If you're reading this right now and checking me out, then it's likely that you're just like I was a few years ago. So let me paint the picture....

I was working long hours, neglecting breaks, I felt stressed and mentally exhausted. I wasn't eating well, sleeping enough (because I found it difficult to switch off) or getting much physical exercise. Work literally came before everything, to the point that I wasn't spending much quality time with my family and friends or doing anything that brought me real joy.

 Then one day, when I'd reached the point of sheer exhaustion, the inevitable happened. I crashed the company car I was driving into the back of the car in front of me. Luckily no-one was hurt, but it was the shock and the wakeup call that I needed to change - so what did I do...?

Being the Type A woman I am proud to be, I took that innate determination, drive and ambition within me to refocus my attention on self-care goals so I could get back to the healthy space I needed to be in physically, mentally and emotionally.

But here's the thing - it wasn't actually as easy as I thought it would be. It wasn't as straight forward as creating a self-care plan and sticking to it. What I came to realise was that there were some deep ingrained beliefs in my subconscious mind that were holding me back.

When I actually sat and thought about things more, I realised I was telling myself "I'm too busy for self-care, I should always be productive, I'll fall behind if I take a break, I must do everything myself, I can't say no, work comes first.....". These limiting beliefs, ignited by my Type A traits, went on and on and made me feel guilt at the thought of considering my own needs.

And that's when I had my ah ha! moment - I realised that my mindset was the real problem stopping me achieving my self-care goals.

Then it appeared... my sliding doors moment. Instead of carrying on as I always had, I decided that it was time to change. It started through research, self-development books and inspirational podcasts to understand more about self-care and how I could incorporate it into my life. Then I turned to Mindset Coaching, NLP and Hypnotherapy to help me to replace my limiting beliefs with empowering ones, change my behaviour and instil healthy habits.

Working at the conscious, subconscious and unconscious level over a number of months, I watched my mindset transform and my behaviours change - for the first time ever I started embracing self-care practices wholeheartedly.