Wiser Ways

Wiser Ways Wiser Ways offers individual & relationship counselling, & executive coaching. Please visit the website or contact us to book an appointment.

I help people realise their goals & strengths, providing them with the tools to reach their full potential. Andrew’s professional journey has been rich and diverse, shaped by experiences in private enterprise, government, coaching, and more. As a counsellor, he draws from these varied roles to support individuals in navigating personal growth and life challenges. Andrew believes that meaningful change comes from within, and his approach focuses on tapping into clients’ internal resources to help them transform their circumstances in positive ways. Having worked as a senior manager in multiple organisations, Andrew eventually felt drawn to a role that allowed him to give back to his community. His passion for helping others comes from a deep-rooted understanding of the power of self-discovery and the value of investing in personal development. Whether you’re feeling stuck, unsure of your next steps, or simply seeking clarity, Andrew provides a compassionate and respectful space for you to explore your thoughts and goals. Andrew’s extensive experience in various sectors, combined with his strength-based approach, allows him to be flexible and adaptive to each client’s unique needs. His belief in the capacity for individuals to make meaningful change is at the heart of his practice, and he takes great delight in supporting people through their journey of overcoming adversity and achieving their goals. If you’re looking to make a positive difference in your life, Andrew’s empathetic and client-centred approach may be just what you need to spark that change.

29/01/2026

How often do you reflect on your strongest skills and ways you’ve succeeded in the past? In some contexts, this practice could be considered highly self-serving and egotistical, but it can be very helpful for those who are lacking confidence.

Many people question their abilities and believe they don’t deserve their positions even though they’re highly capable and accomplished. This is a painful way to feel and these thoughts can be very persistent.

If you often struggle with low confidence, doubting yourself, or imposter syndrome, you can feel less insecure and more capable if you have a list of reasons why you shouldn’t feel this way.

Reflect on past experiences where you: completed something challenging, accomplished more than you realised you were capable of, helped someone with a task they thought was very difficult, and moments when you felt proud of yourself.

However, these must also be accurate and realistic: you can acknowledge mistakes you’ve made and ways that you can still grow while also recognising what you’re capable of and all that you’ve accomplished that proves your talents and abilities.

Reminding yourself of what you're capable of isn’t egotistical if you have the tendency to think poorly of yourself, especially when these thoughts are largely untrue. Being aware of your skills and incidents that confirm your talents can help you be more self-assured.

28/01/2026

If you’ve felt anxious, overwhelmed, or other difficult emotions while working on a goal, this could be because you’re unclear on what you’re trying to accomplish.

Some people can be vague when they set goals and/or they aren’t sure what they need to do to be successful. Giving yourself a task to achieve but little direction in how you can best do this is often mentally draining. If you only have a notion of what you want to accomplish so you aren’t certain what you have to do to achieve your goal, you’re likely to feel that you’re making little, if any, progress since you aren’t sure what will bring you closer to accomplishing your goal.

But goals can become positive and affirming practices when you know what you want to accomplish and how you can do this. Give yourself clear short-term targets, such as working out three times per week, completing one module of an online course, or spending two hours decluttering on the weekend.

This approach gives you a sense of control over your ability to succeed as well as the ability to measure your progress so you know if you’re getting closer to success or need to make adjustments to your approach.

Knowing what you want to accomplish and how you’re going to do it is motivating, inspiring, and can help reduce stress and make you feel more fulfilled.

27/01/2026

Making personal changes is difficult, but if you can shift how you think of yourself – your self-identity – it can become easier.

A great deal of what makes changing so challenging is believing that the behaviours you're trying to quit are a part of who you are or new ones you want to adopt are incompatible with your personality. You’d like to start getting up earlier but you’re not a morning person, you want to grow your social circle but you’re shy, or you want to learn a new language but you don’t have the memory.

These beliefs often become self-fulfilling prophecies. But changing your behaviour can be easier if you also change how you think about yourself. This can be as simple of telling yourself that you're the type of person who does the behaviour you’re trying to adopt. Then pay attention to your behaviours, including the decisions you make, to find evidence that you're acting in accordance with the type of person you want to become.

