KEEPING IT REAL

About The Book

Growing up I was constantly told who to be, what to be, and how to be. I was torn between two cultures and didn’t fit in at school, nor did I really fit in at home, but I did my best to conform at all times, in all environments. To stay safe, I spent a lot of time listening and observing everyone and everything around me. I figured out how to translate my thoughts into words that would influence the people around me to get what I wanted and needed, while keeping them happy by giving them what they needed too. Once I started working full-time, I was already programmed to think and operate in a certain way and it turns out, it worked in my favor.

In the corporate world, I continued to learn about people, behaviors and what it takes to make things happen. Sometimes I tried and failed. Most times, I tried and succeeded. For over 40 years, life and work have been a data-gathering exercise. I’ve spotted patterns and figured out formulas, and I now use these insights to help my C-Suite clients be effective, powerful, and successful leaders.

This book is part memoir, part leadership advice, but mainly a sneak peek into how I think and operate. Many of these stories and laws have been shared with my clients, in sessions. It’s given them the exact insights they’ve needed to apply to themselves at a point in time and has inspired them to amend their approaches to get them the outcomes they want. My hope is that my stories will benefit you too.

Intention

Some of my stories will surprise you, others will make you laugh, others will make you think. I’ve shared mess, I’ve shared success. The intention behind writing this book is for folks to:

• not feel alone when things are tough

• see there may be another way to think about and manage a situation

• get clear on who they are and what they want

• learn tactics on not just what to do about things that aren’t going the way they want, but how to do it

• laugh

• gain confidence

• know it’s OK to be human

• own their circumstances and take control

Progress

I’m almost done with writing the first draft of my manuscript. This will be formally submitted to my developmental editor on March 31st, 2024. This will be followed by structural editing and what I assume will be an instruction to rewrite 80% of the manuscript. Following the submission of my second draft, the manuscript will be sent to a copy editor to correct any errors I missed during my rewrite. All this, I’ve been told, will take us through to the end of October 2024 at the earliest.

Side note - if you meet anyone that makes writing a book sound easy, they’re lying. It takes patience and focus. And frankly, it’s made me cry and erupt in eczema and resort to eating anything in sight. But I’m determined to get this done. If my stories, thoughts, and the laws I now live by help just one person, it will have been worth it.

Publishing

The target publication date of “Keeping it Real” is December 2024, with pre-sales going live in July 2024. If you’d like to be informed when the pre-sale campaign goes live, please enter your details below, and I’ll be in touch!

I appreciate your support.

~ Paru