Category: growing with grief
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What Grief and Performance Have in Common (More Than You’d Think)
Grief and high performance are interconnected through the concept of capacity. While grief diminishes one’s capacity, understanding and working within that limitation is crucial for recovery and performance. Rather than pushing through, acknowledging one’s current capacity and gradually rebuilding leads to growth, creating a deeper life alongside loss.
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You Can’t Stop the Storm. But You Can Build the House First.
Pre-traumatic growth suggests that we should prepare for inevitable challenges in life before they occur, rather than relying solely on resilience in the aftermath. By building strong foundations through relationships, self-awareness, and healthy habits, we can better navigate stress and mental health. This proactive approach enables growth rather than despair during tough times.
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Is It Safe to Fall Apart? On Grief and the Permission We Never Give Ourselves
The post addresses the struggle of expressing grief in a world that often expects individuals to be “fine.” It highlights the importance of creating safe spaces to grieve, acknowledging one’s changed capacity, and allowing oneself to feel. The PERFORM Mind Gym offers a supportive environment for this necessary mental health work.
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Grief At Work: The Conversation EVERY Workplace Needs Have
Over 20% of sick days in the UK are linked to mental health, often rooted in grief beyond bereavement. Businesses lack effective grief strategies, impacting employee performance and retention. Understanding and addressing grief can foster positive workplace cultures, enhancing safety and performance. The PERFORM Experience offers a Mental Health Strategy Audit to identify improvement areas.
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Why We All Need a ‘Third Space’
Modern life often overwhelms individuals with constant demands, leaving little time for reflection. The concept of a “Third Space” fosters emotional reset and thoughtful engagement through activities like journaling and meaningful conversations, enhancing decision-making and overall wellbeing amidst ongoing responsibilities.
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How to Protect Your Mental Health While Supporting Everyone Else
Many women are supporting children, parents, teams or communities. Emotional labour is often invisible, yet deeply taxing. Protecting mental health while supporting others requires intentional boundaries, self-compassion and proactive support. Mental health protection is not selfish. It ensures you can continue caring without burning out. Choosing support early, rather than waiting for crisis, allows women…
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From Survival Mode to Sustainable Strength: The Midlife Shift No One Talks About
Midlife often brings profound transitions. Loss, identity shifts, changing relationships and increased responsibility can push many women into long-term survival mode. Survival mode helps us cope during short-term crises. But when it becomes a way of life, it depletes emotional and physical resources. Sustainable strength looks different. It prioritises wellbeing alongside ambition. It allows for…
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Why Community Is Essential for Mental Health, Grief and Sustainable Performance
We are not designed to navigate stress, grief or growth alone. Yet many people attempt to manage their mental health in isolation, believing they should be able to cope independently. Community plays a vital role in mental wellbeing. Safe, supportive environments normalise struggle, reduce shame and create a sense of belonging. They remind us that…
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You Don’t Need More Confidence — You Need Mental Health Protection
Confidence advice is everywhere. We are told to believe in ourselves more, speak up louder and push through fear. For many women, especially those who are exhausted or grieving, this advice feels frustrating and inadequate. The problem is not confidence. The problem is capacity… and self-trust. When the nervous system is overloaded, confidence strategies fail.…
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Coping Is Not Thriving: The Hidden Cost of High-Functioning Burnout in Women
Coping is often praised, especially in women who carry responsibility. We admire those who “just get on with it”, who keep showing up despite exhaustion, grief or pressure. Coping is often mistaken for resilience. But coping is not the same as thriving. Coping means surviving your days while feeling disconnected from yourself. It means functioning…
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