The four-time World Champion cyclist, surfer and adventurer lost 95 per cent of his vision at the age of five, and he faces every challenge with one simple question.

Adapting to his abilities was challenging for Matt Formston, but not as challenging as realising the drive to overcome them was misplaced.

“I wanted to prove to the world that I wasn’t blind, that I didn’t have a disability,” said Matt.

“My drive was based on [the idea] that if I can tackle you, I’m not blind; if I can run faster than you, I’m not blind.

“It was all about other people, I was embarrassed [and it] was adolescent boy logic.”

In the years since, Matt’s drive has become less about proving something to people and more about being curious and offering an example of what it looks like to believe in your ability to do things the world says you can’t.

The Power Of “Why Not?”

Matt grew up in a household where one word wasn’t welcomed.

“I grew up in a house where we weren’t allowed to use the word ‘can’t’,” Matt said.

“If we said we couldn’t do something, Dad would say, ‘why not?’.”

That question would eventually inspire Matt’s memoir, Why Not?, as well as the philosophy he now applies to life and business.

“Life is about perspective,” Matt said.

“You know what do you want to do and the version of who you’d like to be, but might think you can’t become that person. Why not?

“Your answer to that question [why not] shows you the next problem that needs solving for you to get there.”

“Take it right back to something that you can do today, do that, and then do something else tomorrow [to solve the problem].”

A Chain Of Priorities

Part of solving problems, Matt says, is being clear about your values and the standards you want to live by.

“My priority chain is my family first, then sports and business. There will be times when one is more demanding than the other, but the order doesn’t change.”

The same principle shapes life at home.

For Matt’s children, values are reinforced through a simple nightly ritual.

“Every night they say, ‘I am brave, I’m inquisitive, I am grateful, I am kind, I am happy’,” Matt said.

“And we ask them stories about [how they’ve been] each of those things, so that it’s not just words.”

Pushing Beyond What We Think Is Possible

In a culture where comfort is often prioritised, Matt wants people to move beyond assumptions about what they can and cannot do.

“The world’s always been telling me I can’t, and I’ve been telling the world I can,” Matt said.

He believes one of Australia’s cultural challenges is the tendency to discourage people from standing out.

“In Australia, we’re world class at tall poppy syndrome: don’t pop your head up or we’ll cut it off.

“[That attitude] is a safety mechanic because if you say to someone else, ‘you can’t do that’, then no one has to do the work and then no one makes anyone feel uncomfortable.

“Doing hard things is hard and there’s pain on that path, but if we don’t follow it we miss out.”

“The world’s always been telling me I can’t, and I’ve been telling the world I can.”

Matt Formston is the author of Why Not?: Breaking Limits in Sport, Business and Life.

Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.

About the Author: Laura Bennett is a media professional, broadcaster and writer from Sydney, Australia.

Feature image: Supplied

Rest can look different through the various stages of life, but is it something we can ever afford not to do?

After years of a fairly stable work rest rhythm, just lately we have had a number of changes in our life that have led to me feeling like I am doing rest wrong.

That’s not great English, but it’s been this underlying feeling of getting it wrong that has been nagging at me.

I have well-established routines and boundaries that have helped me to recover from almost ending up in burnout, not for the first time, and I have been really conscious that due to my current season, those routines and boundaries are consistently getting eroded. This has created a feeling of almost panic that if I don’t stop getting rest wrong, I might burn out again. It’s funny how just when you think you have things figured out you have a reminder that you don’t. As I have been reflecting on this, it has occurred to me that maybe I don’t need to.

The first thing wrong with the scenario that I have set up for myself is that it isn’t all up to me. It’s not my perfect boundaries and tightly controlled routines that enable rest, although they do help. Rest comes from surrendering control to Jesus, starting each day knowing that as I walk with Him, He provides my rest and I don’t carry it all alone.

The second thing I have come to terms with is that life changes. It makes sense that the rhythms, routines, rest, and boundaries do too. The most important thing is the habit of rest, the intentionality around rest. It’s important to have a work rest rhythm mentality, knowing that as seasons of life ebb and flow, so will the way that we rest in the busier seasons.

