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Dear Social Worker, Welcome to 
the world's number one personal 

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development podcast for social 
workers. 

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I can't lower your caseload, but
I can help you level up your 

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confidence, mental health and 
resilience. 

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Here we have real talk practical
tools empowering your personal 

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growth. 
Because thriving in social work 

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starts with you. 
Settle in, make yourself at 

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home. 
You're exactly where you need to

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be. 
Let's talk. 

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This week we are closing the 
chapter on 2024 and we are going

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to step into the possibilities 
of 2025. 

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Let's take a moment to look 
ahead because this new year, 

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it's a fresh start. 
It's a blank canvas. 

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So you can set your own 
intentions, grow your your 

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practice, prioritise yourself in
ways that elevate you, that 

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enhance you. 
So firstly, I want you to take a

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deep breath with me. 
Let's pause, reflect and dream 

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together about what's ahead for 
2025. 

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My first question to you is 
this, what impact do you want to

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make next year? 
Start by asking the question, 

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what impact? 
What difference do I want to 

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make? 
Is there a specific community, 

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group, individual that you hope 
to serve more effectively? 

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Or is it just a new group you 
want to serve? 

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Maybe there's a change you want 
to advocate for in your 

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organization or a new project. 
Remember impact. 

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It doesn't have to be grand to 
be meaningful. 

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Sometimes I think we get it 
twisted. 

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We need recognition. 
We need the hang claps for 

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things to be meaningful. 
No you don't. 

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You don't if you saw someone 
struggling and you gave them 

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£100 or $100 to help them get 
food for the week or whatever, 

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no one else needs to know that. 
When you're thinking about 

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advocating for others and 
helping others, just remember 

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you don't need the recognition 
for things like that. 

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God sees everything having small
and consistent actions. 

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It ripples outwards. 
That good is going to come back 

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to you eventually, right? 
So whether it's deepening 

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connections with your families, 
trying a new approach, a new 

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direct work tool, perhaps it 
maybe you decide to mentor a 

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colleague or study so you can 
teach students, social work 

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students, whatever it may be, 
you might decide you want to 

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step up to management, right? 
Every effort counts, every 

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decision matters. 
And you've got the opportunity 

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right now to create the canvas 
that you want to see for 2025. 

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Let's think about the area of 
practice that you're in right 

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now. 
If we think about your growth in

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the area of practice you want to
you're in right now, think about

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where do you want to develop as 
a professional? 

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Is there a skill you'd like to 
master? 

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A course or training you've been
wanting to enroll in? 

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Maybe it's about strengthening 
your ability to manage complex 

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cases, proving improving 
emotional resilience. 

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Growth doesn't mean you're not 
already enough. 

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It literally means you're just 
investing in yourself. 

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You're enhancing, you're 
building on the contribution 

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you've already made. 
So here I want you to pause the 

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podcast just for a moment, even 
if you write in notes. 

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And I want you to reflect what 1
area of my practice I'd like to 

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strengthen in 2025. 
Write it down and make a plan to

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pursue it. 
You can pause the podcast here. 

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Let's talk about self-care. 
Oh, the SC word, the SC word 

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self-care. 
Ioffer a trauma informed 

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self-care workshop for social 
workers. 

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It's one of the most popular 
workshops and it truly is a way 

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of you looking after yourself 
and creating a well-being plan 

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that is trauma informed because 
ultimately as social workers, we

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know we are exposed to trauma, 
but not processing it and not 

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having a plan for how you're 
going to respond to it 

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appropriately, that's going to 
help you. 

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I found that that was missing in
practice. 

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So I developed this training and
it's a online training session 

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with me or in person training 
session with me. 

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And if that's something you're 
interested in, by all means go 

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to socialworkcoachinghub.com and
book me in to provide that 

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training for your team. 
It's necessary. 

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We are exposed to trauma. 
We do need to understand how to 

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care for ourselves in the 
context of what we're exposed 

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to. 
In the midst of that, we know, 

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we know. 
It's so easy to put others 1st 

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and let your own needs fall by 
the wayside drastically. 

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As a social worker, as I said, 
I've been there. 

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I've had burnout, right? 
But ultimately we can't pour 

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from an empty cup. 
And I heard an IGA few weeks ago

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that someone said, oh, I'm 
trying to remember. 

