Transcripts for Episode 158

These transcripts were generated by robots, not writers.

Stacy: Welcome. I am so excited to share this week a recording that I did well, it was a live event that I did on how to make time to write your book. The reason I’m sharing it on the podcast is the information is so valuable. It will be useful for you if you are, you know, really wanting to work on this book that you have been thinking about maybe for months, years, decades. This goal that you have to offer something to the world and create something that you also know is going to be so important in helping you make that impact you know you are meant to make on the world. This is a masterclass that I did live.
I detail not only some mindset components of making time, but also very practical strategies that you can use right away to make time to write your book. And at the end of the training, I share a little bit about my program idea to draft. This is a six month author mentorship and accelerator meant to help you write that book. And as part of the program, I also teach lifestyle strategies, hold you accountable, and of course give you the system, the education, the coaching, the accountability, all of those things to keep you moving toward your goal of authorhood. I hope you enjoyed this masterclass and if at the end of this you are feeling like, yes, I want to take action on my book, where do I go to get started? I would love to connect with you.
You can reach out to me at hello@stacyennis.com you can go to my website, staceyenis.com and fill out the contact form or you can learn more about the program at stacyennis.com/ideatodraft and I will make sure all of those links are in the show notes for you. Enjoy this episode. Come to it with an open mind. And if you just take one thing away and implement that one thing that you learn at, the one thing that feels most insightful or most applicable, and you do that in your life and you start taking action, I know you will achieve that goal of authorhood. So without further ado, here is the recording of my masterclass. How to make time to write your book.

Welcome, welcome. I’m so happy to be here with you today. Thank you so much for joining me. I would love to get started by hearing a little bit about where you are from and about the book that you are interested in writing. So drop that in the chat. I know we’ve heard from a couple of you already. Laura, hi. In Lithuania, I’d love to hear a little bit about your book. Delitha, San Antonio, very fun.
We’ve got Catherine in Salem, so drop in the chat where you are joining from and a little bit about the book that you’re working on. David, you’re in Dublin. Oh, how cool. That’s on my list, and I have not been there yet, but somewhere I definitely want to go in my lifetime. Amy, you’re in the south of France. Doctor Michelle, you’re in Arizona. Love, Arizona. Lynette Everett. Pat, you’re in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Amy’s working on her memoir, revising it. Wonderful. Chantel, you’re in Erie, Pennsylvania. I love Pennsylvania, too. Lots of great locations here in Crystal, here in Houston. Please do take some time to drop a little bit about the book that you’re working on. I love to see the topics, what you’re working on. It helps me tailor today to your needs. Jenny, you’re in Sacramento. Very cool. I have some family in Sacramento.
And you’re writing a book about how we reinvent ourselves after retirement. Very, very interesting. Salt Lake City writing a poetry book. I love what a wide range of aspiring authors we have here today. Doctor Angela, you’re working on an inclusive leadership book. So needed. Wonderful, wonderful. Well, we have many locations coming together today. We have many different types of books. I’m going to keep scanning the chat as you drop those in. But we’re all here today with a shared purpose, aren’t we? And that is because we have a dream of becoming an author and a desire to learn and to make it happen. And we are all also busy, right? We are leading busy lives that can look a lot of different ways for us.
You might be parenting, working, doing all of the normal day to day things that you have to do as a human on planet earth. And sometimes that can all feel like too much. And if you’re like most people, that also means that busyness often kind of takes over the thing that you want to do most in your life. So it’s that thing that’s, like, a goal that you have or something really big you want to do. It often gets pushed down because they have all the other things that are competing for our time and attention. And I’ve seen this so much throughout my 15 years in publishing. I have met so many thousands of aspiring authors. Thousands of them throughout these 15 years. I met them on airplanes, at the hair salon, standing in line at the grocery store.
Aspiring authors who really dream of writing that book, that is calling them. It’s something they know that they need to create, something that they know they need to get out of them and offer the world. And, in fact, research shows that 80% of us want to become authors, want to write a book, and yet only about 1% of aspiring authors achieve their dream of writing a book. And there are many reasons for this. Not enough time has come out as our front runner, as I suspected. I mean, you did sign up for a webinar about making time, so, you know, fair enough that would come in, but it’s interesting that lack of confidence comes into that, too. I also think this is my observation of working with authors for all these years.
That lack of confidence also comes from an erosion of self trust when we have something we know we want to accomplish, but we’re not making the progress that we know we can make on it. And I think that feeds into that lack of confidence. So I hope by the end of today, you will get so much just useful information to help you build that confidence and get to it. Oh, and I see we have a few in the chat. Thank you for flagging that for me. Discipline and planning, family dynamics. Got that. I’m a mom of two, so I really relate to that. Obligations that take up your head space. Really interesting. There’s so many layers to it, so many things that contribute to this challenge that are keeping us from achieving the school of authorhood.
And what I have found throughout my long work with authors is that time really is the number one reason that I hear from people, and that’s why I did this. This masterclass today, because I know that it’s a challenge, and I want to help you be able to accomplish that dream that you have. So I would love to know. Just drop it. Emoji in the chat pick. Be creative here. We can just play and have fun. Give me an emoji that shows me how you feel about time. So an emoji? Any emoji. This shows me how you feel about time. Okay. Amy is laughing. Chantel’s, like, doing the teeth thing. Lori’s crying. Katherine’s like, got that crazy face look. Kim is not so sure about this, David. Okay. The head explosion one. Yes, I get that. Oh, these are great. These are awesome.
I love it. Oh, I like the Vita. You did the spinny eye thing. That’s a good one. These are great. I can really relate to all of this. Just like you, I lead a busy, and I’ll. I’ll replace that word of fall life. So many awesome things going on all the time. But I know that sometimes it can feel, like, a lot, especially when you’re a parent or you have other things that demand your time. Caregiving, demanding career. And I really understand where you’re at. I have been right where you are right now, dreaming of writing that first book and really just wanting to take action on it, but not really knowing how to do it and how to make the space for it. So, a little bit about me, if you don’t know already. Hi, I’m Stacey.

