Sick, Successful & Loving It Top Tips to Success Mandie Holdgate If you woke in the morning and put your feet on the floor and experienced the same level of pain as Mandie Holgate you’d probably head straight to A & E, and likewise if you were to get similar shooting pains in your chest and down your right arm like Mandie. Your GP would probably be rushing you off to Emergency Assessment Unit as Mandie’s GP has a few times, however after 5 years of Lupus, Reynard’s, Sjogren and Fibromyalgia Mandie has a new way of handling her illnesses and running 2 highly successful East of England based businesses. Owner of The Business Womans Network and a successful Business Coach, trainer and mentor specialising in business growth, confidence, marketing and communication in 2011 mandie was struck down by a mystery illness that by 2012 left her in bed on Morphine unable to work. With work out of the question Mandie explored many alternatives alongside the assistance that the NHS offered her. “I realised that if I was ever going to get back to work, I couldn’t wait for the NHS to come up with the answers and I tried anything and everything that was offered to me.” By 2012 the NHS had said “You have to accept the life you knew is over” and I just was not prepared to accept that. And with that attitude Mandie worked to create a new life, one that would sustain her and enable her to get out of bed and back to work, and grow her business despite 3 auto immune diseases and Fibromyalgia.
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And here Mandie shares her top tips to living with serious illness and running successful business (ideas that are good regardless of your current health); Look at your stress levels. Lupus feeds on stress (as do most illnesses) so I have worked hard to deal with stress effectively. I mediate, use mindfulness and love my hot tub for zoning out and enjoying the bird song, the clouds moving across the sky and being completely in the moment. It helps with top tip number 2. Power up your creativity. By enabling my mind to really become creative. It means that when I am working I am able to come up with great ideas a lot faster this is not just good for my own business, its great for my clients too. And then when I’m resting I’m able to relax a lot faster. Learning how to be in the moment really helps. Creating boundaries and respecting them is critically important. Listen to your body. I eat when I need to. And tend to be a pretty healthy eater. I like a Mediterranean diet and shy away from shakes and diets, because for me food and cooking is all part of the joy of a family day. Listening to my body also means that I know the danger signs and symptoms of an attack and so if I need rest, I get it. I don’t socialise a great deal. And I tend to be resting, working or on holiday! We’ve had a saying in our family since I was little “No one wants to be the richest in the grave yard” and this illness has really made me respect my body.
Get automated – Getting automated in my business was one of the smartest things I ever did. It means I can literally be lying in my hot tub or on the beach and be gaining new business or a residual income from my online course and book and I have to do nothing. Get savvy with your time When it comes to the growth and success of my business I am very savvy with how and where I spend my time. I have more than one list of jobs so that I have the daily jobs, the business growth jobs for the week, month and the year. I also then have my marketing goals too. That way I can ensure that I don’t have to have a brain overloaded with information to remember. And I can free up my brain to concentrate on what I need to. It also means with savvy marketing I can literally be elsewhere and new sales and enquiries are coming in and I have to do nothing accept the fun bit of the work with the customer! I’ve even had the experience where I’ve come back off of holiday to discover I’ve been in the newspaper and I did nothing! Power up your self-belief and confidence If you are on medication that rots your teeth, makes your hair full out and gain a ton of weight, it’s all too easy to look in the mirror and wonder where you went. So you can’t get your confidence from looking in the mirror. It has to come from the inside. So firmly believe in yourself. some days when I am in a lot of pain and you look in the mirror and you see an overweight moon faced gerbil that’s not so easy. So you just smile and say “Mand you’ve done your best now get out there and do your thing!” The fact is people aren’t employing me for my looks, they are employing me for what I can do for their success and their business or their fears of public speaking. If you’ve had a fear of picking up the phone for 10 years you don’t care if I have no hair on my head you just want to be able to close a sale on the phone don’t you. And that is what I use to have to remind myself of. Self-belief is really important if you want success in any area of your life so power up yours. Get a mentor I’m limited to how much travelling I can do, and since I adore meeting people I can’t surround myself with great people as much as I would like, so I do this online in strategic groups and went out of my way to find a mentor who would challenge me and help me grow. It’s all too easy to get complacent, and I always want to grow and find new ways to develop. As a coach I think it’s important to never forget how scary it is for my clients to tackle things like comfort zones or fears, and so I’m happy to tackle new things all of the time.
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Debbie Neville Have you been wondering if a massage has to hurt to be effective? If so, you are not alone. Many people believe that a massage has to hurt in order to be effective. Well it doesn’t! You’ll be happy to hear that the saying, “No pain, no gain” doesn’t apply to massage therapy. Sometimes the most effective massages are the ones that don’t cause you any pain. Something that feels marvelous, and it’s good for you too? It doesn’t get much better than that!