The third thing is that I can’t get rest wrong. If I am coming to God for my rest, trusting him, and allowing time for rest, then it will be sufficient for the season. Currently I am making small pockets of time where I can, with a few non-negotiables that include no phone time in the morning, Bible first, regular excercise, and time outside in the morning. My work rest rhythm doesn’t look like it did a year ago, but that’s okay.

We rest so that we can manage all of the areas that God has called us to. We rest so that our people get the best of us. We rest so that our purposeful work and creative pursuits are inspired, not just what is left from our tired brains.

Rest is vital, but it doesn’t have to look the same in every season.

Article supplied with thanks to Lorrene McClymont.

About the Author: Lorrene McClymont is a writer and photographer from Hope Images. On her blog ‘Moments to Rest’, she shares about rest, faith, and family.

Feature image: canva.com

Rest is discipline. That’s probably not what we think of when we think of rest. Still, it requires discipline, boundaries, and clarity about priorities. 

I  struggled with rest for a significant part of my life, believing that hard workers kept going. They pushed through, they reached for the next thing. My thought process was something along the lines of ambitious people and high performers don’t have time to rest. Exactly the opposite is true. They don’t have time not to.  

Recently, Nick Daicos won the 2026 Brownlow Medal, the highest award in AFL Football. He didn’t just win it; he achieved it with a record number of votes throughout the season. When he received his award, he said some really interesting things in his onstage interview, suggesting that rest is part of high performance.

He spoke about being talented, but realised he needed to discipline it. He spoke about being a hard worker and leading by example. These things are important in chasing a dream, a goal or a purpose in life. 

Nick Daicos also spoke about his habit of journaling. He mentioned that he had been journaling since he was sixteen. As a high performer and overthinker, he does this to clear his mind and start fresh each day. Journaling is one of the tools that provides mental rest and gives our brains space to reset. It’s not a passive form of rest; it’s active, and it requires discipline. Even though he is actively engaged, the result is a rested mind, free from the clutter of overthinking. 

Another thing he mentioned in his speech was that he is not on social media. This gives him sensory rest and helps him avoid becoming emotionally and mentally drained by hearing and seeing things that distract him. Not being on social media is a discipline; it’s a choice to rest so that he can focus on his performance, and it’s a discipline that allows him to concentrate on the things that matter to him.

He spoke about the importance of his relationship with his girlfriend and the importance of her not being football-obsessed. His point was that it allows him to take a break, and breaks from the game are important. Even as the best player in 2026, who commented in his speech that he lived and breathed football from a very early age, he recognises the importance of taking a break. Rest is what enables us to continue to do what we love, a job we feel called to, raising a family, volunteering, whatever it is.

All of the things that he mentioned in his speech require choices and discipline. They require habits. Taking time out to rest doesn’t mean we are slacking off. It can take more effort to set boundaries, work through priorities, and say no to things that overload us. To do all that we want to in life, working out what replenishes us should be part of the disciplines we implement in our daily lives. 

Article supplied with thanks to Lorrene McClymont.

About the Author: Lorrene McClymont is a writer and photographer from Hope Images. On her blog ‘Moments to Rest’, she shares about rest, faith, and family.

Feature image: canva.com

Try these simple tips to stretch the household budget and minimise food wastage at your place.

First, we took a look in our pantry. This is such a great way to save both time and money. Take a look at your own pantry. Is it organised? Or chaos?

If it’s chaos, as ours was, count how many half packets of “stuff” are in there. How many half jars of a sauce did you get to try a viral recipe that ended up tasting horrible or was too involved to dream of making again? 

In our pantry we found several half packets of rice, pasta and flour sitting forgotten at the back of the shelf. It made me realise that our clutter wasn’t just food gone to waste. Each forgotten packet was money that could be back in our wallet. Often we’d find a half packet of rice right after we’d just bought a full new packet. It was a disorgan­ised, maddening way to live and our first step in cleaning up our grocery dollars.

