Read Me First

Before You Write The Next Chapter In The Story Of You

If only life came with a set of instructions – we've all said it at one point, trying to make sense of something that's happened or figuring out what we want our future to look like. For success coach and global speaker Lisa Stephenson, it's something she hears every day, and has written a book to provide just that.

In Read Me First, Lisa draws upon decades of experience helping people all over the world achieve success (in its many forms), to provide a guidebook for those looking to create positive personal change. It's also the book Lisa wishes someone had given her when she found herself suddenly single with three young children, and needed a new plan. Her personal story is real, relatable and told from the heart.

Filled with thought-provoking coaching questions and strategies to challenge your thinking, Lisa provides the framework to allow readers to reflect and take action. They'll learn:

Where you are now and where you want to be
Practical strategies for creating a successful life
Thought-provokers to redesign your life
Life 'must-haves' for an emotionally healthy you
Ways to build momentum for your next chapter

Uplifting, practical and filled with personality, Read Me First empowers readers with the tools they need to coach themselves to a successful future. What's your next chapter going to be?

Lisa Stephenson is a global speaker, success coach, facilitator, MC, author and founder of a global, Australian-based consulting firm. Over the years she has worked with some of the biggest global names, CEOs, elite athletes and entrepreneurs. In this book, Lisa will challenge and inspire you, while holding you accountable for going after what you need and want. She is known for her targeted approach, deep care for her clients, confronting questions and for laughing at her own jokes.

Read Me First: Before You Write The Next Chapter In The Story Of You
Major Street Publishing
Author: Lisa Stephenson
ISBN: 9780648238768
RRP: $24.95

Interview with Lisa Stephenson

Question: What inspired you to write Read Me First?

Lisa Stephenson: My life didn't go according to plan. The first 'chapters' of my life were a bit of a fairy tale: I grew up beside the beach in a stable and happy family unit, surrounded by good friends and family. Then, a marriage and three children later, the fairy tale crashed down around me and I'm crying at the bottom of the shower. My husband left and he didn't come back. I knew it was up to me to create a new version of happiness and success for myself. Read Me First is the book I wish I had been able to pick up off the shelf at that time. It's such a privilege to share my life learnings and those of my coaching clients with others so that we can all consciously write the next chapters in our stories.


Question: Why was it important to you to create a practical workbook?

Lisa Stephenson: Being a success coach is my superpower. That means I ask lots of questions and trust people to come up with their own answers and solutions. I wrote my book to be uplifting, practical and filled with content that will really empower people to drive change in their lives and create their own personal version of success. Read Me First provides readers with the tools they need to coach themselves to a successful future. If we want things to be different, we need to write it out, own it and do the work required. I've never met anyone who really was an overnight success.


Question: What's involved in your work as a success coach?

Lisa Stephenson: I work with both individuals and organisations in a number of ways. I have a global consulting business, Who Am I Projects, with a team of highly skilled coaches and facilitators. This creates incredible opportunities for us to work with people around the world. I also have a private coaching practice and love to share my stories and learnings from the stage as a keynote speaker. Being a coach is the greatest privilege. People say things out loud to me that they've never said before and, by doing that, they often learn that vulnerability is what builds strength and emotional intelligence. As your success coach, I will ask questions you don't know the answers to, hold you accountable to your own goals, reflect back what I am seeing in your behaviour and support you in designing a plan that will get you results. Amazing.


Question: What types of life instructions are included in Read Me First?

Lisa Stephenson: Read Me First is filled with thought-provoking coaching questions and strategies to challenge your thinking. I provide the framework to allow readers to reflect and take action. Readers will learn where they are now and where they want to be going forward. I have created practical strategies for creating a successful life and written thought-provokers to redesign the life they are living now. Readers will also discover life 'must-haves' for an emotionally healthy version of themselves and I share ways to build momentum for your next chapter.


Question: Can you share some of the thought-provoking coaching questions included?

Lisa Stephenson: Yes! That's like asking me if I want a glass of wine on a Friday night. I'll start by sharing one of my favourite quotes in the book, 'No one is coming to fix anything for you. It really is up to you'. There are hundreds of questions in Read Me First and they are designed to trigger, provoke and support the reader into identifying what is and is not working in their life, with the goal of creating a plan to consciously design the next chapter in their life.
Here's a sample of the questions I put to my readers:
1. Is success the same as happiness?
2. What decisions would I make if I trusted my instincts and believed in my own potential?
3. What have I always wanted to do, but not done?
4. What do I need to unlearn?
5. Am I prepared to do what is required?


Question: What's next, for you? So many things, and I can't wait! I am a single Mum of three children so, like many others, I am doing the dance of life and all that it brings. An African Safari is on my to-do list and I've got a very clear vision on where I am taking my consulting business. Read Me First is a platform for me to really share everything I have learnt about myself and the extraordinary individuals I have been working with over the last 20 years, so watch out for me doing lots of speaking events and media. Oh! And I am learning to date, so that's interesting. Watch this space.


Interview by Brooke Hunter

Read Me First: Before You Write The Next Chapter In The Story Of You
Major Street Publishing
Author: Lisa Stephenson
ISBN: 9780648238768
RRP: $24.95