Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: success

  • Girls Don’t Lay Bricks

    Girls Don’t Lay Bricks

    Girls Don’t Lay Bricks: well, guess what, girls do lay bricks and girls do succeed at what they set out to achieve when they have ambition, a serious determination to make the best of the hand life has dealt them:. Accepting the very real challenge of bringing up a baby in a world that tries to make this very difficult for single, teen mothers, Casey Mackinlay slowly found her way from a struggling young mother to a successful CEO by the age of twenty-five. This is her story.

    Casey Mackinlay always pushed the boundaries in high school; she was always accepting of a challenge, made her own rules, starting her own business at the age of 15 years old, when she decided host a year 10 formal for her school friends , just not at her school; an event that was very successful and one set the pathway for her future.

    Always one to do things differently, she took up a bricklaying apprenticeship, loving the work, loving the challenge of being a girl in a man’s world; a man’s world of hard work, with respect earned and not given.

    Understanding at an early age that to give back was something that should be done, she volunteered for an overseas trip to Uganda where she helped build a brick classroom in Watoto Village and realised she had a very fortunate, blessed life in Australia.

    At the same time, she was entering a relationship which was to eventually become abusive, controlling and destructive. It also gave her, her beloved son Kingsley, the result of an unexpected pregnancy at the age of 19 years.

    Struggling to hold a destructive relationship together, she eventually realised all that was happening was she was slowly  becoming more and more depressed, holding out little hope that she has any sort of future, let alone the successful one she eventually created through hard work, determination and a refusal to give in or give up.

    Mackinlay shares her story in a no holds barred style, which while confrontational at times, sets out in plain English that no mater what life holds for you, or the challenges that are often placed in the way, everyone can, with courage and determination succeed at what they choose to undertake. She addresses the issues faced by many young mothers, shares tips on her lessons learned, offers guidance and most importantly hope, for anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation.

  • Struggle and Success

    Struggle and Success

    Success comes in numerous forms but many consider success, large or small, which results from struggle the sweetest of them all. The latest book in ‘The Timeless Wisdom’ series is ‘Struggles & Success’ a collection of human-interest stories, all of which relate the struggle the authors have experienced in order to achieve success.

    The editor’s mission to reflect diversity of writing has certainly been achieved. Authors have come from Africa, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, from middle class and underprivileged backgrounds, but the thing they have in common is that they have reached the ‘Age of Wisdom’ – 60 plus years. The accounts are of those who have overcome drought, bullying, gambling addiction, lack of opportunity, childhood illness and ‘glass ceilings’ and many other obstacles which require determination and persistence to conquer.

    Each of the twenty-five inspirational stories in this collection, is prefaced by a thought provoking quote; many from well-known achievers.  The reader is encouraged to explore the link between the quote and the account which follows; some are more obvious than others. This collection is a tribute to those who face the hurdles, which life puts in their path, with a willpower to succeed.

    The reader will not only enjoy this anthology but will also be given an insight into human endeavor and resilience.

  • Read Me First

    Read Me First

    What happens when the world you thought you know, turns out to be completely the opposite. The job you desperately wanted goes to another person, or life simply takes over the so carefully laid plans, heading you off in another, unlooked for direction.

    According to Lisa Stephenson, you take a deep breath, reassess and begin again to create a life that perhaps you never realised was yours for the asking, working with the things you love to do and have in your life, the strengths that are yours and the ability that is there within you, to use that time old phrase ‘Carpe Diem’, to really reach your personal goals and achieve the purpose that you want in your life.

    This book is not a lovey, warm, feel good, comforting read; quite the opposite in fact, although the tough stuff is couched in a rich sense of humour. Thought provoking detail, runs hand in hand with strategies that will, if followed, work for you.

    As a success coach, Lisa Stephenson has heard it all through her clients over the years, and has faced the seriously tough stuff in her own life: a life that had it all; three lovely children, a house in the right part of town, a career that was wonderful, a loving husband and friend until it all came crashing down. After the grieving process, she took stock of what she wanted to achieve in her life and for her children, then set out to make a list of her goals, strategies, strengths and weaknesses, beginning to slowly carve out a new life, one that has with hard work, and emotional challenges, been very been successful.

    In Read Me First, she offers much of what she has learned over the years to encourage you towards a new beginning. Lisa is known for her targeted approach, an approach that has the evidence to show it works, and as she states, she wishes someone had offered her a book like this in the beginning, as it would have helped set her on the pathway forward so much sooner.

    She asks direct and very pointed questions, asking you to explore who you really are, what you think of you, what you think others think of you, and so much more, none of which is easy to consider, let alone detail, but will help focus on what and where you want to go with your life. Many people who work within the Entrepreneurship medium will relate to the coaching style, and those who are somewhat timid about this business style are set to learn much about self-worth, self-achievement, self-confidence and self-belief.