Our pantry staple system isn’t fancy or Instagram-worthy like the labelled glass jars of influencer dreams—it’s simple and it works. We got containers from Kmart and labels that we wrote on in our own messy handwriting (yes, there is a container that says “cacao powder” that now houses breadcrumbs but these are small details). We sorted it out. It’s simple but it worked. A container for each of our most-used staples, all filled to the top, to be refilled only when we run out.

Small space, big savings

Like many millennials we had a small home, and with that, a small pantry. We realised that we simply didn’t have the space (physical or mental) to be buying differ­ent shapes of pasta every single week. We decided, due to our small space and limited number of containers, that we had to choose three—have a commitment ceremony with them and be done with the nonsense once and for all. The half packets were simply too infuriating. 

We chose and I hope you’re happy for us: linguine, spirals and bowties. I’ll admit there are days when I feel like the bowties were a mistake and long for other pasta shapes like spaghetti or those crazy big shells. But to change I would have to empty the jar and rename it, and now, at this stage in my life, this is something I’m simply not willing to do. See, it’s now the system that keeps my hands off the rigatoni, not willpower.

The case for meal planning

Once we had our staples sorted our list was easier to work out. Instead of planning exactly what to serve with each meal every week we started making simpler dishes that work with a few rotating options. For example, my honey soy stir-fry can be served with noodles or rice. This gave us a little bit more freedom without making meal planning complicated. When we shopped we would simply see what staples were low, stock up on that and then decide in the moment whether it was going to be brown or white rice that night (I know, married life is crazy).

The next step was creating a meal plan that lasted the whole week, including snacks and lunches. One of the things I started doing that really helped our grocery budget go further was intentionally repurpose our leftovers. What we used to do was buy an $18 piece of lamb, eat two-thirds of it and leave the rest in the fridge for “leftovers”. But we wouldn’t really eat them regularly—we’d either forget about them long enough for them to go bad (oh no, better get takeaway) or my husband would eat them hunched over the kitchen bench with tomato sauce in a post-work hunger frenzy.

Get creative with leftovers

We don’t like eating the same thing two nights in a row so I started incorporating leftovers into our second-night dinners and making them even better than our first. Those lamb leftovers became lamb wraps with homemade tzatziki or Greek-style rice bowls. Leftover beef from a slow-cooker meal became a pie or the leftover chicken became a pasta dish on night two. 

Plus, I marked the leftovers and gave rigorous instructions that they were not to be eaten. Rather than serving boring, groan-inducing leftovers, I started taking pride in the fact that our second-night dinners received a better reaction than the first. That’s the way to get people to eat leftovers—you have to make them appealing.

A great tip if you live in a family of magpies that will peck at your leftovers until they disappear, is to portion the amount you need for the next night first. That way, everyone can serve themselves and your leftovers are protected (unless, of course, you have teenage boys—in that case I would forget about the concept of leftovers for the next five years).

Money-saving food hacks

We started using heaps of little hacks to make our food go further. Here are some of my favourites:

Load up your meals with more veggies

When I started making my own curries I’d add beef but also sweet potato, cauliflower, snow peas, broccoli and anything I could find. This helped bulk up the meals so they could stretch into lunches without using so much expensive meat. Lentils are also great for this. I add half a cup to my butter chicken and I swear no-one notices (a health and budget win!)

Buy ingredients that can be used across multiple meals

This meant that we could use the veggies we bought across multiple nights so we weren’t left with half an eggplant in the fridge with no use for it.

Keep your meals simple and try to eat similar things week to week

There will always be something new and shiny to try but half the time the recipes aren’t even good or require heaps of ingredients. We focused on making meals that were similar to the ones our parents made us when we were growing up—meat, veg and a pantry staple or potatoes—and cut out any unnecessary ingredients. We were able to eat filling, nourishing meals but we weren’t trying to be Jamie Oliver, especially not on weeknights with a baby.

