Trying to start a business has been the best thing for me, although it has been a long process. We are due to launch our business in January.

This is such an exciting time for me, I have gone through so many thoughts and so many emotions due to my dyslexia, what people think of me and what I know inside my heart.

I have suffered from low self esteem and confidence problems and have worked hard to eliminate it. I hate feeling that I’m not worthy of anything when I know different. I know how it feels to be teased and bullied and knocked down when you have dreams, aims and ambitions.

I have let people tell me how to feel and how to act for most of my life. Letting people tell me what to do was due to the fact that I was seeking approval and too scared and shy to tell them what I want and how I feel.

I think that it is important for everyone to realise their potential and go for their dreams. I feel that dreams and desires are important in your life to bring joy and happiness in what you do in life.

If you do what you love in life you will be sure to succeed and you will not have to suffer from working on something you find hard. I found writing and working in an administration environment really hard because the noise of the phones constantly going off distracted me and I lost my place in the job I was doing.

I know that this may sound strange to most people, but that is what happened. I need variety and a quiet environment to work in and working on my own business has worked to my advantage although at times I have been distracted by people around me at home.

I have found going to Borders (the book shop) inspires me to not only read but give me ideas that I can use to develop myself. I have been reading many books on business and on personal development to build my character up and see where I was going wrong.

I feel really motivated now and that I am moving in the area that I want.

Having been through such a hard time in my childhood with not being able to read and write till I was around 14 years old has helped me become really determined to get things I want out of life. I want to be the best that I can be as well as help people realise their potential and help them be who they want to be.

Being through tough times when young has helped me to become who I am today. I was brought up by parents that are of working class, where money was tight and they sometimes couldn’t afford things that I wanted as a child. But being deprived of the toys I wanted as a child has been good discipline for me.

My problems have been wanting approval from people even people that didn’t know me until I started reading books that say that the most important thing is that you have to love yourself for others to love you.

I wanted to feel that I belonged to something and that I was special. I have always craved to feel special but I no longer need others to tell me I’m special because of the brilliant books that I have read.

The books that I have read are:

• The monk who sold his Ferrari - Robin Sharma
• The work you were born to do – Nick Williams
• Zero to hero

I hope that if you want to change your lives that you read some of these books to see what you think. I would be happy to hear from anyone who wants to talk about what they have discovered about themselves from reading these books.