So this is Christmas, one of my favorite holiday songs goes, and what have you done? Another year over, and a new one just begun…It’s time to take inventory. But often we rush through the holidays, all action and no reflection.
The fall leading up to Christmas is the heaviest activity in the year for publishers and book printers; the rush to get what will hopefully be the gift book of the season out by early October is its own kind of tension. Having just completed one of those with an author and his book, I’m now taking a few deep breaths. Amid all the visitors, gifts, food and family, I’m feeling the need to make a little quiet space for my inventory.
Authenticity?
Last year at this time I’d set a personal authorship goal for a new blog-to-book project called The Pink Notebook: Essays on Asking & Receiving. My plan was to write a post a week for the year, hopefully grow and engage a community of interest, and use their stories along with mine to create a book in 2017.
This project was more than a personal one; I wanted to practice what I preach in our Blog to Book workshops, which are now being built into self-directed online courses. I know the process works, but I want to feel it; to experience the stumbling blocks and hurrahs so I have that actual path to share.
Part of my journey is to experience everything I teach. I want to feel everything my clients feel when they actually have to do the work. I had written a book before I started helping others (now I’ve written two), and I’ve helped dozens of others do the same. I’m proud of the learning that has I believe helped me empathize, encourage and provide valuable educational support to my author clients.
I’ve seen hundreds of “experts” in the marketplace who, when you peek behind the curtain, have little or no actual experience. And their advice is as thin is my grandma’s chicken noodle soup broth.
I don’t want that for myself. I want to bring everything I have to the table…my adult education and training graduate education, my life experience in the writing business, and all the joy I have of helping people reach their goals, and tell their stories, in ways that are authentic and fulfilling for them. I want to honestly be able to say, “I know what you mean. Been there…”
Goal Status?
So back to that project. Well, the Pink Notebook started out great. I built the site myself, and started transforming my actual pink notebook notes into blog posts, using all the tools I’d developed with my team at Indie Ink a few years ago, including the Perfect Blog Checklist, Editorial Planning Calendar and others.
And I add them up now and there are…16. Not the planned-for 52 (one a week), but roughly 30% of my goal. So, with some of my newer life skills, instead of beating my self up right away, I tried to take an objective look at what had happened to thwart my best-laid plans.
As I started listing the things that had occurred in my life through 2016, I realized that I hadn’t been idle, even though what I’d accomplished toward my one goal was less than I’d hoped.
I changed business partners, changed my business model (from publishing to author coaching and training), I dealt with some major family issues, and ultimately I moved from Canada to the U.S. And I voted in the Presidential election. Okay, maybe that’s no excuse, but it sure seemed to occupy a lot of time watching debates and following the daily antics of the campaign trail, not to mention the related angst.
I helped three authors publish their books, and two other clients do crowdfunding campaigns. And I continued to coach a handful of legacy clients who are completing their projects. And I built two new websites for my project and my business, including the development of the new online FreshVoice Academy and content for its first few courses. So no, I wasn’t exactly a laggard.
In other words, life happened. The universe had other plans for me, and other than not making that one more or less arbitrarily-set goal, I made progress. Lots of progress.
And I have a renewed schedule that includes prioritizing a post a week for this column and the Pink Notebook.
New Goals?
Presenting on book crowdfunding at the February PubWest Conference in Portland; continuing course-building for the FreshVoice Academy; working with authors and yes, writing a Pink Notebook post every week. And the great unknown…probably the most exciting part of looking forward.
My big lesson? Not everything has to be done in one year, as long as the things you do bring value to your life and that of others. So don’t be too hard on yourself.
Thanks for reading this year, and see you in the New Year!
Happy holidays, and happy writing!