Get growing

A great way to add flavour to your meals at a minimal cost is to have a herb garden. Starting ours was the best decision ever. We began with rosemary and thyme and now also have parsley and coriander. We also have an investment lemon tree, which we swear is going to start paying dividends any day now—until then we source lemons and limes from my parents’ house. Small things, but the little dollars do add up.

Plus, just like making food ourselves, growing food also made us feel great about ourselves. My husband grew up with the most incredible family veggie garden. His dad grew everything and beamed when he handed us some homegrown zucchini or garlic. He even made and jarred his own relish. While I was always grateful for the food, I don’t think I quite understood it until now. 

We’ve become so disconnected from the way food is made that we don’t value it as much. If you spend six months growing and tending to your own homegrown veggies, I can tell you, you’d never let them go bad in the fridge.

Our unit’s backyard is probably smaller than one of my father-in-law’s pumpkin planter boxes but we did what we could and made our little herb garden. Plus, we’ve just seen our first yield of spring onions. 

Buying herbs from the supermarket is maddening because (1) they’re expensive and (2) you always get more than you need, leading to wasted food and money. It’s a small step but a great one. And yes, we feel very proud of our tiny, flourishing herb garden. Just like our savings, it started with a small sprig.

Spend more to save more

The last thing we did to reduce those little pop-in shops seems counterintuitive—we increased our weekly grocery spend. It turned out trying to keep that main shop as low as possible was biting us in the long run, leading to multiple additional shops, all of which added up. Spending a bit more on our main shop and really thinking about what we were going to eat during the week meant we weren’t running out of food by Tuesday. 

We found out that spending $40–$50 more on the main shop meant our total grocery spend was still about $100 less for the fortnight. We also allocated Thursday as our “top-up” shop, taking the pressure off having to get everything right on the weekend shop. But we also make a list for our top-up shop—and if it’s not on the list, we don’t buy it.

What surprised us most in spending less on our grocery shop is that we were happier. Knowing what we were going to eat and not wasting our evenings on endless trips to Woolworths and Aldi reduced the mental load. Making a plan to bake cookies at home to resist the urge to purchase at a café was better—the cookies were nicer and the $5.50 saved was even sweeter. 

We felt better about seeing an empty fridge at the end of the week, knowing that we’d planned well for what we would actually eat rather than overconsuming. Being more prepared was saving us time, money, sanity and reducing our environmental impact.

Keep the fun

I’d also like to note that we didn’t give up our “treats” on a Friday night—after all, what’s life without a Friday night chocolate? But we changed it slightly and rolled them into our allocated Thursday night top-up shop. And we only allowed ourselves to buy things on special. Again, these are very small steps but changing all of our micro-moments of overspending and indulgence was helping us both feel in control and allowing a few dollars back in our wallet.

Article supplied with thanks to Mum’s At The Table

About the Author: Adriana is Mums At The Table’s part-time digital content creator and writes from Kingscliff, Queensland.

Feature image: canva.com

Many of life’s heaviest burdens are the ones we can’t see, as the constant cycle of remembering, planning, organising and caring quietly shapes each day.

The “mental load” has been getting a lot of airtime in some circles recently. 

What is it exactly?

Here’s one definition from a psychologist that came via a friend:

“The mental load is the invisible, ongoing physical, cognitive, emotional energy and effort required to manage daily life, a household and a career. And it goes beyond the physical completion of tasks because it includes the ongoing mental checking of remembering, anticipating, planning, organising so many parts of life, like groceries, bills, appointments, childcare. And it can often involve emotional work of monitoring and maintaining relationships as well as managing emotional states of your nearest and dearest. That seems to create sometimes the biggest load – the constant checking of, is everyone around me okay?

The mental load is traditionally framed in reference to mothers. But I would actually expand the definition. For example, when people move out of home, they might move in with flatmates, and there’s the question of who does what? What if they don’t take out the garbage or share their load of caring for the apartment? Another example is when the first baby enters a family. This can be a big transition for couples. And so the question is, how does this load get managed between the parents? And then there’s the other example of elderly parents. How do adult siblings navigate, who does what, when and how?” – Larissa, psychologist

The past 3 months for me have been particularly challenging. When asked, I will usually respond with we are just about coping, or that I’m still alive. It is hard to admit to anyone, even myself that I am finding it nearly impossible to physically staying awake long enough to:

• Work
• Manage my children’s school and daycare needs
• Maintain the house
• Keep my social battery charged
• Show up for agreed commitments
• Show up for extracurriculars at work that I cared about

In fact I’ve had to make some difficult choices as my capacity reached overload levels.

Four things have been helpful as I navigate this mental load:

1. Moving some tasks from manual to automatic

For me, clarity of values and priorities is the most important element of managing mental load. This is because once I am clear on what is most important, the mental load of worrying about whether I am doing enough or doing the right thing is removed entirely.

For instance, in order to serve my family well emotionally and spiritually, the house has to function. This means that while the living room does not need to be perfectly tidy every single day, the daily grind of things like laundry and packing children’s lunches are not negotiable. I find when things are put on the list of “cannot be dropped” they contribute less to my mental load because they happen automatically.

2. Adopting a minimum standard of care

Practically, I personally find the concept of “minimum standard of care” really helpful with managing my own mental load. Taken from Eve Rodsky’s book Fair Play and being similar in concept to workplace project delivery agile concept known as “Definition of Done” (I work as a Project Manager!), the minimum standard of care (MSC) is an agreed acceptable finish line for routine activities.

This can help reduce the worry (“What if my son is annoyed and hungry because lunch wasn’t what he wanted??”) and the blame (“If only he had packed the dishwasher the way I wanted…”). This is because it helps to shrink the misalignment between expectations and reality. It is about figuring out and agreeing (within each household) what “finished” looks like for a specific task and that no further explanations are needed or taking up valuable mental space.

If I ask my kindergartener to get dressed for school, he knows that he has to find a shirt, pants, jumper, socks and shoes. This means just saying “time to get dressed” is enough, and I don’t need to spend more effort mentally thinking about whether what he is putting on will be appropriate.

3. From Compulsion to Conviction

Once the MSC has a baseline, it is easier to work out how much extra “capacity” is available for the next most important things. This is where things that are non-urgent but still important have a place. Things like spending energy planning the next team event taking into consideration logistics, preferences of those attending, and helping the new person not feel excluded.

I can set aside specific capacity to do these things with conviction rather than compulsion because prioritising things consciously means I do not have FOMO (fear of missing out) for the things that were not able to be accomplished.

4. Following a person not a plan

A friend reminded me of this recently – followers of Jesus follow a person, and not a plan.

I find this such a good reminder because I’m big on planning (as I mentioned previously, I work as a Project Manager!) This means so much of how I approach life is driven by my desire to be seen as in control and competent. The pressure I put on myself is adding to my own mental load.

Jesus says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30]

I can come to Jesus and ask him to carry my burdens. He will be good to me.

It doesn’t mean I throw all planning out the window. I still plan, but try to hold my plans a bit more lightly, leaning into Jesus the burden carrier. When I can do that, I find I am less anxious and more adaptable.

Reflection questions

1. Where are you feeling the mental load at the moment?
2. What helps to fuel your mental load?
3. What could you change in terms of your approach to the mental load?
4. What will help make a difference?

Article supplied with thanks to Third Space.

Feature image: Via Canva.com

There’s something about the shift in season that makes starting fresh feel possible again. What if we applied that same instinct to our minds?

Spring has a way of making us want to open the windows, clear out the wardrobe, and finally deal with that drawer we’ve been avoiding.

Just like our homes accumulate clutter, so do our thoughts, emotions, and habits. Old worries pile up. Resentments sit in a corner collecting dust. Commitments we no longer want linger because we’re not sure how to let them go. A seasonal “spring clean” can be a helpful way to notice what’s been building up and decide what to do about it.

What is “mental clutter”?

It’s not always obvious when our minds need decluttering, because unlike a messy cupboard, this clutter is invisible. A few common forms include:

• Cognitive clutter: the same worry looping on repeat, or thinking in extremes (“I always mess this up”)
• Emotional clutter: feelings that never quite got processed, like a disagreement you’re still carrying weeks later
• Relational clutter: connections or obligations that leave you drained. rather than supported
• Behavioural clutter: habits or routines that made sense once, but no longer fit where you are now

A Simple Way to Sort Through It

Unlike decluttering your house, think of this less as “getting rid of” and more as sorting through. The idea is to notice what’s there, and be more intentional about what you carry forward.

If you want to try this for yourself, a simple three-column exercise can help:

Keep: thoughts, habits, or relationships that still serve you
Reassess: things you’re unsure about, that might need more thought or a conversation
Let go/loosen: things you’re ready to release, even if imperfectly or gradually

You don’t need to solve everything in one sitting. Even naming which category something falls into can bring a surprising amount of clarity and direction.

Reflection Questions

• What’s one thought I keep returning to that isn’t actually helping me?
• Is there a relationship or commitment that feels more obligation than choice right now?
• What’s a small habit I could adjust to match who I am this season, not last year?
• What have I been carrying that I haven’t had the chance to properly put down?

When It’s More Than a Spring Clean

Sometimes this kind of reflection surfaces things that feel bigger than a personal project such as old grief, long-held shame, patterns that seem to repeat no matter what you try. That’s a completely normal thing to discover, and it’s exactly what therapy is for. A season change can be a lovely nudge to reflect, but some clutter needs a second set of hands to sort through properly, so working with a professional can make good sense.

Article supplied with thanks to The Centre for Effective Living.

About the Author: Monica Jacob is a psychologist who seeks to collaboratively help her clients lead more meaningful, enriched lives. She has worked with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and adjustment difficulties.

Feature image: Via Canva.com

Five considerations to help calculate a real retirement number based on your actual life.

Start With Your Actual Expenses

Generic retirement targets, like a single round number everyone should aim for, ignore the fact that every family’s expenses look different. Start by listing what you actually spend now, then adjust for what will change in retirement, such as no longer having a mortgage or no longer commuting to work.

Account for Healthcare Costs Early

Healthcare is one of the most commonly underestimated retirement expenses. Costs tend to rise as people age, and this is an area where planning too little causes real strain later. Research realistic healthcare costs for your country and situation well before you retire, not after.

Factor In Giving and Ministry Plans

If generosity and giving are part of your life now, they are worth planning for in retirement too, rather than assuming giving will simply continue at whatever level is left over. Building giving into your retirement number, rather than treating it as an afterthought, keeps it a priority.

Simple Steps to Calculate Your Retirement Number

List your expected annual expenses in retirement. Multiply that number by the number of years you expect to be retired, adjusting for inflation over time. Compare that total against what you are currently on track to have saved, including retirement accounts and other assets, to see the actual gap.

Common Mistakes That Delay Retirement Readiness

Waiting too long to start saving is the most common mistake, since time and compounding growth matter more than almost any other factor. Underestimating healthcare costs, carrying high interest debt into retirement, and not adjusting the plan as life changes are the other frequent mistakes that push retirement further out of reach.

Article supplied with thanks to Wealth with Purpose.

About the Author: Alex is a licensed financial planner and the founder of Wealth with Purpose a Stewardship Ministry that helps Christians handle their money God’s way.

Feature image: Canva

The benefits of getting back to basics and focusing on what truly matters.

Our lives have become so busy and full of clutter that people often feel overwhelmed despite trying many complicated solutions and self-help fads.​ Adrian Munro from Richmind WA sees a simpler path to well-being.

Marriage and Family First

Adrian views relationships as concentric circles, with his wife and kids at the very centre. These closest relationships deserve the bulk of available time and energy outside of work. He and his wife are both reading books to focus on a flourishing marriage, while he also reads about parenting boys to be more deliberate and proactive.​

Friendships Take Intention

Beyond immediate family, friendships and community connections matter for emotional health. Lives can become busy on autopilot, leading to social isolation despite surface-level activity or online contacts. Being deliberate about real, face-to-face connections helps build the flourishing relationships everyone needs.​

Choosing Who Shapes Your Life

The outer circles include extended family, community friends, and more distant work acquaintances. Sometimes busyness with outer circles crowds out time for those closest in. Many people also carry fractured relationships in inner circles, but Adrian empathises with that pain while noting pathways back are often possible.​

Keep Learning, Keep Growing

Adrian invests in being the best husband and father he can be, knowing strong marriage and family ties will feel most meaningful later in life. Becoming so busy that priorities get skewed happens easily when saying yes to every catch-up. Proactive steps like reading and planning keep those key relationships healthy.​

Factors like financial stress, technology and busyness add clutter that harms wellbeing.

Takeaway: Back to Basics

Adrian’s challenge is to find ways to declutter time, money, technology and relationships. Ask yourself:

• Who are the friends and family lifting me up?
• Where can I invest more time and attention?
• What is one small way I can be a better spouse, parent, relative or friend?

Simple, timeless principles like prioritising family, slowing down, and building community lead to lives that truly flourish.

Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.

Feature image: Canva

5 keys to growing – or rebuilding – your self-worth

A healthy sense of self-worth requires us to understand our inherent value. We can build up our self worth with practices such as gratitude, self care, and resisting comparison. These are the key takeaways discussed with founding board member of RUOK?  Graeme Cowan, psychologist Collett Smart, and disability parenting advocate Hannah Gair.

If your sense of self-worth has been damaged, the good news is that it can be rebuilt, through some simple daily practices.

This is the big take-home about how we can best understand our self-worth:

1 – Treat Yourself As You Would Treat a Friend

Having self-worth is not about being self-absorbed, selfish or narcissistic, says Graeme. It’s “believing in your inherent value, and knowing that you’re ‘okay’, regardless of your achievements.”

It’s also about compassion: “Talking to ourselves how we talk to a friend if they’re going through similar circumstances”, or, as Collett Smart adds, “Seeing yourself in the way that someone who deeply loves you would see you.”

2 – Practise Self-Care

Graeme, who has written a number of books on mental heath and delivered hundreds of keynote addresses, says a damaged self-worth can be rebuilt, starting with self care.

“Self care isn’t selfish,” says Graeme. “If we don’t have fuel in our own tank, we can’t help other people. [Self care is] doing things which are good for our physical health, like good exercise, good sleep, intimacy; our emotional health; and our prosperity, which is what I call ‘career wellbeing’, where we have a sense of purpose.”

3 – Choose Gratitude

All three panelists include gratitude as one way of showing our self-worth. Research shows that gratitude creates healthy new pathways in the brain.

“Writing down three things each day you’re grateful for could have a sustained impact and benefit to our self worth,” says Graeme.

Hannah Gair, host of the StrongHERside podcast for mothers of children with disabilities, says gratitude can particularly help those whose sense of identity has been buried by life’s challenges.

4 – Focus on Strengths, Not Failures

A focus on failure will quickly erode how you feel about yourself. Instead, build your sense of worth by focusing on your strengths says Hannah.

“We all have failures,” says Collett. “I think it’s about looking at, what are the strengths that I’ve been given, that I can use to bring joy into my life, and others. Often, when we build others up, or we give to communities, that’s actually when we see our own self worth improve.”

 5 – Resist Comparison

Hannah’s strong advice is to “stop the comparison game.”

“When we are practicing comparison, we’re telling ourselves that we aren’t enough,” she says. “Replace it with the truth to say, in fact, we actually are enough.”

Article supplied with thanks to Helping Hands TV.

About the Author: Helping Hands is an Australian produced TV program that airs on 9GEM, Channel 9 and 9NOW, and showcases people and organisations who make the world a better place.

Feature image: Canva

For many Australians right now, financial pressure is hard to ignore.

Rising interest rates, increasing living costs, and economic uncertainty are weighing heavily on households across the country. If you’ve been feeling the squeeze, you’re certainly not alone.

Finance expert Alex Cook explores these growing challenges. As a former stockbroker, financial planner, and founder of Wealth With Purpose, Alex brings both practical experience and a strong Christian perspective to conversations around money.

