Nicky lane had ticked all the boxes that she had been told with the essence of a good life qualifications a good job marriage motherhood. So why at 33 did she find herself disillusioned and disappointed? Living what she described as a mediocre life and feeling guilty about how she felt?

Nicky decided to ask herself different questions, questions that led her to tapping into not just logical choices, but heart led feelings and desires. And that's where she found her why that became the catalyst for her brave and expansive change journey in business and life.

I'm sure you'll find this conversation about personal evolution and possibilities, both inspiring and enjoyable.

Show Notes

• Your life may not be “bad” – you’re not homeless, so you “should” be happy – that’s not a universal truth. The actual truth is that you don’t have to accept mediocrity.

• Give yourself permission to not accept the status quo, to be brave, to back yourself and create your own path

• Conduct a Head and Heart exercise – my head wanted me to focus on the logical challenges of change, the negatives, how I should stay in my comfort zone, but my heart, my heart told me the truth about how I felt, and how I would always feel if life continued in the same way.
  
  
• One of the easiest and most revealing paths to self-awareness is the simple act of journaling
  
  
• The next step in the journey is the willingness to change

• In my own journey, I realised that my spirituality has been pushed right down, but it’s such a part of me, so inbuilt, it only needed to be rediscovered and set free. I know when you believe in a higher purpose, a richer, more purposeful life is available to you

• I wrote The Change Journey Book in flow – it wasn’t easy coasting, but the work felt light and enjoyable

• The book and the accompanying deck of cards are a handbook and guidance for life, stepping you through the 10 stages of building self-awareness. The characters and their floral counterparts are character traits that will be of service depending on where you are in your own journey.

• The core principle characters are Grateful Great, Optimistic Olivia, Zealous Zelda, Confident Carol, Empowered Emma and Joyful Jill

• All you need is to start with small changes to tap into happiness – that energy is life-changing

About the speaker

In 2005 Nikki Lane left her marriage for no other reason than she wasn’t happy. She wasn’t being abused, they didn’t fight, and they didn’t hate each other. She just looked at her life one day and wondered, ‘How on earth did I end up here?’ This wasn’t the life she wanted to live and neither was her husband the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

She decided that living a mediocre life wasn’t enough for her, and so she left.

Turns out, it was the best decision she ever made and since that time, Nikki has travelled on a Change Journey of self-awareness. A journey that has led her to discover who she is and what she wants from life, which has brought joy and happiness into her world, more than she could have ever imagined.

Nikki now shares her experiences and teaches her Change Journey learnings to women from all around the world so that they too can gain self-awareness and choose to live a life they love. These teachings are available via The Change journey book, a set of oracle cards and personalised coaching programs.

www.thechangejourney.com.au

It was one day in 2012 when Fiona Redding really woke up. She was 37, at home with two tiny kids, drinking every day, overweight, unfit and unhealthy. She had financial issues, could not find employment and felt deeply disconnected and very, very alone staring down the barrel of a future life that she could just not imagine living. She sat with one burning question that she could no longer escape – “How has this become my life?”.

Something really needed to change.

It’s now seven years after the day when she started the journey to become the person she wanted to be. Fiona decided to get out of her own way and her life has completely transformed in every single area. Through the Happiness Hunter, she is now focused on helping you get out of yours, as she teaches and shares everything that she's learned. I had the chance to speak with Fiona to hear about that journey and I'm delighted be able to share her insights with you.

Show Notes

• You start with a decision – my life is no longer acceptable to me. I need to change. It can be years in the making, but a moment HITS you and it begins.
• It’s about life integration not balance, taking personal responsibility and focusing on contribution, reciprocity and community
• Take a DATA perspective not a drama perspective!

• I’ve found that overcoming obstacles and challenges is what can lead to happiness and definitely develops resilience, such an essential character trait. The gift IS in the struggle.  

• If you can learn to change your mind about things then you can literally change your world.

• The three pillars are 1/ Enhancing your mindset, 2/ prioritising wellness and 3/ creating connection/building community

• Action trumps everything

About the speaker

Fiona Redding is the founder of The Happiness Hunter, a mindset coach, facilitator and speaker, creator of The Steps for Change and Good Morning Sunshine programs, producer & host of The Happiness Hunter Podcast, co-host of the Business Addicts podcast, author of The Happiness Hunter's Guide to Meditation and the soon to be published It Is Possible: Radical Transformation Through the Power of Belief.

She lives by the beach in Melbourne, Australia, with her two children Ariston and Vivi.

Her mission in life is to share everything she has learned – and is continuing to learn – about turning her own life around and to really help us understand that happiness is to be found in the overcoming of obstacles and challenges in our lives, and not in the absence of them.  

By her own admission, Fiona's journey into business has been an interesting road. It would have made much more sense logically to just go and get a "real job" at many points.

Yet it was an unshakable faith and trust in the path she had chosen that kept her metaphorically and literally putting one foot in front of the other.

Fiona's belief in her mission and purpose continues to be rewarded. With The Happiness Hunter community and walks, coaching, speaking and healing business helping other people change their lives. Fiona also runs programs, retreats and workshops catering to clients locally and internationally.

www.thehappinesshunter.com.au 

Sophie Andrews had created an award winning highly successful bookkeeping business. Her background of fashion and gemstones in the UK led itself brilliantly to her focusing on the needs of people in creative fields, and the business flourished.

But after 15 years of dedication, the demands began to take their toll, physically and emotionally. Sophie's priorities had shifted. She was becoming bored, the desire for the work was no longer there. And to be honest, she knew that burnout was waiting just around the corner. It was time for significant change, and as many of us realise, letting go of the known to step into the unknown can be hard.  But we can do hard things! In this conversation Sophie and I talk about reframing our thoughts, letting go of old stories that keep us stuck, and choosing to swap striving for space so new ideas can make themselves heard.

Show Notes

• The bookkeeping business was never my passion, but as a divorced, single Mum, control over my future was paramount, and I knew I could build a strong business in this area

• I did actually begin another side business, the SOHO Agency (small office, home office agency) but the bookkeeping business demand exploded and I had to leave that one on the shelf

• I realised the value of niching – I was the first bookkeeper who niched into a certain area, in my case, creative businesses, and it really paid off

• I began to feel trapped. I had a big office, staff and all the responsibilities that went along with it

• It was a meditation retreat, a new experience, that opened my mind to the fact that change was a non-negotiable. Once I had made my choice, I found a buyer within 3 months

• Self-doubt still kicked in and I felt like I had failed in some way, had been so held back for 15 years. I had to reframe my attitude from resentment to gratitude, gratitude for all the business had delivered to me

• I took time out, 4 months overseas to completely switch off and find my next idea. But it wasn’t long enough and another year followed. I realised I couldn’t strive to come up with a new idea from my logicalmind

• It was during another meditation retreat in the Gold Coast hinterland where I found myself in complete flow and the answers just popped into my brain during meditation
• Meditation had helped me to recover from burnout. My own experience with this and creating a beautiful spot I my home in which I practiced became the inspiration for my new business, the Meditation Hunter

• If you are contemplating change, we very aware of the stories we tell ourselves and remember our decisions are a choice

About the speaker

Sophie Andrews is a multi-award-winning serial entrepreneur, with close to 30 years’ experience in small business.  

After a decade long career in the fashion and gemstone industries, she launched and then spent 15 years growing a successful and high-profile business that was not her passion.   Lack of passion led to the majority of those years being spent in an ever-increasing cycle of burnout and in 2019 she sold the firm and spent several months overseas before launching her current business, The Meditation Hunter.

The Meditation Hunter is both an online store as well as having a retail space in Sydney.  Sophie has personally put together a wonderful collection of ever evolving unique pieces, both antique and artisan, to help you create a space to inspire meditation and elevate your practice.  She also passes on ancient teachings & wisdom through open soul meditation, powerful breathwork and Kriya Yoga to provide clients with the tools needed to breathe life back into their lives.

www.themeditationhunter.com.au