Justine Scott-Gray

Brainstormer, Business mentor, Change Agent, Consultant, Entrepreneur, Explorer, Finance professional, Idea generator, Life mentor, Parent, Performer, Philanthropist, World traveler, Writer/Editor

As an International HR professional for over 20 years, I have lived a full and successful life but that’s only part of the story. I have also been a struggling single parent working to pay the nursery fees, I have suffered depression after a car accident, and I have lost jobs and hit the bottom a few times. I now coach leaders on how to engage their teams and live a fully optimised life.

Wellness, happiness, nature, family and living a truly happy life.

Put yourself first!! In this world we are encouraged to put others first, we are told that others happiness is the key to our own. I disagree... your happiness should take first place in your mind, if you doing things just to make others happy but it is making you miserable, STOP, this is a terrible deal. 3 years into living my life with MY happiness taking a priority I live in my dream house (little farm in Scotland) my 5 children have never been happier or more confident and my career has hit an all time high. So I do things I don't truly love but if it brings me happiness by helping others then I do it. I don't live selfishly but I don't also compromise my happiness for no reason, happiness is too important to live without. So try it, put your happiness first, your loved ones will benefit from your happiness, it is the best gift you can give them. As a plus you live your best life too!

I am lucky enough to have a wonderful life, 5 amazing children, 37 animals, I travel round the world coaching business leaders but it wasn't always like this. 4 years ago I was incredibly unhappy, I was putting everyone's happiness ahead of my own. I didn't think I was worthy of happiness. I would often wonder why I felt this way, I decided to study positive psychology and humanistic coaching. During this period of study I realised I had been conditioned to put others first. As a twin I was the shy one, more amicable, always the happy one, this turned out to be a bad thing. My mother started what I now recognise was a pattern of behaviour for me of giving in, she would ask me to give my sweets, toys etc to my twin as she was louder and less settled one. My mum had no way of knowing that I would struggle with this behaviour for the next 40 years. Through my marriage and becoming a mum myself I put everyone else's happiness first, my needs were lower than everyone's even the pets! The outcome of this left me feeling worthless, unhappy and incapable to see the joy all around me. Through the last 4 years I have continued to develop my understanding of human behaviour especially regarding happiness and our default method of behaving. This is my life purpose, help people understand why they have a default mode and how to assess if it serves them well. Putting your happiness first is my message to the world, this should always be prioritised, it's a win/win!

I write poems, never published them but I have 100's of them hidden away.