It’s great to be here with you today. I am a mom of two kids. I’m a 15 year entrepreneur. I live in Portugal with my family. That means that I’m location independent. So this is our fourth country that we’ve lived in outside of the US. We lived in the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Thailand, US, of course. And then here in Portugal. I am a bestselling author. I am a global speaker, including TEDx world Traveler. I go all over the place, and I love exploring the world. And I am a big dreamer, somebody who really aspires to live a big and full life.

I’ve had the great honor of reaching audiences all over the world and really helping them create these books, or I guess, kind of excavate these books from within them, the book that is already within you, helping them do that, and really, the honor of my professional life has been supporting authors just like you as they embark on this journey of authorhood. The thing about the people that I have had the joy of working with is that they’re all busy as well. And many of them, most of them are either business owners, they’re executives, or they’re doing something big with their lives, something meaningful. And they’ve had to figure out how to fit in a book alongside all of that research shows.

So there’s research from UCLA that shows that half of Americans feel time poor and we can apply that statistic to any developed country. And certainly I would say probably that’s true globally. UCLA professor Cassie Holmes said, 50% of us have this sense of not having enough time to do what we need to do or want to do. That’s half of us. I feel like we don’t have enough time to do even what we need to do. We’re kind of always running around trying to get things done. And I have seen how that state of time poverty can rob one’s ability to achieve their goals, such as writing a book. And yet, as I mentioned, these are just a little snippet of the hundred plus books that I’ve gotten to work with, I’ve directly contributed to throughout my career. They’re busy, too.

And these authors were able to make the space and the time, and not just to cram it in and get a book to market, but to meaningfully engage in the journey of authorhood and create a book that they are deeply proud to share with the world. Because here’s the thing. A book is not just a book. It is a catalyst for impact. I believe that deeply. You can write just a book. You can write something quick and get it out to market, and you can use it as like a business card or whatever you want to use it for. But I don’t believe in that personally. I believe that we should engage fully in the journey of authorhood. And when we do that book becomes more than a book. It becomes that real catalyst.

And I believe that you’re here today because you have a bigger purpose in life and a deeper impact to make on the world. And I believe you can do it. I know you can, because I’ve seen this done so many times. I have personally written co author to go certain 18 books. So I’ve also done it myself. And really, the first step is making time to write your book. So today we’re going to cover how to shift from time poverty to time abundance, how to create iconic habits that support creative productivity, how to follow a system that enables you to write a book in six months, and not just any old book, but a great book that you’re really proud of. How to access discipline and accountability to drive your success. And if all of this feels aligned for you.

