"During my time at university, I wrote within a structured environment with a promoter and myself as a student. But I had trouble making a connection with readers and other authors through writing. I couldn’t really communicate my research results, because of this issue I had. I was used to delve into the writing of other authors and to build a mental world out of the theories and ideas of the other. But I then couldn’t communicate my own mental world because the conversation had become too big in my own head."
"In Mariella’s program, I learned that this “worldbuilding” was an aspect of my natural advantage. In her program, I was in control, the approach was much more personal, and the focus was on how I naturally engage with others, which resulted in a better understanding and acceptance of my worldbuilding skills."
"Other programs provided a model of how people write, but this program was fundamentally different because of this central focus on how you naturally engage with others. The program was immensely beneficial because it taught me to embrace my need for dialogue as being part of my natural advantage."
"It also shed light on my inner critic.
While writing, it felt like I was imposing expectations on myself, like a dark cloud of internal criticism hanging over me. Understanding my natural advantage and its focus on considering others, helped me better place this self-criticism."
"I was comparing myself to a lot of other people. I was seeing what they were doing and it seemed like they were getting ahead and really quickly as well. I just thought, why can't I do that? Why do things not happen that quick for me? I know what I want to do, but it's not really happening."
"I found the things that Mariella shared about my natural advantage and my natural habit style helpful. I was thinking: that makes sense, that is me, and maybe there's more to this. I was keen to explore it further to see how it will impact how I do business and how I am with people."
"I'm definitely more forgiving, more gentle on myself. It's helped me to not compare myself to whatever everyone else is doing. I’m thinking: they can do it like that. I’ll just do it my way and I'll do it in my own time. If it takes me a bit longer than it takes me a bit longer. I feel more accepting of myself and the way I work now."
"It felt like why can't I do it their way? Why can't I just get it together and sort myself out and do everything strategically, even though I know I'm not a strategic person. When you feel like everyone else seems to be able to do it all and you can't, it just makes you feel a bit like a failure."
"I've done the work on the Clifton Strengths Finder and Human Design because I've been on this journey of finding out about myself. I had quite a lot of background information and I wasn't sure whether Mariella was going to tell me anything new."
"Learning about my natural advantage was an eye opener. It gave me confidence to be able to know my top strength. Because it is that top one, isn't it? My natural advantage is the one that covers everything."
"The coaching taught me to forgive myself and give myself grace to not be annoyed because I'm not doing it the way that other people do it. To understand that I'm doing it my way and that just felt like a relief. It was a relief because I felt that it's okay. I'm still okay. There's nothing wrong with me."
“I was feeling really overwhelmed with everything that was happening. My responsibilities as a mother, as a spouse, and then running my own business. Work-life balance was missing, I felt like I was running from one task and activity to the next… everything just felt overwhelming. At the same time my energy levels were lower. I think there’s a bit of interaction there too, you know, getting into a bit of a vicious circle of low energy and overwhelm.”
“I’ve taken different courses, workshops, therapy to deal with different things in my life and being introverted is one aspect that I hadn't looked into. It clarified a lot of things for me. I was always trying to be efficient. The whole “time management” thing, doing as much as you can in the time you have. I was really getting stuck on efficiency. Learning from you how it's about energy management and not time, that paradigm shift has been so helpful.”
“It’s helped me also to set my boundaries around my work-life balance. I make a plan for a week and that plan includes things like promises I make to do things for my children or my husband. Realizing that by having that planned out, I can see where it's possible to adjust for unforeseen events without it throwing me off. Knowing that, it’s easier for me to know what to ask or communicate with my family. It will still get done but not at the cost of my mental health or with me getting overwhelmed.”