RELATING TO: A LITTLE BOOK OF LEADERSHIP LESSONS BY STEPH EDUSEI

*This book and its PDF were gifted to me by the Author*

BUY THE BOOK ON AMAZON HERE!

“Not ‘little’ in that it was diminished or insignificant, but ‘little’ in that it is, I believe, short and snappy. I want it to be the type of book that people will pick up and think, ‘this doesn’t look too overwhelming to read.’ I want it to be the type of book you can dip in and out of and get something out of every chapter individually, without having to read the whole thing.”

‘Introduction’ of A Little of Leadership Lessons by Steph Edusei

Noticing this book on Steph’s Facebook page (which you can follow here), I was immediately taken by the title and the thought of learning something so profound and professional from someone who I have known for a number of years and have met (I used to volunteer for the Communications and Marketing department of the Hospice Steph is CEO of: St Oswald’s Hospice). I was pleasantly surprised to read in the Introduction of the book that there was going to be ‘key learning points’ and ‘suggestions for further learning’ at the end of every Chapter. As Steph writes though: ‘if you don’t feel it’s important to dig into theories and read around a subject right now then just ignore that bit, I completely understand…’I however, love elements like this! So, I seriously couldn’t wait to get started…

HAPPY EASTER 2020 | IN COLLABORATION WITH LALEE LAND LDN | DISCOUNT CODE | AD

Quick post to wish you all a very Happy Easter and to show you my new bunny bracelet from the wonderful Lalee Land LDN (who collaborated with me on my Christmas Competition last year, you can read my review on some of their other amazing products here)! It’s a super cute little charm and you can even choose the colour of the thread!

And there’s so many more products on their Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/laleelandLDN

Once you’ve picked some products out, you can get 10% off your order by typing in IMNOTDISORDERED at the checkout!

https://twitter.com/LaleeLandLDN

https://www.instagram.com/laleelandldn/

WHY THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH PRIORITIZING YOURSELF | 10 FEEL-GOOD BUYS | IN COLLABORATION WITH COMFY FOX CO. | AD

https://www.instagram.com/comfyfoxco/

https://www.facebook.com/comfyfoxco/

Originally, this was going to be a Valentines post but there’s now something VERY special planned with Cats Protection (if you’re a cat owner and would like to be involved in the collab, drop me an email or message on any of my social media!) so that’s V Day sorted! So, instead, I decided to use this post as the perfect opportunity to collaborate with another amazing organization; Comfy Fox Co.


I first came across this store a few weeks ago when the owner; Kerene, added me after a friend of my best-friend saw she was struggling with her mental health and told her about I’m NOT Disordered. Firstly, I was honoured that this friend felt my blog was good enough to advise someone check it out; and when I found that Kerene had a shop (Comfy Fox Co.) and saw some of her amazing products, I was even more grateful for the recommendation!

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST TWENTY FOUR : REMINDER - THE ETSY COMPETITION | AD

Today’s post is a reminder for the Etsy collaboration competition!

Every other day for December, I’ve been reviewing mental health themed products from ten different Etsy stores and now you have the chance to win EVERYTHING – worth over £100!!!


Here’s a reminder of what you can win:

A Mindfulness journal from The Happi Empire


A pack of Schema Therapy cards from Bear In Mind Psychology


A pin badge reading ‘Brave and Strong’ from The Little Pin Co.


A pack of Nudge Cards from Nudge Cards 


A cup from Positive Instinct


A T-shirt from YANA UK


A set of badges from Colour Your Life Club


A set of three badges and two keyrings from A Band Of Hope


A bracelet, stickers, and a badge from Laleeland LDN


A set of four cards from Handmade Dorset



To enter this amazing bundle of products; all you need to do is:

1.       Follow my Twitter

2.      Like and share the original tweet

3.      Tag three friends in the comments of the tweet

The winner will be picked at random and announced on Christmas Day (December 25^th)!

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST TWENTY THREE : LAUNCHING THE ETSY COMPETITION | AD

I’m so thrilled to finally be launching the Etsy collaboration competition!

