Friends, I’m writing a book. Yes, it’s something I have always wanted to do, but haven’t. . .until now.
Have you ever had an inkling to write a book? Maybe you’ve had this idea or life changing experience or maybe you just thought your story needed to be told. If you have, I’m write there with you. I’m not sure when it started, but I always knew there was a much larger way to get my message out to the world. And a book, certainly is the perfect medium to do that.
As an avid reader, I’m always looking for my next book to read. I pick up anything from non-fiction to personal development and even read the occasional historical fiction book. If you’ve got a book you’ve read recently that you loved, drop a comment and share with me the title and the author. If it’s a romance novel, though, I’ll probably pass on that one. I’m just not into those. But the reader in me can never get enough. Never enough escapes and never enough learning and growth.
The problem I have been facing is that I could never really find a book that hit home on the areas I needed help on.
- I’ve read books on being a minimalist, like Cozy Minimalist Home: More Style, Less Stuff by Myquillyn Smith
- I loved Emily Ley’s book A Simplified Life: Tactical Tools for Intentional Living
- The Art of Extreme Self-Care by Cheryl Richardson was a game changer
- Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is where I started my real journey
- The Power of Habit taught me how closely our emotions are tied to our actions
- I became stronger and more confident with You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
These were books on one subject or another, but I needed something that would cover it all. At least cover the areas of life that I specifically needed to work on. I’m sure it’s probably out there, but since I couldn’t find it, I decided to write it. It’s all about the ways I’ve been able to simplify my life, organize it and somehow amongst all the chaos find more freedom. I’ve been working on it for almost two years (yes, it’s taken me that long) and I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
You’re probably wondering why it has taken me this long to be close to the end. Well, for starters it wasn’t always the priority in my life. More often than not, I was focusing on work at my previous corporate job and trying to maintain my sanity. Trying to find peace and quiet to work on it was exhausting too. I’d try to write it while I spent nights on the couch with my husband but I’d get a few sentences in and give up. My brain would get distracted and start thinking “Who the heck am I to write a book? I’m not a successful, top coach!” Funny how the definition of success immediately looks like celebrity-status. Over the past few years, I just simply couldn’t get my thoughts organized. Yes, yes, I know, the book is about organizing your life. Once I found the time, the confidence and made it a priority, those thoughts flowed out of me like lava flowing out of a volcano!
What’s the Book About?
The book is about three areas that I found are the most crucial when it comes to living a life with less stress, more fun and more freedom. It’s about your time, your tasks and the things you have around you. When I started to focus my efforts on just these three areas, somehow the rest of my life fell into place. My environment changed, the people that I spent the majority of my time with changed, my anxiety was reduced and I saw my life and my future much differently. It was bright, airy and despite the New England weather, it was beautiful.
What I found with time is that it is one of the only constants in life. No matter what we do, it passes. How we spend that time is what matters to having a fruitful life. You can either spend it partying, getting drunk every weekend and feeling like crap every day or you can use it to benefit you and the people around you.
With your tasks or your To Do Lists, they can be short or long and definitely are changing all the time. Some days we have giant lists that seem to go on forever and other days, we just have one or two things to get done. How we prioritize those tasks is what really matters to getting things done efficiently.
Growing up in a home with lots of things made me realize something – things take up space. It could be a lot of space or just a teeny corner of a room. Those things can be used every day or collect dust and sit there for decades. As an adult, I figured out that your things should each serve a purpose. If they don’t, why keep them?
While my thoughts on that last area may seem a little harsh, that mentality has changed my life. I live with less clutter, more time and have more freedom. But I didn’t realize writing a book would be as challenging as it has been. In the beginning I thought just having a few minutes a day would work but in reality, I needed an hour or more to be able to focus solely on writing. Obtaining that focus meant I needed a quiet space and zero distractions. And I had to be motivated enough to commit to writing every week, if not every day. No one was standing over me telling me to write my book. I had to do it for myself and for you.
So here’s my question to you…
Do you have an idea that needs to become a book? If you do, get to it, girl! Create a Google Doc or make a note on your phone so you can keep jotting down ideas for chapters as they come to you. Start doing research to find your target audience and who really needs to read your book. Lastly, share your idea with someone you trust. Not someone who will steal your idea, someone who will help it come to fruition. Maybe, someone like me. In all seriousness, I would love to hear about your book idea and help you in anyway I can. Happy writing, my friend.