I write on topics that will help you to get a better handle on Life. Though I don't like the term 'self-help', that's the genre my books fit into. All my topics are chosen to provide you with practical skills to help with 'personal and professional development'. This rather cumbersome term means getting to better understand yourself and using your natural talents and skills to improve your quality of life (and work). Unless you are some sort of egomaniac, you certainly have skills and talents which you are unware of, or which you under-use. My job, as I see it, is to write and talk about this huge, untapped potential in a way that is light, accessible, and above all useful to anyone who is interested. As we face the inevitable trials and challenges that Life throws at us, there's a lot we can do to alleviate our discomfort or suffering, if we only knew how. That's where I come in. My strapline – during 30 years as a brief therapist and workplace consultant – has always been 'Life doesn't have to be like that'. A little background (and some ego): At school, I excelled at failing, except in writing, which I was told I could do well. Nevertheless, and though I wrote prolifically, my dented confidence meant that I didn't publish a book (for photographers) until I was past 40. I've been a serial job-changer and entrepreneur. I worked in the wine trade, as a clothing designer and manufacturer, furniture maker, translator, technical consultant and many jobs which I've forgotten. Unlike my experience at school, I never failed in any of my career choices. Though I frequently struggled to make ends meet, I always paid my bills, eventually, and I co-produced four wonderful and successful children in more than one marriage. In tandem with my main jobs, I also worked as an editor on trade magazines in the textile and optician sectors, until I co-founded one on psychology, with a fellow therapist, in the early 1990s. For many years I have also worked as an organisational consultant, trainer and lecturer. I taught conflict resolution and mediation skills at the University of London, and many thousands of people have attended my training events in the UK and overseas. That's enough about me. I have said what I have because my life experience has equipped me to write on my chosen topics. My books are self-explanatory, and I hope this bio does the same job. You can find out more at www.barrywinbolt.com, and you can email me via the same site.