Every other day for December, I’ve been reviewing mental health themed products from ten different Etsy stores and now you have the chance to win EVERYTHING – worth over £100!!!

Here’s a reminder of what you can win:

A Mindfulness journal from The Happi Empire

A pack of Schema Therapy cards from Bear In Mind Psychology

A pin badge reading ‘Brave and Strong’ from The Little Pin Co.

A pack of Nudge Cards from Nudge Cards

A cup from Positive Instinct

A T-shirt from YANA UK

A set of badges from Colour Your Life Club

A set of three badges and two keyrings from A Band Of Hope

A bracelet, stickers, and a badge from Laleeland LDN

A set of four cards from Handmade Dorset

To enter this amazing bundle of products; all you need to do is:

1.       Follow my Twitter

2.      Like and share the original tweet

3.      Tag three friends in the comments of the tweet

The winner will be picked at random and announced on Christmas Day (December 25^th)!

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST TWENTY TWO : A ROUND-UP OF BLOGMAS 2019

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December! 

So welcome to December 22nd…

I thought that I’d take this opportunity – with this being the last post before the Etsy competition launches tomorrow (December 23^rd) – to remind you of all the prizes that can be won and give a little brief account of each Blogmas post, what they were about, what my favourite parts were, and the links for everything!


POST ONE saw the announcement of this year’s Christmassy collaboration with Etsy! After the success of last year’s partnership with Cats Protection, it seemed like a good idea to work with another company on a bit of a different project. In this post, I talked a bit about why I believe a person shouldn’t be labelled as shallow for appreciating material things and that it’s important to recognize products that can boost your mental health. I also included links to all TEN Etsy stores taking part in the collaboration/competition.

POST TWO was a change of plan! I’d originally planned on talking about the York Christmas Market I had been meaning to visit that day but for various reasons I decided not to go and instead, I used the post to talk about how it’s important to pace yourself at Christmas. It can be a pretty full-on time of the year with lots of events/parties, meetings with friends and family, and numerous other fun, festive activities so it’s crucial for your mental health that you prioritize things to avoid burning yourself out and losing enjoyment.

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST TWENTY ONE : HANDMADE DORSET | ETSY COLLABORATION | AD

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December! 

So welcome to December 21st…

 

Today is all about my collaboration with one very special brand on Etsy, in this post I’ll be reviewing the products they sent to me and on December 23rd you can enter a competition to win all of the products I’ve reviewed this month!


So, Handmade Dorset (based in Dorchester, England) kindly gifted me a few cards and a print with some inspirational, encouraging, and validating quotes and I thought that I’d write a bit about each quote… 




‘You are so loved’


I feel like I’ve talked a lot about love recently in my Blogmas posts because I really believe that it’s even more important at Christmastime. There are far too many people spending Christmas alone or with people but feeling lonely so knowing that you’re loved can be so crucial to supporting your mental health at this time of year.

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST NINETEEN : LALEELAND LDN | ETSY COLLABORATION | AD

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December! 

So welcome to December 19th…

Today is all about my collaboration with one very special brand on Etsy, in this post I’ll be reviewing the products they sent to me and on December 23rd you can enter a competition to win these products and the remaining one that I’ll be reviewing in two days’ time!



This post is in collaboration with the incredible London-based Etsy store; Laleeland LDN who kindly gifted me a few products; namely the Serotonin and the ‘keep going, be brave, be strong’ bracelets but also some other bits that will be a surprise for the lucky competition winner!

For this post, I thought I’d concentrate on taking inspiration from the Serotonin bracelet which has a purple band and is made up of the chemical symbol for Serotonin (which I think is such a genius idea!). So, I’ll be talking about the top five things to make me happy…

1.    My Mum

Of course, Mum come first! For my entire life it has been Mum and I as a little team but boy, do we make a strong team! Hopefully, just saying that will help you to understand the magnitude of being admitted to a psychiatric hospital over 100 miles away from home for two and a half years. To be honest, in the beginning, I think that I was so mentally unwell that it really didn’t hit me being so far away from Mum until a few months into my admission.


