On My Own: Effective Strategies for Life

By Sheila P. Darrell PhD

“On My Own” is a comprehensive guide to successful independent living. The book includes information on finance, employment, education, goal setting, relationships, cooking, automotive maintenance, and much, much more. The family addresses, recipes, and special dates sections allow the book to be personalized to include invaluable information that could be passed on to future generations.

Dr. Sheila P. Darrell retired from the United States Air Force after serving twenty honorable years. Her son, young people she volunteered time to serve, and many of the young airmen she led inspired her to write this book. She was concerned that many young adults were starting a life on their own without the basic life skills needed to successfully navigate the adventures and challenges of life. Her hope is the information in “On My Own: Effective Strategies for Life” will assist in developing responsible individuals focused on creating the best version of themselves as well as their best life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Oct 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781684705825

Book preview

PhD

Copyright © 2019 Sheila P. Darrell, PhD.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

ISBN: 978-1-6847-0583-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-0582-5 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 09/26/2019

Dedication

This book is dedicated to those who served as my inspiration. There are too many to name individually, but they include my family and friends, the young people I’ve worked with over the years and all of the young Airmen I worked with during my twenty years in the United States Air Force.

To my mom, Rebecca, I thank you for always being there for me. You encouraged me to follow my dreams and never give up. The courage you exhibited during difficult times continue to serve as an inspiration to me.

Thank you to Kevin, for being my son. You’ve made me feel special and proud to be a mom. We’ve made some very special memories together. I’m not sure why God blessed me with you, but I’m so glad He did. I can’t wait to see the wonderful things He has planned for you.

To my husband, Wayne, I thank you for helping me become a better person. Not only do I love you for who you are, but also for your contributions to making us who we’ve become together. I love you and I appreciate you.

To God, for giving me words and the ability to put the words to paper. Thank you for the many blessings.

Provide feedback to

[e-mail]

Order additional copies at

www.lulu.com

Introduction

Life should not be something that just happens to you. Life is a gift to be appreciated. It should be lived fully and on purpose. Deliberately. Webster defines deliberate as Intentional; Carefully thought out; Planned; Considered carefully, not hurried; Done on purpose.

Are you living your life deliberately? Or are you just showing up everyday to see what will happen? Unfortunately, too many people are just showing up. I challenge you to do more than just show up. Live your life to the fullest. Don’t put it off. Live your best life now.

You will undoubtedly face challenges, we all do. As we cross the threshold into adulthood, many are completely unprepared. There is no checklist or test to prepare you for that phase of life. You may or may not have the necessary life skills. However, the life skills you will need to survive and thrive can be learned. There are many resources available to you. This book is one of them. Properly applying these skills will prove to be invaluable.

My hope is that this book will help to fill in the gaps for the things you may not have been taught. Or maybe just refresh the things you were. But most importantly, I hope you will see your life as a gift to be lived with no excuses and no regrets.

About the Author

Dr. Sheila P. Darrell retired from the United States Air Force after serving twenty honorable years. Her son, young people she served as a volunteer, and the airmen she supervised and mentored while in the United States Air Force inspired her to write On My Own: Effective Strategies for Life. She was concerned about the number of young adults who were starting life on their own without the basic life skills needed to successfully navigate the adventures and challenges of life. Skills such as managing finances, caring for themselves and creating a plan for their life. Her hope is that lessons and information in On My Own: Effective Strategies for Life will assist in the development of responsible individuals focused on creating the best version of themselves as well as their best life. Overcoming the challenges in her own life convinced her that anything was possible if you believe in yourself and are fortunate enough to have others in your life who serve as champions for you. She earned a Doctorate in Organization and Management.

This is important not only because it was a major milestone in her life, it was important because a high school counselor said she was not college material and technical school was the best she could hope for. It was her determination not to let others place limits on her life that resulted in numerous significant accomplishments. The most significant being earning her doctorate and the publication of On My Own: Effective Strategies for Life.

Quotes From Me to Inspire & Motivate You

My ultimate goal in life is to leave every place or situation better than I found it.

Each new day is a second chance.

People may get me down, but they will not keep me down.

Regret nothing, learn from everything.

Focus on what’s in front of you versus what’s behind you. Leave the past in the past. Past experiences should only be used to help you grow.

We live in a society of haves and have nots. If you do not prepare to have, you are increasing the odds you will have not.

When failure is not an option, prepare.

Be your own competition.

1%20-%20One%20chess%20piece%20pg%203.jpg

Strategy # 1

CREATE A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE

2%20-%20Belgian%20waffles%20by%20Sheila%20Darrell%20pg%204.jpg

Life is a series of choices.

With those choices come consequences.

Some good, some bad. But all are a

result of your decisions and actions.

-Sheila P. Darrell-

A Plan For Your Life

3%20-%20Map%20with%20Magnifying%20glass%20pg%205.jpg

Going through life without a plan,

is like starting a trip without a map.

It makes getting where you want to be a lot harder.

There are numerous self-help or self-improvement programs available to you today. Many of them are excellent, but rest assured that if you do not apply the techniques the program will not work.

Throughout your life you may have been asked, what do you want to be when you grow up? I propose better questions would be:

What do you want out of life?

What is your purpose for being here?

What do you want to contribute to society?

What would you like to be doing when you are 40, 50, or 60 years old?

Then you must ask, What are you doing now to get where you want to be in the future?

A plan for your life is a must if you want to live with purpose. Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? Do you keep them? Most people don’t. I didn’t. That’s why I stopped making them. I now set goals for myself, goals for my life. I don’t just identify things I want to work on for a single year. A New Year’s resolution suggests that