How quickly life can change. When the concept of Changing the Channel first came to me in July, 2007 I would have found it hard to imagine that, less than two years later, it would be a published novel, enjoyed by readers all around the world. I’m not being horribly vain in saying this. To my delight, I have had a number of wonderful messages on Facebook, telling me that my modern day fable has touched their lives, backed up by some great reviews on Amazon.
Making a difference to people’s lives was my outcome when I wrote Changing the Channel and it makes me very happy that my vision has come to fruition. I am truly grateful to my readers for their generous comments and their continued support.
At the beginning of September, I moved to Hastings, in East Sussex. It was only meant to be a temporary move but I’ve really fallen for the place. I arrived in time for the Costal Currents Festival, a wonderful showcase for local creative talent. I was impressed to see how much the town supports its local artists. It adds to the community feel of the place, which I find very appealing. I still love London and divide my time between the two but Hastings has definitely claimed a bit of my heart.
Neither did I guess that my career as an hôtess de l’air (forgive me for using this old moniker but I’m European and prefer its more glamorous association) would shortly be coming to an end, after more years than a lady cares to think about.
Flying for British Airways has been such a rich, rewarding experience. As well as being a lot of fun, it has educated me in the study of human psychology in a way that no academic course could have done. Working with colleagues and passengers from a myriad of cultures, speaking a variety of languages, teaches you, very quickly, to understand the communication that goes much deeper than words. Flying to different destinations with a completely different crew on each trip, also schools you to be flexible, resourceful and have the ability to connect with people in a very short period of time. I enjoyed it right up until the last minute but I have a greater passion, now: to help people realise their full potential, through my personal development coaching company, the Thriveologist www.thethriveologist.com There is nothing more rewarding than seeing someone have that “Aha!” moment, when they tap into the inner resources that will allow them to live the fulfilling life that they thought was out of reach. It’s great to be part of that process.
I don’t know what will happen next, as life continues to unfold, but I can be sure of one thing – it’s certainly going to keep me on my toes.
Writing has always brought me great pleasure. I wrote fantastic tales as a child, articles as an editor of my school magazine and later on, elaborate letters, sharing all the fascinating minutae of everyday life. College wasn’t a great experience for me so at the end of my time there, I decided I had had enough of studying and found a job. Almost immediately I missed the pleasure of learning but it wasn’t until 1998 that I decided to go back to education.
I enrolled as a mature student at the University of North London, to take a BA Honours degree in English and Creative Writing. I loved having the opportunity to indulge my creativity but it was tempered by the fear of failure. I felt my talents were inadequate, left dormant for too long and that the competition was too great. Dropping in to a lunch-time writing group I was horrified when the tutor asked what I specialised in writing; this was compounded when I related the tale to my boyfriend, that evening; he responded by asking, “What did you tell her? Shopping lists?” People were very quick to tell me how hard it was to succeed as a writer and in the face of so much negativity, I began to believe them.
My life circumstances changed radically in the following year. I parted from the Shopping Lists boyfriend and I met my former husband, swiftly moving to live with him in France - caught up in the promise of romance and inexpensive champagne. Though I could no longer continue with my degree course, I was reluctant to abandon my writing and began to look at other options. I came across an article in The Independent recommending distance learning courses with the London School of Journalism and, being impressed with what they had to offer, signed up for a Diploma course in Freelance Writing. In retrospect I realise that I had decided being a creative writer was too hard and, not wishing to set myself up for failure, set my dream aside and settled for what I considered to be second best.
That being said, the LSJ course was excellent: accessible and vocational. It lead to me having a number of articles published, which, happily, I was paid for. Even so, there were times when I questioned myself; the course was interesting and I was doing well but I didn’t find the genre compelling. Maybe my heart wasn’t in writing, after all?
It wasn’t until I attended a seminar by Tony Robbins, the American results specialist, in 2007, that I realised what was getting in the way of being a creative writer. I was so conditioned to expect that I would fail, I was afraid to even try. Thankfully, at the seminar I learned that success is 80% psychology and 20% action and gained some valuable tools that interrupted my negative pattern of thinking. At the end of the first day’s coaching we walked on red hot coals: an unbelievable experience that demonstrated the incredible power of the mind. It turned upside down what I’d believed to be impossible, rekindling the hope that I could achieve my dream of writing a book. After all, I could walk on fire! What was writing a novel compared to that?
Through the seminar I met some great people who quickly became dear friends; it was invaluable to have a peer group who believed success was possible, supporting me as I took the first steps to undo all the negative conditioning that had become anchored in my psyche over a life time.
One of these people was Mindy Gibbin-Klein. Meeting her was one of life’s beautiful coincidences; she owns a company called The Book Midwife and became my writing coach, last year. Mindy’s coaching was an essential part of Changing the Channel being written; maybe I could have done it without her but it would probably have taken me eons.
She helped me define compelling reasons why writing the book was so important to me and how achieving this goal would enrich my life and, hopefully, the lives of others. This is what kept me focused and at my laptop, when the writing didn’t flow as easily as it might have done.
In February, 2009, at Mindy’s recommendation, Ecademy Press a small co-operative publishing company decided to take on the book. You can imagine my delight: I had beaten the odds and achieved my dream of being a published author. The book is being released on June 12th, through Ecademy Press (www.ecademy-press.com) and Amazon.
Writing Changing the Channel has had all the essential ingredients that are a pre-requisite of any extraordinary journey: planning, excitement, surprise, self-discovery, growth and, of course, moments of frustration, boredom and the occasional thought of turning back. These experiences have brought me to the end of this stage of my writing journey with a greater sense of satisfaction and fulfilment than I could ever imagined.
Hold onto your dreams. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t, or that you are not enough. We are all pure potentiality; we all have the same largely untapped resources that are just waiting to be realised. I promise you, if I can do it, you can, too!
From this passionate belief came the inspiration for my coaching company, The Thriveologist (www.thethriveologist.com); if you are hungry to unleash your highest potential, I invite you to visit my site.