Getting leave to go home every so often wasn’t enough and it was so incredibly hard to then leave Mum all over again and go back to the hospital where I didn’t know when I’d next be allowed to leave (I was sectioned under the Mental Health Act).

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST SEVENTEEN : A BAND OF HOPE | ETSY COLLABORATION | AD

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December!

So welcome to December 17th…

Today is all about my collaboration with one very special brand on Etsy, in this post I’ll be reviewing the products they sent to me and on December 23rd you can enter a competition to win these products and the remaining two that I’ll be reviewing every other day this month!



Ok, so I won’t lie; I’ve annoyed myself a bit with this post so I thought maybe I’d just bluff my way through it but you know how I pride myself on being honest with you guys… So, I received A LOT of goodies from A Band of Hope but have only taken pics of some of them so to see more, you’ll just have to enter the competition!



In the meantime, though, here’s three of the various badges and what they mean to me:



‘More Than My Illness’ 

 


I absolutely love this badge because it pretty much sums up the method behind the blog’s name. ‘I’m NOT Disordered’ came from my determination to show others that I may have a diagnosis but that is not who I am. It’s a part of me, yes; but it isn’t the only part of me.


A little while ago, the powers that be changed the name Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) to Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) and when I first heard this, I actually laughed out loud! I mean, personally? My problem (and others have agreed) with the label is the ‘Personality’ part of it and not the part that they changed!

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST THIRTEEN : YANA UK | ETSY COLLABORATION | AD

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December!

So welcome to December 13th…

Today is all about my collaboration with one very special brand on Etsy, in this post I’ll be reviewing the products they sent to me and on December 23rd you can enter a competition to win these products and the remaining four that I’ll be reviewing every other day this month!

In recognition of the slogan on this YANA UK t-shirt (‘you are not alone’), I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk about finding your tribe of people who can help to make you feel less alone, and I wanted to recognize - and thank - the people who do this for me.


I was brought up as the only young person in a really small family with just five immediate family members – no cousins, one Aunt, one Uncle, one set of grandparents, and one (fantastic) parent. On the one hand this was brilliant because it meant that we had more special relationships and had the opportunity to have a varied support system with each family member bringing something different to my life. On the other hand, it also meant that any disagreements were magnified and tended to affect and impact the entire family.

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST ELEVEN : POSITIVE INSTINCT | ETSY COLLABORATION | AD

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December!

So welcome to December 11th…

Today is all about my collaboration with one very special brand on Etsy, in this post I’ll be reviewing the products they sent to me and on December 23rd you can enter a competition to win these products and the remaining five that I’ll be reviewing every other day this month!

 

So, at first, I had no clue how I was going to write an entire post about a cup and then I realized that maybe I could use the company’s name (Positive Instinct) as inspiration instead! So, I thought I’d talk a little about positivity, how I lost it, how I got it back, and how I maintain it…





I think that after the abuse positivity became very hard to come by because I honestly believe it made me into a different person. I think it’s inevitable that a trauma – of any kind – will change things for you and will have an impact on your personality, your ethics, morals, and all of the little things that make you who you are. I mean, before the abuse started when I was fifteen, I had had a very innocent and sheltered childhood and when you’ve experienced very little adversary in your life, it leaves you feeling pretty positive and trusting of others. So, the abuse was such a shock to the system that it felt as though it completely wiped away my personality and replaced it with an angrier and more negative one. By the time the abuse ended – after six months – I didn’t recognize myself.

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST NINE : NUDGE CARDS | ETSY COLLABORATION | AD

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December! 

So welcome to December 9th…

Today is all about my collaboration with one very special brand on Etsy, in this post I’ll be reviewing the products they sent to me and on December 23rd you can enter a competition to win these products and the remaining six that I’ll be reviewing every other day this month!

The fourth product in the collaboration are the fantastically cute and useful Nudge Cards by the appropriately named company; Nudge Cards(!) who are based in Hull, England.

I thought these Nudge Cards were perfect for me because I find that when my mental health is poorly, I struggle to remember the healthy and safe coping skills I’ve been taught. It’s something that – I think – isn’t unique to me though, so in choosing these cards I hoped they would help others who are also trying to cope with this.