11/05/2026
The most hollow I ever felt wasn't when I failed. It was when I finally made it. I was charge nurse of a 40-bed surgical ward, and I remember standing there thinking: is this really it?
I had worked half my life for that role. I was good at it, genuinely good. But a year and a half in, the exhaustion wasn't just physical. It was something deeper. Something I didn't have words for yet. ๐
I was at the hospital from 6am to 6pm most days, and even when I finally got home, work came with me. The ward never really left. And somewhere in that relentlessness, a thought I kept pushing down started getting louder:
"I don't think this was ever actually for me."
๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ป'๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐.
At the same time, my eldest son, who was in Year 12, was battling a major clinical depression. He was on the maximum dose of antidepressants, suicidal, overwhelmed, trying to fit into a world that didn't fit him. And I, the registered nurse, the leader, the one who was supposed to have answers... had none. ๐
That shook me to the core. I started questioning everything. My choices. My direction. Every "should" I had built my life around.
I stepped back from leadership and moved into theatre as an anaesthetic nurse. But five years on, we were still riding that rollercoaster. My son struggling, me searching.
โจ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ.
I attended a conference and heard Dr John Demartini speak. I went along to his free evening event, and everything he said landed like something I already knew but had never been given permission to say. I knew in that moment: I had to take my son to his Breakthrough Experience.
So I booked it. Right then and there.
My son and I attended our first Breakthrough Experience together in Brisbane in 2005, and it changed both of us profoundly. He experienced a deep shift in how he saw himself and the world. And so did I. It remains the single best decision I have ever made. ๐
๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ๐ป'๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต.
I dove into every advanced program I could find. A few pivots and ten years later, I became a Master Certified Demartini Facilitator, one of only a handful in the world. I went on to deliver workshops across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Dublin, helping thousands of people transform how they perceive themselves and their lives. I've also assisted Dr John and facilitated at over 50 of his Breakthrough Events across Australia, Dublin, London and Johannesburg. ๐
And through all of that work, mine and others', one insight hit harder than almost anything else.
๐ก ๐ก๐๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ.
I came from a long line of medicos. My father was a doctor, my mother a nurse, my brothers a physio and a dentist. My father died when I was 23. I admired him deeply. And without realising it, I had spent years trying to make him proud, trying to live up to Daddy.
That realisation cracked something wide open. I was able to release an injected value I had unknowingly built my entire life around. And for the first time, for the very first time, I gave myself permission to dream about the life I actually wanted. ๐
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐.
Because I know what it feels like to be successful on the outside and quietly lost on the inside. I know what it's like to be capable, competent, and completely disconnected from your own true north. And I know, without question, that when you uncover what actually matters to you and align your life with those real values, everything changes.
The fog lifts. The exhaustion softens. And you start walking a path that feels like yours, because it finally is. ๐งญ
๐ That's why I'm offering a free Fulfilment Strategy Session.
This is a private, one-on-one conversation where we get clear on what's actually driving the disconnection or dissatisfaction you're feeling, and map out what alignment with your real values could look like for you.
Sometimes just having the right conversation changes everything.
If this resonates with you, I'd love to have a conversation.
๐ If you're ready to stop living someone else's version of your life and start walking toward your own true north, click the link below to apply for your free Fulfilment Strategy Session.
https://laurahughes.com.au/strategy-session/
