by Alvin Ramirez May 29, 2014
In this Book Journeys Radio, Dr. Angela Lauria features Shawn Shewchuk, author of Change Your Mind, Change Your Results: #1 Proven Success Strategies. Shewchuk revealed in the interview how the book came about, which was when he was working with executive teams and he was asked to come up with something about how people tend to attract problems because they focus on what they don’t want instead of working toward the thing that they really want to do or accomplish. The book was the outcome of those discussions. Shewchuk’s objective, as he revealed, moved around the fact that no one lives eternally. Everyone will eventually have to check out, which is inescapable, and he wishes to see the movie of his life – the one that flashes by at the moment of transition – to be one worth watching. He believes that he’ll be able to do that by making a positive impact on people’s lives, which is what the book is for.
After going through ups and downs in his life, Shewchuk is confident that he has definitely made a positive impact on people with his book, much more than he could have done without it. He gives as proof of his success all the messages that he constantly receives from people all around about how his book had changed lives. In spite of this affirmation, he’s always looking to broaden his reach to achieve a greater effect. His basic strategy to make this happen is to establish relationships. “Your network equals your net worth,” he emphasized in the interview. Essentially, if one builds relationships, a network is also built which can create opportunities for growth. He says every person we come in contact with forms a part of this network which can make things happen and that the same cannot be done (or is rarely achieved) by simply launching an advertising campaign.
Shewchuk says having a book published gets more people to see the author as the expert who people who want definite solutions to their problems refer to. He says a book is like a credibility tool which can be used to leverage other things like coaching, which is another way to reach out to people. So being an author is not so much about royalties (which in most cases might not be enough to adequately put food on the table), but more about being able to affect more people in other ways using what’s been written in the book. He calls it maximizing, which he admitted is another way to call the repurposing of content. But he emphasized how aligning one’s actions to the initial objective is still the simple yet important way to achieve success.
When applied to writing a book, it’s like focusing and giving time to achieving the objective, which may be committing to writing during certain periods of time until the writing is finished. Shewchuk commends the people who have helped him in realizing his book, working on the text, cover, layout, and everything else. His advice to people who wish to write their book is to, firstly, put things down on paper and not to worry about proper writing. it’s the ideas that come that are important. Secondly, it’s to get a name for yourself so you can get better deals.
Listen to the Shawn Shewchuk interview on BlogTalkRadio