Forget get rich quick schemes, relationship advice or another twelve-week challenge, this book is all about shaking it off and getting into the adventure that is life! Jess is many things, she's fresh out of the 'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Outta Here!" jungle, she's a mum, a radio host and television presenter, and she keeps it real.
What is your favourite thing about yourself?
Knowing that organically I am a compulsive over-thinker and my harshest critic, but this is also the drive to have the curiosity to research and develop ways to find confidence and emotional freedom.
In your spare time, what’s your favourite genre to read?
Self-help, philosophy and neurological science specialising in why we think and how we can change it. What piece of advice would you give to someone who would love to make changes in their life but can’t quite work out where to start? It starts with the understanding of why you think the way you do and developing a roadmap to change the habits in which you think. Understanding why we can’t start - like a lack of self-worth or lack of belief - and working on that will give you the confidence to not fail once you start. Once you understand the way you think you can identify when your brain is flicking back into the muscle memory of a negative habit. You can recognise it as a bad habit rather than a failure, thus being much easier to adjust without all of your inferior failure complexes igniting within you and needing a bottle of wine to cope!
What was/is your favourite book to read to your children?
Tickle Monster by Josie Bickett. My children are 4 and 6. The tickle monster is a light-hearted book that incorporates tickling your children and enjoying each other’s company. I like it because my 6-year-old son can read it (I do the tickling) and it has the right amount of reading and play. I’m a big believer that every book doesn’t necessarily need a written lesson but it needs to make you feel a certain way at the end. This book makes my children laugh, it makes them feel loved as we play and it teaches my son to read.
What is the most challenging part of writing a book like this? What did you learn about yourself?
The last thing I wanted was to be preachy. I’ve read many books written my millionaires or biographies about Olympians but, to be honest, most of them made me feel like shit because they are written by exceptional people with traits and skills I can only dream of! As much as I tell myself never give up, I’m never going to the Olympics for triple jump. This book is written by someone equally or much more f*cked up than you. And through research and trialed and tested methods I’m now living an emotionally free life.
If you had the power to snap your fingers and change one thing in the world, what would it be?
Greed.
What is the worst/most useless/most ridiculous piece of advice you’ve ever received?
“It could be worse!” Well of course it could be bloody worse!! Right now, you might be thinking: I’m severely unhappy but there’s nothing majorly wrong…so rather than fighting for a better life I should just sit down and be grateful that I’m not dying of a disease, starving or have two broken legs? NO WAY! Fight for your quality of life!
Why do you think people hold themselves back from taking a leap and staring to do all the incredible things they want to do with their life? It’s far more false-validating to tell ourselves that we could do that but we choose not to, rather than baring our souls and risking failure. It’s the guilt we have on ourselves for putting ourselves first or before our families when in actuality it’s our families that suffer when our soul isn’t alive. It’s the messages we tell ourselves of “what if” when you should be saying “why wouldn’t ya?”.
It’s the realisation that your happiness is worth it. Progression and accomplishment is what keeps our soul alive. Yet to achieve something you’ll probably fail a few times. It’s the difference between living and existing.
What is something you know now that you wished you knew when you were 21?
When someone gives you opinion about yourself, that opinion is coming from a grossly underqualified person. Because that person isn’t you. Only you know what you’re capable of and the quality in which you are going to do it. Yet insecure people, people on their own journey of self-doubt and discovery, may unwittingly project their lack of accomplishment onto you. Because you’re young, you’re naïve enough to think what people tell you is the truth. But it’s not. It’s an opinion and it’s probably wrong if it’s a negative one. Don’t use the expectations of others around you to define your own expectations. Don’t even use it as a bloody guide! Make your own without any interference. Shoot for the stars!
Do you have an unusual skill or talent that would surprise people?
I can use my cheeks as drums and play whatever song you request on them by differing the firmness of each cheek to make a different note.
Why Wouldn't Ya? is published by Macmillan Australia. It is available now in print, ebook and audio. Check it out here, or follow Jess on her socials here. Why wouldn't ya?