I don’t know if you get this way, but I can sometimes get sucked into “the world is going to hell in a handbasket” mindset. The news is filled with stories of all the bad in the world. We are inundated with tragic stories about the horrors one human will inflict on another. Of course, I bring some of this on myself because I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, but that is for another day. (NCIS and Law and Order are not true crime podcasts)
If you are feeling this way, do something brave and vulnerable…put yourself out there and watch how the world reacts. As you know, I co-authored a book which launched on Amazon in July. My co-authors and I really wanted to reach Amazon best seller status, so I told family and friends about the book and shared the information on social media. The outpouring of support was beyond anything I could have imagined. I knew my immediate family would buy the book to support me, but I never anticipated the lengths they would go to or the encouragement I would receive from people I haven’t seen in years. Friends and family liked the post, shared the post, texted friends about the book, bought the book, and uploaded reviews to Amazon’s website.
Writing this chapter was a scary thing. It is a daunting task to share your experiences and insights. Imposter syndrome and self-doubt are real momentum and joy killers. What if what I have to say sounds stupid? What if my experiences aren’t valuable to anyone else? I am not as accomplished as the other authors. What if no one appreciates my writing style? (The only time I don’t appreciate your writing style is when it’s a “Honey Do” list. Maybe add a little more description?) What if I share this post and no one buys the book?
As is usually the case, none of my worries came true. I received so many kind comments about the book and my chapter. One friend read the book and bought a copy for her granddaughter. I can’t imagine higher praise. (I’m holding out for the pop-up picture version)
To be honest, until launch day, reaching Amazon best seller status sounded nice, but wasn’t crucial to me. As the day went on, I realized it was really important to me. Thank you everyone for making it happen.
If you are interested in buying the paperback, please reach out to me directly. The book price on Amazon is $24.95, but I will sell it for $20. No need to keep giving the money to amazon! If you are looking for a speaker, my co-authors and I are great options. Comment on this post if you want to discuss speaking engagements.
Thanks to everyone for helping me reach a “52 To Do” of being a published author and getting to add best selling author to my list.
I am VERY behind in writing this blog. I didn’t realize how much catching up at home there would be when we returned from our trip. Things are calming down a bit now and I am making the time to write. I was with a friend recently, Patricia Weinzapfel, who reminded me, that as women, we have to make it a priority to do the things that bring us joy, feed our souls, and renew our spirits. Writing checks all of those boxes for me. (and all this time I thought it was me…..)
Which leads me to this week’s To Do. Last fall, I was approached by JoDee Curtis about co-authoring a book with her and four other women authors. The book, Joy@Work; When Women Lead, is an anthology offering wisdom from accomplished senior-level women professionals and entrepreneurs who share their experiences and proven strategies for embracing your authentic strengths, fostering resilience, and creating thriving work environments filled with genuine purpose.
Presenting AuthorJoDee Curtis writes about finding your superpowers and learning from the superpowers of others. JoDee is a proponent of the Clifton Strengths Assessment to help you find your superpowers. This assessment defines your top 5 signature themes and helps you discover what they mean for you. I will be honest, I took this assessment years ago, read it and then put it aside. As part of writing our book, I pulled the assessment out of my file. It was very insightful. 4 of my 5 themes are in the Strategic Thinking domain. It very much aligned with my need to learn and to plan. While my husband is very much a “winging it” kind of person, I am more of planner. (She has a spreadsheet for everything!) JoDee also shares some experiences from working with the incredible Roxy Baas. Roxy was an inspiration to me in my career. Roxy was a bold and confident trailblazer. She worked her way to the top of the accounting field at a time when it was heavily dominated by men. “Wish I could be more like Roxy” was something I thought often. (Heck, I’d like to be more like Roxy!)
Jill Lehman writes about the dangers of allowing your career to drift when you don’t make “you-powered” choices. From my own experience, I find my life and my career to be more satisfying when I am exerting control over my decisions.
Just is the title of MeChelle Callen’s chapter. Just is a very limiting 4 letter word. We diminish ourselves when we qualify our accomplishments with this word.
“I just authored one chapter of the book.” Nope, I am the co-author of a book.
“I’m just a small fish in a large pond.” Small fish can make big waves.
“I’m just a mom.” You are the most important person to your child!
Don’t minimize your impact, your accomplishments or your goals.
Powerful is the word I would use to describe Gretchen Schott’s chapter. The first two sentences stole my breath. Choosing to process loss by focusing on joy and love had to be tough. She writes about feeling exhausted and doubting her capacity to feel joy. Leading with love requires bravery and vulnerability. But I think leading with love also provides the most capacity to inspire others to feel their own worth.
The Word of the Year for 2020 was Resilience. Sarah Turner’s chapter, Joyful Resilience: A Productive Response to Life examines the positive impact of developing the skill of resilience. Flexing the resilience muscle helps us better respond to challenges in life. When we face challenges with commitment and the belief we can influence the situation, we are more likely to succeed, and also greatly reduce our stress level during the challenge. Sarah also talks about the need to say ‘no,” something the editor tells me I need to practice.
My chapter is titled All’s Well That Ends. I write about the three stops on my career journey and the tools I used to move forward from each ending. Retirement is an exciting end to a career… a time when WE make the decision to step away from work and focus on our personal goals and bucket lists. There are times in our careers (and in life) when good things end before we are ready for them to be over. There are also times in life when things that were once good for us slowly evolve into something that no longer is best for us. No matter where you are on your career or life journey, when things end, I encourage you to look back on the joy you once felt and use that as a launching point for continued growth, satisfaction and even deeper future joy.
Writing a book has been a 52 To Do bucket list item for me for a very long time. Collaborating on this book was the perfect introduction to the process. I would not have known how to find a publisher and editor on own. I am so thankful that JoDee already had these established relationships to guide me as I wrote.
I do have a favor to ask of my readers. You may not know this, but the success of a book is very often determined by what happens in the first hours and days of the book’s release. In order to impact more people with our message, our publisher and we (all 6 authors) are aiming for Amazon bestseller status for this anthology. To accomplish this, we are doing a special Kindle launch starting Tuesday, July 29th at 11 AM Central.
I would greatly appreciate it if you will help the launch by buying a copy of the Kindle version on that date. PLEASE do not purchase the book in advance. And to make it easy, we are going to set the Kindle price at only 99 cents!
(By the way, whether you read Kindle versions of books or not, your purchase of the Kindle version will really help out—and Kindle versions are readable on any computer, tablet, and smartphone!)
So please mark your calendar for the official launch on Tuesday, July 29th at 11 AM Central time. I will post again on July 29th with a link to buy the Kindle version. Again, it will only cost 99 cents.
After the book launch, the blog will return with more stories of our time in Europe. I really appreciate all the positive comments I have received on previous posts. I hope they have inspired you to add some new destinations to your bucket list.
As always, comments from Paul/my husband/the editor are in bold
My52ToDo.com 