Summary of an Interview with Bill Abbate Conducted by Dr Mehmet Yildiz
Featuring creative writers of ILLUMINATION
In this post, we share with you an interview that Dr Mehmet Yildiz conducted with Bill Abbate, a prolific writer specializing in leadership topics on ILLUMINATION. Bill Abbate is is also senior editor of ILLUMINATION Integrated publications on Medium.com.
Tell us a bit about your background.
Much of my youth was spent living in Asia and Europe. As an adult, I worked mostly for US divisions of German and British-owned companies and traveled the world extensively. During the later part of my career I did turnarounds and startups while dabbling a good bit in acquisitions.
I retired from corporate life in 2013 and went to Duquesne University to become a certified coach, focusing on executive and leadership coaching. I built a thriving practice until April 24th, 2016 when I suffered several consecutive widow maker heart attacks, and nearly died. Considering I was in the peak of health, regularly doing 10k runs, marathons, and sprint triathlons, the health issue was completely unexpected. After spending 55 days in cardiac and pulmonary intensive care, I decided to close my business and fully retire.
Since retiring I have written and published a book, Uncommon Sense, started blogging and publishing articles on various platforms.
Why do you write on Medium?
I find writing somewhat therapeutic, and Medium has been a great platform to write on. After the unexpected health issue, I mentioned, it took me more than a year to recover due to its severity.
For an extended period, I felt as though I was in a continuous fog. As someone who has always pushed himself to excel physically, I believed I could push the fog out my head by working on something that would tax my thinking. That led me to finish my first book, which subsequently led me to blog and publish articles. All of this led me to discover Medium. By the way, it took nearly two years before the fog finally lifted! Today I feel as mentally sharp as I ever have!
The main reason I write on Medium is because I enjoy it immensely and see it as another platform to promote my writing in general, and my book occasionally. So far it’s been a great experience! I love to read the works of so many great writers and appreciate the advice and input I get from others!
What are your values as a writer?
My values come primarily from my Christian faith. I value serving leadership and have always enjoyed helping people through mentoring and coaching. Nothing in the world thrills me more than seeing the effect on someone’s life when I work with them.
To see positive life-change in others is not just satisfying but has been an extremely worthwhile and fulfilling pursuit in my life. Another value I hold dearly is to practice the golden rule of “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
However, I have found it is often best to start by “doing unto others the way they wish to be done unto” until their values align with my own, at which point the golden rule reigns supreme.
What are the top three books affecting your life?
Maximized manhood by Ed Cole. This book helped me as a young Christian to mature in a way no other book has.
The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz. When I first read Fritz’s book it impacted me profoundly, and I believe it was a major factor in building my career and my life in general. Some years back I had the tremendous pleasure to take a course on creating led by Robert and his wonderful wife Rosalind at their beautiful home and facilities in Vermont.
To live again by Catherine Marshall. After my first wife’s death from cancer at the young age of 52, this book brought great healing into my life at a time when I was hurting badly. Losing my childhood sweetheart after 32 years of marriage was difficult, and this book helped more than I can express in words.
What are your hobbies?
My more recent hobby is writing, although for many years I loved running, biking, and swimming in various races and sprint triathlon events.
I took up guitar when I was very young, played in a small band when I was in my teens, and continue to play today whenever I can.
How do you connect with your readers?
I use the normal channels such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to make and strengthen connections. On a more personal level, I believe I connect with readers through life experience, bringing a great deal of practical insight and experience to those who want to enhance their life and career.
Why did you join ILLUMINATION and how do you find it so far?
I recall seeing something from the good Doctor (Dr Mehmet Yildiz) right after I joined Medium as a paid subscriber. He was starting a brand-new publication called ILLUMINATION.
I applied to write for it and was accepted right away. Since then I have attempted to write an article daily and have done so for the most part. I hope to keep up the pace as long as I can.
I enjoy seeing my articles published in such a fast-growing publication. My highest number of reads on an article in one day was when ILLUMINATION featured my article on
How to Get Unstuck in Your Life
Easily Move from Being Stuck to Winningmedium.com
Who are the top ten writers you follow on ILLUMINATION?
