Emotional Health & Wellbeing with Caz Campbell | Hindsight

Hello! My name is Caz Campbell. I’ve lived in Newbury most of my life, I’m a mum of two daughters who are 5 & 7 and I have three other job “hats”:  I teach baby massage, I’m an emotional coach and I’ve published a book focusing on happiness, kindness and calmness. It’s called “Donkey on a Waffle” and includes topics which I’m going to talk about in this blog. Feel free to join my free Facebook group which also discusses these topics, with fun facts, posts and chats:  Facebook

Hindsight, we’re told, is a wonderful thing. But hindsight in advance is even better. This is where planning comes in…

Planning is bringing the future into the present. The benefits of better success are talked about in business a lot but this is more about life outside of work. It’s about having something to look forward to – just having a social event in the diary can spark joy. Some people aren’t planners, which is fine. It could be a case of trying it out to see if it lifts you or makes things easier, but not if it causes stress. The best way is to plan an activity when you’re feeling good, not when you’re tired or down. Although it’s a common thing to plan your next holiday or festival as soon as you’re back from the last to cure the post-holiday blues!

I’m a planner but planners seem to live in the future rather than in the moment, so I try to be aware of that and not just plan, plan, plan!

As we’re now allowed to do more socialising, are you planning a lot of meet ups as you can’t wait to see people again? Are you avoiding planning as you like a new slower pace of life? Or are you feeling overwhelmed by lots of family and friends trying to plan things with you?

To combat the cloudy thinking when we’re stressed, we can use “prospective hindsight” or “premortem”, a technique invented by the psychologist Gary Klein. It’s about looking ahead and figuring out which things could go wrong and putting methods in place to minimise these potential mini disasters. Getting organised and planning can help to avoid future stress. Knowing that you’re prepared for something, having a plan B or methods in place that are a “just in case” can minimise the likelihood of things going wrong or even a catastrophe.

One example is designating a place for items that are commonly lost in your house like glasses, wallet, keys or passport. This sounds silly but for some people it could be a very useful and simple change that saves time and stress. Taking photos of your passport and credit card when you travel and emailing these to yourself may help if they get lost or stolen when abroad.

Practising this kind of thinking may make the decision easier when it comes to it. Have you got anything like this in place?!

If you’d like to find out more about me and what I do, my website is:  Happy, Kind, Calm