    Consider Read Me First as a coaching manual for the rest of your life, based on the reality of learning whom you really are, your strengths, your weaknesses and using them to create a new, fulfilling life The book is not all hard to face information, it is a book of change, laced with humour, reality checks all based in good, sound common sense, accepting that we as humans being are often frail, falling by the wayside, but also believing that if we get up and try again, we too can achieve all we desire in our lives.

    Read Me First is a powerful book, one that almost demands, that you the reader, we the persons, become responsible for our own chosen pathways through life and ultimately our own successes ,because they there, waiting to be achieved.

    As Lisa Stephenson so succinctly states, begin your journey now, ‘before you write the next chapter of you’!

  • Career leap : how to reinvent and liberate your career

    Career leap : how to reinvent and liberate your career

    Never a truer world was spoken than “gone are the days of slowly making your way up the corporate ladder to retirement”, or any other employment ladder for that matter. The business world is changing faster than any other time in history, with a move away from hands on to what is referred to as the ‘gig economy’, changing expectations from employers as well as employees, which has left many wondering and worrying about the way forward.

    Presented in the form of a workbook, and career guidance manual, Gibbings uses her extensive skill base in helping to prepare employees and employers for the ‘future of work’. That knowledge base is now presented in Career Leap, which sheds a refreshing light on how to future-proof your career in a manner which is easy to understand, pulls no punches, but will help educate and inform enabling you to research your strengths and weakness to improve your work life, in preparation for the years to come.

    Gibbings address the issue of change; not just in career choices but career directions which over the course of a modern working life are now the accepted norm. Gone are the days when jobs were plentiful, manufacture was booming and life in general was pretty straightforward.

    Exactly the opposite is now considered as normal in the Global workplace, where the skills once needed to be able to work in an industry or profession of choice have changed considerably. Experience and a blunt honesty on a personal level, nerves of steel and the ability to make changes in order to keep abreast of modern workplace requirements are a necessary component of the modern workforce, to be able take advantage of opportunities as they are offered. Making and being prepared to adapt to fit the requirements is also essential. But how do you go about making the changes both mentally and emotionally?

    Designed as fitness and wellbeing check for your career and ambitions, Career Leap offers a wellness check as the first thing required to be undertaken. This is followed by discovering your hidden potential, exploring options, a look at choosing which area to progress, constructing a plan, shaping your new career identity and then taking a serious look at influence and how this will affect your marketplace.

    Then, Focus, Accelerate, and get set to Launch the new, workplace savvy you.

    Each of the chapters is introduced with some very wise words from many people who have overcome adversity to achieve their goals. Rumi, Lao Tzu, Denis Diderot, Geronimo and Florence Nightingale are all quoted. Back in their day, what is now considered as wise words, were probably created from a once again changing world!

    It somehow helps to place the modern workplace in some kind of perspective: scary but able to be managed with the right tools, a good dose of personal honesty and understanding of the shifting ground that is now the modern workplace.

    The single factor tying the chapters of not just this book, but your career together is well stated in the words of Gorgi Coghlan, when she says ‘Regret is far worse emotion to live with than fear’. So as both Michelle Gibbings and many others have discovered, do the tough stuff, undertake the career wellness check, be prepared to leap and reap the rewards.

  • Integrate Why Work-Life Balance Is a Myth, and What You Really Need to Create a Fulfilling Lifestyle

    Integrate Why Work-Life Balance Is a Myth, and What You Really Need to Create a Fulfilling Lifestyle

    Work life balance is that amazing thing we are all striving to achieve, but somehow, no matter how hard we try to follow what should be some simple rules, we never seem to quite get there. But what is it? Is it a reality, a myth or some sort of marketing ploy created by someone out there in order to create mayhem and exhaustion?

    The reality is that ‘work life balance’ is simply a myth, nothing more. Life is made up of more than two components therefore attempting to achieve a balance between work and life becomes impossibly challenging.

    John Drury is a man who was a high achiever in the world of business; he was driven to succeed and  in his climb to the top, he did succeed in what he set out to achieve, but discovered once he got there he had paid a terrible price. Some time on, he took stock of his life and now works as a mentor, advisor, trainer and presenter to the world of business.

    He is offering his many years of experience to try and highlight the very real fact, there is another way of finding success in business without sacrificing so many of the things in life that are held dear. His firm belief is that it is possible to be able to achieve everything you want, desire or require, through establishing organisation in both your work/business life and personal life. And yes, it can be done and done successfully.

    As you read further into the book, the information offered makes a huge amount of sense as it talks about success, the price, the stress and the eventual realisation that to do better, you must at first have a serious ad honest conversation with yourself; search out the flaws, the areas that are not working and then confront the issues discovered.

    Once this has been done and the really hard facts faced, then a healing plan can be created to help with moving on to achieving your full potential. Drury says many times throughout the book ‘most of the problems that undermine or sabotage a career or business are more likely to stem from unaddressed issues in your personal life’ with the additional homily, ‘the road to future happiness and success starts with YOU’.

