Keys to Living Joyfully by Sheri Kaye Hoff

About the Author:

Sheri Kaye Hoff resides in Parker, CO with her husband and three children. She is a Life Coach and owner of the Sheri K Hoff International Coaching Company. She teaches college classes as an adjunct faculty member and has earned her Master of Arts in Organizational Management. Her new book, Keys to Living Joyfully,offers a way of living a meaningful, successful and joy filled life.Ms. Hoff is a personal and executive life coach.

Spirituality is a vital part of her life’s work. Prayer and meditation are integral pieces of her daily ritual, which enables her to pursue her life’s passions and live a truly joyful life.Her words on faith are derived from her own Christian walk and spiritual self-discoveries. Her action steps mix faith and years of leadership training, mentoring, and management. Sheri Kaye Hoff suffered the tragic death of her younger brother when she was a teenager and struggled for years to rediscover the capacity to feel joy and to enjoy her successes. She has a heart felt desire to pass on her knowledge and discoveries that have led to a truly transformational life.

Ms. Hoff publishes a free weekly inspiration newsletter, Coach Sheri’s Weekly Inspiration Tips. The Sheri K Hoff International Coaching Company also offers:
* Teleclasses
.* Webinars
* In person small and large group Coaching
* Corporate Training
* Keynote speaking
* Seminars
* Individual Career and Life Coaching (For a limited time- receive a free introductory one hour life coaching session)

You can visit her website at http://www.lifeisjoyful.org/.

About the Book:

Keys to Living Joyfully is an inspirational book on experiencing joy, peace, passion, and energy in daily life. It is designed to demonstrate the powerful roles of thoughts, action, and faith. The book is a merging of Sheri Kaye Hoff's spiritual life and lifelong interests in leadership and motivation. The ideas presented in the book are techniques and processes that have worked for the author and clients. Foreword is written by Michele Caron, creator of MyLIfeCoach.com

The book, Keys to Living Joyfully, was born out of a heartfelt desire to share the keys that lead to living a transformational life. Ms. Hoff is a personal and executive coach working with individuals, small businesses, and corporations. Her words on faith are derived from her own Christian walk and spiritual self-discoveries. Her action steps are a mix of faith. love, leadership skills, and management experience.

Chapters include topics such as: Is your heart thinking right? And how to tap into intrinsic motivation. This book, Keys to Living Joyfully, offers the techniques and insights that move people towards more peace, joy, energy, and passion in everyday life.

I had the chance to interview the author. Here is what she had to say:

In the last year have you learned or improved on any skills?

In the last year, I have learned a lot about social networking, blogging, and internet marketing. I thought I knew a lot, until I started promoting my book and my knowledge and skills in this area have jumped. I now have facebook, twitter, myspace, LinkedIn, and other account. I have also become friends with people on almost every continent. I became part of a very promising exclusive mastermind group. My world has expanded exponentially.

Do you have any rituals you follow when finishing a piece of work?

When I finish a piece of work, I celebrate with cake and champagne. I make a big deal about it. I use to just quickly move on to the next project or task, now I relish and revel in the celebration.

Who has influenced you throughout your career as a writer?

I have been reflecting on my writing process and inspiration. My mother was always enrolling me in creative writing classes even as a young child. I think I always thought of myself as somewhat of a writer. I enrolled in Mr. Peterson's Creative Writing class when I was in 10th grade and I felt very confident about it. My mother was even one of his students when she was in high school and he was her favorite teacher. I was excited. I was one of those-mostly "A" students and knew that this would be my fun class-compared to Trig.

On the first day, we were told the we would spend the first fifteen to twenty minutes of every class free flow writing in our journals. We would also hand in our journals. I thought, I can handle that. Then Mr. Peterson announced that he didn't grade work-he either wrote VG for very good, G for good, and nothing if it was less than good. My whole "working for my grade" became a confusing process for me.

We had different types of creative writing assignments. Soon, I had the frustrating experience of pouring my heart into my work and receiving only a "G". I kept working harder, but felt disappointed inside. I thought, maybe I am not a writer. I remember the most difficult assignment for me was to write a sonnet. I love poetry-but write in free verse. Now, I had to follow the rules of the sonnet. I was afraid that I could not do it. I created my one and only sonnet of my life and it is called Mountain Paradise. And I received my first "VG". I glowed with pride. Mr. Peterson was helping all of us learn discipline.

I went on to work with Mr. Peterson on the school paper. In one of my articles, I had some facts that were incorrect. When I walked in the door at school, he almost tackled me and said that some of my facts were wrong. I then, said, "Well, I assumed". Then his face turned beat red and he hollered-"You assumed? You assumed? a journalist never assumes anything." I learned my lesson about checking facts.

He was a demanding, brilliant teacher and he loved writing. I am a better person because I experienced working with him. I even suspected, afer awhile, that he did believe in me. By the way, I did earn an "A" in that class.

To all the Mr. Peterson's out there-Thank you for caring so much.

What do you feel sets this book apart from others in the same genre?

My readers tell me that they feel that I am writing directly to them in my book, Keys to Living Joyfully. They feel that I am speaking to their hearts and know their stories. When I wrote the book, I had a deep desire that people could feel my heart and feel like they were one of my personal friends when reading. I wrote with gentleness and truth. When you hold the book in your hands, I think people can feel this and feel the spirit of the book.

You know the scenario – you’re stuck on an island. What book would you bring with you and why?

This is a hard question because I love books and books from many genres.
I would probably bring Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits. There is a section that talks about how Sadat felt more free when he was in prison because he realized his mind was free. I read this book the first time when I was on bedrest for 11 weeks when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. I could only get up for three minutes every hour and the medication that I was taking made me shake. I felt trapped in my own body. My mother gave me the book and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I thought if a prisoner could feel free, so could I. This is when I began to study the importance of thoughts in terms of a person’s reality. So, if I were stranded on an island, I might need Covey’s words to remind me that my mind was still free-so I was essentially free.

Is there anything you regret doing/not doing?

I think there will always be a part of me that wishes that I could have somehow prevented my brother’s death. This experience has, of course, added a level of deep sadness to my life and spurred my pursuit of finding a way to live a joyful life in spite of life events. Now, even though I do experience joy on a daily basis, I still have times when I cry over him. I think that my thoughts about loosing my brother hover slightly around the poetry that I write. I also have a deep compassion for characters in real life and in fiction with lost souls. I want to soothe them and make them better. For instance, I wish I could heal the Phantom of the Opera’s loneliness.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Sure, you can find me at http://www.lifeisjoyful.org and my book is available on Amazon.


WIN PRIZES!!!
KEYS TO LIVING JOYFULLY VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR '09 will officially begin on March 2 and end on March 27. You can visit Sheri's blog stops at http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in March to find out more about this talented author!As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.