Deep Tissue Massage might cause some discomfort.... A deep tissue massage is when the massage therapist manipulates the deeper layers of your soft tissue. Soft tissue includes your muscles, ligaments, fascia, and tendons (it’s pretty much everything that isn’t bones or organs). Usually your massage therapist will use lotions or oil, and will work lighter at first, this is important, it helps relax the top layer of tissue and muscle, meaning less pain for you. Then the deeper layers of muscle can be worked on more easily and with less pain. This will feel much better and you will get better results!
Typically, deep tissue massage is recommended for those with chronic pain caused by tight muscles or injuries. Deep tissue massage can be very therapeutic because it helps with relieving patterns of tension that have developed over time and helping with muscle injuries. With a good deep tissue session massage will feel more relaxed after the massage if no pain was endured during it. It’s hard (nearly impossible) to relax if you are in pain, and muscle tension will release in a state of relaxation.
Deep tissue massage is not for everyone! You are not a wimp if you don’t like it. It is one of the more involved and intense massage techniques. Some people simply like the feeling of more pressure, and a firm massage isn’t always deep tissue. Just be sure to communicate with your therapist about what you prefer and need. Speak up your therapist will appreciate your feedback, happy clients are regular clients, and your therapist wants you to love your massage.
Pain versus Discomfort Muscles naturally react to any sort of pain. When your muscles feel that your body is about to be injured the reflex to deflect the pain is stimulated. If your massage therapist is ever applying too much pressure, your muscles tighten together to naturally counterattack the force, and that is not a great way to relax. A massage is meant to relieve the tension of your muscles so if you feel as though the massage therapist is applying too much pressure for comfort, just ask them to use less pressure. Seriously, they want you to.
Don’t go into the massage thinking there won’t be any discomfort at all though. Pain and discomfort are two different things. People usually describe discomfort as a “good hurt” - especially in reference to getting a massage. When you experience pain during a massage, it is more than discomfort and could even cause bruising or injury.
Everybody has different tolerances for pain, so a massage that is painful for one person may not be painful for you. If you find that your massage therapist isn’t working between your tolerance levels for pain, then it’s important that you say something. Massages should almost never cause you physical pain and very rarely is it okay for you to be left with marks on your body afterwards.
If you are booking your first massage, you probably don’t want to start out with a deep tissue session. Ease your way into massage therapy and start with something less specific, like Swedish or integrative massage. Most therapists combine massage techniques and will try to give you the best massage for you.
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Shayne Addington “The making of the marathon” We had a great opportunity to interview local running star Shayne to inspire and motivate others thinking of taking up this amazing life changing event. We must say what a dedicated Shayne is and a great influencer to share his experiences with us
Q. What was the passion behind you starting your journey. After watching last year’s event with a cup of tea, I thought to myself I fancy a go of that and found it inspiring to watch. Personally I need goals to aim for and since I have stopped playing football it has become too easy to say I will go the gym 2mrw or I will go for a ride tomorrow. With a set goal e.g. the marathon I did not have a tomorrow as I needed to get myself up to marathon fitness.
Q. What training and nutrition plan did you do I started doing 1 run a week through November and December just to get rid of the cobwebs. Then on Jan 1st I started my plan which consisted of 3-4 runs a week, Mondays Wednesday, Thursday and Saturdays I would always do 3 miles on a Monday and I started doing 4 miles on a Wednesday and 5 miles on a Thursday then 6 miles on a Saturday. I would aim to get in 20-23 miles a week for the first 3-4 weeks then all I did was increase my midweek runs and my Saturday one, towards the end I was doing 3 miles on a Monday 6-8 on Wednesday and Thursday’s and to get me prepared for running on a Sunday I started to do my long runs on a Sunday at 10am, my longest run was 21.2 Smiles. Then I began tapering.
I did not follow any nutrition plan if I’m honest, I was just more conscious of what I eat, although I did stop alcohol and biscuits. On my long runs, I would have a nutri-bullet with a banana, porridge oats, frozen berries and almond milk. Or a large bowel of porridge with 2 slices of toast and a pint of water.
Q. how was the experience on the day I have to say it was probably the most amazing thing I have ever done, there is so much positivity and togetherness around the place and everyone willing you to do great, my family and friends came along which meant a lot, I said all along I ran the marathon but we all did it as without the support I could not have done it. The crowd were unreal I don’t think I went 30 secs without someone shouting my name, I even managed to have a cheeky Guinness at mile 21 with the boys…at mile 16 you started to see people struggle and everyone was helping each other and saying come on you can do this it was unreal. As I trained for this, I never hit the wall so I enjoyed all 27.7 miles of it. Those early January runs at 6am were worth it for sure.
