Short Life lessons from joanne reed – World Class Performer Interview

I am feeling blessed to have been interviewed by World Class Performer who have been featuring since 2017 stories, tactics and practical advice from authors, entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, investors sharing their short profiles to help their audience answer life’s most challenging questions, achieve extraordinary results and transform life.

You can read the interview on the World Class Performer platform by clicking on the following link Short Life Lessons from Joanne Reed – World Class Performer Interview.

Or you can read the transcript of my interview with World Class Performer below.

Joanne Reed is the author of This Is Your Quest – Your Mission: To Experience Happiness Along the Way. She has not made it yet to the New York Times Bestseller list and is wondering why she is being featured here, but as a storyteller, she has a lot to say. Stories teach us about life, about ourselves, and about others. She discovered the art of blogging a year ago and writes about anything that nourishes and educates the mind with a zest of philosophy, plenty of good vibes, and this little je ne sais quoi. 

Can you tell the audience of World Class Performer where did you grow up and what was your childhood like? Did you have any particular experiences/stories that shaped your adult life?

I was born and raised on a French Island in the Indian Ocean called Réunion. It is like the French version of Hawaii. Life on the island was good and I was truly fortunate to have been born and raised in a loving family environment surrounded by my parents, my sister, lots of uncles and aunties, and tons of cousins with the beach on one side and the mountain on the other side. Those early years taught me two things: 1) family is everything and 2) immerse yourself in nature whenever you can.

What is something you wish you would’ve realized earlier in your life?

Most people play the same game i.e., Follow the Follower. Instead of following everyone else and instead of competing with everyone else: Pause – Create – Innovate.

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

You often hear that your work will speak for itself and the only thing you have to do is write a great book and the rest will follow. That is a myth. Writing a great book is not enough. If you don’t put yourself out there, your work will stay in semi-obscurity. It takes great energy and effort for new authors to get visibility. New authors should be relentless in their Quest to make their work visible and accessible to a larger audience. The most surprising thing I learned about writing is that your book is not finished until it has been read.

Tell me about one of the darker periods you’ve experienced in life. How you came out of it and what you learned from it?

Dark periods for me equates to periods of time throughout various stages of my life where I felt out of place, lacking confidence in my ability, not having any clarity, living in a state of anxiety, and worrying about the future. Reading self-help books helped me get out of these periods and those books made me a little bit smarter and wiser.

There are two ways to learn valuable life lessons. The first method is through trial, errors, and personal experience and the second method is through books. The downside of the first method is that it will no doubt bring you a fair amount of pain and suffering, which is something that we all want to avoid as much as possible. Learning life lessons through someone else’s struggle and the ordeal is a much less painful way to go about it whilst still bringing the same benefits. Words have tremendous power and energy. Well-chosen words can breathe hope into you when your spirit is broken and can make you stronger than you know. 

What is one thing that you do that you feel has been the biggest contributor to your success so far?

It depends on how you define success. It is such a fluid concept. Success means different things to different people. If success means signing a publishing contract with a publisher, I tick that box and the biggest contributor to my success would be the fact that I wrote a book that is unique. The book is written from the perspective of the reader. I act as a tour guide and take my readers with me on an epic journey through time, traveling around the world, and learning valuable lessons from my favorite authors and philosophers along the way. The whole idea of the book is to guide my readers in their Quest to find their own definition of happiness and find their own path. I couldn’t find anywhere a book that dealt with all the subjects I was interested in (i.e., money, love, and health), a book that inspired me but challenged me all the same, a book that could act as a compass when I was feeling lost, a book that could educate, heal and illuminate the mind. So, I decided that I should write such a book myself.

If you define success by being on the New York Times Bestselling list, I don’t tick that box yet! I am Work-In-Progress. I see myself more like a marathon runner and not a sprinter. Let’s do this interview again in a couple of years, shall we?

What is your morning routine?

If I had to write a book to describe my morning routine, the title would be the ‘Art of wearing different hats’.

5:30 am: wake-up and make coffee, dress-up in sports gear and put my baseball hat on ready to take my dog Louis out for a quick toilet-stroll round the block; show-up at my desk for an early morning writing session wearing my favorite author’s hat, blissfully aware about how precious this alone time is.

8:00 am: Cook healthy/high protein English breakfast whilst doing the best I can to resist eating too much carb/bread.

9:00 am: show up to my Muay Thai class wearing my protective fighter hat for some high-intensity hand-to-hand combat activity where I am practicing some kick-ass moves that make me feel like Wonder Woman. 

