SOME life coaches base their philosophies on the latest trends in politics or soap operas.

Others put together analogies based on historic battles, chess games or football matches.

Kathy Ratcliffe has a different approach: the Swindon author’s design for living is based on the unthinkably tiny building blocks of the universe itself.

On Tuesday evening she’ll be at the Central Library to present a talk based around her book, Quantumology.

The work begins: “Step into a reality where every possibility has real potential. Where everything that has happened cannot happen again and all the options yet to happen will happen somewhere.

“For this is the reality of the quantum world, and you’ll probably find this reality quite liberating. While getting accustomed to the fact that life begs more questions than it answers, you’ll find some possible answers to the most pressing questions you ever thought to ask.”

The book has been endorsed by, among others, American actor Tony Amendola, who is best known for his work as Bra’tac in Stargate SG1.

“A fascinating and thought-provoking read,” he said.

Kathy, 52, lives in a Leicestershire village with partner Brian, a retired engineer, and has two daughters. She grew up in Swindon and is the daughter of Mary Ratcliffe, the veteran social justice campaigner and charity fundraiser.

Kathy began formulating her philosophy in the late 1990s, while running a successful company creating promotional brochures for industry.

In simple terms, she applies what we know about sub-atomic particles such as protons, neutrons, electrons and quarks – of which we and everything else are made – to our daily lives.

There is, for example, what scientists call the uncerainty principle. It suggests – among other things – that the position of certain particles doesn’t necessarily reflect their speed.

Kathy writes in Quantumology: “We’ve no idea how quickly we are travelling towards the outcome we are striving for – it could materialise tomorrow, or next year. Conversely, we’re hopping along in the midst of organisational change or moving from one set of actions to the next. While we’re in transit, we’ve no idea where we are.”

The author applies this to her own experience of owning and flying birds of prey, something she loves but which differs from how she imagined it would be when she drew falcons at her desk as a schoolgirl.

“The point,” she writes, “is that when I was very, very small I knew what I wanted, and now I have it, only it’s not quite as I imagined, and fortunately I don’t mind at all. But having our hearts set on a perfect ‘something’ being exactly so is like crashing a new car into the nearest wall – we are bound to be disappointed.

"The uncertainty principle won’t allow us to imagine a real event with any degree of accuracy.”

Other issues she highlights include our tendency to become bogged down, whether at home or work, in the implications of the past and the potential implications of the future.

Doing so, she says, is counter-productive because it doesn’t gel with the fundamental principles of the universe.

“We engineer the present,” she said. “The present is the only thing that’s real – it’s only real for a fleeting nanosecond of time but it’s the only thing that’s real.”

Later in the book she says: “We have a body, made up of quantum particles, and a brain, which operates with quantum processes.

"We also have something some call a soul, or an astral body, the greater number referring to it cautiously as ‘consciousness’. We ‘pick up’ on what others are feeling. We have a thought; someone else voices it. We have ‘unique’ ideas, only to find that others have shared it elsewhere at the same time.”

Kathy has delivered presentations to an array of groups and organisations including steel manufacurer Corus.

She said: “The first and most important thing that we have to establish is that we, ourselves, are made of quantum particles.

“We’re made of quarks and we’re also powered by electromagnetic energy.

“That’s what we are – we’re electromagnetic quark units. We have to subscribe to the same laws as what we’re made of.”

Kathy added: “It’s all there in the science, but scientists dress it up in formulae and equations.”

Her talk at the Central Library on Tuesday starts at 7.15pm and will take place in the second floor reading room.

Tickets cost £1.50 for library members and £2.50 for non-members.

Kathy’s website is quantumology.net