Your Time With James Sweetman

Episode 178 A New Year tonic

I've always loved the idea of starting afresh and January is a great time to refocus on what’s important. In this special New Year episode, I share 10 powerful and slightly unusual questions to help you set some meaningful intentions and goals for the year ahead. We all know the adage, ask and you shall receive, well this episode is all about helping you fine-tune your asks. If you’re more interested in manifestation than iron-clad motivation, inspiration rather than discipline, co-creating as opposed to striving, then this is the episode for you.

Episode 177 Closing out the year

In this week’s episode, the last in the current series, I share 20 powerful questions that have the themes of gratitude and completion running through them. Contemplating these questions has become something of a ritual for me and this year, not only do I pose the questions, I also share my own answers to them. My invitation to you is to grab a pen and notebook, and perhaps a mug of something warm, and gift yourself an opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months, to savour on the highs and take the learning from the lows.

Episode 176 Book Review 2024

Back by popular demand, this week’s episode is my annual book review where I get to indulge in my love of reading and wax lyrical about the books that stood out for me over the last 12 months. There should be something for everyone - biographies, new novels, classics, and self-help. I also speak about a book with a strong family connection, a true crime book written by my brother!

Episode 175 How I manage my mental health

This week I'm sharing the habits and rituals I practice that help me to manage my well-being and mental health. There is no doubt the world is going through challenging and stressful times and we all need ways to help us manage our fears and sense of overwhelm. I hope by sharing my self-care routine that you will be inspired to take a proactive approach to your own wellness and mental health.

Episode 174 Lost and Found

This week, I’m offering some suggestions to help you during those times when you feel lost or stuck. They’re my go-to insights and strategies, what I reach for when I feel directionless, demotivated and distracted. I explore themes including getting curious as to what change is trying to take place, how clarity is not certainty, but the quality of our seeing and how unexpressed creativity will always erode our well-being.

Episode 173 Managing nerves before a big presentation

This week I’m looking head on at the challenge that is front and centre for most people tasked with delivering a presentation and that is managing their nerves. Even if you’re an experienced presenter, there will be times when anxiousness and fear kicks in, as they do for me. So if you want to feel more confident at the top of the room, then this week’s episode is for you. I share many practical tips and strategies, including a game-changing insight that transformed my own impactfulness as a presenter.

Episode 172 Patience - the forgotten virtue

Today more than ever, patience is a forgotten virtue. When so much is accessible by the touch of a button, instant gratification has replaced the slow burn of anticipation. Decisions driven by immediate benefits rather than consideration of future consequences impact our lives at an individual and global level. This week, I explore the different causes of impatience, and offer some tips for dealing with frustration when things don’t go your way, or when the world is simply not working to your preferred timescale.

Episode 171 The moments of truth that shape your leadership brand

This week, I’m exploring the synergy between two related business topics – personal or leadership branding and moments of truth. If you think about your leadership brand as the mechanism through which you market yourself to others, moments of truth are those instances when customers or colleagues form an impression of you, for good or for bad. I’ll take you through the steps that will help you to create your brand blueprint. A critical moment of truth is when a client or colleague hears that you value them, I explore this and the other moments of truth that build trust and generate loyalty.

Episode 170 The midlife chrysalis

The word most associated with midlife is crisis, but this week I suggest a new word – chrysalis. I delve into the challenges and opportunities of midlife and how we can see our middle years as something more than a crisis to navigate. I speak about the ‘U-Curve of Happiness,’ make the case for pro-aging and how mid-life gives us an opportunity to explore an encore career, a chance to harness our experience and align our profession with our passions.

Episode 169 Burnout or bored-out?

We’ve all heard about burnout, but what about bored-out? Bored-out gets far less attention than it’s workaholic cousin and because some of the symptoms are the same, it can be misdiagnosed. I explore the difference between your core work and phantom work, the politics, the red tape of bureaucracy and the personality management that drains the spirit. Whilst the behaviours that lead to burn out are applauded in organisations, to admit feeling bored is taboo. I also speak about how you may love what you do, but can still get bored by it.