Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Yvette and I’m a writer living between two places – Sydney and Tasmania. I’m a bestselling kid’s author and a very happy and busy aunty. My schnoodle rules the roost so you can often find me walking the dog and refining plot points in my head for my latest book. I live near the beach in Sydney and am a freshly minted country mouse in Tasmania.
What’s important to you in life?
As someone who has been prone to burn the candle at both ends, I’m focused on finding a balance allowing me time for all the good creative juices to flow, and to spend time with family and friends. Now, with a new adventure in life in moving to the country, I am keen to further explore these landscapes and find inspiration in this new adventure.
What are some achievements you’re proud of?
I’m really proud of my work as a writer for children and young people, and the letters I receive from readers, parents and teachers makes an often solitary pursuit completely worthwhile. I have been lucky to travel the country as an author and meet young readers from all walks of life – appreciating their
wisdom, wonder and imagination is a gift. Writing and creating is all about harnessing these feelings and building stories that can have an impact. As a writer, each day is an opportunity for wonder in both the magical and mundane.
How has working with a coach helped you face your challenges?
My writing career and creative and personal life reached a turning point, and I needed coaching to support transition and to plan and build confidence to make some changes. Running your own business, living in your head, while trying to manage relationships can lead to burnout, so I reached out to Julie to help sift through a clear path to clearing the decks a little and focus on what’s important to me.
How has coaching expanded your mindset?
Coaching has changed my mindset for the better. All the goals we set fed into a larger mindset picture about how to not only change things up, but change things up for the better and sustainably. You can’t eat an elephant in one bite, but the minute you open up your mindset for change, you’ll be amazed by how much you can achieve.
What qualities has coaching helped you discover (or rediscover) about yourself?
Coaching makes you honest about what you want and where you see yourself going. The strategies Julie gave me helped me clarify what I wanted next in my life and helped me set small, achievable goals. It gave me the confidence to see more clearly what was happening around me and take back charge of the things important to me!
What do you do more of and less of now?
I have learned to prioritise myself and change up the way I work to make things less stressful, and be more creative. Once you start seeing these things as important, it can be easy to make changes – I realised I was working 24/7 and that was no longer healthy in the short or long term. I didn’t have time to enjoy my successes along the way.
What self-care practices do you engage in to support your best self?
Self-care can be so many things – making time to walk the dog, go for a cycle or even allow yourself to imagine new possibilities. It’s easy to get stuck in your head. Making time for fun and friends is the best form, and I didn’t do that for a long time – it catches up with you in the end.
How has your life improved as a result of the coaching journey?
Life is quite different only six months into coaching. My writing career has gone from strength to strength, with lots of changes and new opportunities coming along and upending almost everything! For a long while I couldn’t see how I was going to juggle lots of different workloads and life in two cities – coaching has helped me identify what’s important, streamline my commitments, and push for what I know deep down is important to me.
What would you say to someone wanting to get the most out of the coaching experience?
Coaching is a fantastic tool if you’re open to it. It does push you to ask new things of yourself – but if you’re considering coaching, then you’re probably already there. You just have to take the next step.
What quote inspires you to be your best self?
It’s a little cheesy but my favourite quote is ‘Be the person your dog thinks you are.’
What coaching tool has made the biggest difference to your life?
The coaching tool that made the biggest difference has been taking a breath, identifying how you feel at any given point, and then going from there. It’s an honest reflection point for yourself.