You must stand as guard at the door of your own mind and choose to be positive.

If I'm watching my son play soccer, that's what I'm doing. If I'm going to a school concert, that's what I'm doing. I turn the phone off. I actively tune into whatever I'm doing. I walk every evening with one of my sons and for that half an hour, 45 minutes, that's what I'm doing.

We’ve all seen the same situation happen to two people. One looks for the lesson, sets their shoulders back and presses on while the other asks ‘why does it always happen to me?’ You can choose not to sit on the fence. You can choose not to criticise. You must stand as guard at the door of your own mind and choose to be positive.

I don’t waste time. I move. I finish things. I don’t try and do things to the nth degree. I know what’s important and what’s not. I’ve really learned that. That’s a judgement I’ve learned, what really matters.

Often really what you need is someone who will believe in you, who will encourage you to believe in yourself.

If you believe in practising generosity of spirit, at heart you believe in the power of an individual to make a difference and at heart you treat individuals with deep respect and want to see others flourish.

You should choose organisations that are going to be flexible and supportive and recognise people are going through different stages in their careers and actually need different sorts of support.