Hi, my name is Ali. Things you should know about me: I’m a 47-year-old single, childless female. I’m an artist and aspiring writer but my day job, or rather night job, is doing shift work on a national newspaper in England. I work five nights a week, rarely home before midnight. It’s exhausting.

What you should also know is that for as long as I can remember, I have been desperately unhappy. I’d go so far as to say I was born unhappy (you should see the baby photos, I was a sad child).

There have been several major traumas in my life. Six years ago I faced one such and my life has been on a downward spiral ever since than. Just over a year ago I had a major accident. I was lucky to escape with my life though I am still recovering from the physical injuries. Just when I thought I couldn’t get any lower, I did. A major bust-up at work put me into the depths of despair.

On my way home from work one night in October I found myself killing time in WHSmiths after missing my train. A book caught my eye. ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ by Andy Cope and Andy Whittaker. It was a slim self-help book.

Now, despite being an unhappy person, I’m also extremely pragmatic, opinionated, self-confident, highly creative, organised and the life and very funny in a dry, ironic highly sarcastic British sort of way. I have no time for self-help books. I’m definitely not a happy clappy, just had a lobotomy type of person. I tend to just get on with things, burying my feelings in housework and art.

But something about the book touched the way I was feeling at that moment. I needed some happiness. I bought it and read it in two days. I can’t say I agreed with everything within it but it gave me a lot of food for thought. The main one being could you actually become happy, or at least happier, following the plans from such books?

I have now spent a couple of months reading other books on the subject and feel the time has come to put words into action. I will continue to read other books on the subject but they will be mainly concerned with being able to make me happy. Please feel free to recommend any that have helped you.