His message is clear: God cares about how we handle our finances, and His Word offers wisdom that is both relevant and reliable, even in difficult seasons.

Here are seven biblical money principles to help you manage money wisely and navigate financial pressure with faith and clarity.

1. Start With God’s Wisdom

When financial pressure builds, it’s easy to make decisions quickly or react out of fear. Instead, Alex encourages us to look to the Bible as our guide.

‘There is enormous depth of wisdom in Scripture about how we handle our money.’

With over 2,000 verses addressing wealth, possessions, and stewardship, the Bible reveals that God hasn’t left us without direction.

Instead of rushing ahead or acting impulsively, take a moment to pause and ask God for wisdom. He sees beyond the present moment and can guide you with clarity and peace.

2. Debt Is a Warning Sign, Not Just a Tool

Debt is part of modern life, especially during the cost-of-living crisis many Australians are facing, but Scripture handles it with care.

Alex points to the biblical principle that ‘the borrower is slave to the lender.’ That doesn’t mean debt is always wrong, but it does highlight the risk it carries.

With interest rate having been raised by the RBA on Tuesday to 4.35%, now may be a good time to reflect honestly on your financial situation and begin taking steps, however small, toward greater financial freedom.

3. Freedom Often Begins with Small Steps

Alex shared the story of a woman who had lived with credit card debt for nearly 25 years.

Over time, she made small but consistent changes. She stopped adding to her debt and worked at paying it down. Eventually, she walked into the bank and closed her accounts, free from a burden she had carried for decades.

As she left, she sensed God reminding her that she was no longer bound by it.

Stories like this remind us that transformation doesn’t usually happen all at once, but it does happen.

4. Build Margin Before You Need It

You may not know what’s around the corner, and financial pressure can often come without warning.

That’s why Alex encouraged listeners to build some financial margin wherever possible. Even a small amount set aside can make a significant difference when unexpected expenses arise.

Starting somewhere can reduce stress and help you avoid relying on credit during difficult moments.

5. Credit Cards Can Quietly Trap You

Credit cards offer convenience, but they can also create distance between spending and reality.

It’s easy to spend more when the impact isn’t felt immediately. Over time, those small decisions can build into something much harder to manage.

If you can, simplify your approach. Using your own money rather than relying on credit can help you stay grounded and make more intentional choices.

6. Shift Your Mindset to Stewardship

Developing a stewardship mindset helps us manage our finances with wisdom and purpose. When we begin to understand that everything we have belongs to God, our perspective changes.

‘We’ve got to remind ourselves: this is not ours,’ Alex says. ‘It’s actually God’s money.’

We are not owners but stewards, entrusted with what He has given us.

‘When we adopt that mindset, it becomes quite different in how we handle our money.’

Instead of asking what we want, we begin to ask how God would have us use what we’ve been given.

That simple change often brings both direction and peace.

7. God Can Make a Way, Even Now

No matter what financial situation you may be facing, no situation is beyond God’s reach.

During the conversation, one woman’s story stood out. Raising children on her own while carrying significant debt, she faced overwhelming pressure. Yet over time, she saw God provide in unexpected ways. Debts were reduced, needs were met, and she eventually experienced financial freedom.

While we take practical steps, God is still at work behind the scenes. He can open doors, change circumstances, and provide in ways we might not expect.

Finding Peace in the Pressure

Financial stress can touch every area of life. It can affect your thoughts, your relationships, and your sense of security.

But we are not left to face it alone.

God offers wisdom when we feel unsure.
He offers peace when we feel overwhelmed.
And He offers hope when the future feels uncertain.

When we root ourselves in biblical money principles, we begin to learn how to manage our money wisely, handle financial pressure, and trust God in every season.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed right now, start with one step. Seek His wisdom. Make one faithful decision. And trust that even in this season, God is still your provider.

Article supplied with thanks to Vision – a non-profit, follower-funded Christian media ministry taking God’s Word to every corner of Australia and beyond through broadcast, online and print media.

Feature image: Canva