The Goodlife Approach
ABOUT DONNA
Life doesn't always go to plan.
I know that from lived experience.
For more than 15 years as a nurse, I've cared for people through some of the most difficult and vulnerable moments of their lives — including hundreds of people at the end of life.
I've also had my own moments when life looked nothing like I thought it would.
And for more than 20 years, I've studied human behaviour and self-awareness — trying to understand why we think, feel and react the way we do.
I'm Donna Martin, founder of The Goodlife Approach, mentor, speaker and creator of The Pause. Check. Reset. Method™.
I'm known for taking things that feel complicated and making them simple, relatable and easy to apply.
WATCH DONNA'S STORY
MY STORY
Some things you learn from studying life. Others you learn by living it.
My understanding of how people respond when life doesn't go to plan didn't begin in a textbook.
Some of it came from nursing.
Some came from more than 20 years of studying human behaviour and self-awareness.
And some came from my own life.
This is a piece of that story — and why I do the work I do today.
This is a piece of that story — and why I do the work I do today.
WHAT ALL OF THAT TAUGHT ME
Different experiences. Different stages of my life.
But they kept bringing me back to the same thing:
We can't always control what happens. But we can become more aware of how we're responding to it.
I've seen people face enormous uncertainty.
I've seen what pressure can do to the way we think, communicate and make decisions.
I've seen how quickly the story we create about what's happening can influence what we do next.
And I've learned that knowing something intellectually isn't always enough.
When life is actually happening, we need something simple enough to remember and practical enough to use.
That thinking eventually became:
The Pause. Check. Reset. Method™
Pause your story.
Check your reactions.
Reset with intention.
The problem can change. But the method stays the same.
When life is actually happening, we need something simple enough to remember and practical enough to use in the moment.
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON HUMAN RESPONSE
Donna's work sits at the intersection of lived experience, frontline healthcare, human behaviour and practical application.
For more than 15 years in nursing, she witnessed people and families navigating illness, uncertainty, fear, change and some of life's most difficult moments.
Her own life has also included moments when the future she expected changed completely.
Alongside those experiences, Donna has spent more than 20 years studying human behaviour and self-awareness.
Today, she brings those perspectives together to help people recognise the story behind their reaction and make a more intentional choice about what happens next.
Not by making human behaviour more complicated.
By making it easier to understand and use when it matters.
EXPERIENCE & CREDENTIALS
The perspective behind the work.
Lived experience, years in nursing, long-term study of human behaviour and practical tools that people can actually use.
15+ YEARS IN NURSING
Including 5+ years across Oncology, Haematology and Palliative Care.
Hundreds of people cared for at the end of life.
20+ YEARS
Human behaviour and self-awareness.
Studying why we think, feel and react the way we do.
CREATOR
The Pause. Check. Reset. Method™
The Daily Reset Toolbox™
Practical tools designed to be remembered and used when life is actually happening.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
Certified NLP Practitioner
Certified Breakthrough Coach
Certified Proctor Gallagher Consultant
Thinking Into Results — trained by Bob Proctor
AUSTRALIAN CPD CERTIFIED
The Daily Reset Toolbox™
WOMEN CHANGING THE WORLD AWARDS 2026
Bronze Award — Golden Heart
People's Choice — Finalist
Health & Wellbeing — Finalist
DONNA TODAY
Today, those experiences shape the work I do.
I help individuals and teams respond better when they're under pressure, facing change or dealing with uncertainty.
Through The Pause. Check. Reset. Method™, I help people recognise the story behind their reaction, check what's happening within them and choose what they want to do next.
For individuals, that might be a moment when life hasn't gone to plan.
For teams, it might be pressure, uncertainty, competing priorities, change or a difficult conversation.
Different people.
Different situations.
Different problems.
Same Pause. Check. Reset.
Life will throw things at us that we didn't plan for.
The question isn't whether it will happen.
It's what you do next.
It's what you do next.
WAYS TO WORK WITH DONNA
Burnout Risk Assessment
Understand Your Burnout Risk Before It Takes Over
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