Hi there,

Last week was a special one for my Substack channel, ‘Something More’. Each month I host a 75-minute, live, group-coaching session for paying members. We dive into different mindset topics and I share proven tips and strategies. We close with an ‘ask me anything’ Q & A (not recorded to preserve privacy), which is one of my favourite events every month.

After leading these live coaching sessions on my own for the last year and a half, for the first time I handed over the teaching reins to a guest expert for the latest one – and it was really special. This time I got to be the learner, and oh my, did I learn. I’ll definitely be inviting other specialists to share their wisdom in future – the bar has been set high.

Our guide was my dear friend, Alison Roberts, who is a communications professional and a deeply intuitive person. Her coaching topic for us was:

Wired for connection: Decoding the invisible signals that shape relationships

Alison has unusual expertise in ‘sixth sense’ or spiritual skills that are hardwired into our minds and bodies as evolutionary survival skills. The premise of her training session was that by learning how to strengthen these abilities and use them consciously, we can transform the way we connect and communicate with others.

It was such an interesting session and all who were privileged to be there loved it. Paying members, you’ll find links to the recording and slides at the end of this article.

I came away feeling inspired, with some useful ideas on how to fix a tricky situation that’s taken up a lot of head and heart space recently. The last month has been exhausting and I was feeling a bit broken, to be honest. Alison’s beautiful, calm energy on the day – and the engagement of our lovely group – was both enlightening and healing.

If you’re a free subscriber and Alison’s session sounds like a must-watch for you, it’s easy to upgrade your membership.

Just £80 a year (a smidge over $100) gives you access to more than 15 hours of live mindset coaching annually, plus recordings and two extra articles a month. (I also deliver corporate talks and an organisation would have to pay 15 times that amount for just one group session!)

What is spiritual quotient?

The term was created by Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall in their 2000 book, ‘SQ: Connecting with Our Spiritual Intelligence’.

Two other measures that are already well established, IQ (intelligence quotient) and EQ (emotional quotient), tell a compelling tale about what it is to be human, but they’re far from the full, glorious truth. They leave a significant hole in the story. I believe spiritual quotient fills that gap.

For me, SQ is the essence of our ‘selfness’ and humanity.

The complex state of being human involves our physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioural selves.

But it also involves a metaphysical element that is harder to define. It’s the part of us that involves our purpose, faith, vision and values. It also governs our subliminal observations and intuition, and guides how we connect and how we serve.

I know passion is rather an overused word these days, but I’m not exaggerating when I say I’m passionate about SQ. This Substack channel, ‘Something more’, pays homage to that passion.

I was thrilled that Alison’s session included an introduction to 12 dimensions of SQ, including these five:

• Self-awareness

• Being vision- and value-led

• Ability to reframe

• Positive use of adversity

• Sense of vocation

If you’re a regular reader and you’ve consumed a few of these live coaching sessions, the topics above will be familiar to you. They’re some of the main way-markers on our roadmap to living a life that matters.

You might find it useful to pause at this point and have a quick think about how each of these dimensions shows up in your life. You’ll find another seven referenced in the recording at the bottom of the page.

Reflective questions

While we’re in pondering mode, I’d like to leave you with a series of reflective questions that Alison gave us at the end of her session. I suggest you take yourself off somewhere quiet and beautiful – or, if you feel as weary as I do at the moment, climb into bed with a notebook, pencil and a mug of something warm and comforting.

Thinking about these prompts is a lovely way to grow your self-awareness:

💜 What do I now know and understand about connection and intuition?

💜 How could I be more open? Which of my relationships would benefit from more of this? And what’s prevented this in the past?

💜 Am I leading and running my business/doing work that’s aligned to my deepest purpose?

💜 How could I bring more curiosity into my life? What benefit would it serve?

💜 Pursuit of meaning. Am I clear on my impact and values? Are they woven into my life to bring more meaning and joy?

One that particularly stood out for me during Alison’s session was the one about being more open. When I read that one, a face came strongly to mind. I realised it’s time I reviewed my availability (or lack of) within a complex, long-standing friendship that has been very dear to me.

Our next group-coaching session is on 30th April.

I had planned for the next one to be about how we can develop the natural abilities (includeing heightened intuition) that can come with being a highly sensitive person (HSP). But, after checking my diary and noting that that week already includes a 400 mile drive, two days of shifting furniture and managing decorators, and three full days of corporate work, I know I won’t be able to write and deliver a quality session without risking collateral damage.

I want to deliver value for you so we’ll extend our usual Q & A segment to fill the session time. You can ask me anything at all relating to mindset, behaviour and mental/emotional wellbeing. I’ll respond to all questions from a therapeutic perspective, so think of it as a therapy and learning session.

That’s all for this week.

Thank you for reading, and do let me know in the comments what came up for you in Alison’s Roberts’ reflective questions and those five SQ dimensions listed above.

See you soon.

Much love and take care,

PS - My darling ‘More Mindset’ subscribers, here are the links to the slides and the recording from our group-coaching session with Alison.