10 am: Return home for a shower. Put author’s hat back on to do more writing till the time comes for me to swap my author’s hat with my domestic goddess hat, ready to prepare lunch, and do whatever domestic goddesses do nowadays. Wear my chauffeur’s hat a few times during the day to take my youngest daughter to places.

The rest of the day continues with me having to swap hats all the time and attend to whatever requires my undivided attention. 

What habit or behavior that you have pursued for a few years has most improved your life?

I am curious about the world, about people, I am awake and aware of what’s happening, I read, I listen, I connect the dots, I pause, stay still, reflect and meditate, and when all of this is done, I have the urge to put my thoughts on paper and I write. I like to describe myself as an artist because it is more fluid and more suited to my current state of mind. Charles Bukowski says it best “An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way”. 

What are your strategies for being productive and using your time most efficiently?

  • Write To-Do-Lists.
  • Have lots of different hats to wear for different occasions.
  • Wake-up, dress up, show up and do the best I can till I know better and when I know better I do better. 
  • Last and not least have a sense of adventure, be an explorer. Explorers are a special type of human beings. They have physical endurance, mental toughness, abundant determination, and willpower, a deep feeling of purpose, they have faith in their pursuit and live every day with the conviction of their Quest!

What book(s) have influenced your life the most? Why?

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho because it summarizes very well everything important you need to know to survive in this world. Mainly that a person’s only real obligation is to realize one’s Personal Legend because if you do this with courage, authenticity, and integrity everything else will fall into place. Realizing your own Personal Legend is not a selfish, ego-centric purpose that only benefits you because as Christian D Larson says, “what’s the world needs is people who can do things that are thoroughly worthwhile; people who can think great thoughts and transform such thoughts into great deeds”. 

Do you have any quotes you live by or think of often that you would like to share with the audience of World Class Performer?

I live by and think often of one particular quote by Maya Angelou: “Wake-up, dress-up, show-up every day, and do the best you can until you know better, and when you know better, do better.” Maya Angelou was such a phenomenal woman; her life was a succession of epic adventures. I named my eldest daughter after her.

For more on this subject you can purchase my book This is Your Quest online at BookLocker, from Amazon or from Barnes & Noble.  The Ebook version is available on Amazon (Kindle), Barnes & Noble (Nook), Apple (iBooks) & Kobo. Check out my Amazon Author Page here or my listing on Booksradar.com.

The audio version of my book “This Is your Quest ” is available. Feel free to check it out and use this special Promotion code

Audiobooks and the Art of Storytelling. English or French? En Francais S’il Vous Plait!

Audiobooks and the Art of storytelling English or French?  

En Francais S’il vous Plait

Audiobooks and the art of storytelling are having a moment and are becoming more and more popular. The audio version of my book ‘This Is Your Quest’ is available in both English and French!

This Is Your Quest

La version audio de mon livre ” En Quête du Bonheur ‘ est disponible en anglais et en Français!

En Quête du Bonheur

Audiobooks and the art of storytelling are having a moment; they are in the midst of a boom as they soar in popularity. They are one of the greatest and more recent gifts to lifelong learners. The beauty of audiobooks is that you don’t have to set aside some quiet time away from everything and everyone in order to read a book anymore.  You can continue to do all the things that you have listed on your to-do-list whilst having someone whispering in your ear a story that you want to hear.

Les livres audio et l’art de raconter des histoires sont en plein essor et leur popularité est en hausse. Ils constituent l’un des plus récents cadeaux aux lecteurs enthousiates. La beauté des livres audio est qu’il n’est plus nécessaire de réserver un moment de calme loin de tout et de tous pour lire un livre.  Vous pouvez continuer à faire toutes les choses que vous avez énumérées sur votre liste tout en ayant quelqu’un qui vous chuchote à l’oreille une histoire que vous voulez entendre

Audiobooks and the art of storytelling allow you direct access to a treasure trove of knowledge and wisdom.  Books allow the smartest people within every field to share their knowledge and experience with you so that you can learn from them and avoid making the same mistakes. But even for people who love books, finding the opportunity to read can be a challenge. This is where audiobooks come into the frame, they come to the rescue of those who have no time to sit in a quiet corner to read because of their daily commute, their work, their house chores and so many other things that need to be done.

Audiobooks and the Art of Storytelling allow you direct access to a treasure trove of knowledge and wisdom.

