Don’t Let Resolutions Sour Your Author Success!
Typically, most view January as the month of Resolutions. I suggest you don’t them as the clock strikes midnight tonight. Why?—simply this: most resolutions are trashed within a few weeks. In reality, over 70 percent are either stomped on, forgotten or deemed not worth the resolver’s while.
What are the top reasons resolutions that become out of sight … out of mind to we authors?
1 Creating an All or Nothing Scenario
Almost guaranteed to set any author up for failure, we authors sometimes think of success in a black and white format. Usually it is kicked-off with the word “instant” … as in I need to sell 500 books in the next two weeks; I need to get on a national TV show this month; I need to ________. The publishing journey is a marathon, not the mythical short sprint that most just published authors think.
2 Lapsing and Relapsing
They happen … then you promise yourself (or others) that you will get back on track … and you do until you run into another hiccup. Then it moves into an all or none strategy that rarely goes flawless in execution or succeeding. Hiccups happen, get that it’s part of the journey. They hurt, but are rarely fatal.
3 Rewards Work
Every author has something different that motivates him or her. What’s yours? Do it; enjoy it; celebrate whatever your “it” is. Growth and success comes in a variety of steps and stages. One of my favorite books is Mastery by George Leonard. Required reading when I worked on my MBA years ago, its aha was the value of setbacks and plateaus … events that would enable/encourage one to regroup, relearn, practice and then woot … a huge leap in progress becomes highly probable.
4 Re-instill Vision When you started on the Author Journey, you had a vision for either you or your book, preferably both. It’s time to revisit it. Clarify and goose your motivation.
5 Accountability and Action
Your Author and Book GamePlan for success require all of the above plus it needs action that has accountability tied to it.
Many jump on the authoring journey without putting one together. If that’s you, it’s never too late—you just may not like some of the revealing “hiccups” that your lack of a GamePlan didn’t include. If you had one, you could be under the influence of Author Fatigue Syndrome—you are pooped.
I suggest you try something different. Something that will add to your Author and Book Platforms. Something that supports your Vision. And something that is fueled by your Passion.
It’s time to revisit it and reward yourself for the milestones you can mark off as DONE.
Instead of vowing that you won’t do this or that you will do that … create a new GamePlan for 2020. Your all-new Author’s Journey. If you have book in hand, it’s all about marketing and positioning. If your book is being written or in production, it’s ditto along with making sure that “your team” is creating the book that is your vision and one that you have no regrets about.
And … Happy New Year. I look forward to being with you on your journey. It’s quite a ride–I promise you!
Dr. Judith Briles is a book publishing expert and author of 37 multi-award books. She’s guided over 1,000 authors in creating their books, earned in excess of $3,000,000 in speaking fees based on her books and gathered over $2,000,000 in onsite book sales at her speaking gigs. Her latest book, How to Create a $1,000,000 Speech flips a difficult topic into a simple and easily comprehensible plan. If you want to get into speaking, this is the guide that will be the game-changer to success.
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