Jacqueline Wales shared a bit about why she wrote The Fearless Factor with me recently, and agreed to let me publish her inspiring story. She wrote:
At the age of 54, having spent a great deal of my life figuring out how
to combat the lack of self-worth, fear of chaos, and general negativity
that had run my life, I finally realized I had overcome some enormous
challenges, and I had something to offer that would bring great meaning
and purpose to my life, and perhaps to the lives of others. I would
help others understand how fear controls and dictates the outcome of
your life, and I would show through example how it is possible to
create your best life now.I had never been in business, nor did I have
any business background to pull from, but what I had was an overriding
desire to teach people what I had learned.
In my first book When The Crow Sings, written over a twelve-year period
and published in 2007, I looked at the intimate history of three
generations of women in my family who had children born outside of
marriage who were either abandoned physically or emotionally, and the
effect it had on the mother and the children as it spilled over from
generation to generation until one woman had the courage to give her
child up for adoption. I was that woman. My first child was placed
for adoption after I had tried unsuccessfully to raise her for the
first three months. It was clear I was not capable. I would only
repeat the same patterns of self-loathing that had been handed down to
me.
Three years later, I was married to the first man who said he loved me,
and I had another child that I would eventually abandon to his father
when he was three. I obviously had a lot of growing up to do, but
more importantly, I had to cleanse the demons from my soul. Having been
raised by an alcoholic father who physically abused me and told me
repeatedly I would never amount to anything, I took him at his word and
did everything I could to prove him right. I had my own fights with
drugs and alcohol and it would take me 5 years in AA to figure out that
it was my thinking NOT my drinking that was the problem.
Thirty years later, I have written five books, recorded a CD of songs I
wrote, sung in front of thousands of people, taken a black belt in
karate and a red belt in Tae Kwon Do, and traveled the globe. And at
age 57, I am also creating a world-class business that will impact the
lives of women all over the world. I am so far from where I grew up in
Leith, Scotland that I am on another planet, and I figure if I can do,
so can anyone else.
This is why I wrote The Fearless Factor. It is a hard look at what is
fear, how does it function in our lives and what can we do to get
beyond it. This is the journey I took to become the strong, competent
woman I am today. It is a book that will help you make that journey too.
Learn more and watch a great video at The Fearless Factor.
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