My story
We all like a little story, here's mine...
Back in 2015, I found myself feeling unfulfilled, burnt out, lost, entirely disconnected from myself and questioning "whether there was more to life". Finding myself in a demanding graduate job, working sixty to seventy hours a week, and having no time, energy or space for any of the things that mattered to me changed the course of my entire life. In my early twenties, I realised what it takes some people 30, 40, 50 years, even a lifetime, to discover. I understood, with absolute clarity, about everything I wanted and everything I didn’t.
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The "more" that I originally thought that I wanted was related to stuff; money, designer clothes, handbags, expensive holidays, fun experiences, fancy cars, a big house...the list went on. It might sound superficial, but it was stuff that I thought would make me happy. It was stuff that I thought would make me appear to be successful. It was stuff that the world - and marketing - tells us will make us happy and successful. It was stuff that I realised very quickly that I didn’t care about.
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The "more" that I actually wanted was time, energy, health, love, joy, and simplicity. I wanted to be more and feel more, rather than have more stuff.
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Leaving the graduate job propelled me into reflecting on every aspect of my life with a magnifying glass. Essentially, I did a “Life Audit". It was clear to me that whilst I had chosen and created the life I was living, I had not intentionally, consciously or deliberately picked this life for myself. It was something that I went along with. It was something that I did because I thought I “should”. It was something that I believed was “the right thing to do”. It was something that felt meaningless and empty, like I was just drifting through.
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It wasn’t me that chose this. It was my ego. It was my subconscious. It was my brain. It was mindset patterns and history and conditioning. It wasn't my heart, my intuition, my soul.
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After decluttering the job, I started to consider what else I had unintentionally invited into my life. This is where it all started for me.
I dived deep into the realms of self-discovery, mindset work, self-connection practices and inner healing. I decluttered. I learnt about Minimalism. I learnt about and practiced Mindfulness. I took the time to slow down, to get to know myself, to cultivate a strong sense of self-connection, and to connect within to find the answers, rather than looking externally and buying stuff and doing stuff.
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I realised that previously, I was always waiting to be happy. Happiness was always on the other side of the milestone or buying the thing or achieving the thing - or at least, I thought it was:
Good GCSE’s. Good A Levels. Getting into the university I wanted. Getting a good degree. Getting a graduate job. Earning a good salary. Buying stuff; cars. nice clothes, designer handbags - things for myself - things for other people. Getting a bikini body. Attaining perfect health. Having a perfect relationship. Going on holidays abroad. Getting a promotion. Buying a house. Buying a bigger house. Having more money than month. Having more money than that. Then back to more stuff.
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I had everything I thought that I wanted and yet I felt empty.
I was your typical case of over-thinking, future focused, high-achieving, hard-working, forever chasing (happiness), never able to switch off or be in the present moment, kind of person. But I decided to choose differently - for me and my life.
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And it turned out that the “more” I was seeking was actually less... Less milestones. Less physical stuff. Less distraction. Less busyness. Less counting down to the next thing. Less energy drainers. Less time wasting. Less meaningless relationships. Less habits that didn't serve me. Less negativity. Less mindlessness. Less drifting through life.
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So, I decluttered and simplified every single aspect and element of my entire life; from my space, to my mind, to my lifestyle. I became deeply self-connected, self-aware and mindful. Then, I intentionally re-designed my life to create my own version of a meaningful, joyful, self-connected, intentional life. I felt more alive, clear and content than ever.
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After experiencing my journey and supporting other people informally, my business; Intentional with Laura was born. I trained to be a Life Coach and NLP Practitioner (with The Clique Academy) and a Professional Declutterer and Organiser (I am an APDO Member). Meditation was absolutely pivotal to my own experience, so I became a Qualified Meditation Teacher with the Stratford School of Meditation, and expanded my skills to deliver Sound Healing.
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Whilst I am creating and living my version of an intentional life every single day, I support people in a variety of formats, by holding space for them to explore, discover and make intentional changes to their lives. Will you join me?
