What she had to say
“You learn so much about yourself from having kids, but then you lose yourself as well. Illuminate helped me reconnect with who I am and what I want for my life."
Meet Jacqui Doyle
After having my now 3 year old, the question I was grappling with was how do I find myself while still focusing on my child? Being a present mum is really important to me, but I felt like I’d lost myself to motherhood. I was looking for a sense of purpose but in between motherhood, work and family, there wasn’t a lot of time left for me. I’d started following Benita on Facebook in 2021 and loved how genuine she is, so I decided to give Illuminate a go.
The way the program is structured makes it easy to take it all in and fit it around your busy life. I was able to work my way through the action planner and lessons with plenty of time in between to really connect with the concepts. The fortnightly calls were fantastic, with so many opportunities to discuss our struggles or anything that was coming up in such a comfortable and supportive space.
The first shift for me came really early on with the gratitude work. Benita helped me realise that even though life since my son came along felt harder, I’m a lot happier. The other big game-changer for me was gaining tools to work through negative thoughts and realising it was ok to let go of emotional baggage I’d been holding onto.
I’ll admit I struggled with the idea of spending money on myself, as a mum, we so often put ourselves last in everything including our budget. But my husband convinced me to go for it and I’m so glad I said yes to myself. I’m now working full time and feel a much greater sense of purpose and self. Motherhood is still hard some days but I’m so much happier. I have tools to change my negative thoughts and know they aren’t a reflection of me, they are just thoughts.
“The game changer was learning that thoughts are just thoughts and they aren’t always true. Now I can stop myself dwelling on the negative and change any thoughts holding me back. "
Her Case Study
Jacqui was working in a part time role, balancing motherhood and busy family life when she joined Illuminate. In amongst all of the busyness, she was struggling to find her sense of self and her bigger purpose.
And while being a mum was really important to Jacqui, she was grappling with something a lot of mums find themselves asking, how do I stay focused on my child while trying to find myself?
Jacqui shared, “I felt like I’d lost myself to motherhood. I needed direction but didn’t know what I wanted to do or how to do it. I really just wanted to feel more like myself again.
Working through the lessons inside Illuminate and using the action planner to guide her, Jacqui was able to set goals and work towards them in a structured way with enough time in between so it didn’t feel overwhelming.
The fortnightly calls provided opportunities to discuss her struggles or things that came up in a comfortable and supportive environment. We worked on finding gratitude in the big and small things and learning how to shift negative thoughts and find new and better ones.
Jacqui now works full time and feels a much greater sense of purpose and peace. Motherhood still has its ups and downs but she has the tools and the self awareness to realise her thoughts aren’t who she is, they are just thoughts and they can be changed.