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Queen of Transformation Catherine Plano on why Routine is Key

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Catherine Plano is an executive coach, creative entrepreneur and leadership development professional based in Australia, who’s dedicated her entire life to helping people shift their mindsets in order to achieve their goals and dreams – and that’s how she became known as the Queen of Transformation!

She believes that the more people we help tap into their potential power, the more the population will become awake to a consciousness shift towards the global mindset, for the betterment of all humankind.

To empower other people, Catherine’s equipped with multiple ‘tools’. She’s certified by the Life Coaching Institute of Australia (Professional Certified Coach), Neurofeedback BCI (neuroscience, behavioural and cognitive science), the Association for Integrative Psychology (Certified Trainer of Neuro Linguistic Programming, Mental & Emotional Release – MER®, Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy).

Aside from working with international teams and individuals, Catherine is also a keynote speaker and an author (she wrote the book ‘Getting to the Heart of the Matter‘) and offers online access to her coaching and guidance. She’s a guest writer for several publications, and also publishes content on her own blog and hosts I AM WOMAN project, a podcast where she has deep, thought-provoking conversations with inspiring women.

Keep on reading and you’ll learn more about the books that helped put things into perspective, how she reframed fear, started a daily habit of meditating, why routine is key, and more.


What’s your favorite book and why?

G​osh… I have so many but the one that really resonates with me and still to this day is The Power of NOW from Eckhart Tolle ​because as an entrepreneur we get so caught up in the future that we fail to be ‘present’. The reality of it all when you really think about it – the present is all we have that is real, it requires no effort, nor time. I practice this daily, if I feel uncomfortable then I know I am trying too hard and not being present but when I am being present it is easier to think about what I have to do right now, because now is all that matters.


You talk about the importance of being present. I’m curious to know more about your daily practice of meditation – how did you start meditating? And are there any other books that you’d recommend to someone who’d like to be more mindful in their everyday life?

​Every morning I get up at 5am to meditate for half an hour – I like to listen to binaural beats to allow my brain to go into Theta because when you go into a deep meditation, your brain releases the good feel hormones like serotonin, dopamine and endorphins that make you feel happy.

I started meditating a very long time ago, over 20 years ago through my studies in Metaphysics. I also invested many years of my life studying and practicing Buddhism where I invested a lot of time in Ashrams where we practiced meditation daily. Gosh… I could go on about meditation. I wrote a whole section in my book – Getting to the Heart of the Matter.

A meditation book that I would recommend is – Meditation for Beginners by Jack Kornfield.


Was there a moment, specifically, when something you read in a book helped you? Can you tell me about it?

Absolutely!!! The book from Dr. Bruce Lipton The Biology of Belief where he talks about how we SEE the world around us is a reflection of what is going on in our inner world​ (our mind)​.

What we perceive or interpret as reality we project into our environment. The gold nugget here is… if you want to change your environment – change the way you see it, ​then ​change the meaning you give it and ​therefore you will change your behaviours and get the result that you are after.

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What books had the biggest impact on you? (perhaps changed the way you see things, dramatically changed your career path)

The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell ​was mind blowing, it really helped me put into perspective, that there are cycles and rhythms, and I now call them initiations, when you are faced with fear we are never too sure of our potential unless we know how to fail, what did we learn from it and what are we going to do differently the next time. There is a lesson in everything we experience, as long as we slow down enough to reflect.

The other thing in the hero’s journey is that even when you say ‘yes’ to a project, it really doesn’t mean that you are going to succeed at it, but if you go into a project with an open mind and embrace that you are here to learn, the journey itself is rewarding, not always the outcome and when we really look at our failures, they weren’t real failures after all, but a stepping stone onto something greater. ​

​For me I find it’s hard to say ‘no’… I am the ‘yes’ woman and then work out the ‘how’ later even if it scares me, without the fear I can’t possibly experience the radical shifts that take place from feeling the fear and doing it anyway because courage is on the other side of fear.


What books would you recommend to young people interested in starting their own business & why?

T​he Slight Edge by Jeff Olson ​which talks about what are those little things that we can do on a daily basis that have a high impact. Jeff talks about the importance of ‘how’ we do what we do. In other words, we can have this big audacious goal, dive into it and then leave it. So… the how is important because it’s those little daily things that build up to your end goal, it’s just that most individuals don’t keep our ideas alive!!! If you think about a plant, first you have to plant the seed (idea), then you have to cultivate your idea (put daily energy into it) for it to then finally harvest.

It’s very much all about your attitude (the way you think) that creates your actions and then your actions is how you get your results. It’s really that simple, it’s we that make it complex. Successful people stick to simple things that are easy to do but because they are easy to do they can also be easy not to do them​ – routine therefore is key to a daily intention or practice. ​

'Successful people stick to simple things that are easy to do but because they are easy to do they can also be easy not to do them – routine therefore is key.' - book-talk with Queen of Transformation @catherineplano Click To Tweet


I’m interested in finding out more about your reading habits. How often do you read? What format do you prefer? How do you make time for reading?

I love getting lost in a book!!! I have a book sitting by my bed – Archetypes: Who are you? by Caroline Myss. I like to read at least a couple of pages a night before I go to bed. I also do most of my reading in planes, as I travel a lot for my work. I always take books with me.
I have a date with myself every Sunday, one day a week is my day and on that day I do the thing that lights me up the most – writing.
Some times I get a little stuck on words (writer’s block) and so I approach my book shelf in my office, I close my eyes and pick a book off my shelf, I open the book to any page and allow my eyes to cast over a paragraph and get my idea from that. I know it sounds a little bit strange but I have been doing that for years, I set an intention that I will find a golden nugget in the book that I am drawn to.


Do you take notes or have any other technique for conquering the torrent of information and learning from the books you read?

I use a highlighter in my books, sometimes I take notes and write them on my book and at the end of my book anything that is WOW!!! I put it there as a reminder.


How do you choose what books to read next? Do you prioritize books recommended by certain people? Is there anyone that you consider a book-recommendations guru?

I get so many books sent to me from authors from all over the world that want to be interviewed on our podcast for the I AM WOMAN project show where you can find us on iTunes or you can find the interviews here on this lin​k.

We have been blessed with an abundance of inspirational women from all over the world like Danielle LaPorte (Oprah’s SuperSoul100 teacher), Brandon Bays, Dr. Maria Sirois, Gordana Biernat (Oprah’s SuperSoul100 teacher) and some of our local ​Melbourne ​talent like Michelle Bridges, Maggie Beer, Melissa Ambrosini, Janine Allis and lots more.


What book are you currently reading and what are you expecting to gain from it?

Archetypes: Who are you? by Caroline Myss​ – it’s amazing!!!

She goes into the different archetypes that live in that deeper part of our mind, we can have one or a couple and there was one that I really resonated with the Artist/Creative archetype and it really brings light to who you are.

Caroline goes through your life journey, your unique challenges and lessons, which were to overcome the fear of not being original and to not diminish or ignore my talent but instead develop my unique gift. Can I develop my talent and express myself, or will fear of failure or humiliation hold me back? That was a profound shift for me, I could really relate to that in sssoooo many ways.

She goes into our shadow aspect of self, our behaviours and patterns… and this was fear of being unacknowledged for my artistic gifts or resentful if I chose not to develop my inner Artist/Creative.



Links where you can follow Catherine Plano or find out more about her projects:



All books mentioned by Catherine Plano in our interview:

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