I've been thinking a lot lately about the choices we make every day.

Some are small, like what we'll have for breakfast or which route we'll take to work. Others are much bigger. They shape our relationships, our wellbeing, and ultimately the direction of our lives.

Every day, we make countless decisions. Some are small, like what to eat for breakfast, while others have the power to shape the course of our lives.

So many people believe that choosing themselves is selfish. They put everyone else's needs first and feel guilty whenever they take time for themselves. If you've ever felt this way, I want to offer you a different perspective.

We've all experienced it.

You have a plan, an expectation, or a vision of how something should unfold, and then life takes a different direction.

Life rarely unfolds exactly as we planned.

We set goals, make careful decisions, and imagine how things will turn out. Then something changes. A relationship ends. An opportunity disappears. A plan falls apart. In those moments, it's easy to believe we've failed.

But what if things not working out isn't a sign that you've made the wrong choices?

Have you ever found yourself waiting for the perfect moment to make a decision?

Maybe you're hoping for more certainty, more confidence, or a sign that you're heading in the right direction. I think we've all been there.

Have you ever woken up on a Monday already feeling behind?

Not because anything has gone wrong, but because the thought of everything waiting for you feels overwhelming before the week has even begun.

We all have days when we wake up feeling flat.

The motivation isn't there. The energy feels low. Even the things we normally enjoy seem harder than usual. When that happens, it's easy to assume something is wrong with us or that we need to somehow "snap out of it."

Recent research suggests that more Australians are feeling stressed than they were this time last year. While it's encouraging to see more people reaching out for support, the findings also highlight an important reality: mental wellbeing requires ongoing attention, not just when we're struggling, but every day.

Positive psychology is often misunderstood.

When people hear the term, they sometimes assume it's about maintaining a positive attitude no matter what happens.

There are moments in life when everything feels like too much.

The bills pile up. Work becomes overwhelming. The uncertainty of the future starts creeping into every thought. And before we know it, our minds are racing while our bodies continue pushing forward without rest.

Mondays can feel like standing at the bottom of a mountain. Before the emails, meetings, deadlines, and demands start piling on, there’s often already a mental load we’re carrying into the week.

That’s why I want to talk about your workbench.

Before the week runs away and Monday somehow turns into Friday, here’s a question worth sitting with for a moment:

How are you actually really going?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been fortunate to travel around beautiful South Australia and interstate, working with incredible people through my Workbench for the Mind program.

I want to talk about something many people experience but don’t often say out loud. You can look completely fine on the outside and still feel deeply alone on the inside.

And the truth is, this is far more common than we realise.

One of the hardest truths about rural life is this:

You can be surrounded by people, responsibility, and noise and still feel deeply alone.

Right now, the conversation around the Australian fuel crisis is focused on cost, supply, and logistics. But for those living in rural and regional communities, it’s about something deeper.

There’s a quiet misconception many of us carry—that for something to be truly effective, it has to be complex. That real change requires deep dives, big overhauls, or complicated frameworks.

There’s something about the start of a new week that can feel heavier than it should. Before the day has even properly begun, the mind starts revisiting everything that didn’t happen last week. The unfinished tasks. The plans that slipped. The rest you promised yourself but never quite got to.

Why do we dislike Mondays so much?

Sometimes it is not even Monday itself. It is the thought of it. It creeps into Sunday and starts to take over what should be our time to rest and recharge.