The more times you notice that you’re making decisions and choosing behaviours that are aligned with the type of person you want to be, the easier it can become to continue making healthy decisions.

22/01/2026

I believe that time is incredibly precious, but that doesn’t mean you should aim to be productive as possible. For me, the best measure of if I’ve spent time well is how an activity makes me feel afterwards.

When you spend your time in ways you’re proud of, even if they required energy, you typically feel refreshed. But if you do things that seem meaningless, you can feel drained afterwards because you haven’t gained or accomplished anything.

Activities that require some effort typically have the greatest potential to make you feel better once you’re finished because you’ve accomplished something. This could be working on a hobby, catching up with your partner, or reading a good book, just to name a few.

Yet plenty of people turn to empty activities when they have free time. They want to unwind and they believe that relaxing with something that requires nothing from them is the best way to do this; the most common example is scrolling on social media. But just because an activity is easy doesn’t mean it’s restorative.

Spending time wisely doesn’t always mean being productive, but aiming to accomplish something, even if it’s just for fun, can be the most rewarding and energising.

21/01/2026

If your goal when you disagree with others is to ‘win’ the argument by proving that you’re right, you're likely putting strain on relationships.

Having a disagreement with someone who is unwilling to reconsider any of their points and doesn’t want to learn or change their mind is often frustrating and feels pointless. This can make people avoid speaking up when they disagree with you so tension can build while problems go unaddressed.

In the workplace, where people with very different personalities and beliefs often have to work together while maintaining respectful relationships, disagreements can easily be left unsettled. This can lead to resentment, people not feeling comfortable sharing their ideas, and isolation.

But if you’re willing to listen to others and admit when they have something to teach you, especially if you're in a leadership position, you can contribute to a workplace culture that encourages sharing ideas as well as rethinking old, possible mistaken, beliefs without being judged for having been wrong.

The drive to prove your beliefs to others can be strong, but if you’re willing to listen to others and consider their opinions, you can have healthier communication pattens and stronger relationships.

20/01/2026

Wanting to learn from others who have done something similar is a valuable approach when you’re going to attempt something new and challenging, but often you’ll need to discover a great deal yourself.

When preparing for a goal, some people will aim to learn as much as possible about how others have done the same things. They can try to find out: what time they should get up, how many hours they should spend on their goal, the times they should be working, and other easily replicable aspects of their methods.

Basing your approach closely – or exactly – on what someone else has already done is appealing as it gives you a ready-made plan. But you can only learn so much from others because a great deal of what enables accomplishments is internal: how you motivate yourself when you’re struggling, how you recover from mistakes, when you give yourself breaks or push yourself to do more, etc.

What motivates, reassures, and inspires others won’t always be the same for you. It’s likely that you’ll need to overcome obstacles, experiment with different approaches so you can compare them, and learn through experiences.

Success doesn’t come from copying the patterns of others. You can gain insight into the approaches they successfully adopted, but you don’t have to do the same. Use what works for you without believing there are pre-formed pathways to success.

15/01/2026

If you have too much to do and are feeling overwhelmed, focus only on what is important and time-sensitive.

Many to-do lists contain tasks that are optional, don’t need to be completed for some time, or both. But you give them a similar amount of attention as things that must be completed right away, you can feel that you have more to do than what’s possible.

Furthermore, when you spend your limited time on jobs that aren’t important, at least not right away, you can feel that you’re accomplishing very little despite being busy because what you complete doesn’t bring you a great deal of relief.

Focusing your time and energy on the tasks that have the greatest potential to reduce your mental burden, especially when you feel that you have too much to get done, can help you feel less pressure and more productive.

14/01/2026

Staying consistent with healthy behaviours is difficult when your routine changes, but this can be easier if the habits you want to keep are part of your self-identity.

Many healthy habits require structure. So when routines change, even temporarily, it can be difficult to maintain your ideal behaviours. Without routines to guide you, your behaviours are the most influenced by self-identity. This includes thinking of yourself as someone who will stay late at work to finish everything after a busy day, the type of person who indulges during the holidays, or being someone healthy.

