Luxury - for YOU

Luxury can look like a dream yet feel like a nightmare. It’s why I’ve always been fascinated by perception, perspective, and difference of the mind. 

I think we are all trying to live by our version of luxury, whether that’s perceived in money as expensive wallets, or taken in travel as one-of-a-kind experiences. It’s always interesting to me to discover what version of luxury people around the world live by.

The version of luxury I believe in (that also makes the world a better place), is having access to the things we need to feel healthy, joyous, and completely ourselves. 

When we don’t have access to those things, or limited access, we begin to compensate in other ways - bad moods, bad habits, unnecessary thinking and unnecessary spending. The list goes on and we therefore believe we aren’t living some idea of a luxurious life, even though people on the outside might believe we are. 

Isn’t it funny?  

We allow ourselves to suffer with not having what we need, pushing, withstanding, holding on to, or tolerating, for the non-guarantee of ‘better than what we need’ later, only to not have the basic needs for health and joy. 

Much of these things are simple: the gym, morning smoothies, good coffee, or a place to meditate. 

We’re quite simple beings who require only simple things to feel at the luxury of happiness. 

I wonder about what visual I post sometimes..whether what people see & read is what I experience. But I highly doubt it. Because what you perceive of an image is in relation to your values alone. 

But anyway.. just on the idea of luxury. It is barely ever what meets the eye! 

Love, Jules

 

If you’re not using your life to wake up what’s the point? - Mark Silverman

 Once upon a time about 10 years ago, I was an early university student lapping up every leadership and personal development book I would come across. Between classes, on the train home, in the gym, and late at night on my laptop, I was reading/listening to something to do with growing my professional & personal self. 

I had an understanding of leadership that was to help me push through to rankings amongst thousands of students, and into the selection of undergraduate internships with big-name companies that would seal the deal for a 'secure' future. 

It was soooooo obvious that in the first month of an investment banking internship I dedicated two years to getting into, the cubicle was not for me. 

Dressing to impress was not for me, and walking in heels with the anxiety of being let go if I wasn't good enough every day, was not good enough for me. 

So when school finished, I left for the global scale. I'd go and see what life actually had to offer me, from the deep desires of my soul, to why I felt never an attachment to material things let alone money. 

What I discovered was the kind of leadership that should be taught in schools. Emotional, spiritual, mental, and self-directive leadership. 

Things like forgiveness, compassion, self-love, kindness, and a graceful relationship with our birth-given gifts of eating, sleeping, breathing, and drinking. 

Before I left Sydney two days ago, my cousin jokingly suggested I get into real estate. "That's where the money is! .. If you make good money with real estate you'll be happy". 

My response: "And then what?" After you've earned the money, and then what? It felt true and aligned when I said I am happy exactly where I am..

In a couple of days I move to an island off the coast of Australia to work with some awesome folks. It never would have came to this if I didn't walk out on that internship offer 10 years ago. 

What's more - I never would be this 'awake' to my own inner intelligence, what happiness means to me, and how I go about securing waking up to the feeling every day. 

 

That's why when I heard Mark Silverman in a conversation with my coach say, "If you’re not using your life to wake up what’s the point?" - I knew what he meant, and I absolutely love that I will be in the progress of doing so until the day I die. 

Achieving your peace and happiness isn't a short-term, A-to-B journey. It's a dedication and lifestyle you choose. 

'Using your life to wake up' means being intentional about every commitment and investment you make going toward the deeply happy, soul-led version of you, because that's the way you want to leave this earth.  

If you want to hear Mark Silverman speak and benefit from the energy of some very loving people, here is the podcast conversation between my coach Phil Goddard and Mark Silverman :) 

https://www.philg.com/CoachingLifePodcast/?post=113-mark-j-silverman-revisited

Much love from the sunny side, 

Jules

Recharge on your own terms

 Everyone has their own way of recharging - of reconnecting with themselves, recovering, and neutralising emotions. It's important to respect that this is a key difference between all of us, and to recognise it's also key to sustaining all healthy, loving relationships. 

I have always been of the mind that if I am struggling to respect what someone else needs, then I've not been good at honouring my own. Of course I've let the human in me get the better of me many times - getting explosive, reactive, upset, and angry. I don't  care anymore that they are a mirror for me - At least until I have calmed down and have had the space to reflect.. 

Over time I have gotten better at making self-awareness a more present act, let's say from it being 75% of the time to 85% of the time. 

I've gotten better at creating and practising my peace, asking for ways to heal my wounds, and inviting the understanding of what consistently blocks my abundance - things like frugality, identity, and family relating. 

We all have baggage. And we are all doing our best with the thinking that we have, and how the world looks to us ♡

As I've learned to heal myself, I've been able to heal those around me. 

When I recharge myself, I can help charge others positively. 

And when I meet my peace on my terms, it makes it easier for me to allow those around me meet their peace on their terms. 

It takes a lot of courage to find out how to best honour your needs consistently, especially when life keeps moving. But knowing that it always, ALWAYS results in a better relationship with every person you care about is motivation enough.

I'm not an expert because I'm still human and practising every day.  But it is nice to feel less prone to being hot-headed for no good reason (which still happens!). 

From experience, life is a lot more fruitful when you are in control of where you direct your energy. So recharge on your terms when possible, and see your life moving in a way that feels much, much easier. 

Love, 

Jules x

Life in constant transition

I don’t always honour myself. I don’t always honour my needs and desires. 

Life is too much of an unexpected whirlwind for this to be possible. But I do know that it is possible to be the best we can at it. 

When I don’t get my meditation in, when I don’t do my daily stretching/yoga, when I haven’t written or journaled for a week, I tend to get frustrated, annoyed and even angry that I can’t access my peace. I feel disconnected from mental health and no longer feel like my ‘best self’. Often I will take it out on people who are close to me, especially my mum when I started living overseas.

Moving homes and countries a lot will teach you adaptability, resiliency and self-reliance. And it might also teach you to be self-critical if you believe you are on some sort of mission to do it / be successful on your own.

I definitely experience the latter, which is why it seems my only ‘bad’ days are the ones where I didn’t get to do my routine activities. 

This past month I’ve been house & pet sitting, and as I should’ve expected, the routines I have to maintain a healthy and attentive mind were going to be challenged.

They’ve been particularly challenged the last few days, and its when I noticed something key… Not having my routines isn’t what made me frustrated, it was that I felt like I didn’t have control over when and how. 

I was expecting myself to be consistent when life was moving in every direction. What I believed to be crucial was a sense of control, when actually what was vital to having a sense of peace is flexibility, thankfulness, grace, and being open to new ways of being. 

The inner work never stops. Maybe there will always be something we need to give ourselves grace for.

But for certain in a life filled with transition, trying to stay in control might just rob us of the peace received from having an open and inviting mind. And as such, one that honours who we are.  

Much love, 

Jules x 

ps. here is a picture of Obi, the cat we are currently sitting in Calgary Alberta!

Wtf is in the way?

I was doing some work on manifestation and one of the things it says we need to do to manifest what we want, is to remove fears and doubts. As I sat there writing down a dollar sum I'd love to have as my salary one day, I realised I didn't have any fears and doubts. It was simply unfamiliar to me. 

Here's how the exercise went in my head: 

One thing I'd love to manifest is $X / year ..

What are my fears around having this money? none.. 

What are my doubts around making this money? none.. 

Then what's in the way? 

Well, nothing is particularly in the way. I've just never made that amount before, let alone know anyone around me who currently makes that amount of money. 

What I know from experience is that immersing myself in a group of people who were achieving a set of things I'd never done before in my life, made it that much more achievable. It felt 'normal' to achieve such things so the whole ordeal seemed to me, not a matter of fear or doubt, but a matter of familiarisation. 

Some of the work on manifestation out there - particularly around fear and doubt - can box us into thinking that we must have limiting beliefs and/or insecurities and that's it. When really, we owe ourselves the opportunity to challenge any idea of getting somewhere in our lives.

We owe ourselves the opportunity to challenge any idea of getting somewhere in our lives.

I realise that some of the things I want, I haven't got yet due to some fears and doubts. But for the most part if we are dreamers who dream during the day, it's likely because it's unfamiliar to us and we just haven't done it before. 

Programs, books, and guidelines can serve many but ultimately they're not individual. Aside from a personal coach or mentor, your individual inner intelligence is the golden path to having what you want. 

All this to say.. if there is something you want to achieve and you've never done it before, get familiar with it or get yourself into a room full of people who are familiar with it. If you think about it it's probably how you've managed to achieve many of the things you have in life! 

Love, 
Jules x

How true wealth and happiness moves

Today I was asked about my engagement with being a 'lifestyle coach', and I wished I was asked more questions like these.. because it is in these questions that we uncover ourselves. There is nothing more raw and true when you are suddenly called to match what lives within you, to the outside-world's perception of who you are.

The truth is, I don't expose myself to too many people. I live a pretty minimal life; few high-quality friends, mentors and passions I quietly explore at my own pace. So when questions like these come, they're a really good wake up to how much I've grown, who I am, and who I now want to become.

I prefer it this way than to have constant noise in the background, because in a way, I wouldn't be able to see or hear my own growth happening. Perhaps you can relate:

What's interesting is reflecting on the opposite life many people live (and that I used to)- A constant world of judgement, battling to the top, proving who you are, what you're worth, and dressing to impress. It might not always be the form of words, but it's a lot of noise to live in..

This is the kind of noise that makes us believe we need to improve ourselves all the time - an unnoticed sentence to the world of Personal Development.

But here's the subtle shift I have found to live a more peaceful life... its the shift to personal growth. It means no matter what you do, you do it as who you are. You shift, evolve, adapt and dance to the sound of your own intuition and guidance. There isn't a standard you need to meet or work toward having before you are recognised.

As author William Whitecloud puts it: Every time you try to improve yourself, you're unconsciously reinforcing your ego's central message: "You're not enough as you are".

Here's how personal growth happens:

We expose ourselves to opportunities to learn about ourselves, and have our needs, wants, desires, and fears reflected back to us. We notice something about ourselves and use this to guide our next move emotionally, spiritually and mentally.

❀ Personal growth is an inside-out journey, resulting in effortless success and wealth on your own terms.

❀ Personal development, while incredibly valuable, can limit us to expectations of who we need to be.
Life shifted for me when I moved away from developing myself, and toward watching myself grow. And there's an entire set of tools to help us stay in this place :)...

Each time we allow ourselves to be exposed, and enable questions to be nothing more than a mirror for us.. we get a little better at moving from intuition and closer to true wealth & happiness.

Keep uncovering the gem that's inside of you and you won't go wrong.

Love, Jules

Your Best Gifts from 2025

The best kind of gifts are the ones we didn't know we needed.

As we close out 2025, think of all the gifts you received this year..

That relationship break-up, that job loss, the holiday that didn't turn out, losing a family member to the heavens, the business investments that fell through, commitments that turned out to be the wrong ones, decisions that had you in tears..

Life has a way of nudging us in the direction of growth; Toward alignment and perhaps feeling more human than we ever allowed ourselves to feel.

As you look back on moments that defined who you are today, you will realise you have received many gifts all along.

There are gifts that are made for occasions throughout the year, like birthdays and anniversaries; and then there are the gifts offered to us everyday and in moments.

I hope 2025 has given you many clues on who you are, and ties you closer to the wisdom you now hold.

If you are in the experience anger, frustration, uncertainty or sadness in this moment, ask yourself: 'What is the gift I am being given right now? What is in this for me to see?"

That question empowered me in many of my unhappy moments in the past, bringing me back to freedom and paving the way for personal growth.

So yes, be merry for all the gifts you receive this season. But also be mindful of the ones that made you who you are today.

