About this project

My Life My Power - An Easy 1.2.3 for the Future of our Youth

**How the My Life My Power book began:**

We are all aware of the overwhelming bullying crises and the turmoil that bullying can cause on not only children and teenagers, but their families as well- especially when the bullying leads to suicide. Bullying has truly become out of control. More and more children and teenagers are being led to think that ending their lives and committing suicide is the only way to escape from the pain and loneliness that they feel. In a recent article, it was stated that almost every 100 minutes, a teenager commits suicide and the majority of those cases were a direct result of some form of bullying.

It was after hearing the tragic stories of these young victims of bullying who committed suicide, that Daniel Puder (an Undefeated Mixed Martial Arts Fighter and WWE's Tough Enough Champion), felt a personal connection to the situation and knew that something needed to be done to change the mindset of our youth. In 2010, Daniel decided that instead of simply saying a few public words about this issue, he was going to create a workbook geared towards youth, to be implemented in schools and after school programs to prevent more tragedies from happening.

**About the My Life My Power book:**

The book itself has been written in a way that doesn’t come right out and tell the bullies that they are bad kids. Instead, Daniel focuses on taking a more proactive and preventative approach to the bullying problem. Over the past year and half, Daniel has been speaking at different schools around the nation discussing with students how they feel about bullying and what their thoughts are on the issue. Daniel has found that while yes, bullying causes unwanted grief and pain to another individual, the bully simply needs to be engaged differently. Therefore, through the My Life My Power book, he is teaching these young individuals how to re-direct their energy, anger, and built up frustration towards a positive outlet rather than taking it out on an innocent victim. In his open dialogue with students, Daniel also found that more often than not, the bully was lashing out at others based upon a deeper underlying issue and root problem. There’s a high probability that it was a learned behavior, something that they had seen on the television, or heard in the music that they listened to, or a self-esteem issue. It could be any number of factors, but it is typically these root problems that can cause an individual to bully or become a bully.

All of these findings led Daniel to write the My Life My Power book where he used a teaching model called, “motivational interviewing” as the basis for the content. This technique focuses on using a non-confrontational approach by allowing the child or teenager to recognize and understand their personal motivations and interests and redirect those thoughts in a positive way. Through listening to what these children and teenagers have to say and utilizing problem solving skills from motivational interviewing, Daniel has been able to more effectively communicate with these individuals.In turn, these experiences have helped to provide him with the proper insight and background into writing the My Life My Power book.

The My Life My Power book takes on the approach of meeting each child and teenager at particular stages in the bullying cycle: if they are a victim of bullying, if they are a witness to bullying incidents and don’t know how to intervene and help, or if they themselves are the bully. Regardless of what role they may play in this vicious cycle of bullying, the My Life My Power book provides them much needed information and tools to better themselves and become confident with who they are as individuals. Throughout this book, readers are taught the importance of goal setting, mentoring, character building, and leadership in order to help them shift away from a bully mentality. Readers of this book will also learn how to diminish the negative mindset they may have toward themselves, their peers, and authority figures, to ultimately lead a path to their own success and happiness in life.

**How the My Life My Power book will make a difference:**

The My Life My Power book has been uniquely designed as a 300+ page workbook. It gives each child and teenager the ability to take notes while reading and participate in the interactive questions and quizzes throughout each chapter thereby giving them the opportunity to get to know themselves better and go through a process of self-realization. The book consists of two separate parts. The first part is called, “My Life”, which takes each young individual on a personal journey of self-actualization in order to figure out what they want to achieve in life and then focus on themselves as opposed to bullying others. These ideals are taught through chapters such as “Discovering Your Passions”, “Finding a Good Mentor”, “Learning From Your Successes and Failures”, and “Knowing How to Set Goals and Establish Time Lines for Those Goals”, etc. The second part of the book is called, “My Power”, which provides the tools necessary to implement the lessons from the first part of the book. These tools include personal branding, resume building, financial literacy, nutrition, good sleep patterns, etc.

