Today I'd like to welcome Julie Wise to the table. We are chatting today in this beautiful serene garden overlooking the pond. Welcome Julie and thank you for joining me today. I also had the pleasure of reviewing your book, it was truly enjoyable. So with that said, I am also offering 2 giveaways today. I am giving away a copy of Julie's book, Dream Bigger, and one $10 Amazon Gift Card. Rules for entry to my giveaway are after my review :).
First, a little bit about Julie.
Name: Julie Wise
Title of book: Dream BIGGER: Reclaiming a Life of Joy and Ease
Bio: Julie Wise is a professional life and relationship coach who works with people to take their dreams from wishing into reality. She knows from personal experience the challenge of starting over when your dream has fallen apart. Instead of giving up, she learned how to reinvent herself and discovered that there is always a bigger (and better) dream waiting to happen. In her new book, Dream BIGGER: Reclaiming a Life of Joy and Ease, she offers a fresh, practical and hands-on approach to inspire readers to overcome their challenges and achieve their heartfelt desires.
BK: Julie, please tell us a little about yourself.
JW: I’m a professional life and relationship coach and my focus is on helping people identify what they want in their lives and then working with them to make it happen. I’ve spent my life reinventing myself, so the skills I’ve developed over the years are what I share with clients as well as with readers in my new book Dream BIGGER. To give you some examples, I graduated from university as a translator and have also worked as an ice dancing coach, a newspaper editor, an artist creating wall designs, and a consultant on community projects across Canada and even in Argentina. I’ve found that there are always new ways to repackage my skills, and unexpected opportunities waiting around the next corner.
BK: What inspired you to pen your first title?
JW: I believe that we all have dreams, things we’d like to do, be or have in our lives. As we become adults, we often set these dreams aside because they don’t seem “practical” or “realistic” and we focus on getting jobs to pay the bills. Sometimes we reach for our dream and things don’t work out, so we give up. There’s a price to pay for not living our dreams – we become unhappy and frustrated and wonder what happened to the person we used to be. I wrote this book because I know there’s a better way! By acknowledging our dreams and taking steps each day toward achieving them, we connect with who we really are, life becomes more enjoyable and we’re a lot more fun to be around!
BK: How long have you been writing?
JW: I’ve been writing my whole life. As a child, I created books with my own stories and illustrations. My first career was as a professional translator, although I continued to dabble with writing as the author of a bimonthly newspaper column. Later I became the editor of a community newspaper and started writing short stories, poetry (and the occasional novel) on the side. In December 2009, as I was writing a book about my travels in Ireland, the idea for Dream BIGGER emerged and insisted on taking center stage. It’s my first published book.
BK: What was the hardest part about writing this book?
JW: Writing this book was one of the easiest things I’ve ever done. From the moment the idea first came to me, the words just flowed every time I sat down to write. The only challenge I faced was creating a writing structure so that I would be sure to keep the momentum going. I decided to write for 2-4 hours every single day, regardless of other commitments. Once I set this up in my daytimer, and began to write, the rest was easy.
BK: Have any dreams been realized as a result of your writing?
JW: This book is a dream come true on many levels. I’ve always wanted to be a published author, and now I am. It’s a thrill to see my name on the cover, and to find the book listed at Amazon. However, it’s also part of a much bigger dream. The book itself came to me, insisting on being written. I believe that the message wanted to be voiced and it was my job to be the scribe. Now that it exists in book form, it can go out into the world and help many people bring their dreams to life. I find the possibilities exciting!
BK: Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?
JW: I’d love for everyone to understand that life doesn’t have to be a struggle. Yes, there will always be challenges and things will happen that we don’t like. But by reconnecting to the dream for our life, we move from struggle into ease and from disappointment into joy. It becomes easier to handle the challenges that come our way, our life becomes more rewarding, and we inspire others around us, making our communities a better place to live.
BK: Where do you hope to take your writing in the future?
JW: Now that Dream BIGGER is out there in the world, I’ve started working on the story of my 3-month journey through Ireland in 2008 to connect with the land, the people and my ancestral heritage. It’s the book I’d started writing last December when the idea for Dream BIGGER came to me and wouldn’t let go. And it’s definitely an example of me dreaming bigger – heading to Ireland at a time when I didn’t have work or income, and choosing to travel alone by foot, bus and train. It’s fun to be back writing again and delving into the memories and experiences of fiddle music, wild northern coasts, misty rain and rainbows!
BK: What advice do you have for writers just starting out?
JW: Write. Read. Live life.