Adopting a new self-identity takes time, but it only requires changing how you think of yourself. As you give yourself small examples that you are the type of person you want to be you can feel more convinced and it will become easier to stay consistent.

Routines are incredibly useful for making ideal behaviours easy to carry out, but an even better approach is to develop a self-identity that encourages them.

13/01/2026

Sometimes coming back to a task is the best way to get more done, even though it requires leaving work unfinished.

Many people don’t like the idea of leaving something incomplete – they can feel lazy, unproductive, and don’t want the thought of what they still have to do to stay in their mind.

While there are some jobs that are easiest when you finish them all at once, this isn’t true for others. Leaving and coming back could make finishing much easier than if you force yourself to keep working until you’re done.

If you keep working when you don’t want to, you could produce worse results than you're capable of. Staying on the same task too long can drain motivation and creativity, while breaks can give you clarity into what you want, perspective about what is important, and renewed energy.

Leaving tasks unfinished, for a set amount of time or indefinitely, can help you feel more engaged in what you work on and produce better results.

08/01/2026

What would you try if you knew you couldn’t fail?

To people who fear failure, this can sound like asking what would your three wishes be if you found a genie. But much of what causes people to fear failure is what they imagine the consequences will be, although these are often inaccurate or highly exaggerated.

Some forms of failure can be expensive and emotionally devastating if they don’t succeed, such as investing in a business or relocating for a young relationship. But many people hold themselves back from taking chances even when the costs are relatively low because they don’t want to fail.

What could you try right now that would cost you very little if it didn’t work out? Could you ask an old friend out for coffee to reconnect? Enrol in a class on a topic you’re interested in? Share your creative projects with more people?

Failing is never enjoyable, especially in areas of your life that are important to you. But so many people allow their fear of failure to hold them back from taking chances, which can also be painful and disappointing.

If you can feel confident enough to take more risks, its possible you’ll discover that many of your fears about your abilities and the consequences of failing were unnecessary.

07/01/2026

If you want to feel more creative and inspired, give yourself the opportunity to be bored.

Many people never allow themselves to experience boredom for more than a few moments – they always find something to keep themselves busy, often by going on their phones.

But when you don’t have anything external to occupy your mind and you allow it to wander, you can come up with plenty of ideas and gain valuable insight. This includes creative projects, solutions to issues you’re facing, feeling motivated to try something new, and much more.

You can learn a great deal about yourself through being bored, including new and exciting ways you could spend your time, which are often fulfilling experiences.

06/01/2026

When starting a new hobby, it’s important not to confuse buying hobby-related supplies and equipment with actually engaging in your hobby.

Lots of people decide to take up hobbies in the new year, and they can easily get caught up in buying things for their hobby, even if it’s something new so they can’t be certain they’ll enjoy it long-term.

Most hobbies require at least a few things to get started, but almost all have plenty of optional – often expensive – things that you can buy to compliment your new hobby as well: customised lures for fishing, sophisticated zoom lenses for cameras, or high-quality trekking gear.

Most people find that buying things is the easiest part, and especially when they’re starting out and have a great deal to learn, the most entertaining. You can even feel that you are spending time developing your hobby when you’re researching what else you can get to compliment it.

But shopping for a hobby isn’t the same as working on it since it doesn’t teach you anything or help you develop your skills. Excess buying can even make your hobbies less enjoyable. If you buy more than necessary, you can feel guilty for not spending enough time on your hobby so it feels like an obligation instead of being fun.

Advertising (including online influencers) will tell you that you need to make what end up being unnecessary purchases to take up a new hobby. But working on hobbies, especially when you’re a beginner, often requires very little, despite the claims of advertising.

Address

Adnar Street
Wishart

Opening Hours

Wednesday 8am - 8pm
Thursday 7am - 8pm
Friday 8am - 8pm
Saturday 8am - 1pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Wiser Ways posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Wiser Ways:

Shortcuts

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram