This month in Beacon Magazine, Leicestershire's Premier Lifestyle Magazine, Shirley shares her wise counsel on the "New Year Resolution" and gives tips on how changing your thinking can ensure a very happy new year.

"So, as we say goodbye to another year, it's time to take some time to reflect, remember and renew all the promises, ideas and resolutions we made at the start of the new year. Did you successfully give up drinking for the month of...

Too much shopping may give us the lift we crave just like any other addiction but the feeling is temporary and not the reality

Change the way you think about things and the things you get will change

This time of the year is full of ups and downs, so it is important to have tools at your disposal to deal with whatever comes your way and be able with confidence to use these tools to trigger negative thoughts and actions into the positive. Most of us have so much trouble doing this, always feeling great in the moment and then back to beating yourself up when you don’t feel good but in reality there is..

If you cannot be happy poor, you will never be happy rich. It is only when you are forced to live without money that you get to recognize how much stress and worry a life without money can bring and with stress and worry comes lines and wrinkles. Although you cannot buy a life at Harrods, only stuff to put into a life, so getting a life is critical. I stand by the following top tips to help get you started on your new path to being happy with or without money. If you had a call...

We are constantly bombarded with subliminal messages encouraging us to shop till we drop and because this is what we believe will make us all happy, be accepted by others and help keep the economy boosted and moving we buy in. As consumerism becomes a measure of our social worth we need to face it, we have all been led up the wrong garden path because living your life riddled with constant debt worries is just not sustainable or healthy for our happiness. Happiness is not getting...

When I had money to burn and shopping for designer luxury was my only purpose, dropping a few grand on a Tiffany watch was never a problem but when I was starving  a few years later, I discovered something that became a massive problem for me.

"What do you mean my Tiffany watch is only worth 100 quid" I said to the greedy second-hand dealer, ready to offer me a fraction of what I paid for it new only one year earlier....

The current economic climate globally has led to many people losing their jobs, resulting in families having to scrimp and save every penny in order to get by. With December 25 just around the corner, waves of anxiety have spread across the country, leaving a lot of people wondering how they will manage to survive.

When it comes to beating the blues of January debt and depression, don’t make the mistake of listening to everyone else. Think only about...

I am horrified to see the facts around porn addiction and young men in today's web and technology culture, where few communicate face to face, many cannot spell because of texting and most get there unlimited sexual fantasies on-line. Internet porn is where our young men are learning to dominate sexually and our young women are being subjected to humiliation as a result. If you can imagine when a young male, already dealing with testosterone issues, is learning life...

You would imagine it would be simple to know who you are and be able to work yourself out when life delivers curve ball obstacles but the truth is, it is at these times we turn to something outward, like alcohol, sugar, sex etc. to hide behind.

I will admit, once upon a time, going from being a shopaholic to a chocaholic almost overnight which led me to gain some unwanted weight in all the wrong places and left me feeling pretty miserable and unhealthy. These days, since enlightenment and some education about what is real chocolate and what are just sugar and toxins, I avoid anything white, milk and go only for 80% cocoa dark.

The truth is anything that is addictive is bad for you. When I was growing up...

I am really worried about young people right now who are subjected to the massive pitfalls of having their every move played out on the internet, in order to be popular and liked by complete strangers, often disguised as wolves in sheep’s clothing.  When I read almost every day in the media, stories about teenagers hanging themselves because they are victims of cyber bulling, it makes my blood boil and my fighting back spirit...

Looking good when you are in middle age is really tricky for most of us who just don't have the money or the life we think we need to be fabulous. There are some simple common sense rules you need to understand when it comes to turning back the clock and being the best you can be; and sit down before reading.

1. Give up alcohol, coffee and drink water, green tea.

2. Stop smoking and exercise daily.

3. Eat 1500 calories...

So yesterday I met with one of my free life coaching clients to discuss and update on her on going compulsive, out of control urges to shop even when her debts are spiralling out of control and was surprised to see some significant progress. It is not normally difficult to cure a shopping addiction because in reality, how can shopping be an illness when there are no pills available to cure it?

When you are addicted to something you cannot survive without it and...

The true beauty of life is a very difficult thing to navigate when the person in charge of its destination is inexperienced and not sure which direction to follow, in order to discover peace, happiness and personal success. When we reach a crossroads in life and by this I mean, we have choices to make, unless we have life skills, confidence and purpose, we are likely to make the wrong ones and end up miserable, defeated and stuck in a rut with little hope of change, until we win the...