IMCG Coaching Lab

AT 65, I’M STILL STUDYING.

And I hope I never stop.
After 33 years in banking, more than 1,000 hours of coaching and years of studying coaching and neuroscience, it would be very easy to decide:
I know enough.
I don’t.
This week I started Dr Caroline Leaf’s Neurocycle Strategist training, working toward the licence that will allow me to bring another established body of work into what I offer.
Why now?
Because the people I work with deserve more than coaching.

I want to keep understanding more about the relationship between our thinking, the brain, repeated patterns and the choices we make every day.

And I also want to keep questioning what I think I know.
That matters to me.
It is part of how CORE keeps growing too — not by jumping onto every new idea, but by continuing to learn, test, question and deepen the work behind it.

There is something rather wonderful about being a beginner again. 😊

“Wise people store up knowledge.” — Proverbs 10:14 NKJV

Maybe growing older isn’t about knowing everything.
Maybe it is about becoming more willing to keep learning. Follow us in Skool link in the bio

I CAN HANDLE IT.

I lived by those words for years.

Work to do? Handle it.

People depending on me? Handle it.

Pressure building? Keep going.

Problem at home? Sort it out.

And because I was still functioning, I assumed functioning meant I was coping.

It didn’t.

Looking back, one of the things I wish I had understood earlier is that there is a difference between being capable of carrying something and carrying it well.

Sometimes the warning isn’t that everything falls apart.

Sometimes you’re still performing, producing and showing up…

but you’re becoming more irritable, more tired, more reactive and less like yourself.

Today I understand those signs very differently.

That is one of the reasons the work I now do through CORE matters so much to me.

Not because capable people need to become less capable.

Because capable people also need to know when the way they’re carrying life needs to change. Follow us on Skool it is free link on the bio

🧠 CORE — CATCH IT BEFORE YOU KEEP REPEATING IT

We’ve been talking this week about how repeated thoughts can create familiar pathways.

So what do you actually do when you notice one?

Try this today:

1. Create space.
Don’t immediately react to the thought.

2. Name it.
There I go again — expecting the worst.
Trying to keep everyone happy.
Assuming I know what someone else is thinking.

3. Check it.
Is this a fact — or a story I have repeated so often that it feels like one?

4. Choose your response.
You may not be able to control what happened, but you can become more intentional about what happens next.

That is the practical work inside CORE.

Not positive thinking.

Becoming aware of the patterns running in the background so you can stop automatically following them.

Space. Think. Choose. Respond.

“Whatever things are true… meditate on these things.” — Philippians 4:8 NKJV

If you’d like to start doing this work with us, you’re welcome inside The Inner Boardroom Collective.

Your first week is free.

https://www.skool.com/the-inner-boardroom-collective-8515/about

Come and have a look. No pressure.

I DON’T NEED HELP. I CAN HANDLE IT.
A lot of capable people say this. And often they can handle it. They keep working. They keep showing up. They keep making decisions.
They keep carrying everyone else. But coping is not always the same as being well. When stress becomes constant, the body can stay in a heightened stress response, with chemicals such as cortisol and adrenaline playing a bigger role. Over time, that can become your normal.
You may not think you need help because you are still functioning. But sometimes the better question is, What is this way of functioning costing me?
Peace?
Sleep?
Patience?
Relationships?
Clarity?
Joy?
Hope gives us another possibility.
When we begin to believe that something can change, motivation and reward pathways involving oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin can become more active, helping us move towards possibility rather than staying locked in threat.
That is part of what CORE is about.
Not fixing people. Helping you recognise the thought patterns and stories you have become used to, create space before reacting, and practise a more intentional response.
And prayer reminds us that asking for help is not failure. Sometimes it is wisdom.
“Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” — Proverbs 11:14 NKJV
You may be able to carry it alone.
The real question is whether you still want to. Follow us on Skool

🌸 SPRING DAY — WINDOWS OF HOPE

Spring arrives with colour.