The overall goal of the My Life My Power book is to get children and teenagers to believe that this is their LIFE and that they have the POWER to do what they want with it. This includes their ability to be respectful of others and to focus on their own personal achievements and goals. Through the different chapters of the book, they will discover who they want to be and what they want to accomplish in their life. The book also provides the necessary resources to help them to reach those goals. In the back of the book, there is an interactive daily planner which allows each individual to log their assignments or homework, how much exercise they had, what they ate, and how they were feeling that day in an easy to use format with fun pictures and faces for them to circle accordingly.

**What gives the My Life My Power book credibility:**

In order to create a complete and well-rounded book, Daniel Puder has sought out a dynamic team of individuals to contribute to the content of the My Life My Power book. The team behind some of the chapters in the book includes a Medical Doctor who specializes in Psychiatry, a Marriage and Family Therapist with a Masters in Counseling and Psychology, and a Registered Dietician with a Masters in Nutrition. In addition, the information provided in the book has been confirmed and verified by these individuals who specialize in their related fields.

Endorsements for the My Life My Power book include that of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), the Los Angeles Schools Police Department (LASPD), the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the California Counseling Association (CCA), and the National Police Activities League (PAL). All of these organizations believe in the My Life My Power book as one that takes a preventative and proactive approach toward combating bullying and in turn helps in reducing truancy, dropout rates, suspensions, expulsions and arrests- all of which go hand in hand with the bullying problem.

**Through the My Life My Power book, we maintain an emphasis on anti-bullying while also addressing the following:**

Suicide/Self-Mutilation, Dropouts/Truancy, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Physical and Sexual Abuse, Eating Disorders, Teen Pregnancy, Gang Violence, Childhood Obesity, Homelessness, Financial Illiteracy, and Physical and Mental Disorders

The reason My Life My Power is addressing all of these other topics in addition to bullying goes back to the fact that there is an underlying issue going on in the lives of these children and teenagers that causes them to bully others. The lack of knowledge that our youth has when it comes to some of these issues is alarming and through the My Life My Power book, we believe that each of these areas must be addressed in order to combat the central issue of bullying.

How the funds will be used:

For us to be able to get the My Life My Power book completed and printed, we will need to raise at least $10,000. These funds raised will go directly toward all costs involving the book such as: editing fees, photography, graphic design, and the cost of printing, etc. Any funds raised above $10,000 will go towards our ability to continue printing the book and in turn donating those copies to children and teenagers who can otherwise not afford to purchase the book on their own.

**How far along is the My Life My Power book?**

Through the development of the My Life My Power book, we are grateful to have received a great deal of support from celebrities, athletes, and musicians who believe in our anti-bullying efforts and have donated their time to participate in recording Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for us to bring awareness to our cause and to allow us to use their image in being one of many “faces” to a chapter in the book- but this does not translate into funding. We have the entire book written; however, without funding, we are cannot move forward in the printing of the book.

THANK YOU:

We truly believe in the My Life My Power book and we know that by getting this book into the hands of children and teenagers across the United States, we will be able to make a positive difference and a lasting change in not only our community, but also in the lives of our youth. Thank you for your time and support. Together, we can make a difference.

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Funding Successful

This project successfully raised its funding goal on March 15.

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A "Thank You" email from My Life My Power for your help and support in publishing the book!

Estimated Delivery: Mar 2012

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Your very own My Life My Power bookmark and a personalized "Thank You" email from the author, Daniel Puder.

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All of the above, PLUS an e-book version of My Life My Power will be emailed to you in pdf format.

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All of the above, PLUS an awesome My Life My Power wristband!

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A printed copy of the My Life My Power book, a My Life My Power wristband, and be part of My Life My Power's Match Deal (we will match everything you receive through this pledge amount by donating the same items to a kid who cannot afford it).