“Funny, enigmatic and heartfelt, Gavin Oattes is officially the 4th emergency service. If you're stopped by the roadside of life, the wheels close to coming off, this book is a must.”
Jamie McCall, VP Brand Marketing, Nike Direct EMEA
“Thank Christ for Gavin Oattes. To all the dreamers out there, get this book, start the dream today, not Monday, today. Put the phones down, get into cardboard boxes ‘n' play cars, get outside with the kids and build a rope swing on a tree branch.
Enter a beard competition for no reason, be aware of the dickheads, but don't let the dickheads turn you into a dickhead, even if they won't let you go home when the arse of your trousers has ripped during work.
Post an orange to someone, find the Pirahã tribe, or find your tribe, stick with them, surround yourself with support.
Visit and love your parents before they head to the moon.
But most importantly...BE THE MILK!!!!
These are just some of the moments, and memories Gavin shares with his readers, I literally didn't put this book down, I nearly read it in one day!!! And that's saying something, as I'm thick as shit.
Buy it, love it, remember it.”
Jason Byrne, Comedian and Radio Host
This edition first published 2020
© 2020 Gavin Oattes
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Oattes, Gavin, author.
Title: Life will see you now : quit waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel and light that f*cker up
for yourself / Gavin Oattes.
Description: Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom ; John Wiley & Sons, [2020] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019053598 (print) | LCCN 2019053599 (ebook) | ISBN 9780857088086
(paperback) | ISBN 9780857088130 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9780857088147 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Self-realization. | Conduct of life.
Classification: LCC BJ1470 .O28 2020 (print) | LCC BJ1470 (ebook) | DDC 158.1—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019053598
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019053599
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Pages 143, 144, 145, 146: WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT text © 1989 Michael Rosen. Illustrations © 1989 Helen Oxenbury.
Reproduced by permission of Walker Books Ltd, London SE11 5HJ www.walker.co.uk
ISBN 978–0–857–08808–6 (paperback) ISBN 978–0–857–08813–0 (ePDF)
ISBN 978–0–857–08814–7 (ePub)
Cover design and image: Peter Cotter
For those of us trying to find our place in the world,
anyone who has ever felt different or just simply
forgotten who they really are. And for those currently
floating in a most peculiar way.
A smidge of context. Me, I'm a ‘Doctor of Happiness’, so I made a pledge a few years ago that all my social media would be uplifting and positive. My Twitter account is followed by 10,000 primary schools, so I'm mindful of the audience. It's a big fat ‘no’ to ranting, grumbling and swearing and an equally obese ‘yes’ to happiness, kindness and unconditional love.
Gav, on the other hand. He's in the same marketplace as me but he doesn't seem to care who's tuning in. He's more edgy. A bit random. Often uplifting and sometimes a smidge sweary.
Now here's the thing. If you met me in actual real life you'd see that I'm a normal bloke from Derby with all the accumulated ranting, grumbling and swearing that comes with the territory. But if you met me on Twitter, FB or Instagram, I'm all nicey-nicey. I'm curated. Holding myself back. The social media me isn't the real me.
Whereas Gav's always unashamedly Gav. I doff my cap to that. Authenticity is built into Gav's DNA.
To butcher a long story to the bare bones, after bumping into each other at a conference Gav and myself eventually teamed up to write a book. We discovered that if you chuck a bit of his energetic bonkersness in with my science, it works a treat. We pioneered a ‘laugh ‘n’ learn’ approach in the common belief that, first and foremost, a decent personal development book has to be a rollicking good read. If you can accidentally learn a whole load of stuff along the way, then BOOM, that's a stand-out book in the genre.
We pioneered a new genre of ‘self-help comedy’. Our first book Shine is worth buying just for chapter 3. I'd go so far as to say it's the best personal development chapter ever written and, guess what, it was written by Gav.
Shine shone so we did one for little people – Diary of a Brilliant Kid – which was like Shine but with no naughty words. We aimed it at kids aged 6 to 106 and that was fab too. It's worth buying for Gav's chapter about oranges.
Zest completed the trilogy and, once again, Gav's chapters stole the show. I was beginning to detect a pattern!
Fast forward to right now. My Gav trilogy complete, I took a breather while the canny Scotsman conjured this little rascal, his first solo project. And I promise you, it's an absolute belter.
Life Will See You Now raises the bar from ‘laugh ‘n’ learn’ to ‘laugh, learn ‘n’ cry’. This book is very up close and personal, scoring a whopping 9.3 on the blub-factor (anything above 8 is ‘have a tissue up your sleeve just in case’ and above 9 is ‘almost certain to induce gentle weeping’).
Because, here's the thing, our blue-blooded, ginger-bearded, fast-talking, keynote-speaking fearless Braveheart of a Scotsman is actually wracked with self-doubt. He makes mistakes. He's his own worst critic. He's riddled with insecurities.
And yet he's learned to plough on regardless.
Gav's petrified that you won't like this book.
But I'm confident you absolutely will. Gav's imperfections make him perfect. So, basically, he's just like you and me. If you give these pages a chance you'll learn to give up the struggle for perfection. It's a very refreshing message. Chill. You can quit the chase.
If you want to avoid the plot spoiler, look away now…
You don't have to strive to be the best in the world. Your job is to refocus on being the best FOR the world. That one word changes everything.
So find yourself a comfy place, switch off the distractions, open your mind (and your heart) and treat yourself to some ‘self-help comedy’. Remember, just because it's funny doesn't mean it's not deadly serious.
Bon voyage!
Dr Andy Cope
Keynote speaker, bestselling author and learning junkie
www.artofbrilliance.co.uk