An Army veteran of two tours in Afghanistan and a men’s health mentor has just released his first book which has been 20 years in the making.
Craig Ball of Kanwal has self-published Reclaim Your Power, a 150-page guide he describes as a proven process for improving mental health and dramatically increasing happiness.
“Writing the book came about because since I finished in the Army in 2014 I’ve lost six mates to suicide and it got to the point where I thought that I should put my skill set to good use, things I’ve been teaching for many years, to focus on men and try to somehow address the suicide rate,” he said.
“It’s part of a bigger program that I’ve been teaching for about 20 years on and off in different ways,” he said.
“I had a dream of what I wanted to achieve, to empower men everywhere through free events and support.”
Since the early 2000s Ball has been teaching his 10-module self-improvement course, on which the book is based, and launched into the professional speaking and training circuit including engagements at high schools, various workplaces, trade groups, corporate settings.
He is also a life coach, a consultant, trains people to be better public speakers and is a change manager.
“Workplace change is one of the most stressful things in people’s lives and I’m working on a project at the moment which is a significant culture change in an organisation.
“At other times I’ve worked alongside a project as a change manager, making sure people impacted by the project are supported and empowered through that.
“My training course, and now the book, has its basis in cognitive psychotherapy with scientifically tested and proven techniques – very much a philosophy of living,” Ball said.
“Some of the outcomes of what people have been able to achieve are quite amazing, for example, at least one blue-collar team has achieved over 1,000 days of ‘no lost time’ injuries which is really significant.
“The mental health training and mindfulness helps people to stop and think how things that upset them don’t necessarily have to, and how choices you make can help deal with things, and how to coach each other through challenges.
“That’s something I had to deal with on a personal level coming back from Afghanistan and the things that happened to us there and it’s incredibly healthy to talk to the mates I served with about what was troubling me and them as well.
“All the things I’d been teaching to others for years before I went to Afghanistan was really put to the test under the cauldron of a war zone and the nasty things that can happen,” Ball said.
He has only recently moved to Kanwal from Penrith, and is starting to collaborate with RSL clubs and veteran networks to generate interest in his work, however, he open to all sorts of organisations, both men and women.
His book, Reclaim Your Power, has a conversational style which takes the reader through step-by-step and linked with some online training.
“As people go through the book they can ask their own questions to themselves relating to their own lives and situations and if they come away feeling more introspective, then I’ve achieved what the book aims to do,” Ball said.
“I’m really excited about the book finally being out there after 20 years because I consider it my gift.
“If you share something of yourself and put your heart and soul into something that you deeply believe in, and hopefully help someone to improve their lot even in some small way, it’s very very satisfying and extremely humbling,” Ball said.
Reclaim Your Power is available at online bookstores and Ball also runs regular short videos three times a week on his Instagram @changeseminars or check in to the facebook group, Men’s Mental Transformation, for lots of free material.
Sue Murray