This book is a Get Out of Jail Free card and a passport back into the playground.

The aim of this book is to set you free. But free from what? Free from neurosis. Free from the feeling that you have to obey authority. Free from emotional intimidation. Free from addiction. Free from inhibition.

The key to happiness, mental health and being the most that we can be is absolute and unconditional self-acceptance. The paradox is that many of our problems are caused by trying to improve ourselves, censor our thinking, make up for past misdeeds and struggling with our negative feelings whether of depression or aggression.

But if we consider ourselves in our entirety in this very moment, we know these things :

1. Anything we have done is in the past and cannot be changed, thus it is pointless to do anything else but accept it. No regrets or guilt.

2. While our actions can harm others, our thoughts and emotions, in and of themselves, never can. So we should accept them and allow them to be and go where they will. While emotions sometimes drive actions, those who completely accept their emotions and allow themselves to feel them fully, have more choice over how they act in the light of them.

Self-criticism never made anyone a better person. Anyone who does a “good deed” under pressure from their conscience or to gain the approval of others takes out the frustration involved in some other way. The basis for loving behaviour towards others is the ability to love ourselves. And loving ourselves unconditionally, means loving ourselves exactly as we are at this moment.

This might seem to be complacency, but in fact the natural activity of the individual is healthy growth, and what holds us back from it is fighting with those things we can’t change and the free thought and emotional experience which is the very substance of that growth.


How to Be Free is available as a free ebook from Smashwords, iBooks in some countries, Kobo and Barnes & Noble

The audiobook is available for free from iTunes and Google Play.

It is also available in paperback from Lulu or Amazon for $10 US, plus postage.

The ebook version currently has received 1,163 ***** out of ***** ratings on U.S. iBooks.

The audiobook version currently has received 128 ***** out of ***** ratings on U.S. iBooks and a 4.5 out of 5 average from 103 ratings on GooglePlay.

Saturday 6 June 2020

How to Be Free - The Audiobook



How to Be Free has been available as an audiobook for several months now. It is available on the following platforms :


It is proving particularly popular on Apple iTunes and Google Play.



My original idea was to narrate an audiobook version myself. This proved difficult, partly because I'm very self-conscious as a reader and partly because I haven't the skill or equipment to produce a high class recording.

My self-consciousness on full display.

One day I was Googling myself - as one does - and found that an audiobook narrator used a quote from my book as one of his samples.

This got me thinking seriously about hiring professionals to create an audiobook for me.

First I had to find a company which would do the job for someone like myself who doesn't have a U.S. Tax File number. After a bit of a search, I settled on Findaway Voices. They provide a brilliant service and made it very easy for me. I was provided with some samples by different narrators and chose Derek Botten. He was easy to work with and I'm very happy with the way he read my book.

My initial assumption was that an audiobook version, like the print version, would be something I would have to charge for. Whether I would ever recoup the money I invested in having it created was another question. It surprised me to find that many platforms would allow me to set the price of the audiobook at $0.00. This allows me to continue the approach I've had with the ebook, even though the cost to myself has been much greater. What interests me is not making money but reaching a large audience.

Some services do insist on a charge, most notably Audible. (That's the link to the book on the Australian Audible site.) So if you want to help me to recoup some of my investment and you are an Audible user, you could buy the book from there.) As of today 7/06/2020, my total income from the audiobook has been $7 U.S. But, for me, the 5 star reviews which indicate that the book has been a help to people are the true treasure.




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