The Benefits of Reading "A Lifetime of Personal Power

Video transcript.

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Dr Janin:

Well, here’s Dr Janin again, talking about my book “A Lifetime of Personal Power”. And, if I were you, I would be wondering why should I buy this book – yet another book. Well, I would like to share my reasons of why it is worthwhile reading for you.

And the first main reason is because the book can help you to be more gentle towards yourself. It’s my experience that people can be very hard about themselves and very often stand in their own way in life because they are so much obsessing about negative things from the past. My book is an inspiration for you to focus on the opportunities of the future and to move forward, and to have scientific-based knowledge can empower you to do that. So that’s my first main reason. Stop blaming yourself. Empower yourself with knowledge. The things you think are so exceptional and you are the problem – they may be quite,  just simply – age related challenges.

Another good reason for reading this book is something I’d like to just cross check with you. It will deepen your empathy for other people. The book is full of real life examples. Examples of things that happen a lot in people’s lives. They happen a lot, and my readers come back to me and say they can identify with so and so in the book and if they could solve their problem, so can I.

So, typical case studies in the book will be: The young men and women whose parents put pressure on them to make the safe choices, but that’s not where their heart lies. Business owners who suffer from discovering fraud in the businesses that they worked so hard to build up. It’s the working mothers with the career and the toddlers and the lack of sleep. Exhausted. Typical, very recognisable problem for many women. The 40 year olds whose partners have divorced them. Mid-lifers who cannot find employment . They have to become entrepreneurs. In South Africa, a very, very apt situation. We meet it a lot around us. The managers. Promoted to a position and suffering from an anxiety that you won’t be able to cope and there is no-one you can confess it to. And then – another example … I am a woman. The menopause woman who think they’ve just lost the plot.

Empathy is very important in life and knowledge fosters empathy. You may have recognised already some of the cases that I have spoken about. Many readers actually say that having read this book it helps them in their family life because they can understand better where the different generations come from and how to deal with that. 

I would then like to share another reason for using this book and that is if you are perhaps in a teaching position – you are an adult educator, you’re an HR manager, you are a manager – it’s your responsibility to direct relationships with the people you deal with. You can apply this knowledge in how you fulfil your role more successfully. Grant the younger people their adventure. Allow them to take responsibility for what they do. The managerial age category – those people can do wonders for your organisation. You can drive them hard, but do create managerial opportunities for them and give them the supportive training that they need. The mid-lifers. Don’t ridicule people if they go through an introvert time assessing their values. Give people the space and listen to them. A whole lot of power can come out of that transition in mid-life. And then, your older people. Avoid ageism at all costs. Don’t look down on people because they are older. I have seen so many successful cases of succession transfer where everybody benefits.

And then, of course, as a woman, I have great respect for the founding fathers of this discipline about the life cycle, but they were men – older generation than myself. They taught me a lot, but they have a very traditional – they had a very traditional mindset about women, and I have upgraded us – us women. I make sure we’ve got 50% of the limelight here and that our women power is taken seriously.

I really think that the final reason for reading a good book is – when you are a bookwork, like me – then you will find here a book of substance that will satisfy your hunger. Enjoy the read.