How I turned my life around

When I came back to the UK in 2009 after living in Sydney, Australia for 3 months trying to get over a long-term relationship, it was with a heavy heart that I returned.

I’d made the somewhat spontaneous decision to leave my job in Human Resources and hot foot it over to Australia after I ended a 6-year relationship. My partner at the time and I were suppose to be emigrating to Australia but after 6 years together I knew it was never going to happen. So I thought I’d be dammed if I was going to let my dream to live there fall by the wayside.

I also figured that healing a broken heart would be easier to do when sat on a beach in 40 degree heat with nothing to do but work on my tan. I wasn’t wrong.

Had I had the foresight to train as a pastry chef or hairdresser, my chances of getting sponsorship would have been far greater. But it seemed demand for Human Resources Professionals was pretty low. So having maxed out the full 90 day visa, I came back to the UK with an amazing tan but absolutely no idea what to do next.

I knew I didn’t want to move back to London. I’d been there done that and got the t-shirt and credit card bill to prove it. The majority of my relationship with my partner had played out in Brighton, and although part of me didn’t want to return there because it held so many memories, my good friends and support network were there, so that’s where I went.

I found a flat to live in and landed a fantastic job as the People and Development Manager at British Airways Holidays but I’m not ashamed to admit, I was depressed.

I’d come home every night and that was me for the night with only a bottle of wine to keep me company. I’d never felt so alone. I knew I should be doing more to get myself out there, but I lacked the impetus to do so. Normally a bright, confident and outgoing person, I found myself feeling tearful most of the time and wondering where life had gone so wrong.

After weeks of feeling like this I decided enough was enough. I’d always wanted to do some kind of evening class, but never had because I was never sure when we were moving to Australia. I realised I had been putting my life on hold for years in so many different ways, and it was time to take back control.

I’d always been interested in Life Coaching and the moment I made the decision to pursue the topic, I found the perfect evening course, starting a week later and with 1 place left. Coincidence? I don’t think so!.

Having spent most of my working life attending courses in employment law or leadership, this was new territory for me. It felt so good to be using my brain in a different way. I loved learning about how the mind worked and as the weeks progressed I felt lighter and saw the old Sara return, only a new and improved version.

I relished those Monday evenings and loved that I was doing something productive with my time. I felt more empowered and in control of my life than I’d felt for a long time. I acknowledged that the only thing holding me back from anything was myself. And that I was the only one that could change how I ‘showed up’ every day but that in order to change, I needed to know how to create those inner shifts and do the work that would lead me to where I wanted to be.

At the end of the 10-week course I was told about a weekend workshop in Hypnosis that was running in a few weeks time. I was fascinated in the sheer power of the mind and took no time in signing up for the workshop. Again I loved spending a whole weekend gaining new insights on how to use the mind to create change in the way that I thought, behaved and felt. I was like a sponge soaking up information.

I went on to sign up to a professional diploma in Solution Focused Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy. At the time I had no intention of becoming a Psychotherapist/Hypnotherapist but I could see the benefits for my HR career of understanding more about the how’s and whys of the human brain.

The more I learned, the more I thought I had found a new religion. How could people not know the information I was learning? I saw how starved so many people are of the basic information about how to improve their own health and wellbeing, not just physically, but mentally.

6 months into the diploma I knew I didn’t want to work in HR anymore. My desire to get the information I was learning out into the world was too strong and although I knew setting up my own business wouldn’t be all plain sailing, I knew in my heart I could make it happen.
Making the decision to do the 10-week course all those years ago has led me on a glorious co
nstantly evolving journey. One I would never have predicted, but for which I am eternally grateful.
Whatever your situation, it is possible to turn around your life, but the only person that can start to make that happen is you.

Inspired by my story? Then book a session today and see where it could lead you!

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Sara Maude

Sara Maude is an Edinburgh Hypnotherapist, Solution-Focused Psychotherapist, EFT Practitioner, Transformational Coach and International Wellbeing Trainer providing in-person and online sessions. Sara provides problem-free therapy which goes deep into the heart of the unconscious mind to create powerful lasting change.