how to "ADULT" successfully

One thing I observed when you start “adulting” is that you have to figure out how life works. In school, you were pretty much told what to do: study these subjects, show up on these class schedules, observe these norms of acceptable behavior and so on. If you follow the rules, you will get your diploma.

The problem begins when you enter the “real world” and rules don’t exactly come in a silver platter. I suspect this is the major reason why many young people feel kind of lost, depressed or anxious. They need principles to guide them through this VUCA world.

Doreen Cooper’s book, #Adulting: 5 Secrets to Embracing Change in Life & Career, provides those principles. Each of those “5 Secrets” correspond to a major area of life: career, network, money, self-development and productivity.

Doreen defines her life purpose as empowering professionals by helping them build knowledge and skill, thereby producing greater success in life and work. Among her specialties are learning facilitation, personal branding and communications strategy. Through this book, she adds another component: practical wisdom.
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The value of #Adulting is that it is written from the crucible of struggle and frustration. This is no rah-rah, shallow self-help book. Doreen made the gutsy move of leaving a secure job in McKinsey to become a “solo-preneur” in the training business.

Through sheer dint, Doreen was able to establish a name for herself and conducted workshops for well-known corporations and organizations. She has garnered impressive credentials such as:

• Being recognized by Salt & Light Ventures as the highest rated speaker for in-house training sessions in 2018.
• Being voted as one of the Top 100 Filipinos to follow in Linkedin in 2019.
• Attaining Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) status in 2020. Toastmasters is a global organization dedicated to help people become better public speakers and leaders. DTM is the highest rank conferred on a Toastmaster member.

Along the way, she wished for people who would tell her what she needed to know, but didn’t. That poignant quality lingers in her writing, whereby you sense “I am sharing what I know so you don’t have to struggle as I did.”
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​The value of #Adulting is that it is written from the crucible of struggle and frustration. This is no rah-rah, shallow self-help book. Doreen made the gutsy move of leaving a secure job in McKinsey to become a “solo-preneur” in the training business. 

Through her honest vulnerability and charming feistiness, she has earned the right to be heard or, in this case, read to the last page of her book. All right, here are the 5 Secrets…. not!

I won’t give the crown jewels away, but I can tell you that each principle, if properly pursued, will increase your chances of success. This is where Doreen delivers the goods. #Adulting comes with “Book Bonus” sections where you plan out how to practice what you’ve just read. They include a personal SWOT analysis, a savings plan, a book reading plan, even a decluttering plan! It is the next best thing to hire her as your life coach.

Is #Adulting well worth the book price and reading time? You bet. If this baby boomer picked up some new stuff, how much more the young people who, as I described at the start of this review, are starving for guidance? Doreen’s book is packed with it.

Note: The book is self-published. To get a copy of #Adulting: Secrets to Embracing Change in Life & Career, email her at superwithcooper@gmail.com

For more about Doreen, check out her profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/doreencooper/ and her website https://www.doreencooper.net/