Here’s a kind of embarrassing story I’ve never told before:
I was visiting my friend Karen in upstate New York when I had the most amazing idea for a book. Karen is a writer and an artist and I was always so inspired to create when I spent time with her.
At the time, I had gained a ton of weight from a recent pregnancy and I had this idea that I’d spend a year trying 12 diets. I’d do each diet for 30 days and I’d follow the plan to the letter. The book would be this amazing analysis of which diets are best and why and I would be skinny. Win-Win!
Over the weekend in the mountains, I wrote the outline and started putting together the timeline to do this amazing project. I was soooooo excited!!!!
When I got back home, I told my husband and he thought it sounded interesting but “kinda expensive and not really healthy.” My friend Kortney had lost a bunch of weight and she said it wouldn’t work because “you lose so much more at the beginning than the end that you’ll think the first 3 diets are great and the last 9 are terrible but it’s more because of where you are.”
I ‘angst’ed over this for a few days… maybe I could get 12 women to do it all in the same month? Maybe I could just do each diet for a week? Maybe it was a blog and not a book?
My outline from Karen’s house was moved from my desktop to a folder on my computer. Then I got a new computer and I think I transferred the file somewhere but who knows if I’ll ever find it.
I never wrote that book.
I felt like a failure. I had not only told Karen this idea, but I told her husband and kids too, and every time I saw them they asked how it was going. Karen was the real deal… she actually finished her projects.
I was a fraud.
I blamed myself for not finishing the project, but the truth is, it wasn’t really my fault. I didn’t have the tools! I didn’t know there were systems for writing books. I had no idea I’d need to counter all the negative feedback writers get from well meaning friends and family with positive messages and inspiration. And I didn’t understand that true accountability went far beyond telling a friend and her husband.
Remembering how utterly crappy that failure made me feel was why I started The Coaches Book Circle.
If you are having trouble starting or finishing your book….. If you are worried that your writing isn’t going to be good enough or you aren’t exactly sure about your topic… or if you, like me, just need the systems, inspiration and accountability to make sure your book gets done, The Coaches Book Circle is for you.
Join the Coaches Book Circle to cement your commitment to yourself and the people you know you can help. The Coaches Book Circle will provide the tools you need to get your book done, now. I’ve totally revamped the program for 2013 and we are relaunching now at 65% off the regular price for a very limited time.
Check it out here:
https://theauthorincubator.com/coaches-book-circle-join/
