon, I ticked off some big life milestones. But lately, I’ve been craving something different. Something a little less rigid.

How Looking Back Helped Me Set Intentions for the Year Ahead I’ve been obsessed with goal setting and resolutions for a long time, but recently I’ve felt the desire to do something a little less right-or-wrong , and a little more in line with the kind of peace, ease, and spaciousness I’m working towards. Rather than jumping straight into goals, I’ve been drawn to a more reflective way of beginning the year — one that starts by looking back , before we look forward. Why I’m St

“A reflection on identity, values, and coming back to yourself — and why building a life that feels true matters more than ‘new year, new you.’”

It's that time of year; when people are looking towards 2026 and making a list of goals and resolutions. There are habits we promise ourselves we will stop, and ones that we will absolutely start. I love the enthusiasm of the turn of the year. I love that, for once, we are looking at ourselves and our lives and trying to figure out what we want to do differently. In my view, the more often we sit down to reflect on what matters, the better! We get so many messages every day a

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending two events that helped me to connect with inspiring people. I attended a women in business event and heard from a fabulous woman entrepreneur; a proud kiwi who freely admits she doesn't have it all together, but whose story of resilience and creativity was hugely inspiring. I also got to talk to some other awesome women in business; people from accountants to sexual wellness experts, to stylists, to people recycling old things and tur

I had lunch with a wonderful friend yesterday. When I asked her how she was, I must admit, I was worried that she would say 'oh, you know, burning the candle at both ends a bit', or, 'feeling pulled in too many directions'. This is the kind of thing you would expect a successful CEO of the Aotearoa branch of an international organisation to say, especially when she's also a wife and mother as well. I should have known, however, that that wouldn't be her story. My friend looke

Is the goal actually to achieve all the hard things in life, or is it to have a more pleasant and meaningful life? Growth is one of my values, which is wonderful in so many ways, but sometimes it can mean I fall into the all-too-common trap of thinking that doing more makes me a better person. If I'm striving, if I'm working hard, I'm more meritorious, right? As a society, in the West at least, we seem to have this real aversion to laziness, which can make us feel like if not

One of the main reasons I wanted to write the VIP Mindset book, and indeed to start coaching, was to help busy, overwhelmed people who feel like they are fighting life and losing, to find a sense of ease. However, as the kind of person who has a Goals diary, who enjoys feeling productive, but who also struggles with laziness, I am mindful of not writing a book that is simply about taking the easy route at all times. In fact, I think often the easy choice in a moment is not th

Every year for the last five years or so, I have asked myself this question. I start my year by reflecting on my values, and from there I build out my goals. My values pretty much always stay the same, or very similar, but I think it's important to reassess each year, and to remind myself of what my vales mean to me. Determining your values can be done in a number of ways. If you sign up for my coaching, you can get a specially designed worksheet from me, but even just googli

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop with Sara Cannon. There we learned all kinds of tips and tricks for making our plans and ambitions actually achievable. One of my biggest realisations was that I could give myself permission to follow my energy.  This is an approach I now take, wherever possible, each day, week, and month. I’m still working on the specifics, but for now what it looks like is a week’s to do list (colour coded if I can), rather than

Look back and see how far you've come. Yesterday I drove to pick up the groceries. This does not sound like a big deal. In many ways, it's not. However, I didn't start learning to drive until I was seventeen. I didn't get my full licence until I was 29. Since then, I've hardly driven. I owned a car for about six months, and then I sold it to go travelling. I haven't owned one since. This means that when I do get behind the wheel of a car, I can be a bit nervous. I'm fine driv

It's been a few weeks since I've written even a single line in The VIP mindset book. Partly, yes, that's because I've been sick, because...

Te whanganui a Tara on a very good day.  I know that exercise, fresh air, and sunshine are three of the key ingredients to help me show...