Write about what excites you, whether it’s in a blog, a journal, emails or newsletter. Read and notice how your favorite authors write. By writing you’ll develop your style, and by reading you’ll learn more about what captures a reader’s attention. Creative writing courses can be helpful. I also belonged to an editing circle for a few years. We’d meet once a month, share ten pages of whatever we were working on at the time, and give each other constructive feedback on our material. Being with other writers occasionally can help keep you motivated, since writing is a solitary profession.
Above all, live life fully. Then you’ll have far richer experiences to share with your readers.
BK: Anything else you would like to share with us today?
JW: I’d encourage everyone to dust off one of their dreams and get started on making it happen. Living our dreams is what makes life enjoyable (and makes us fun to be with!) One thing readers can do is enter the Dream BIGGER Reinvention Challenge (http://www.dreambiggercontest.com). It’s an online contest where they can post a video about their dream, get a free gift from me with tips about making dreams real, and become eligible to win $3600 in prizes. The prizes are designed to help the winners make their dream come true. My dream is to help 100,000 people dream bigger in the coming year, and the book and contest are my way of reaching as many people as I can.
About the book:
When life's challenges get you down, and you feel like giving up on your heartfelt desires, it's not time to quit. It's time to dream even bigger! This book is filled with inspiring true stories, simple tools and exercises, and plenty of motivation. Learn how to re-chart your course and bring more joy and ease into your life as you pursue your dreams.
Blurb:
Most people have a dream. For some, it’s something they’ve wanted since childhood but have never told a soul. For others, it may be something they tried once, and it didn’t work out so they gave up on it. Perhaps you have a dream that you keep dismissing because it seems risky or impractical. Our dreams make difficult times more bearable. They also bring joy into our lives, and inspire those around us. However, it takes more than a good imagination to make those dreams come true. It’s also about taking action and staying motivated. First, you need a clear idea of what you want. If you’re not sure, spend some time remembering your childhood and what you imagined you’d do with your life. The seeds to your dream are often found there. Once you know what your dream is, get to know it in detail. What does it feel like to be there? Who are you with, how are you dressed, what’s happening around you? Get familiar with it so that it’s easy to connect to that feeling whenever you need motivation. What’s stopping you from having that in your life right now? Make a list of any challenges or obstacles. The list is intended to give you ideas for actions, not to discourage you from moving forward, so don’t get too bogged down by it. Now take a look at the items on your list. What skills and resources do you have to meet those challenges? Who else can you call on for additional assistance? Talk to supportive friends and family members about your dream and see what ideas they have to help you move forward.
Take all of these ideas and resources and put them together into an action plan. This is a list of the steps you can take to make your dream a reality. Every day, check your list and pick one action you can take. Each time you take a step, celebrate, knowing that you’re that much closer to the life of your dreams.
Five Steps to Your Dream
1. Identify your dream
2. Make a list of your challenges
3. Develop a list of skills and resources
to meet those challenges
4. Create an action plan
5. Take one action each day toward
the life of your dreams
My Review:
Dream Bigger by Julie Wise is a great book to explore self recognition, finding ones dreams, realizing you have the potential to unlock the doors in your path.
Learning a little bit about Julie's struggles along the way, and how she overcame them, Julie teaches you how you can realize your dreams and successfully reach them.
We all have the potential to open the doors to our destined paths, it's just that most of us don't know how, or even what our destiny is or what our dreams are.
In Dream Bigger, Julie takes you on a self recognition journey, teaching you how to unleash the power within yourself to reach your dreams, and even how to realize what your dreams are through her included exercises.
My favorite quote that I took from her book is, "I seem to have to go through a breakdown right before a breakthrough."
How many of us feel like this? Or that we are always faced with obstacles? Julie will teach you how to face these obstacles head on, deal with them and move on in the steps to reaching your dreams.
Included are some inspirational stories of those that have figured out what their dreams were, and either reached them or are in the process of being well on their way.
The book is well formatted, with exercises, links, and even links to downloadable pdf's to help keep you organized and on track. Easy to follow along and a quick read as well.
Wise did a fantastic job with Dream Bigger and I give it ***** (5) Stars. BK Walker
Entry for Dream Bigger and $10 Amazon Gift Card:
Mandatory - Leave a comment for Julie, telling her one of your life's dreams and/or struggles to reach it and include your email address.
It's not necessary to follow my blog but would be greatly appreciated. Giveaway ends December 9 and winner will be drawn using Random Number Generator and posted December 10.
Thank you all for stopping in and thank you Julie for taking time to chat with me today.