Love, 

Jules x

Your Body is Your Best Teacher

Once upon a time I didn't have my period for almost 2 years. I attribute it to the travelling I was doing - For months I was sleeping in different beds every 1-3 days, taking overnight trains/busses, eating at odd hours and eating foods my body wasn't familiar with.

When I returned home I had lost so much weight they told me I couldn't donate blood, I was underweight and anaemic. Which is crazy because less than a year before I was 63kg and 'bulky'.

Eventually I moved to Canada to work (2018), started to put my weight back on and started dating someone. Still no period, but hell I was happy to not have to worry about it!

But mum was concerned and said to get it checked out...

I'm not sure what kind of medicine the doctor I saw believed in.. but she asked about my life and how I was settling in in Canada. Her prescription was this: 'Give yourself some time to settle in and enjoy life.'

3 weeks later, I had my period.

Our bodies are one of our very best teachers, and will let us know if something is out of alignment.

We get sore, we get sick, build intolerances/allergies, and have unexplained pains... It's easy to reach for a man-made solution but almost all the time it's just our bodies way of communicating without words.

Everything is energy.

I didn't know about this stuff back then, so my period coming back didn't really spring back to me as a lesson in energy. But if I look at my life now with this filter, it was a matter of transforming stress into free-of-stress.

We always feel better when there are happy people around us; people who practice love and laughter; people who give and see opportunity. It's a simple solution to feeling more at ease.

I was having the time of my life backpacking, but my body was in stress-mode the whole time. Poor sleep, poor diet, and a constantly-changing physical environment.

When you feel ailment in your body, do your best to understand it as energy. Something isn't sitting right with you in your life, it's time to change it. A pill will do as much as to mask the energy and convince your body that you're better.

Time for stress-free :)

Love, Jules

Feeling Purposeful Without a Job Title

When the job title drops, whats your purpose-work? Is it to make people happy? To create a family? To travel & see the world? To make art? or perhaps to grow?

It is easy to intertwine and even mistake our job title with our purpose-work. 
Often we focus too much on the job - on doing the job, our responsibilities, expectations and getting a pay rise - that we simply lose touch with ourselves and become unhappy, ungrateful, and struggle to sleep peacefully.

However life looks, it is imperative to know your purpose-work; The purpose for which you work. Ultimately it is not the job title. It is the reason for which you endure, for which you laugh, for which you seek ambition, and for which you have passion. 

When you live in this space the job title doesn't matter as much as your peace. Only you can tell whether doing anything enables you to live in this space. 

In all our lives we are mentored to discover our purpose - but you can decide right now what that feels like for you.

Because in the end we won't complete our time on earth recounting our job titles. We will leave knowing the purpose for which we pursued anything at all.  

Love, Jules ❤️

The Problem with Therapy

The problem with therapy that it keeps us in the same field of energy. When we talk about our challenges and what currently plagues our life, we get to understand them better. But the the transformation stops there. Once we are brought back to neutrality, most of us miss out on the true change we are seeking for in life. Things like love, peace, soul-purpose, and happiness from within. 

What separates those who stay in therapy for years and those who go on to lead happy, prosperous lives, is learning how to move from neutrality to inner wisdom. Because the truth is everything we need is within us, and when we learn to access it life starts to move toward creation, using our gifts, and feeling our highest-self every day. 

Staying in therapy is like staying in the energy of what we believe we are fighting. Don't get me wrong, I've had therapy myself and have experienced the benefits. My life got better. But I myself didn't transform. I didn't actually change how I was being in the world. 

It wasn't until I found coaching that I experienced healing and enlightenment. I moved from being informed to creating my own life at will; from being subject to human experiences, to loving them for what they gift. 

Therapy is important because it meets us where we are at. But once you've gotten what you need, it's time to introduce new energy into your life. (One of the most powerful is Love, which is why when we are with someone we love, we feel like a new person). 

Don't feel like you need to stay with your struggles. Their purpose is to help you see higher potential within yourself. 

Becoming isn't a matter of being ready; Its a matter of knowing. 

Love, Jules