Jacqueline‘s first book offers an unexpected self-discovery along the identification of archetypes for the reader’s own reflection in their environment. It allows unlocking hidden potentials, understanding the deeper meaning of life and managing conflicts with others. This fundamental work expands into several use cases far beyond the typical self-help genre.

Combining her 15+ years in corporate leadership positions with her passion for academic research, Jacqueline is on a mission to coach her clients following a meaningful purpose by tapping into their intuitive mind and human psyche. Adopting archetypal personality profiling principles, she unlocks the driving forces behind the human behaviour and brings her tribe into into the driver seats of their lives.

“The Free Spirit of your Life Purpose” starts with an introduction into archetypes as modern avatars, a term known well in the marketing world. The following chapters combine the odyssey of life with survival archetypes. Once the foundation is built, the readers dive into their own archetypes and learn how to view the life through the archetypal lens. The last chapter of the first part decodes the life purpose to unlock hidden talents on the transformational journey. The second part and as such nearly half of the book is a reference to find the personal archetypes in a huge list grouped by categories. This extensive repository includes classic ones like Femme Fatale Martyr or Hero as well as Networker, Strategist or Storyteller. A great resource for all in leadership positions to elaborate the archetypes of their team members.

Some sentences of the book really stand out like this reminder of the classic hero’s journey: “All archetypes tell stories and relay journeys that are unique to their character.” Jacqueline shares a lot of wisdom in this longer section: “Archetypes speak to us within the context of what we believe rather than what we do. This relates to the way we experience events and observe things as they unfold. It also relates to how our cultural background has primed us to perceive things.” Her book provides more background to dig deeper into ourselves and to find ways towards others.

Jacqueline explains a series of day to day situations where the content of this book can be adopted for own practice. One example is in change management where the knowledge of survival archetypes helps to overcome concrete situations. The respective parts are filled with concrete questions to show the practical usage.

Positioning her work as an introduction into the expressive world of archetypes, the reader will be surprised by the intensive second part listing 72 different archetypes, grouped into nine families. This section is the special addition as it acts as a useful reference beyond the introductory concept. Combining both parts, it is universal for different kinds of readers: Upcoming fiction authors find plenty of inspiration and ideas for the characters of their stories. Marketing professionals can be guided in addressing specific niches of their markets with a deeper understanding of their targeted audiences. And those in leadership roles can use the characteristics in the described archetypes to pair their curiosity into people with foundational material to engage more targeted with their environment.

Jacqueline went on a unique journey to write her book. In order to be inspired and constantly engaged, she created a Meetup group in Sydney called „Do you want to write a book?“ meeting once per month. From initial conversations and writing tips with already established authors, she distributed tasks to the group and went into a remarkable flow. Being a founding member of that Meetup myself, it was impressive to witness her inspiring accountability approach. One day I connected her with publisher Andrew Akratos who I knew from another writing group and who later turned her ideas into reality. Driven by the success of her first published work, I heard rumours that a sequel is already in the works.

Q&A with Jacqueline Hofste

1. What was the deciding moment to write this book?

Contrary to many other authors I never felt inclined to write a book. It was only recently when I started my coaching business that I realised I have something to write about that can make a difference in people’s life, that I became inspired about writing. This triggered a little voice in my head, nagging me until I started to write. It turned out that I really enjoyed the writing process after all.

2. How long did it take from concept to launch?

From the first sentence to my book launch was exactly one year. Once I started, I set myself a deadline and envisioned what it would be like to enjoy the accomplishment of a published book. Before I started to write a book, it wouldn’t have entered my mind to think of a book launch, but it was a good ‘carrot’ for me. To keep myself motivated during the writing phase I also started my own writers meetup group, which was intended to be nothing more than a small workgroup and now has over 500 members.

3. How did you perform the research to create the practical content?

Since I wrote about a topic that I am certified in and was already conducting workshops, I had material and research studies. But once I start writing I realised that I need to dig deeper to bring the content better across. It turned out that the written material for the book needed to be a lot more detailed than in my workshop manuals. Apart from my research I also added my own stories and those from some of my clients to make the content more relatable for the reader.

4. What was the biggest challenge along the process (and how did you overcome it)?

I don’t call myself a story-teller, but I had some background in writing from my university time when I had to write a thesis and also from some technical writing as part of my professional work. The biggest challenge for me was to avoid getting off track by adding more content and sticking to my overall concept, otherwise the book could have easily become a never-ending story and possibly overwhelm my audience. Discussing the writing process with other authors in my meetup group was critical for me to understand the importance of not going overboard.

5. What was your own reflection along the journey?

I am so grateful that I was able to dedicate myself to the writing and reflective process of this journey at that time in my life. Since I needed to express the thoughts on paper, I also needed to ensure that I understood the intention of each paragraph and chapter clearly. It allowed me to deepen my knowledge which was a valuable for me personally.

6. What is the outcome in having this book available?

I didn’t expect it, but it is a great boost in confidence, and it is helping me to build my coaching business. It is such a great feeling when marketing myself to other business owners or coaches to be able to say: “… and here is my book”. It creates instant rapport

7. What would you advise others about writing their book?

Write about something you are passionate about. You are going to be stuck with it for a while and if you only think of financial gains, you may not last the mile. Also, set yourself and end date. Most authors don’t finish, because they never commit to an end date to start with. It sounds so simple, but I notice this within my writers’ meetup group all the time. Once authors realise this, they have an ‘aha’ moment.

I want to take the opportunity to thank Ashkan Tashvir, the founder and CEO of Engenesis, who hosted my book launch in their office, making it a very successful and intimate event.

Jacqueline Hofste: "The Free Spirit of Your Life Purpose", Sydney: Omne Publishing 2018, ISBN 978-0-64835611-0 (Paperback)

More about the author and the book: www.enheduana.com.au

Buy on Amazon