Anyone facing a potential crisis in life or even a sought-after change may face some physical and psychological issues. As coaches our first and primary concern is for the health of our clients. Too many people lose the motivation to exercise, eat the wrong foods and open a bottle of wine or two.

When faced with a crisis there is a temptation to withdraw. This is a natural reaction and not one for which anyone can be criticised. However, part of the answer to sadness and despair is physical activity, which we address in its own section (Focusing on health).  The thing which is certain is you will be no use to yourself or your family if you are unwell, so let’s make sure it doesn’t happen.

This is not the time for binge drinking and eating. It is the time to focus on sleep, exercise, diet and, perhaps most importantly, your mental health. Our number one piece of advice is, ask for help. Do not think these are issues for you deal with on your own. There are numerous examples of people losing their jobs, not telling their family, pretending to go to work as normal, filling days with job hunt getting into debt and spiralling into despair. And it could easily have been different. Was it pride, fear, embarrassment, protection from the reality for the family or a combination of some or all of these? Yet, overwhelmingly, the better option was to share the facts and seek solutions together.

The phrase, “A trouble shared is a trouble halved” is, of course tosh in itself; it remains the same but it does have more people trying to solve it, bringing different perspectives and thoughts.