Anna’s story:
From overwhelmed to creatively alive

When Anna first came to coaching, she felt stuck in a life that didn’t match who she really was. She’d spent more than a decade in a marketing copywriting role that left her drained, overstretched and disconnected from the creativity that once came so naturally to her. She knew she was meant for more, but she couldn’t quite see what “more” looked like, or how to get there.

What she wanted was simple:
to reclaim her creative energy, and shape her life around what truly matters to her.

The early exploration: discovering what she really needs

In the beginning, much of our work centred on helping Anna tune back into herself. Through targeted exercises she began to reconnect with the version of herself she’d drifted away from.

What stood out quickly was her longing for physical, mental and creative space. She thrived when she wasn’t constantly interrupted. She thrived when she wrote. And she thrived when she wasn’t overextending herself to meet expectations that weren’t really hers.

Another pattern emerged too: she found it difficult to set boundaries, especially at work. She jumped quickly to say yes, overdelivered, and then felt resentful and drained.

Reconnecting with creativity

Despite the pressure she felt, Anna’s creative spark was still burning quietly in the background. As the sessions progressed, she began to carve out time for writing again - first in small pockets, then with more intention.

She spoke often about her dream to write stories, travel and let her imagination shape her days. That dream began to feel less like a fantasy and more like a direction.

Through tools and NLP techniques, she built routines and mental cues that helped her protect her focus. She created ‘Story Sundays’, experimented with writing rhythms and began moving from hopping between ideas to building a real, focused body of work.

Her confidence began to grow, from showing herself that she could honour her creativity even on busy days.

The turning point: choosing the life she wants

As her clarity deepened, so did her courage. A pivotal moment came when she realised she didn’t need a wildly creative job to feel fulfilled - she needed time and space to honour her writing.

This insight shifted everything.

So when an opportunity arose for a calmer, more predictable role - one that wouldn’t drain her energy - she recognised it for what it was: a doorway into the life she actually wanted. She applied, interviewed, and got the job.

It wasn’t a flashy or glamorous move. It was a strategic one, and it was the beginning of her real shift.

Creating sustainable habits and boundaries

Once Anna moved into the new role, our coaching focused on helping her enter it with intention. She wanted to break old habits - overgiving, overworking, over-responding - and instead build boundaries that protected both her creativity and her wellbeing.

We worked on:

saying no clearly and calmly
resisting the urge to jump at every task
designing her week around energy, not urgency
letting “good enough” be enough
preserving her best creativity for herself

She repeatedly said she felt quieter, calmer and more herself.

Where she is now

Today, Anna is living a life that feels more like her.

She’s writing consistently, working on a series of short stories and giving her ideas the attention they deserve. She’s no longer drained by work, and she’s using work as a foundation to support the life she wants outside of it. She has structure, boundaries and a sense of momentum toward her long-term creative goals.

Her words at the end of a recent session still capture it perfectly: