toolkit

Our toolkit is a curated directory where you’ll find inspiration and guidance to empower your daily progress. Sharing our top resources and startup tools, we invite you to work on self development and personal growth – to create resilience, unleash productivity, challenge your mind and develop new perspectives.

read: six ways to get more from your time
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read: six ways to get more from your time

How often do you find yourself saying “I just don’t have time”?

It can often feel like you're at the mercy of time rather than the master of it. Time can feel out of your control.

But when you are able to tame it, you gain the freedom of living life more in the present.

On our toolkit today, our life coach Rachael shares six ways to get more from your time, and explores why doing nothing is the opposite of time wasted.

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read: step sideways to move forward in your career
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read: step sideways to move forward in your career

Reaching the next level isn’t always about going up.

Sometimes you hit a ceiling and need to go sideways to progress.

This could look like taking time to re-educate or pick up a new skill. Or perhaps an entirely new career makes sense for the wider vision you have for your life.

Read this article to get familiar with lateral career moves, why they might make sense for you, and how to approach them.

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calculator: work life balance
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calculator: work life balance

How are you really spending your time?

Ideally, how do you want it to be split?

Getting closer to your optimal work life balance starts with clarity on the way you're distributing your time.

Here is a free, easy to use work life balance calclulator, to help you strike a balance that works best for you. Get clarity today.

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read: making mindful use of your ‘time confetti’
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read: making mindful use of your ‘time confetti’

Many of us allow time confetti to erode the free time we have – impacting our personal and professional lives, significantly adding to our stress levels.

The solution is to get super clear on where you're really spending your time and create firmer boundaries.

When you're at work, stay focused on the tasks at hand, and when you're off, stop checking your work messages.

But we can go deeper and get even more time back.

Here are some tips on how to make mindful use of your time confetti and get it under control.

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quiz: judging vs. perceiving – discover your approach to life
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quiz: judging vs. perceiving – discover your approach to life

Are you a Judger or a Perceiver?

And how does it affect your decision-making?

Judgers tend to approach life in a structured way, creating plans to fulfil tasks predictably.

Perceivers tend to feel constrained by structure, as you prefer to keep options open and explore problems as they arise.

Take this quiz to find out whether you're a Judger or a Perceiver.

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watch: three reasons you’re not making progress – and how to break the plateau
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watch: three reasons you’re not making progress – and how to break the plateau

Have you ever had that stagnant feeling that nothing is changing? Like you're stuck in the mud.

Feeling stuck and making progress are not interdependant.

You can only be in one state at any given moment.

That feeling of progress stops as soon as we feel stuck. Happiness thrives on progress, so it's natural to want to get out of the mud as quickly as possible.

How do we get out? Here are Tony Robbins' three potential reasons why you might be stuck and how you can turn it around.

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read: how to crush your fears and transform your life
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read: how to crush your fears and transform your life

Do you feel unhappy in your career, have a niggling feeling about your business or relationship, or a sense that you’re not fulfilled and know you have more to offer?

Maybe you’re not sure how. Perhaps you can hear an inner calling to transform something in your life, but any idea of change is accompanied by an uncomfortable feeling. This aversion is completely normal. It’s called: fear.

On the toolkit today, our transformation coach Nikki Trott shares how to break your blocking patterns and rewrite your story. To help you move away from fear and take the action that will make your confidence skyrocket.

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watch: how to stop languishing and start finding flow
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watch: how to stop languishing and start finding flow

Does positive thinking actually make us feel better?

Recent research published by NIH found that the best predictor of wellbeing was not optimism, but how often we get into the flow state. How do we know when we're in flow?

Coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow is the feeling of total absorption in an activity.

Watch for science author and Professor Adam Grant's 3-point theory of peak flow. He also shares a personal example of a way to get into flow with your friends and family, and tips on how to optimise your schedule to include it.

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read: how to build self-esteem: 5 tactics to change how you see yourself
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read: how to build self-esteem: 5 tactics to change how you see yourself

Everyone experiences bouts of self-doubt, but if low self-esteem is affecting your life, try these 5 tactics to build confidence and boost your self-esteem.

Your sense of self-worth will impact every arena of your life. Your job, your relationships, and even your physical and mental health are a reflection of your self-esteem.

But what exactly helps shape your view of yourself and your abilities? The truth is that your level of self-esteem may have grown or shrunk based on how people have treated you in the past and the evaluations you’ve made about your life and your choices.

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read: is perfectionism robbing you of joy?
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read: is perfectionism robbing you of joy?

Perfectionism – one of imposter syndrome's best friends.

Is it robbing you of joy?

On our toolkit today, our life coach Sarah Moore shares her own recent experience of imposter syndrome.

Sarah shares how to get comfortable with being vulnerable and a tool to stop worrying about what everyone else thinks.

Embrace the wonder that is you.

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watch: how the editor of Vogue used imposter syndrome to his advantage
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watch: how the editor of Vogue used imposter syndrome to his advantage

Is there an advantage to having imposter syndrome?

Even at 51 and with an incredible career at Vogue, ID and W Magazine, Editor of Vogue Edward Enninful still experienes imposter syndrome and cites that it propels him.

That said, the traits that led to his imposter syndrome, also led him to experience burnout and he regrets focusing so heavily on work during his 20s and 30s.

Here’s a clip from his powerful interview with Stephen Bartlett for Diary of a CEO.

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read: 3 tips for overcoming imposter syndrome
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read: 3 tips for overcoming imposter syndrome

How are you supposed to feel at one of the high points of your career? Empowered, inspired, encouraged, proud and confident are all a few feelings that seem likely to come to mind. But for the vast majority of high-achievers, these are not the feelings that grip them when the door to that corner office closes. This article explores self-doubt and covers 3 tips for overcoming imposter syndrome.

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read: how to get comfortable with taking risks
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read: how to get comfortable with taking risks

How can you get more comfortable with taking risks?

In this article, our coach for founders Ellen explores what risk taking looks like, which risks she's taken, and the three core risks that come up most often in her coaching practice.

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read: how to move from your comfort zone to the growth zone
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read: how to move from your comfort zone to the growth zone

According to Positive Psychology, the comfort zone is where a person’s behavioural state is “anxiety-neutral”. You can get a predictable result using a limited set of behaviours without having to face many risks, if any. While the risks are limited, so are the rewards, even so, there’s not much incentive to move away from it. The growth zone, on the other hand, is where you can set new goals, live your dreams and self-actualise.

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read: WORKSMART reading list
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read: WORKSMART reading list

Do you work hard or do you work smart?

Here are the reading recommendations from our mindhacker and coach Adrian Munteanu's WORK SMART workshop that we loved hosting in July.

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watch: what's Nonviolent Communication?
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watch: what's Nonviolent Communication?

Marshall Rosenberg, PhD developed NVC in the early 60s as a process for supporting collaboration and resolving conflict within people, in relationships, in society and at work. Watch and put it into practice.

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six things to do when your mojos’s low
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six things to do when your mojos’s low

Feeling demotivated and lacking mojo? Discover practical tips to reignite your motivation. From self-care to connecting with the right people, find your spark again. Let The Ascend support you on your journey to rediscover energy and passion.

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