This gets me so mad I can’t stand it.
Get ready… this is a long one…
Right now…
There are a lot of gurus, online courses and seminars promising to show you how to write a book…
They’re all making promises. Promises you’re probably familiar with.
Like how a book can… grow your business, boost your credibility, attract high-level clients, get media attention, land speaking gigs… and all that good stuff…
These are all wonderful results. If you have a genuine message that could transform lives… you deserve every one of these benefits…
BUT — and this is a BIG BUT…
Like anything in life, there are a million and one ways to get where you want to go.
And this is where we talk about the how of writing a book… the methods, strategies and process… and how doing it the “wrong” way could end up creating side-effects you may not want.
I’m reminded of a disheartening experience I had a few years ago…
I was at an event in San Diego chatting with this gal sitting beside me.
She was telling me about the book she had just written… and at first, she was really excited to have finally authored a book!
Just filled with positive enthusiasm!
But then, a few minutes in, after we talked more deeply… she was in tears. And not tears of joy either! And the reason she was crying was because she realized she had written the wrong book.
You see, she was a yoga teacher.
But what she actually wanted to do was breakaway from only teaching yoga and deliver a positive message to help people live vibrant healthy lives in body, mind and spirit… at home, at work, with family, etc.
But her book ended up having nothing to do with that! It was only about yoga. What she had written was connected to what she had already created, not for the future she wanted to create. .
What?!
Now, you’re probably wondering… how the heck does that happen? How can someone end up writing something they didn’t want to write in the first place?
Well, what happened was…
She had paid thousands of dollars to some coach for a 3-day weekend program… and she sat in a room filling out a template.
It was like an assembly line! Follow this step. Do this. Then that. And finally, slap it all together.
So of course, what she ended up with was a formulaic, cookie-cutter book that was more-or-less like what everyone else in the room had!
I felt so bad for her.
And here’s the challenge Transformational Authors have to accept…
There is no way you can write your book — which is inherently designed to touch, affect, and transform lives — in 72 hours.
Think about that. Think about your message. Think about your readers.
Take some time – right now – to consider how you want to impact them…
Think about how their life can transform after reading your book… the friends and co-workers they might pass your book along to… the knowledge you’ve given them they will (consciously or unconsciously) use to create a positive ripple effect with their family, friends, business, or community…
And if you think about that deeply, you’ll realize as an author… you are shouldering a tremendous responsibility.
The thoughts you put in your book will affect lives!
Now, some people reading this may argue…
“Why do I need to do that? Don’t I just need a book on the Amazon bestseller list to look good? Can’t I just slap together a book, get a bunch of positive reviews and go on my way?”
I hope that’s not you.
I hope you see the privilege, honor and responsibility you’re given when someone picks up your book and allow your thoughts, message and ideas… into their lives… into their head, heart and soul… into each and every one of their relationships.
You see, to me, and all my students… a Transformational Author is a sacred duty… and that’s even if you’re teaching them how to budget their finances, code their first computer program, or cook a simple meal!
And that’s an important point…
Most Transformational Authors write books in the areas of health, wealth, relationships, spirituality, business and career.
Those are huge, important parts of our lives! And breakthroughs in any one of those areas is life-changing!
But let’s say you’re an accountant… and your passion is budgeting… and you think everyone should know how to do it.
Does this mean your job as a Transformational Author is any less sacred?
Of course not!
Imagine someone moving out for the very first time. Imagine this person grew up with parents who mismanaged money and were always in debt.
Something as “simple” as budgeting could very well save this person’s life. It would be a revelation! It would be transformational!
What about teaching someone how to fix their own car, taking on photography as a hobby, or learning how to scrapbook?
No matter what you wisdom you have to share, never undersell yourself.
So let me ask you this…
Is your book something you can slap together in 72 hours… or is there a level of care, passion and energy you need to pour into them?
And that — is what being a Transformational Author means to me…
A cosmic responsibility, if you will. A privileged invitation to someone’s home… their most private inner sanctum, if you want to get woo-woo about it.
To me, a transformational book is personal and intimate. It makes the reader feel understood…
When they read your book, they sigh with huge relief, “Finally! Someone gets what I’m going through!”
