Nadia Giordana–Embody Your Vision

Introduction by Nadia Giordana: I’m so excited, we have a wonderful guest with us today. Martine Brennan is a life and business coach in County Kerry, Ireland. She is also a qualified counselor and psychotherapist who formerly worked with people living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in London, England. Martine is a Contented Living Expert on selfgrowth.com, and one of the easiest ways to find her is to go to www.HappinessItsJustaHabit.com. Or you can simply Google the name, Martine Brennan, and you’ll have no trouble finding her. We also have Martine’s contact information and web address posted on her interview page here at Interviews with Extraordinary Women and at my blog of the same name at NadiaGiordana.com. Welcome, Martine.

Martine: Hi Nadia, thank you, I’m so happy to be here.

NG: Well, let’s get to it. Naturally Martine, the first question I want to ask you is what was going on in your life that made you decide to write a book about happiness?

Martine: Five years ago my whole world turned upside down. I was lost in grief and couldn’t find my way out. After about ten months, I was standing at my kitchen window and I saw a robin on the clothesline. For several minutes, I was entranced as I watched him hopping along, his jerky head movements, the drops of rain glistening in the weak morning sunlight. I didn’t dare move for fear he would fly away. Afterwards, I realised that just for those few moments, I had been entranced, happy, enjoying the absolute beauty of the moment. It struck me then that even in the midst of grief there were still moments like these, that I could be happy, even though it was just for a tiny while. So I began to watch out for those moments waiting like buried treasure in the scorched earth of my life.

I went back to work and whether it was the doom and gloom in the media, or people beginning to experience hard times, the questions began to come. “How do I live a happy life?” “What makes me happy?” I began to build up the questions and suggestions that eventually became “Happiness it’s just a habit” I began to see that underneath or behind every goal that people set themselves in the coaching sessions was the goal to be happy, to enjoy their lives. Whether the goal was to breathe life into a tired relationship, or find a new job or build their dream home, the feeling that each person was trying to capture was happiness.

I had joined a group which supports women in business. Often people asked me what I did in my coaching work. I was finding it harder and harder to answer this question. I had changed and my work was changing too. I decided it was time to take this to a coach whose work I respected. She suggested I write a leaflet which I could give to people who made enquiries.

I began to write about the work I was doing. The only way I could write was to tell myself that no-one would ever read what I had written. Otherwise, I became completely blocked and spent all my time wondering how people would react to this and how they would react to that. I could spend hours agonising over a phrase or a suggestion. So I just kept telling myself no-one will ever read this.

Suddenly the words began to flow. I thought of clients I had worked with who had turned their lives around. I remembered the joy on their faces and the excitement in their voices. I thought of the letters and calls I had received when people had built the house, married the person they loved or simply rediscovered their joy. I thought of people I admired who lived happy, fulfilling, rewarding lives. I thought of how they organised and structured their lives. I wrote and wrote and wrote and enjoyed every minute of it. And suddenly my leaflet had become a small book. Then every thing really began to change.

NG: Independent publishing is fast becoming more widely recognized as a viable option for today’s new authors. Tell us about how you went about publishing your book.

Martine: The bald answer Nadia, is that I knew nothing, absolutely nada, duck egg, nothing about getting published. But I had written a book, a very small book, but a book nonetheless! Temporarily I put the book aside. I felt absolutely overwhelmed but I knew that this was because I had never learned how to do it. I decided to set myself the task of learning all I could about publishing.

I told myself I would simply research the subject of publishing and that I need make no decision until I had my research done. This worked for me! I went off to the library, I borrowed books and read magazines about mainstream publishing and self-publishing. I spoke to the only author I had ever met, Mary Carroll author of Women Drive Tractors Too. I asked her how she did it. I listened and learned. I joined relevant groups on Linkedin where there was a mine of information. It quickly became clear to me that going mainstream would defer the time until the book was in print. I began to lean towards self publishing. A close friend helped me and introduced me to a graphic designer. Finally, I was sitting there getting a price for self publishing and it was within my reach.

What a day that was! I went to my local Credit Union and spoke to the manager. She told me what my repayments would be on the amount in question. I found out that I could afford to make my dream come true! I took a deep breath and phoned the graphic designer and said go ahead and order the first print run. Then the celebration started.

NG: I’d love to hear what you learned from this process.

Martine: 1. I learned that often in life we rule out opportunity because WE DON’T HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION WE NEED. So go do your research, find out HOW you can get that HGV license, or publish that book or live in a warmer country.

2. I learned I can’t do it all myself so go talk to people who can. Don’t decide before you start that you can’t afford the graphic design or the website or the proof reading. Ask for recommendations for people who can do those jobs. Ask them to give you quotations. If you haven’t got enough money, maybe you can exchange skills with the other person.

3. People are so generous. They really want to help you. But you have to ASK. And if one person says no, find someone else.

4. Make a decision that you will keep learning and trying until you succeed. People sometimes said to me “How will you do that?” My answer was often “I don’t know YET but I intend to find out.”

And when you are on the way to making YOUR dream come true, pass on the helping hand that you have been given. This action will not only bring you joy but it may also increase your success.

NG: I love the line you just used, “I don’t know yet, but I intend to find out.” So now, let’s talk about the book itself: Happiness it’s just a habit.

Martine: It is written in the form of a day book, 30 days of questions and suggestions to help the reader discover what makes them happy and then put their discoveries into practise. Each page has crisp, colourful graphics that have already been compared to Dorling Kindersley. Elaine Foley a local graphic designer found the graphics for me. The book was printed locally so it bears the PRINT IRISH logo which we are very proud of.

Most of the exercises take 10 minutes or less to do and the book is so small you can slip it into your suit pocket or handbag. People who do the 30 days tell me that they find the habit of happiness slips into their lives as easily as the book slips into their pockets!　

NG: It is indeed, conveniently pocket-sized. What would you say is the central belief (or core message) of Happiness it’s just a habit?

Martine: The happiest people are those who know what they enjoy doing and do lots of it. That is why I say happiness is not expensive, complicated or difficult to achieve!　

NG: I also see that you have a lot going on on your website, would you like to tell us about it?

Martine: First thing we are doing is running a competition. If you have someone in your life that you would like to thank in a different kind of a way, write in and tell us about the person. We will be giving away one book a month, absolutely free, during 2010 to one of these unsung heroes.

You can also now join in to receive a tip about being happy the easy way once a fortnight by entering your email address in the box provided on the right side of the page.

NG:  Martine Brennan, it’s been a pleasure having you here today. You’re an extraordinary and innovative woman and I’m glad you took the time to talk with us. Before we say goodbye, I want to remind listeners that one of the easiest ways to find you on the Internet is to Google your name, Martine Brennan: M-A-R-T-I-N-E  B-R-E-N-N-A-N and the words, “Happiness, it’s just a habit” and they’ll have no trouble finding you.

Martine:  Thank you Nadia, and God Bless You.