The mornings feel lighter.
Buds open.
Flowers push through the soil.
Birdsong returns.
And suddenly, places that looked bare begin to come alive again.

Sometimes our thinking needs a spring season too.

Nothing will change.
This is just how it is.
There is no way forward.

CORE helps us create space to notice those thought patterns and stories, understand how they are shaping the way we feel and respond, and begin choosing a different way forward.

And prayer opens the window wider — letting light into places where hope has grown thin.

A new thought.
A new possibility.
A little courage.
A next step.

From winter to spring.
From hopelessness to hope. 🌷

Space. Think. Choose. Respond. Pray.

Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? — Isaiah 43:19 NKJV

🌸 What would you love to see begin to bloom in your life this spring?

🧠 INNER BOARDROOM — YOUR REPEATED THOUGHTS SHAPE FAMILIAR PATHWAYS

The thoughts we repeat matter.

I always get this wrong.
They probably think I’m difficult.
I have to keep everyone happy.
Something is going to go wrong.

When we think the same way again and again, those thoughts become familiar.

And familiar thoughts can lead us back into the same emotions, reactions and behaviours.

That is why awareness matters.

Inside the Inner Boardroom, we learn to notice the thought patterns and stories running in the background, understand how they influence the way we respond, and practise a more intentional response.

Pause. Think. Choose. Respond.

You may not control every thought that enters your mind, but you can become more aware of what you keep rehearsing.

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” — Romans 12:2 NKJV

What you repeatedly think about deserves your attention.

DRAMA 🎭 CORE — WHICH ROLE DO YOU KEEP PLAYING?

Have you ever noticed how quickly we can fall into certain roles when there is conflict?

There is a well-known relationship pattern called the Drama Triangle. It describes three roles people can slip into:

The Victim:
Nothing I do will change this.
They are doing this to me.
I have no choice.

The Rescuer:
I’ll sort it out.
I’ll keep everyone happy.
Let me fix this for you.

The Bully or Persecutor:
This is your fault.
Why can’t you just get it right?
If you did what I said, we wouldn’t have this problem.

And here is the interesting part:

We can move between all three.
The rescuer becomes exhausted and suddenly feels like the victim.

The victim becomes angry and moves into the bully role.

The bully feels guilty and starts rescuing.

Round and round we go.

These are not labels for who you are. They are patterns of behaviour we learned since childhood to cope, we don’t even realise we are doing it.

This is where CORE can help.

CORE helps you determine your thought patterns, become more aware of the stories you are carrying in your head, and reveal which of these roles tends to be most dominant in the way you respond to people and situations.

Once you can see the pattern, you can begin to respond differently.

Scripture holds this balance beautifully:

Bear one another’s burdens… — Galatians 6:2 NKJV
And just a few verses later:

For each one shall bear his own load. — Galatians 6:5 NKJV
Help one another, yes.
But we also have to learn to carry what is ours.

Stress and thinking 🧠 CORE — CATCH THE STORY BEFORE YOU REACT

Something happens.

Someone doesn’t reply.
A tone feels off.
A meeting goes badly.
You make a mistake.
Someone says something you don’t like.

And within seconds, your mind starts filling in the blanks.

“They’re upset with me.”
“I’ve messed this up.”
“They don’t value me.”
“This is going to go wrong.”

Then the feeling follows.

Anxiety.
Irritation.
Hurt.
Defensiveness.

And before you know it, you are reacting to the story in your head, not necessarily to what actually happened.

That is where the pause matters.

Before you react, ask yourself:

What actually happened?
What am I telling myself about it?
Do I know that is true?
How do I want to respond?

That little gap between the thought and the reaction is where choice starts.

This is a big part of CORE — becoming aware of what you are thinking, noticing the stories you are creating, and learning to respond with more clarity instead of simply reacting.

Pause. Think. Choose. Respond.

And Scripture reminds us:

“Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” — 2 Corinthians 10:5 NKJV

Today, before you react, catch the story first. Follow us in Skool