Biography

I grew up in a family where emotion was rarely expressed, and when it was the results were often destructive. As a very young child I felt confused because I had very strong feelings that I didn't understand, and my family didn't seem to know about or relate to. Both my parents had low self-esteem, and I concluded at a very young age that my parents didn't even like, let alone love each other. I learned to dislike myself to fit in with my family, and my religion taught me that I was sinful even when I couldn't think of anything I was doing wrong. I always got picked last on the all-important sporting teams at school, and grew up believing that there was something wrong with me and feeling inferior to just about everyone.

With this early programming in place, learning to love myself on the road to self-acceptance has been a life-long journey for me. I know from my own experience how a negative self-perception and the associated self-limiting beliefs that can cause enormous frustration and make life into a struggle instead of an adventure. I am fascinated by the power of the human mind and the way that our conscious and subconscious beliefs about ourselves and the world around us determine everything about how our life goes.

I had a successful 20 year career in Engineering initially working at companies like Canon and Cochlear, and later running my own consulting business. While I initially found this a tremendously rewarding extension of my childhood hobby, I eventually burned out and lost interest. The creative/emotional side of my brain was crying out for attention and I found I wanted deeper relationships than seemed to be available professionally in the Engineering environment. I stopped caring any more, and work went from being a joy into being a nightmare.

I have long been fascinated by personal growth and development, and had 9 years prior experience as a volunteer telephone counsellor with Lifeline. So rather than stay in a job where I was depressed, I decided to change career; although at the time I had no idea what else to do. I wandered in the wilderness for a few years trying various different things, most of which were great fun but had no income earning potential.

Eventually I decided to commit to becoming a writer and public speaker, so I could tell my story, make my mark on the world, help other inspire other people, and leave the world a better place than when I found it.