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Someone said that the cup that 
we're referring to here, you're 

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only meant to give from your 
overflow, meaning that the cup 

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is already full, it's already 
been filled. 

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And your output from that cup 
will be from the overflow. 

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It will be only from the 
overflow. 

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You don't actually have to pour 
all of the the water, all of the

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liquid out of this cup. 
Actually, the cup should already

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be overflowing and you're using 
the overflow in the splashes to 

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give out to everyone, to meet 
everyone's needs and to to help 

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all the people you need to help 
and to serve where you need to 

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serve. 
You shouldn't actually be losing

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liquid that's inside the cup. 
Interesting metaphor, I would 

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say that is. 
Either way, I I digress. 

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In 2025, let's commit to making 
self-care non negotiable. 

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I've got a confession here. 
There's been moments this year I

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have not been able. 
No, let me rephrase. 

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There's been moments this year 
where I have chosen not to put 

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myself first because of where? 
Because I'm coaching or I'm 

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managing events or I'm recording
or editing the podcast, right? 

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I've had moments like that and I
made a decision. 

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I chose because it is a choice. 
Sometimes I'm confessing it's 

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just me and you in the room. 
It's fine. 

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I chose to put work first. 
So as I'm asking you this 

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question, I'm asking myself this
question. 

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What does rest and recharge look
like for me in 2025? 

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It may be something you actually
have to plan. 

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You know, don't just leave it to
chance or when you get round to 

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it. 
We've still got time. 

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Sit and think about it. 
Write a couple of things down. 

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Decide right in March I'll do X,
in July I'll do Y. 

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And I'll give you a tip here, 
which I probably told you last 

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year. 
And if you're a loyal listener, 

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you must have heard me say this 
before at the beginning of every

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year. 
You can even do it now, it's 

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still December. 
At the beginning of every year, 

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I would sit with the year's 
calendar, the electronic 

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calendar, and I will go through 
and map out time off that I 

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wanted to have. 
I have nowhere to go and I have 

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no plan. 
I just want to make this clear. 

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But I did it because I wasn't 
very good at taking breaks when 

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I first started in social work 
as an NQ and newly qualified my 

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manager. 
As I got to Year 2, my manager 

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said you've not had a break, 
you've not had a break. 

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So I don't want to see you at 
the next supervision. 

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I need to see that you're taking
some time off here. 

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So sit at the beginning of the 
year. 

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If you can do it December, it 
will be even better. 

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And I'll tell you the way that I
did this and then you can 

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perhaps take an idea from my 
approach. 

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I chose Fridays, certain Fridays
to have off. 

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Sometimes the Friday would 
correspond with the bank holiday

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that we have here in the UK, or 
I may have a Friday and a Monday

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also. 
I had a long weekend. 

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There were times where I would 
book one week and then I would 

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always book two weeks. 
Somewhere further down the line 

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I would always be thinking about
what do I want for Christmas, 

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what time do I want off for 
Christmas? 

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Of course, it has to sit well 
with the rest of the team, but 

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having some idea ahead of time 
can be helpful for you. 

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So every six to 12 weeks I will 
be having some form of time off.

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Now I, I adapted that technique 
after like my third burnout 

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situation and I'm like, right, 
this is not happening to me. 

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Not happening to me. 
In fact, I don't think it was 

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the third. 
I think it was the first, I'm 

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not going to lie. 
But whatever. 

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Either way, I was doing it and 
it really helped me because I 

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was able to put a boundary in 
when meetings were being booked 

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so far in advance. 
And I'll be like, Oh, no, I'm on

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annual leave at that time. 
Oh, no, I can't do that day. 

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I'm off. 
Can we choose this day? 

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And even if I didn't necessarily
have that holiday off, I may 

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move that to an admin day. 
So I would deliberately choose 

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more holidays, more days off and
more weeks off. 

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I would deliberately do that 
throughout the year. 

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And then some of those days, 
according to like court 

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timetables and work commitments,
some of those days will turn 

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into admin days for me. 
And that worked a treat for like

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5-7 years. 
It works so well because if 

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anything, it's a reminder you 
need to take a break because 

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it's already in your diary. 
It's a reminder you may need an 

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admin day because it's already 
in your diary. 

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And of course, you can choose 
out of the the blocks of time 

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you set aside when to actually 
take your holiday. 