Les livres audios et l’art du récit vous permettent d’accéder directement à un trésor de connaissances et de sagesse.  Les livres permettent aux experts de partager leurs connaissances et leur expérience avec vous afin que vous puissiez bénéficier de la sagesse acquise péniblement et éviter de commettre les mêmes erreurs.  Même pour les lecteurs enthousiastes, trouver du temps pour lire n’est pas chose facile. C’est à ce moment là que les livres audio entrent en jeu, ils viennent au secours de ceux qui n’ont pas le temps de s’asseoir dans un coin tranquille pour lire à cause de leur trajet quotidien, de leur travail, de leurs tâches ménagères et de tant d’autres choses qui doivent être faites.

For those who are experiencing some decline in their eye sights because of old age, don’t despair, you can still have access to all the information and knowledge that you want, just press the play button and off you go. For those who are dyslexic don’t be put off by the thought of struggling your way through a book. Do you want to read Harry Potter? Sure you can and please don’t fret and don’t be intimidated by the size of the book. You don’t have to read it, listen to it, instead.

Pour ceux qui voient leur vue diminuer en raison de l’âge, ne désespérez pas, vous pouvez toujours avoir accès à toutes les informations et connaissances que vous souhaitez, il suffit d’appuyer sur le bouton ‘play‘ et c’est parti. Pour les personnes dyslexiques, ne vous découragez pas. Vous voulez lire Harry Potter ? Aucun problême, vous pouvez le faire, ne vous inquiétez pas et ne vous laissez pas intimider par la taille du livre. Vous n’êtes pas obligé de le lire, mais plutôt de l’écouter.

One should not underestimate the power of storytelling. From the beginning of time, knowledge was shared from generation to generation thanks to story tellers who used their artistry to pass on information, knowledge and wisdom to their community.  The rise of audiobooks seems to be a natural progression back to the oral learning tradition that was so common in the olden days.

Il ne faut pas sous-estimer le pouvoir du récit. Dès le début des temps, le savoir a été partagé de génération en génération grâce aux conteurs d’histoires qui ont utilisé leur talent artistique pour transmettre des informations, des connaissances et de la sagesse à leur communauté.  L’essor des livres audios semble être un retour naturel vers la tradition de l’apprentissage oral qui était si répandue autrefois.

Audiobooks and the art of storytelling. Being read stories aloud is not reserved for children only

Les livres audios ou l’art de raconter des histoires. La lecture d’histoires à haute voix n’est pas réservée aux enfants.

I am a fan of audiobooks; but be aware that I am totally biased on this subject because I recently released the audio version of my book ‘This Is Your Quest‘; and right now I would like to invite you to listen to the sweet and smooth voice of Nita Slater, my English/American narrator, and Sylvie Racine, my French Narrator, who will be whispering in your ear a story you want to hear.

Je suis une fan des livres audios ; mais sachez que je suis totalement partial sur ce sujet car je viens de sortir la version audio de mon livre ” En Quête Du Bonheur ” ; je voudrais vous inviter à écouter la voix douce et suave de Nita Slater, ma narratrice Americaine et de Sylvie Racine, ma narratrice Française qui vont vous murmurer à l’oreille une histoire que vous voulez entendre.

Audio books and the art of storytelling – What happens when a storyteller meets two professional voice actresses?

What happens when a storyteller meets two professional voice actresses? They create something beautiful that fills the silence that exists when one just sits alone in a quiet corner with a book.  When I became an author, I found my voice, and by doing so I also found my new purpose in life, which is helping others find theirs.  And now, I have found two amazing voices to narrate and bring to life the stories that I wrote in my book. I am delighted to inform all my readers that the audio version of my book This Is Your Quest is now available, and it is my pleasure to introduce you to my narrator Nita Slater.  Nita is an artist with many talents, but her most amazing feature is her voice it is like honey sweet and smooth.

Que se passe-t-il lorsqu’une conteuse d’histoires rencontre deux narrarices professionnelle? Elles créent quelque chose de beau qui remplit le silence qui existe quand on est simplement assis seul dans un coin tranquille avec un livre.  Quand je suis devenu auteur, j’ai trouvé ma voix, et ce faisant, j’ai aussi trouvé mon nouveau but dans la vie, qui est d’aider les autres à trouver la leur.  Et maintenant, j’ai trouvé deux voix incroyable pour raconter et donner vie aux histoires que j’ai écrites dans mon livre. J’ai le plaisir d’informer tous mes lecteurs que la version audio de mon livre ‘his Is Your Quest‘ est maintenant disponible en anglaise et en Francais.

My mission as a storyteller is to weave interesting information into a compelling story that will keep my readers captivated and entertained. Story telling becomes magical when you add a smooth and engaging voice into the equation, making the experience more engaging, memorable and multi-dimensional.  Being read stories aloud is not reserved for children only, adults can also indulge in this pleasure.