I would list a lot more than ten if I could, so this will be difficult, as I am certain to miss some of my favorites, but here goes: Kevin Buddaeus, Paul Myers MBA, Stephen Dalton, Dr Jeff Livingston, Jack Krier, Randy Shingler, René Junge, Brian E. Wish, PhD, Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D., Trista Ainsworth.
What are the top 10 article tags that you use?
Here are the 10 article tags I use most often: Leadership, Leadership Coaching, Coaching, Leadership Development, Self-Improvement, Self-development, Inspiration, Motivation, Life, Life Lessons
What are your top five stories that you want to share with your audience and why?
My introduction in Illumination will help people understand who I am.
Introducing a Survivor — Just call me Bill
A new writer on Illumination and the Author of Uncommon Sense.medium.com
This story is about a difficult time in my life, losing my wife to cancer, and how, even after such a tragedy, one can have hope.
A leadership model I developed some years ago that is still extremely relevant today.
How to Know Who You Are and How You’re Seen
Questions that will change your life.medium.com
This story was well-read and helped people move from success to significance in their life, an important part of the work I do in helping others through coaching.
How to Live a More Meaningful Life
You can have a life filled with more than simple success.medium.com
I chose this story because it is one of my more popular and appeared to help many people.
How to Get Unstuck in Your Life
Easily Move from Being Stuck to Winningmedium.com
What are the success factors for you as a writer on Medium?
The most important thing to my personal success on Medium is that I can help others see in a new way and move toward creating a better life for them and their family.
Hearing from someone how an article has helped them makes it all worthwhile to me. Fortunately, I regularly receive comments on how helpful an article is to someone, which always makes my day, week, month, and more!
That metric alone is how I measure my success on Medium.
What do you recommend to the new writers on ILLUMINATION?
Write from your heart while at the same time working on what is going into your heart. As scripture says, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Write because you enjoy it and never let it become burdensome.
You will also enhance your ability to learn and gain new perspectives by reading the ever-flowing stream of great work written by the many Illumination writers.
What are your plans as a writer?
I hope to continue writing to keep my mind sharp, feed my deep desire to continue learning, and help as many people as I can through my writing.
Thank you for your valuable time Bill. I learn a lot from your leadership content and look forward to reading more stories from your insightful pen. You are an inspiration to our writers and readers on ILLUMINATION.
You can connect with Bill on LinkedIn and follow on Twitter.
You can check the editor profile of Bill Abbate featured by ILLUMINATION in this story.
Meet Bill Abbate
Senior editor at ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications on Mediummedium.com
Here is a video introduction of Bill Abbate by our editor and curator Aiden MC.
If you are a writer on ILLUMINATION and would like to be interviewed, please send a request via this link with the title of “Interview Request”.
You may also check other interviews I conducted with inspiring writers of ILLUMINATION recently. These stories can provide a great opportunity to learn more about our creative writers and connect with them.
You might check more interviews in the attached collection.
Interviews with Writers
Featuring inspiring writers of ILLUMINATIONmedium.com
You can find inspiring profiles of ILLUMINATION writers in this story.
Discover ILLUMINATION Writers
BIOs of writers from their penmedium.com
8 Proven Tips to Build a Rock-Solid Reading Audience
A game-changing strategy for freelance writers to turn loyal readers into advocates for sustainable business outcomesmedium.com
Meet Editors of ILLUMINATION Integrated Publications on Medium
We will add more editor profiles soon. You may also bookmark this collection managed by ILLUMINATION-Curator so that you don’t miss it when we add new profiles. Collection of Editor Bios: Meet Editors of Illumination Integrated Publications.
I wrote many stories explaining the fundamental requirements of the brain and nervous system with nuances in previous stories, so I link them as reference here:
Here’s How to Make the Nervous System More Flexible and Functional
Here’s How I Train My Brain Daily for Mental Clarity and Intellectual Productivity.
You can find many relevant stories about brain health and cognitive performance on this list.
