A refreshing philosophy for life — especially as you get older. — What’s on your bucket list? It’s a line most of us are all too familiar with, since it was popularised by Justin Zackham in the 2007 movie The Bucket List. At the time it was a novel idea, prompting many to pen their own lists — even if only in…

When advice is weird, misguided or just plain wrong. — Happy ever after, anyone? Where would romance be without a good cliché? Love was built on clichés, those timeless “wisdoms” passed down through the ages — and had life breathed into them by social media. I get it. Clichés are catchy. They sell. There’d be no movie industry without them. …

Two people who have no, or little, control of their emotions is not a match — it’s a firestorm. — Most people think they are emotionally mature. Or at least they’re not admitting otherwise. I’ve never had a client say “please help me with my emotional immaturity.” It might be good if they did. Because emotional maturity — intelligence if you like — is the key to better, deeper, more…

A modern twist on an ancient scale. — Happy. Happier. Happiest. It’s arguably the most keenly sought goal in the world. When I’ve put the “what do you want from life?” question to my clients, happiness always comes in at the top of the list. Happiness, obviously, means wildly different things to different people. …

7 clues reveal who you are in a relationship — Do you know how you love? When I work with people in therapy, this question is often the foundation for our work — especially if they’ve been hurt. When you’ve been through a breakup, it’s natural to want to unpack what led to it, and the psychology of the person…

Luckily you have access to it. — Freedom from worry? Are you kidding? How dare you reduce it down to a simple secret? That was the reaction from one of my clients when I posed this idea. We had a laugh: she had a good point. It’s not possible to never worry about anything. To achieve that…

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” — Sir Edmund Hillary — Is your mind ripped and toned? I’m not talking about cracking your daily Wordle in two or smashing through brain-testing sudukus or cryptic crosswords. I’m talking about mental and emotional conditioning to arm you for life’s inevitable challenges in a world that is constantly testing us. Mental fitness is about…

When emotions dominate, wisdom diminishes — “We need help,” a couple in therapy offered as their opening line. They weren’t joking. Their 12-year relationship had deteriorated into a cesspool of conflict, anger and resentment. Neither could speak without triggering an emotionally-charged response in the other. If there was any love left between them, it wasn’t on…

It’s a good thing they didn’t :) — Ah life advice. The older you get, the more you’ve seen, the more you’ve messed up, the more you have to say about the business of living. BUT… The more scared you are of saying it out loud because you know there is no One-Size- Fits-All strategy for life —…