Ma mission en tant que conteur est de tisser des informations intéressantes dans une histoire captivante qui gardera mes lecteurs captivés et divertis. Le récit devient magique lorsque vous ajoutez une voix douce et engageante à l’équation, rendant l’expérience plus engageante, mémorable et multidimensionnelle.  La lecture d’histoires à haute voix n’est pas réservée aux enfants, les adultes peuvent également se livrer à ce plaisir.

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For more on this subject you can purchase my book This is Your Quest online at BookLocker, from Amazon or from Barnes & Noble.  The Ebook version is available on Amazon (Kindle), Barnes & Noble (Nook), Apple (iBooks) & Kobo. Check out my Amazon Author Page here or my listing on Booksradar.com.

Self-Help Books Can Become Bestsellers, But Do They Actually Work?

Self-help books can become bestsellers, but do they actually work?

The self-help book market is worth over $10 billion dollars per year in the USA alone with twice as many books sold in 2019 than just 7 years earlier. With an ever-growing flock of followers who want clear answers to their questions, clear solutions to their problems and clear paths to follow along the road to a happy and successful life.

Psychologists, life coaches, gurus, and authors are filling up conference rooms, bookstores, social media platforms with their contents.  Consumers of self-help materials are all looking for the same thing, the secret to a happy, healthy and prosperous life.  

The most successful self-help books of all time are: 

  1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Over 80 million copies sold.
  2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Over 65 million copies sold.
  3. You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay. Over 50 million copies sold.
  4. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kyosaki. Over 25 million copies sold.
  5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey. Over 25 million copies sold.

Do self-help books help? Looking at those figures, the answer seems to be a definite yes. But despite those compelling sales figures, some people find the effectiveness of self-help books debatable. Personally, I find them very useful; but I am totally biased on this subject-matter not only because self-help books are my favorite genre as a reader, but I am also the author of a self-help book titled This is Your Quest. Your Mission: To Experience Happiness Along the Way.

Let’s look at both sides of the argument and see where this leads us.

Are self-help books a waste of time and money?

The main argument against self-help books is that they don’t work. Some people argue that reading self-help books is like taking drugs; it makes you feel good for a little while but that feel-good factor doesn’t last very long. Initially, people will enjoy reading those books because they get lost in a sea of wisdom, advice, suggestions, new habits, new affirmations, but  once they have ingurgitated all that advice and new-found wisdom life resumes its normal course and soon they get lost in a sea of daily grind and forget about all those new habits they swore by a week ago. 

It is true that knowing without doing is like not knowing at all, and from this angle I tend to agree with the argument that self-help books don’t work. Most of the advice that is given in those books make perfect sense, but unless the reader decides to apply those advice consistently and diligently, reading those books will not change their lives one inch. Unfortunately, a large majority of people fall trap to this behavior. 

It is common knowledge that to lead a healthy life you need to eat healthy, exercise, practice your daily affirmations by thinking positive, be mindful and present in the moment, get in touch with your inner-child,  love yourself, and practice the art of being grateful. That is about it really. But If everyone already knows all of that why do you need a book to tell you those things that you already know? It is a fair point.

Self-help books; a sea of wisdom, advice, suggestions, new habits, new affirmations

So, why are people still reading those books? It is much easier to keep yourself in a state of preparedness by reading those books, taking notes and visualizing the amazing result you will get at the end, than actually doing the deed. Reciting positive affirmations every morning will not change your life if you are not following up with an action plan.  You have to be more intentional in your approach to self-help.

I am of the opinion that one size doesn’t fit all. We are all different, we all have different issues, different perspectives, different circumstances. I believe that it is not a waste of time and money to read self-help books, because you can learn from the successes and mistakes of others without having to make those same mistakes, giving you a huge advantage. However, at the end of the day, it is up to you to find the answer that applies to your own circumstances; after you have read those self-help books, you will operate from a more informed vantage point, having gained some knowledge, wisdom and clarity in the process. Nobody else can be happy for you, you have to figure it out yourself.

The types of people who read self-help books

There are two types of people who read self-help books.

  1. People who are going through personal, financial or emotional crisis, those who have suffered from traumas, or those who feel unfulfilled and very dissatisfied with their current situation. Their expectation is that reading those self-help books will increase their happiness level from bad to good.
  2. People who haven’t got any major issues with their life, they are curious, they have an open-mind, they want to improve and learn how to be the best version of themselves, they want to turn their life around and increase their happiness level from good to great and for the best students their expectation is to turn their happiness level from great to awesome.