Q. What and how did it make you feel crossing the line It was emotional as it felt like it had come to an end, all the training and miles I had done over 380 miles in total now it’s done!!! I had a sense of relief that I made it also injury free. I got my medal had a picture then wanted to see my wife Karla and daughters Sienna and River and have a nice cold glass of fizz.
“During the training and on the day I learnt a lot about myself, I was told the marathon is 49% fitness and 51% mind set and after finishing it I could not agree more, I have learned if you put your mind to it you can ACHIEVE anything, never give up a go for it. A negative mind cannot live a positive life”
S.Addington Kerry Rose
“You can Succeed� It was just after my daughters first birthday when I was struck by an overwhelming urge to make some key changes to my life. Battling the effects of post natal depression again (I had suffered after my son had been born) I was facing a return to work- to a career in the Emergency Services that I had once loved but had found increasingly unfulfilling since becoming a mum- my priorities and my health both physical and mental had changed.
I wanted to meet new people who I could relate to, I wanted to improve my physical fitness and health and in turn improve my mental wellbeing. I joined a number of "Mum's Groups" online. It was at a so called "Mummy's meet" that I was introduced to an opportunity that would offer all that I was looking for- a chance to develop my own business in health and wellbeing, improving my work- life balance so I could increase my income without increasing my time away from the children, working with likeminded people, getting out there talking to people and above all having fun... having a new focus.
I discovered great products like drinking gels that made me feel good on the inside, high protein shakes that not only taste great but also have enhanced and complemented my new found energy for exercise. I also really enjoy using the skin products and tooth gels for that pampered feeling to mention just a few.
I received training and encouragement and felt my confidence growing. I really haven't looked back, the products are now a permanent fixture in my life and the sense of achievement I have is amazing. Working with a great group of positive people who I class as my friends is also a bonus!
The most rewarding aspect... well that's easy- recognising in others how they could benefit like I have and helping them achieve their goals. /www.facebook.com/Kerry-Rose-Lifestyle-work-life-balance-522271761287746/
Sabina Massida “This is my Pitch” am Sabina Massidda, I’m 17 years old and I am a volunteer football coach. I started coaching around 2014 right after my local un18’s girls team folded. I somehow wanted to stay within football as I would have been playing for at least 8 years by this point but just didn’t know how too as there wasn’t any local girl’s teams. Luckily, my high school work experience week came around very quick and I was set to do my work experience alongside an FA Skill Coach that actually coached me in my younger years. During the work experience I then was able to develop myself as a coach and an individual, I also met The Braintree Town Un12’s coach who took me on as a goal keeper coach and from that day onwards I still coach alongside him and the team as an assistant coach. I later, then qualified in my level 1 coaching badge in the summer of 2015 once I was 16. Within the year of 2015, I managed do over 300 volunteering within football, gain a place on the Essex FA Youth council, gain an ambassador role within The This Girl Can Campaign due to my volunteering within football and football coaching & now manage and coach an un11 development squad at Braintree town as well assisting in the under12’s As I started to coach regularly, I noticed flaws within girl’s football as well seeing the issues that occurred when I played. I knew as a young coach and a player with experience within those issues, that I wanted to promote girls football as well as coaching within females with the hope that there would be an increase in girl’s participation and decrease discrimination and stereotypes! Too this day, I still find myself fighting for my position as a female coach. Whether that be a simple task of being taken seriously. I still find that I get told, I’m ‘’too young to understand’’ or I’m’’ just a girl’’ and I won’t be able to cope. Which I find mind-blowing because all football coaches go through the same courses, same qualification and yet I get told, that it different for me.
However, I do not let this phase me as I know I have had the chance to work with some excellent standard coaches such as the FA Skill Programme coaches, Essex FA coaches & other underappreciated grassroots volunteer coaches! I personally feel I have learned loads from all sort of coaches in football and other sports and I am grateful to still have those coaches around to help advise me and support me. Luckily I have had to opportunity to go to events, festivals and be a part of other sessions around Essex to help promote girls football and get to know other coaches and their styles. It’s also offered me the chance to widen knowledge. Also, I became a This Gir lCan ambassador. This Girl Can is a national campaign developed by Sport England and a wide range of partnership organisations. It’s a celebration of active women up and down the country who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets.
The This Girl Can campaign has inspired me to show that there is more to it just than playing a sport, there’s work behind the scenes that’s has impact & Its more than just playing, its more than just keeping fit, coaches are more than ‘just coaches’. & with the help of This Girl Can Campaign I would love to see more young females, not just enjoying the physical side of the sport but also the coaching.
Now, this is my pitch!