Brain Health and Cognitive Function
Edit descriptiondr-mehmet-yildiz.medium.com
For new readers, I’d like to introduce my new book, How I Accelerated My Learning Effortlessly for a Happier Life. This comprehensive learning guide is a natural extension of my previous health-related work in Train Your Brain for a Healthier and Happier Life, Cortisol Clarity, Cellular Intelligence, and Healthspan Mastery, as learning is both a biological and psychological process.
People wonder how I can write so many books and become so creative and productive. The short answer is, I am a practical superlearner.
I invite you to join my community of superlearners. Over 80% of participants are over 50 years old, and they all keep their brains and minds sharp. Learning from each other can be empowering.
For a limited time, to build a big community, I’m offering an 80% discount on the monthly membership fee on Substack to build this joyful community. My goal is to help over a million members by the end of 2026, operating it on my own platform, Digitalmehmet Content Ecosystem, with assistance from Substack and Patreon.
What will the world look like in 2050 when emerging technologies in biology, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and space exploration converge into one interconnected fabric of human and machine evolution?
In Technology Horizons 2050 and Beyond, I draw on five decades of work in technology, cognitive science, and global innovation to predict the coming five decades. I believe we will overcome our limitations and improve our health with the help of emerging technologies and scientific breakthroughs. I remain optimistic while some paint a pessimistic picture of the future.
The future will not wait for us to be ready. It will unfold in the minds of those who dare to see it before it arrives, who can stand at the intersection of science and imagination, and who have the courage to turn the improbable into the inevitable. This book is an invitation to be among them.
I invite you to subscribe to my publications on Substack, where I offer experience-based and original content on health, content strategy, book authoring, and technology topics you can’t find online to inform and inspire my readers.
Healthspan Mastery (NEW)
If you are a writer, you are welcome to join my publications by sending a request via this link. I support 38K writers who contribute to my publications on this platform. You can contact me via my website. If you are a new writer, check out my writing list to find some helpful stories for your education. You can also join my author platform as a guest blogger.
Do you have a book that you’d like to have edited, published, and promoted?
If you are a book author, I offer editing, publishing, and marketing help to 100 experts as a pilot based on a revenue-sharing model without any upfront payment. 70 writers from Medium and 691 writers from Substack have already applied for it, but I cannot do more than 100 in 2026. I will scale it after the success of the pilot. I wrote a story about it lately.
Why Am I Investing 3,000 Hours of Editing and Publishing with $0 Upfront Payment for 2026?
Empowering 100 experts to publish books isn’t just an investment of time, but a commitment to knowledge, legacy, and…medium.com
What’s Expert Contributor Network at Digitalmehmet — The Digitalmehmet Content Ecosystem
Welcome to the Expert Contributor Network Curation Program at Digitalmehmet Content Ecosystem
I created this new initiative to empower experts and help them transition to the eminence path with community support…medium.com
You can find out about my scholarly work on my Google Scholar or Bohrium profiles. Some of my technical credentials on Credly. You may check out my other most loved stories on this platform. As a new instructor, my Udemy profile includes 4 Substack courses, and I will publish more soon.
You may check out my other most loved stories on this platform.
Here are links to my FEATURED series of 50+ books on Amazon markets:
Substack Newsletter Mastery, Excellence, and Eminence Series
Check out my books at Apple Stores and my discount bookstore.
Get an email whenever Dr Mehmet Yildiz publishes. He is a top writer and editor on Medium.
dr-mehmet-yildiz.medium.com
You may enjoy this comprehensive free book chapter I wrote for technology, enterprise, and business Architects as a gift: What Is a Digital Transformation Architect? — The Digitalmehmet Content Ecosystem. Check out my updated posts on YouTube.
Explore some of my books including: The Mysterious Leadership Mind of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Substack Mastery Version 2, Monetize Your Passion with WooCommerce, Agile Business Architecture for Digital Transformation V2, Agile Business Architecture for Digital Transformation (Audiobook), Cortisol Clarity, A Powerful Toolkit for Substack Newsletter Mastery, Smart and Ethical SEO, Train Your Brain for a Healthier and Happier Life, Modern Affiliate Marketing for Writers, 4 Pillars of Enterprise Architecture, and Smart Email Marketing Content Integration.
Leave a Reply