We are constantly in the process of creating ourselves. Reading self-help books is a commitment to yourself; when the person is ready for action, self-help books can be part of a genuine life transformation. For the skeptics, they can also lay the foundations for the change that could happen in the future. The idea is to plant that seed, it will take some time to germinate but eventually it will grow slowly but surely.  It is just a matter of time.

Self-help books; plant a seed

We cannot force someone to hear a message they are not ready to receive, but we must never underestimate the power of planting a seed.’

Unknown Author

There are many reasons why you should try to develop yourself

Whatever your personal circumstances, there are many reasons why you should read self-help books.

  • Expand your horizon. You don’t know everything, and you haven’t done everything. There is so much that you don’t know and haven’t experienced yet. People tend to live within the comfort of their own echo chamber, doing the things that are familiar to them, connecting with people they know, reading the books that everybody else is reading. There is nothing wrong with living within your comfort zone, but there is so much more out there. Have an explorer mindset, go and explore the world.  This might sound like a big feat, but you don’t even have to leave your house; books can take you anywhere you want to go. Explorers have the ability to leave comfort and certainty behind them. They are in a continual search of new ideas and new ways of thinking. 
  • Build your knowledge. One of the main benefits of reading self-help books is that you learn loads. The Quest for knowledge and clarity is an endless pursuit. The destination is unknown. It is all about the journey. When things get tough and confusing it’s best to  stop rest, reflect, regroup, think, re-think, learn and unlearn some of the things you learned in order to decide which road to take next. Our knowledge of the world is limited, our perception of the world is groomed by the education we receive from our parents, by our culture, by the historical period we live in, by the rigidity of our mind. Have an open mind.
  • Give you access to free mentorship. Reading about people’s successes and failures and what they have learned from them is an excellent short-cut to acquiring wisdom without having to experience those same mistakes yourself. Books are a way to have access to the best minds that have ever lived. Need a mentor? Read the words of your favorite authors and role models.
  •  Give you Inspiration and motivation. Well-chosen words can breathe hope into you when your spirit is broken and revive you when your body is weary. The right words can redeem the wrong you feel, it can redeem the feeling of hopelessness that weighs heavy on your heart and can give you flight after a hard landing.

Why you should add ‘This Is your Quest’ to your reading list.

‘If you only read the books that everyone else is reading you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”

Haruki Marukami

There are a lot of wisdom and hidden truths out there that have been forgotten or hidden away.  I wrote my book because I had a desire to explore the ins and out of what matters, to dig deep on subjects that affect all of us and then bring them to the surface and show its significance to all the curious souls out there who have a desire to become the best version of themselves. You will find in my book a treasure trove of insights and wisdom. Words have tremendous energy and power, they can educate, heal and illuminate the mind.

This is Your Quest

For the skeptics, I refer you to the wise words of  Les Brown who pointed out: “If you want to experience a sense of fulfillment you have to have an open-mind, so that new ideas can take root. Part of having fertile ground is the ability to break up that hard crust first, because if you plant seeds there, the wind will blow them away.” My book is the tool that can help you break that crust, allowing new seeds to take root. 

This Is Your Quest is the story you want to hear. Why? Because it is your story, the one that I wrote for each and every one of you.  People should live the story they want to tell. Your life is your story, and your mission is to write the best story you can and have lots of adventures along the way. 

We wouldn’t need books so much if we knew ourselves and the people around us better. Do you know who you are? Do you know why people do the things they do? Those two questions will dictate pretty much everything that happens in your life and turn it a pleasant experience or on the contrary an unpleasant one. That is where books come in. They explain us to ourselves and to others, and makes us feel less strange, less isolated and less alone.

The Quest for clarity is an endless pursuit. We all seek it. We all want clear answers to our questions. We all want clear solutions to our problems. We all want clear paths to follow along the road to a happy and successful life. We all want to move from a state of confusion, which brings with it a lot of suffering to a state of clarity, which brings joy and happiness. 

I see my book as being a small beam of light that is shining in the distance, and I am hoping that all the curious souls out there will be drawn to it, and once they grab it will open their mind and will bring them some clarity.  

This is my hope, and this is my Quest.  Are you ready to go on your own Quest? 


If you liked this post you can follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook, or you may also like:

For more on this subject you can purchase my book This is Your Quest online at BookLocker, from Amazon or from Barnes & Noble.  The Ebook version is available on Amazon (Kindle), Barnes & Noble (Nook), Apple (iBooks) & Kobo. Check out my Amazon Author Page here or my listing on Booksradar.com.