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In today's Brain Storm! Business Podcast, we are hosting a very special edition that should hopefully bring home the point that there is absolutely no reason why you cannot achieve whatever you set your mind to achieve.

Joining us today is Glenda Watson Hyatt, author of "I'll Do It Myself", an autobiography of her life with Cerebral Palsy. I don't want to steal Glenda's thunder, so I am going to just let you enjoy this very special interview.

1. Glenda, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Sure but first, I would like to thank you Penny for hosting the second stop on my virtual book tour “40 Blogs in 40 (Business) Days”.

I am Glenda Watson Hyatt and I live in Surrey, just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, where we have been having wicked winter weather.

I have cerebral palsy caused by a lack of oxygen at birth. For me, cerebral palsy is mainly a lack of muscle coordination and balance. I am unable to walk without falling every few steps, which doesn't tend to get me very far, very fast, thus I use an electric scooter for mobility. I have limited hand function, relying on only my left thumb to type.

However, my biggest frustration is my unclear speech as I speak Glenda-ish, which few people take the time to understand.

This is why I’m using Kate, my synthesized voice for this interview.

Despite my cerebral palsy, I have led a fairly normal life, attending regular class in my local high school and then going on to Simon Fraser University.

After seven years of living independently on campus and typing all my papers and exams with my left thumb, I graduated with my Bachelors of Arts with a major in psychology and a minor in communications. I have been married eight years now to a wonderfully supportive man Darrell, who also has cerebral palsy, which makes life twice as interesting!

And, I’ve just released my autobiography , "I’ll Do It Myself", in which I intimately share my life to show others that cerebral palsy is not a death sentence, but rather a life sentence.

2. The title of your book is "I'll Do It Myself". Tell us what that is about.

Sure, Penny. I would like to read a brief excerpt from my book that explains how the phrase “I’ll Do It Myself” began:

At Brownie camp Mom learned an important lesson: to sit on her hands as I tried to do something by myself, even if it took me longer to accomplish. Like most moms, time was in great demand. She worked full-time, raised four kids and kept the household running, and she didn’t always have the luxury of time to allow me to do something myself that she could do more quickly. However, she knew it was critical to allow me to do what I could myself, even if it took longer, in order to develop independence.

The Guiders taught Mom to sit on her hands whenever possible rather than rushing in to do things for me, but reality meant some compromises. On school day mornings, when timing was down to the minute, she dressed me. But, on weekends when we didn’t have to be anywhere early, I dressed myself, even though it could take half an hour or more. Who invented socks anyway? They were always a struggle, but I managed to get them on eventually. Because I preferred doing things myself rather than having others do them for me, I was nicknamed the “I’ll-do-it-myself” girl.

I have continued being independent, even fiercely so at times. I have no doubt that that strong sense of independence has helped me get to where I am today. When it came time to decide upon a title for my book, I’ll Do It Myself was the obvious choice.

3. Since you face challenges that many of us never even consider, you must have to do a lot of brainstorming to come up with ways to accomplish all that you do. Do you have an example of an innovation you had to design in order to accomplish something in your life? This could be a strategy or something material.

Having a physical disability definitely means brainstorming and being creative.

For example, a couple of years ago, I was asked to speak at a Social Planning and Research Council of British Columbia event on accessible community. My initial thought was But I don't give speeches. I can't. Since I was raised without the word “can't “in my vocabulary, that was a fleeing thought. I quickly turned my thought to How can I do this?

I had been using the free computer software ReadPlease for a couple of years to proofread my writing. ReadPlease reads aloud text that is copied into the program. I thought, Maybe I could put ReadPlease onto my laptop and have it read aloud my speech for me. I hesitantly agreed to speak. Unsure if the technology would work, I took a printed copy of the speech with me, in case I needed someone else to read it on my behalf.

Finally, it was my turn to take the stage. Being on stage alone for the first time in my life, with two hundred eyes staring at me, I wanted to run. But, I didn't. I gave my speech. When I was done, I left the stage, trembling. I had given my first ever speech! And the technology worked!

Using this same text-to-mp3 technology, now I can even podcast! This non-verbal red-head is podcasting! I can now reach people in a new way, and who knows what opportunities will arise now that I can podcast!

4. Do you think necessity is the mother of invention? Meaning, do you think that facing challenges causes you to become more creative?

Definitely, Penny. Because I have a physical disability and need to find other ways to do things, I am a creative and possibility thinker. I am continually problem solving and finding ways around potential barriers.

5. Your life is an inspiration in itself. What would you say to entrepreneurs who have great ideas but don't actually put them into action, due to busy-ness or overwhelm or fear?

Thank you, Penny. I completely understand when entrepreneurs say they are too busy to put ideas into action. Recently I realized I am beyond behind.

But, if entrepreneurs are serious about their ideas, firmly believe in them and are passionate about them, then there are ways to find small bits of time to work on their ideas.

It means taking a good look at how they spend their time and deciding whether all the busy-ness is really time spent on what is deeply important to them.

For example, a couple years ago, I realized folding my underwear was a waste of time.

Nobody is going to see my underwear drawer and that time could be better spent elsewhere. Now I just stuff it in the drawer and be done with it. For some, having a neatly organized underwear drawer may be important to them, so they need to find other places where they can cut their own busy-ness. The key is to turn down the noise or busy-ness of life and focus on what is truly important.

I can also relate to the fear factor and how it can paralyze one from moving forward.

Once my manuscript was finished, I took a week or more to send it to the printer. I was afraid there were still errors and I did not want my book to be less than perfect. When I realized I had written the book for readers, not for review critics, then I was able to email the file to the printer.

And then I began waking up in a panic, thinking, “Oh my, why did I include this and that in my book? What was I thinking?” To date, I have not received any feedback from readers to substantiate my fears.

There is a quote going around the internet; the author is apparently unknown, but I embrace her philosophy on life:

Life shouldn’t be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, totally worn out and screaming, "Woohoo, what a ride! "

Penny, thank you so much for hosting today’s appearance of my virtual book tour “40 Blogs in 40 (Business) Days”. It has been fun. I would like to invite your readers and listeners to join me for the rest of the virtual tour by visiting www.doitmyselfblog.com and signing up to receive blog updates right in their email inbox. How cool is that! Thank you.

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I hope you all have been as inspired by Glenda as I am. If she can write and publish her autobiography with one finger, you can write your autobiography.

If she can get up in front of a room full of people and speak through her computer, you can get up in front of people and share your ideas. The only thing holding you back from putting those brainstorming ideas into action is you. So take Glenda's example, and skid in sideways, saying you gave it your all, and gave it your best shot.

Penny Haynes, 1st Podcast Publishing & Digital Business Books