So I’m offering a jump-start your book challenge to get you writing your book in 2018…and it is going to include all of the preliminary items that need to be taken care of before you actually begin writing. It’s all about crossing your T’s and dotting your I’s and getting all the left-brain stuff outta the way so that your right brain can turn on, tune in and roll with some unimpeded creativity. Sign-up for the 5-Day Challenge here.
But what about the pre-preliminary stuff? The more people I talk to about movin’ on up in the world, writing their books, getting their messages out, doing their thing…the more I realize that the number one reason for not moving forward into the wild abyss of the unknown (which is actually quite known and quite travelled)…is fear.
Live Outside Your Comfort Zone
So while you sit there in your comfy cozy seat suggesting that you’re not afraid, let’s discuss all the reasons why moving out of your comfort zone is where the magic will happen for you 100% of the time.
Within the last couple of years, a really good friend of mine drove her car, by accident, to a town she’d never visited before. She got out of the car for just a moment and decided that she was going to live there. Six weeks later, she closed a business and a comfortable life that she’d known for a decade, she moved herself and her child, and started a new business from scratch in a town where she knew no one and had only a gut feeling that it was going to work out.
She now is settled into her new life in her new town quite comfortably. Her business is growing and she is happier than she’s ever been, despite most of the people that she knew telling her she was making a huge mistake. She didn’t listen to a single one. I always knew she was going to make it, and I was her #1 supporter. She’s ambitious, fiercely independent, brilliant, focused, and most importantly, she doesn’t operate from fear.
She was feeling complacent in her old life. It was easy for her where she was to dig her head in the sand and think that everything was just fine the way it was. Meanwhile, her business was stagnant and it was clear that she had maxed out her reach of a market that was not growing, and that meant that her own growth was being threatened. A single mom, she was not about to let her child watch her go complacent.
But it’s interesting how common and how valued complacency is in our culture. How many times in your life have you said “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it”? And how often was it actually “not broke”?
Murphy’s Law suggests that “Anything that could go wrong will go wrong.” And in business, this means that no one can afford to be complacent. But when fear of moving forward gets in our way, complacency takes over, and it becomes very difficult to find a path upon which to move forward, especially as a small business owner.
There are a ton of business owners that have considered writing a book. Deep down, everyone wants to leave their legacy; their mark upon the world. And no doubt, writing a book is a way to record your knowledge as history in the human landscape. But too often, instead of taking the leap, making the effort and making it all happen, we dig our heads in the sand and relinquish our opportunity to really make an impact due to complacency and fear.
Here’s the thing: if you have knowledge, share it! If you have a business, you want to promote it to the masses, no matter what! If you want to use your talents to share information to the world, you’ve got to trust yourself to walk through that door. And yes, sometimes that means letting go of the safe-hold of something else in the process.
The thing is, fear is a huge stressor. It keeps us from reaching our potential. It keeps us stuck. It keeps us in a place of ignorance. It keeps us from growth. It keeps us from our creativity.
There are a million blogs out there that suggest eliminating your stress and fears through spirituality, and through a feeling of connectedness to the greater whole. When you feel cloudy, generally, it stems from a lack of connectedness, and fear is just a manifestation of something unclear coming from within.
There are some wonderful practices you can put in place for yourself right here and now to begin your journey to find the bold, brave, fiercely independent, brilliant rockstar within you, and allowing a lighter feeling to surface. This is often very much like a spiritual experience.
It starts with being rational about your capacity for amazingness. Consider a time when you were extremely insecure about something, maybe in your childhood, that you’ve since gotten over. What was it that made you turn the other direction? Willpower? Experience? Confidence? Whatever it was, put your current self into that mindset that helped you get over your insecure cloudiness.
Seeing is believing, and knowing what you’re capable of can be as simple as making a list of all of the things you’ve accomplished in your life. Go ahead, make a list. I’ll bet that if you’re reading this blog, there are more than you can write, and you’re hands will begin to ache. Do it. List them until your hand hurts!
Then look at your list. Study it, and be in awe of yourself as if you weren’t you, but a close friend. And then look at your list as if it was a bunch of dots that connected to create a picture that you haven’t yet drawn. What are you “qualified” to do, based on your list, that you haven’t actually considered?
I’ll bet there’s a book yet to be written on any topic you have listed. You may want to write your book about your business, about your family, an unforgettable vacation you took; maybe even a memoir of your most fascinating life, or a fiction piece based upon some crafty story you’ve found based upon your supercalifragilistic experiences on this planet.
Once you see how awesome you are, watch your fear dissipate. Reaffirm to yourself that you can do whatever you damn well put your mind to doing, and 2018 is the year of checking off more bucket list items than ever. Watch your confidence soar, and allow yourself to really find a sense of confidence in your world, your life, your experience, your knowledge, and the importance of it all.
And maybe, just maybe, that means sharing your story with the world.
So check in on yourself. You want to write a book, you do! It’s on your bucket list. It’s on your 2018 to do list. Hell, maybe it’s even your New Year’s resolution!
What’s holding you back? We’ve got the goods right here. There’s nothing to be afraid of. The world is your oyster. And the best thing is that you have support. Let’s jump-start your book.
Join the 5-Day Challenge!
Starting next week, I’m launching a campaign to challenge the world to write. I’ve got my own ambitious story about letting go of an old version of me to dive into my potential and freedom as a writer for myself, and I’ll say that there’s no comparison to who I used to be versus the businesswoman and writer that I’ve become. And I’ve come to it by being fearless and supported.
Who knows? Maybe your choice to write your story will be just the challenge you need to find out how incredible and empowered you are, and how important it is for you to share your story, your legacy, your knowledge with the world.
Be inspired…by YOU! If you’re not quite ready yet, it’s cool; you can borrow some from me in the meantime…I’ll teach you how ;) Give me a call and let’s jumpstart your book together.