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So I'll come back to the 
question, what does rest and 

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recharge look like for you? 
I would say that's what it looks

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like for me. 
Next year, I'm going to adapt 

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that approach. 
I didn't this year because as 

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you know, the social work 
coaching hub.com, it's a new 

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venture. 
We are stepping into Year 2 on 

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January 11th, 25, and it's going
so well, but I've poured 

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everything into it. 
So next year I'm going to take 

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the approach of going through 
the diary and put it in a few 

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dates. 
Here's another one. 

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I've started doing this this 
year as well. 

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How can I build moments of joy 
and reflection into my routine? 

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This year I wanted to start 
going to more art galleries and 

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museums, and I've started doing 
that. 

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And that's joy, a reflection for
me. 

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So it could be that simple for 
you. 

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It doesn't have to be an 
expensive spa weekend or a cold 

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walk in the park. 
You know, it can be something 

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that's comfortable for you. 
It can be something on the 

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weekend. 
But wherever that moment of joy 

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and reflection rests for you, 
think about that ahead of time 

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and get that in the diary too. 
As I said that, you know 

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self-care. 
It doesn't have to mean grand 

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gestures, it doesn't have to be 
really expensive either. 

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But saying no to an extra task 
or carving out the times for 

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your own hobbies that bring you 
joy truly is going to change 

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your 2025. 
Remember prioritising yourself, 

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it's not selfish, it's the 
foundation for sustaining the 

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incredible work of a social 
worker and it's as simple as 

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that. 
I want to leave you with this 

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thought. 
Every year is an opportunity to 

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learn, adapt and thrive. 
And 2025, it is yours, dear 

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social worker. 
It is yours to shape. 

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It's a year to dream. 
Boldly leaning into your 

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strengths, embracing growth 
without fear of imperfection. 

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And I'm telling you, perfection 
or that seeking perfection, it 

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just doesn't exist. 
It just causes stress. 

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Just know there's going to be a 
level of imperfection. 

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Find a place to accept that, 
because 2025 is also a year to 

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celebrate the incredible impact 
you've already made this year, 

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and you need to give yourself 
permission to rest when you need

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it. 
Whatever challenges come your 

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way in 2025, remember that 
you've already overcome so much 

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to get where you are today. 
And you do have the resilience. 

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You do have the strength to keep
moving forward. 

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I'm going to add there, you know
where I am, You're not on your 

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own. 
Reach out to me. 

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I respond to every message. 
Reach out to me on LinkedIn. 

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LESIRAN Edwards, I'm on 
Instagram under the same name, 

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Lisa Rand dot Edwards. 
You're not on your own. 

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If you want a coaching session, 
book it in. 

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If the coaching session is for 
next year, just book it in. 

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If you want to attend one of my 
events and that's part of your 

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joy and reflection, book your 
ticket. 15th of March in London,

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20th of September in Birmingham,
UK. 

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Book these things ahead of time,
these resources, these spaces, 

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they're here to support you. 
They're here to offer you a 

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place to reflect, a place to 
connect, and a place where you 

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can look after yourself. 
Well-being. 

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That means taking time out right
now, this new year, which is on 

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its way this week, I want you to
think of it as a year of 

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possibility. 
You were going to rise to meet 

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it with the same courage, the 
same compassion. 

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And that is what makes you an 
extraordinary social worker. 

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So as we step into 2025, I 
encourage you to take a moment 

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to write down 3 intentions And 
do this before New Year's Day. 

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You don't want New Year's Day to
come and you feel the same and 

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you don't have a plan. 
Try and do it before, even if 

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it's just the framework of an 
idea. 

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Think of what impact do you want
to make? 

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How do you want to grow, and how
will you care for yourself in 

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the process? 
Now, once you've carved those 

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ideas out, I want you to keep 
them, those reflections 

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somewhere visible. 
Maybe it's a note on your phone,

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in your journal, sticky note on 
your desk, the fridge, the 

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refrigerator for those listening
in the US. 

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And revisit them as the year 
unfolds. 

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Because the truth is, if you've 
listened to my podcast, you will

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know that we speak with purpose.
The goal is to make progress and

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renew ourselves over and over 
again. 

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So let's make 2025 a year of 
purpose, progress, and renewal 

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together. 
I'll see you in 2025.