The problem you’re advising them on?
They never look at it the same way, ever again… and they are inspired to take action and do something about it. Something different. Something they’ve never tried before.
They feel EMPOWERED.
That’s what we as Transformational Authors do.
A transformational book is a well-thought-out, carefully chosen, lovingly-wrapped gift.
What happens if you write your book in 72 hours?
It’s like you were invited to your reader’s birthday party… But you forgot to get them a gift, and you rush to the corner store an hour before, and you pick something at random and hastily wrap it in newspaper…
That’s what happens when you write a book in 72 hours.
I call it the “microwave method”. You stick the food in, you nuke it of all its nutrients, and it’s ready in 60 seconds.
Is that the meal you want to serve your readers?
And since we’re using cooking analogies…
You know what writing a transformational book is like?
It’s like making yogurt.
You have to incubate… for hours at exactly the right temperature.
And what’s more — the first batch isn’t that great.
Because with yogurt, you have to save the culture and make it again and again and again.
There are multiple batches, multiple generations, multiple drafts of your book…. before it’s good.
Filling-in-blanks ain’t gonna cut it, my friend.
So if you’ve tried other book-writing programs… or hired coaches… or went to one of these microwave seminars…
And their strategies didn’t help you write your book… or you ended up with the wrong book like that poor girl I met at the event…
And you feel like a failure because you couldn’t write a book in 72 hours and become a bestseller in under 90 days…
STOP!!!
Because it’s not your fault. It’s them. They’re the ones who screwed up.
The way I see it…
Right now, the unwritten words of this whole “book-writing” culture seems to be: “You’re a big fat loser if you don’t have a bestseller in 90 days.”
That’s just insanity! I can’t stand it!
I mean, can you really put the full breadth of your knowledge, wisdom and personality into a book in under 72 hours?
And what kind of book would you be sending out into the word?
Remember — a book is an extension of yourself. Every book is like a little piece of you… floating out in the world.
When your reader picks up your book, they are meeting you for the first time. This is often their first impression of you.
So here’s what I want you to do next…
Think about your favorite book (or books!)
Think about the books you take to bed with you… the books you take to the beach, your favorite spot in the house, your favorite chair… the books you read with your favorite tea…
The books where a cherished message comforts you. The books that inspire you in your darkest moments…
Think back on the two or three books that broke you, healed you and changed your life forever.
And I want you to spend just a few minutes thinking about what you were going through when you first read the book… and how it affected you at that crucial moment in your life… and how it still touches and affects you today…
I’ll tell you about mine…
The book is called “The Unmistakable Touch of Grace” by Cheryl Richardson. It’s about how grace is everywhere always flowing in every area of our lives.
I’ll never forget the exact date I picked up this book. It was December 2, 2010.
I remember this day clearly because it was my birthday, and the day after I received a Fedex letter from my business partner.
In this letter, she was telling me she wanted 100% of the business. All of it. Everything I built using my name, my brand, my experience, my ideas, my connections.
She Fedex’d this letter because she knew, that December 2 was they day I’d go in to sign bankruptcy papers.
She knew I had nothing left.
She knew I had just exhausted every ounce of energy planning exactly how I could go through bankruptcy and foreclosure and still save our business It was a very painful time in my life.
And here she was, swooping in and stabbing me in the back when I was at my lowest.
It was one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced from another human being on this planet.
I felt betrayed. Alone. Empty. And completely, utterly broken.
And with nothing to fight with, I sold my business to this business partner for pennies on the dollar. Barely enough to pay my legal feels for trying to keep the business..
Anyway, I picked up Cheryl Richardson’s book that day. It had been on my shelf for a while, but on that day, it called to me.
Little did I know, it would become my personal bible, my oxygen mask, my saving grace all rolled into one.
It was like every word in that book was written for me. She knew exactly how I felt. It was like she was there, her presence, holding my hand and guiding me through the darkness.
She helped me turn my heart, my mind, my life around that day.
Five months later, I was hosting my very first Transformational Author Experience with 10,000 online attendees.
That’s the power, responsibility and duty of a transformational book.
