Behind the scenes of achievement
When too many things are going on at once and they’re not compatible it can be a challenge to bring it all together. A curious statement when you’re the common thread that brings all the different threads together. And sometimes, it’s not for the want of trying!
There’ve been a few triumphs as well as conflicting priorities, some for discussing here and some not. If you haven’t caught up with my news on Linked In or seen it on my website, I’ve published my very first book and boy does that feel good. Mind you, it was a long time coming and needed a lot of coaxing out of my archive and into the big wide world. Thanks to everyone who joined forces with me. And a huge shout out to everyone who’s bought a copy so far.
You may be wondering why I’ve not updated you via my blog and that’s easy to explain, although there are now some great big gaps on my website. It’s all about my writing style. Creating ‘How to Be the Best Candidate Every Single Time’ in my head was the easy bit. And the first few drafts were exciting and fun, but then I needed to appeal to my audience without losing my sense of fun. I usually get complex strategies across without hesitation; it just takes a bit of thought and a touch of realistic humour. No gimmicks and no shabbiness.
Hold that thought and add a second layer of personal challenge. I came up with an idea for another book last October and began writing in a completely different style. This was to be a thought-provoking scrapbook of things that I’ve done, ideas. I’ve had and people I love, all bundled up with some anecdotes, a few blog posts and thoughts for the future! What could possibly go wrong?
The short answer is “nothing” although I made it into something big (I might be able to chat about that sometime in the future – maybe not). Without realising it, I became irritated by some of my blogs because I’d missed a typo or didn’t make some points as crisply as I know how. So how could I use them in my book? And how could I go back to writing sloppy blogs without a trusted editor? Imagine my dilemma! Clearly I needed a bit of a reality check … time for a swift ‘talk to the wall’ moment.
A few other things going on in the background like what to do with the garden (I had grand plans, but yikes could I justify the cost?) and staying healthy intervened. And then there were the two books, but still no new blogs. I needed a diversion and writing a third book (April to June) became my sanctuary. It became an opportunity to distress (yes, I find writing relaxing, (mostly) and a bit of an addiction, disturbed only by the AMAZING news that I launched book number one in mid-June.
If there’s a moral to this story it’s that you can do anything you want to do when you want to do it. They’ll be times when you’ll wonder why you began and times for tough love. They’ll be days when you want to delete your situation (why did I begin with three books at once?) like a paragraph that isn’t working although that’s the time to dig deep. So, here I am first book for sale on Amazon (or through your local bookstore), final draft of book three ready to send to the editor and patiently waiting for book two to tempt me back. How’s your day so far?
Glazed blue front door with brass letterbox - thank you Annie Spratt