    His strategy is straightforward and is used as section headings:  Developing Self-respect introduces Part 1. Why, I do respect myself you say! Do you, is the Question. Part 2 looks at ways of prioritising self-care, which underpins the basic essentials in life. Part 3 introduces the subject area of implementing self-management, perhaps the hardest aspect of the three to successfully undertake, but one that is essential to good business and personal growth, as well as a happy and fulfilled life.

    Much, if not all of the advice offered in the book should not be considered as just for the high flyers in business, but for anyone who is facing the challenge of, or chasing the mythical ‘work-life balance’ on a daily basis, and facing serious burnout, self-doubt, exhaustion and personal sabotage.

    Enter into the world of what John Drury considers as Whole-of-life methodology and take the first steps to building a healthy, happy, holistic lifestyle you will enjoy to the full.

  • The Unstoppable Woman of Purpose: A Woman’s Guide to Conquer Life and Business with Confidence and Certainty (Unstoppable Woman of Purpose Global Movement)

    The Unstoppable Woman of Purpose: A Woman’s Guide to Conquer Life and Business with Confidence and Certainty (Unstoppable Woman of Purpose Global Movement)

    CeeCee Clarke is a woman who has inspired others to rise to the top, to rise above adversity and to believe in the power of being a woman. She also asks what it would be like to be considered as Unstoppable. What could be done as an Unstoppable woman to achieve, instigate, change and create; to make a positive change on not just a personal level, but also on a global perspective?

    A big ask and an even bigger challenge to accept, but in this anthology, twenty-two women, all leaders in their field, who have at some point accepted the challenge of becoming an Unstoppable woman, often overcoming huge and cataclysmic events, to accept change and achievement in their lives, in order to make a difference, show and demonstrate that with passion and belief in yourself, you can and will make a serious difference.

    In all of the testimonies, because this is what they are, there is a common thread, that of a passion for what they do, the work they have chosen and the people about them who have helped and encouraged them to be able to become what they are ; Unstoppable women.

    A number of the stories are deeply steeped in religion, almost to the point of camouflaging the vison and purpose that has been the catalyst for change in these women, but in many others, there is a belief in something other than themselves, some divine help and inspiration when the going became really tough, that has given them the strength and courage to overcome huge odds to in order to succeed and become successful in their chosen fields.

    Described as an anthology for the visionary women who wants to succeed, the stories will be inspirational, will offer a pathway through what can often seem like insurmountable hurdles and challenges, and by understanding another’s pathway to the top, will support and show guidance to many women wanting to break out, to begin the same or similar journeys.

    As the pages turn and the stories from truly inspirational women unfold, you are encouraged to embrace your femininity and grace, discover your soul journey, value your worth and discover and learn to re-charge your inner power.

    To help you begin your journey, or consolidate your assets and purpose, there are a series of workbooks at the end of the book, coupled with a small biography of each of the women presenting in the anthology.

    For the woman who sees no limitations, or the woman who is wondering whether to jump in and see what can be achieved, there is something amongst the pages and the stories, which will reach out, encourage, inspire and lead on to becoming an Unstoppable woman; a woman of power, a woman out to make a difference and finally bust the ‘glass ceiling’ into very small pieces.

  • Entrepreneurial Women: Stories of Women who Dared to Succeed

    Entrepreneurial Women: Stories of Women who Dared to Succeed

    The author is no stranger to writing, as she was an English teacher in a rough inner suburb of Texas, and then moved to Abu Dhabi, where she became a freelance writer. It is this range of experiences that has helped her cover these stories of entrepreneurial women so professionally.

    Stories are told of the journeys of successful women, who turned “their ideas into highly profitable businesses”. The common thread throughout all of these stories is the daring and risk taking made by women, and the juggling of their personal life to achieve their goals.

    The book is presented in sections, under which each woman is listed. Some of these are, “Women in the Media, Medical Innovators, Networking Women, and Women doing things their own way”.

    Each woman was written about in depth and where possible, personal interviews were held to discuss the stories. The birth, childhood and background of each person have been carefully related, as are the early pointers to their success.

    For example, Oprah Winfrey was encouraged to participate in public speaking by her grandmother, and always was given a positive sense of self.  Kirsty Dunphey, a Realtor to Loan Office, saw her wealthy family go bankrupt as a child, and vowed never to experience that drama again.  Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founded her company in India, and was refused a loan unless her father went guarantor.  Enzyme technology was a new idea back then in 1978, and for the first few years, her Company operated out of a shed.

    Together, with many other women who have created an Empire, where there was a vacuum before, the author has experienced great diversity in her working life.  We read about these women of fashion and art, their childhoods, dreams, adversities and courage.  The bitter- sweet is evident in most of these stories, as sacrifice on many levels is needed to ensure the continuity of a dream.