‘We all have the same 24 hours, but it’s what you choose to do with them that matters,’ says coach Katy Hill (below)
On the outside some people may look fit and healthy – they may run five days a week and drink superfood smoothies – but that doesn’t mean they aren’t sad, lonely or completely lost.
One of the biggest misconceptions about wellbeing is that pumping weights and taking vitamins is going to make you feel invincible. It will help, yes, but your mental health and mindset are also key.
Personal development coach Katy Hill knows this all too well. You may remember her as the effervescent, smiley former Blue Peter presenter. These days she is fully committed to helping women thrive, and having trained as a coach in 2017 she has just launched a hugely inspiring online course aimed at helping us find direction and purpose post-pandemic.
The idea started to grow last year when Katy saw an increase in clients who were overwhelmed by the situation they found themselves in, but also questioning where they were in life, and where they were heading. Unable to keep up with demand, she hit upon the idea of an online course which she named Ignite.
Katy knew this past year was going to be a huge catalyst for change. ‘We have had time to ask ourselves the big questions,’ she says. She explains that we often end up living narratives we take on rather than choose, whether that’s being a mum, a wife or whatever, and that’s when we can lose ourselves. Ignite is about rediscovering the part of you that’s got lost along the way.
Katy has channelled her can-do energy that jumped out of the Blue Peter screen at us all those years ago, and is using everything she has learnt in broadcasting and her training as a life coach to help us ‘live all-out’. What most of us didn’t know is that Katy wasn’t always the engaging personality she is now. In fact, at school she was painfully shy. ‘I was the girl that used to be physically sick before the school swimming gala,’ she says, ‘And I used to blush so badly that I was nicknamed “cherry head”.
But all I wanted to be was a Blue Peter presenter and I never equated being shy with not being able to achieve my dream.’ Katy learned the hard way that if you set your sights on something, no matter how frightened you feel, you can achieve it. ‘When I eventually trained to be a coach I didn’t understand why this stuff wasn’t taught at school,’ she says.
I am currently in the middle of Katy’s course which I can confirm is as inspiring as she is. A series of 14 chapters you can do at your own pace, each has a soul-stirring video from Katy as well as some homework that helps delve into what makes us tick, what we are passionate about and who we really are. It also sets us up to plan what Katy calls a ‘limitless year’, the goals we need to get there and how to put that into practice.
Specifically geared towards life post-pandemic, this is a highly achievable course for anyone who feels unfulfilled, lost, unfocused or unconfident. ‘It’s about igniting the fire that may have gone out,’ says Katy. ‘We all have the same 24 hours, but it’s what you choose to do with them that matters.’
Katy’s Ignite course costs £140, katyhill.com
@susannahtaylor_
If it’s good for Gwynnie…
Gwyneth Paltrow recently credited functional medicine expert Dr Will Cole for helping her feel her ‘best in a long time’ after struggling with fatigue, brain fog and inflammation after contracting Covid. His book Intuitive Fasting (£16.99, Yellow Kite), a bestseller Stateside, is a four-week intermittent fasting plan to help reset your gut, debunk myths about fasting and recharge your metabolism without you feeling restricted.
Panda pose, anyone?
I have huge admiration for sustainable clothing brand Bam. Using bamboo as the main fibre, it requires half the land that cotton needs to produce the same amount and doesn’t need irrigation or pesticides to grow. It also creates amazingly soft, breathable fabrics. These leggings are stroke-worthy, stylish, have 360-degree stretch and don’t dig in or roll down.
£49, bambooclothing.co.uk