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Life Mentoring Articles
Articles directly from Vanessa's mind, to yours. Get thinking and put your brain to work with our helpful strategies to improve your daily life. Combat any worries and issues you may be facing with our top tips, thoughts, and advice. Life Coaching and Mentoring will further assist you. Get started now with a free consultation.

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What Makes Us Explode Sometimes?
We all have limits, but we don’t always notice when we’re getting close to them. We tolerate small things, let frustrations build and keep pushing our own boundaries until something seemingly minor tips us over the edge. This article looks at why we sometimes explode, what our reactions can tell us about our needs and values, and how recognising the warning signs earlier can help us set clearer boundaries before we reach breaking point.
Life Mentoring
5 min read
Sometimes the thing driving you mad isn't actually the problem!
Are You Solving the Wrong Problem? Your child keeps having meltdowns. Your partner keeps doing something that frustrates you. You keep losing your patience. You keep ending up in the same type of relationship. You feel overwhelmed, unappreciated or like nobody really understands you. So you focus on the problem in front of you. How do I stop this? How do I get them to listen? How do I make them change? How do I stop reacting like this? How do I fix this situation? And sometim
Life Mentoring
5 min read
Be Careful What you 'wish' for
Are You Accidentally Telling Yourself What You Can’t Do? The way we talk to ourselves can have a bigger impact on our lives than we realise. Not because every thought magically creates our reality, but because what we say to ourselves influences what we notice, what we expect, the questions we ask, and the actions we take. And often, we don't even notice we're doing it. You might say: "I can't do that." "I don't know how." "Nothing ever works for me." "I don't want things to
Life Mentoring
6 min read
When ‘fixing’ becomes the problem
It’s almost never actually about the dishes.
It’s rarely just about the sleep.
And the stress isn't always about the work.
Our minds are brilliant at creating believable stories about why we feel the way we do and then convincing us to waste all our energy solving the wrong thing.
In When Fixing Becomes the Problem, I share why surface-level solutions keep failing us, and the surprising shift that actually brings real relief.
Life Mentoring
2 min read
Why Being "Unmindful" Might Save Your Brain
We are constantly told to stay present, aware, and mindful, but could the pressure to be constantly conscious actually be burning us out?
From a Whole Needs perspective, mindless scrolling or zoning out isn't always laziness, it might be your brain signaling a desperate need to rest, process, and lower demands.
Discover why "mindlessness" might actually be the missing piece of your nervous system reset, how to distinguish rest from avoidance, and why doing nothing is doin
Life Mentoring
2 min read


The surprising reason your child isn’t calm
Your child is screaming, crying, refusing to cooperate… and you’ve tried everything you can think of.
But what if the key to helping them calm down isn’t another strategy, consequence, or technique?
What if there is something happening in those moments that many parents don’t realise?
Before you rush to fix the behaviour, there is something important to understand about what your child is experiencing and what they need from you in that moment.
Read more to discover the m
Life Mentoring
3 min read


High energy children - how to cope…
Learn how to handle a boisterous child with gentle parenting strategies that support emotional regulation, connection, and healthy boundaries.
Discover why loud, energetic behaviour is often normal child development and how to respond without yelling, shame, or punishment while helping your child channel their energy in positive ways.
Life Mentoring
4 min read


You Adore Your Children… So Why Doesn’t Motherhood Feel Good?
If you feel unhappy - this might be why.
For example - you love your children with everything you have.
Or your relationship
Or your job
Yet, you find yourself feeling constantly overwhelmed, irritated, or completely wiped out, even on the good days.
You try to push it away. You tell yourself you should just be grateful. But the feeling stays.
There is a specific reason it feels this way, and it has nothing to do with how much you love your kids, or your relationship or
Life Mentoring
3 min read


Consequences not working?
Ever get that sinking feeling when threatening to take away screen time completely backfires?
With strong-willed kids, heavy-handed consequences don't teach cooperation. They just force them to build a wall to protect their autonomy.
Constant pushback is a flag telling us that the compliance plan is a mismatch for their personality.
You can have a peaceful home without crushing their spirit. Read the full article to find out how to swap outdated control tactics for connectio
Life Mentoring
2 min read


The common phrase that accidentally breaks a child’s trust in us
Stop telling your crying child "it's okay." Discover why this common parenting phrase breaks trust and learn how to use a co-regulation framework instead.
Life Mentoring
3 min read


Why Good Parenting Advice Isn’t Working….
You stay calm, set boundaries, and try rewards.
Yet the meltdowns and shouting keep happening.
It’s not you.
There is a fundamental flaw in most parenting advice: it only fixes behavior after it happens.
By then, it’s too late.
To stop the daily battles, we have to look underneath the surface at what your child actually needs.
Life Mentoring
3 min read


Parents Are Being Asked to Do the Impossible.
Parents Are Being Asked to Do the Impossible
Parents are often told that struggling means they are doing something wrong.
But what if the problem isn’t you?
Modern life is fast, distracted, and overwhelming, while parenting requires presence, patience, and connection.
This mismatch creates exhaustion and guilt for many parents.
When we see this clearly, we stop self-blame and start understanding why parenting feels so hard right now.
Life Mentoring
3 min read
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