- I love drawing together inspirational stories written by women, particularly female entrepreneurs. My first two books " Believe!" The Gift of Inspiration for Female Entrepreneurs", and the latest " Believe You Can - Face Your Fears and Confidently Claim the Life You Desire" are collections of true life stories. The stories are written by inspirational women I have encountered during my journey of exploration in the entrepreneurial world.
- I worked in the field of adult careers information, advice and guidance until taking early retirement in 2010. On leaving, I embarked on a journey of reinvention, and was greatly enthused by the entrepreneurial world. I joined networking groups, and undertook personal development training, and noticed how one common theme that kept reoccurring amongst women was that of self- belief, or rather lack of it!
- My own level of self-belief was such that, on joining Facebook in 2011, I was too nervous to publish a photo of myself on the site! Instead, after having used the "Darth Vada-esque" silhouette provided by Facebook initially, I subsequently replaced it with a picture of myself wearing a mask, made on a spiritual development course!
- Following a meeting with a coach who had realised that she wanted to be a photographer, I finally succumbed to uploading a real picture of myself! Sharon, the photographer, had put me at my ease and made me laugh by picturing naked men running around the garden, during the photo shoot!
- Laughter can be very healing. I love it when people thank me for my laughter, and I undertook training as a Laughter Yoga leader after someone commented that I had a healing laugh.
- The idea for my first book sprang from a poem I wrote called " Believe!" I was advised to write the morning pages, a method for unlocking latent creativity espoused by Julia Cameron in her book " The Artists Way". To my surprise, after only a dozen or so days of free-flow writing in the mornings, my musings automatically began to rhyme! It was the opening lines to the poem: "Sue stand up, stand up! Be bold, be strong" that spurred me on to publish my first book, " Believe! The Gift of Inspiration for Female Entrepreneurs" in 2013.
- I believe that true life stories are a great way to help people to see situations from a different perspective, and to learn how others have found the self-belief to cope with life changes. My second book " Believe You Can - Face Your Fears and Confidently Claim the Life You Desire" includes 23 new stories by women. It includes their favourite inspirational quotes, and tried and tested hints and tips for developing self-belief.
- I find that writing poetry can be a great help in tapping into buried feelings and to explore what is really going on. For this reason, I have included a number of poems in "Believe You Can". I even found it therapeutic to put together a group poem, devised by group consensus from phrases that we had all gathered by observing nature. Poetry needn't be complicated!
- A number of the authors in my books are women aged 50 and above. So many opportunities have opened up in recent years, particularly with the onset of the internet and self-publishing, that it is an incredibly fruitful time to re-write your life story in midlife.
- I supplemented the two Believe! books by creating a Believe! card app. This is a fun tool to help people to explore their own beliefs. The app contains 54 cards with short phrases, such as "Believe in Endless Possibilities" or "Believe and Succeed", and provides questions and a journaling facility to stimulate thinking. You can find out more about the books and the app at : http://believe-u-can.co.uk The app also has a playful feature, which enables people to collect bronze, silver and gold butterflies as they transform their beliefs.
Sue's books are available via Amazon.
Sue Williams
Her card app can be bought on iTunes and Google play.