Thank you so much for taking the time to send your wonderful comment. It’s fantastic that your life has improved so much and from our perspective it’s an honour if U Turn have played even the smallest part in those changes. I am a great believer that openly acknowledging gratitude for your improved life helps to cement those positive changes into the way you think and makes it all the more difficult to slip back into old bad habits that no longer fit into your life.

I also believe that even if only one paragraph in a book says something to you that makes a significant difference it was worth getting through the whole book to read that one tiny part.

The Alchemist is a great book and Paul Coehlo is a wonderful writer and as I have a holiday looming then I think a re-read is a really good idea – so thanks for the prompt.

Well done you for all the hard work you have done this year – I know it’s already paying dividends and will continue to do so for the rest of your days.

If anyone would like to buy this book you can get it by clicking on this link: The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream It’s only £3.99 and worth every penny.

Much love
Jules

Anyway, about a week later, a parcel arrived in the post with a nice card and a book inside. The book was ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coehlo. Initially I didn’t really realise the significance of the book to my life but she was perseptive enough to know that it would be very useful to me over the next twelve months. Now I would certainly not say that this book alone inspired me to dramatically change my life (and definitely not in 7 days Jules!); there were so many factors, pressures and influences, just that it seemed to parallel a journey that I was about to embark on. Being a very inconsistent reader, I read the book by dipping into it once every week or two and read another chapter, or even sometimes just a paragraph. Hence it actually took me the full twelve months to complete it. I finished the book two weeks ago, the week before she was due to visit Newcastle again after travelling the whole world! By the time I reached the end of the novel, a stark realisation occurred…that I had completed a journey that directly parallelled the voyage of discovery in the book. Now I didn’t see the sights of the world, like my friend and the character in ‘The Alchemist’, but I found exactly what I needed to know right here. It was often a very painful and distressing journey, but I know now that it was one that I had to travel. I have learned more about self-control, humility and dignity in the last twelve months than I could have ever learned without making the changes I have. I have also discovered the joy of real happiness and contentment that only comes from being true to myself and the people around me.

After returning, my friend knew that she would never be happy going back to her previous career that she had worked and studied so hard for. She made the brave decision to completely change her career and has landed a very, very good job as a trainee psychotherapist already. I also now have a completely different life to the one I had twelve months ago. I have a new business that is growing strong and with integrity. I have a relationship that gets better and better all of the time. My health is vastly improved. Stress nearly killed me a year ago (no exaggeration!). That stress came from being so terribly unhappy and from pursuing a career that was wrong for me. I now understand that happiness is the key to success, positivity is the key to new horizons and empathy / understanding is the key to fruitful relationships.

It took a lot more than 7 days for me to change my life! I wish I had done it a long time ago! However once I took the bull by the horns (very begrudgingly and belatedly, and with a lot of support from friends, family and a certain coach!) my life began to improve. Like the boy in ‘The Alchemist’, I didn’t think that my life was improving initially, it was harder and more challenging. But I was following my destiny, listening to the signs around me and becoming the person I was always meant to me.

Thanks to every single person who has helped along the way. U Turn has been a large and significant part of my journey, thank you.

self help books can be very useful if only to focus yourself and galvanise the forces within