How to continue this journey in my author program. So I’ll spend a little bit of time at the end telling you about my program. But of course, I have designed today to serve you, and I have lots of really great resources that I’ll be giving you today. So with all that said, I would love to hear from you. I love doing one word because, of course, words. But also it gives me a pulse of how you’re feeling today as you take. Or I’ll say continue because some of you are continuing your books. Action toward your book. So, Dilitha says, hopeful. Oh, I love that. It’s such a, like, uplifting word. Ginny says, inspired. Kate, inspired. David says, positive. Positive. Valerie, motivated. Katherine, exhilarated. Amy, determined. I like it. I can, like, envision one of those strong arm emojis. Next to that, Mike is ready.

We have Pat has hope. Chantel, disciplined. C. Kurds says, encourage. Rita says, very excited. And Laura says, red D. Okay, these are all really positive words. Sulani says, excited. Thanks. I needed that little boost of energy. That’s really great. So let’s start with the myth and magic of time. I see we saw the word. Curious at it. I like that. Okay. The myth and magic of time. Oh, time. It feels like we never have enough of it. Right. We talked about living in a state of time poverty earlier, and I like to think of time poverty as this kind of state of never having enough. It’s almost like living paycheck to paycheck with your time. You’re kind of like, kind of making it, but you’re drawing really close to being out of currency. And then every so often, you get a little refill.

Maybe you have a weekend with no work or you take a little vacation, or you have something that’s a little bit more restful and it recharges you enough, and then you kind of run into depletion. And it’s this cycle that we just continue and continue. And then it’s kind of like the laundry. It never gets done right. So it’s just continuing. We’re always on this hamster wheel that we’re running out, running out, never just feeling that sense of abundance and presence in our lives. What if instead, we could create time abundance? We could create a rhythm to your day, your week, your month, and your year. Ability to do what you need and what you want. I think that one is really important.

What you want to do, to have time for hobbies, to learn new things, the energy to learn new skills and hobbies. So really, to take those guitar lessons or learn to fly an airplane or learn a new language, or I learn calligraphy, you know, something as simple as just being able to spend a little bit of time learning to do something new. When I think of somebody with time abundance, I think of Ingrid. Ingrid is just an incredible person. She is the head of leadership development at Gap Inc. The clothing or the clothing brand. She also has a coaching business, so she’s working full time. Plus she has a coaching business and she travels widely. She’s traveling for work, she’s traveling for fun.

And when I was working with her on her book as her coach, I really admired how she was so committed to this process of her book that she really adjusted and created expansive time to focus on this draft. And yet, when I would meet with her, even though she was layering this big project on top of an already busy whole life, she was still finding the space and time and to have pleasure of life, to go on big trips and spend time with family, and I think that’s so important. We are absolutely in a big project like this, you will sacrifice. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. You will. You have to. If you want to make something happen, you have to have discipline and you have to adjust things.

But you should be able to do it in a way that is recharging and refilling. And about our work together, Ingrid said, for every first time writer, don’t do this alone. Stacey designed a system for ideating and an outline and a plan to follow. She talks about how we had the ongoing support and accountability and detailed feedback. And she says, if you want a bookshaman who loves what she does and gives you a part of her shine, reach out to me. I love the book. Shaman really made me chuckle, and I appreciated that very much. Now, Ingrid has recently signed with a great publisher and she is set for her book release in 2025. So it’s really exciting to see that when somebody has this mindset of creating that space, what they’re able to accomplish.

What I often find when I’m working with authors is that time is a reason that we say, but often it is the easiest thing to go to. And what we often have to do is go under the surface of this reason that we give, which is not having enough time, and often underneath the surface are many other reasons why we’re not creating space. This could be fear of failing. When you really commit to something, you don’t do it now. You failed it could be fear of success. It could be fear of what you’ll need to sacrifice, knowing that things are going to have to shift and change for you to accomplish this goal. We fear the spotlight. I’ve seen this one a lot. So my question for you is, if time is the easy, time may be the easiest thing to point to.

And I’m not saying I never would question whether you’re busy, because I know you are. I know you are. But is there another reason that you aren’t taking action on your book? Is there something under the surface? What is the real reason? Because I have seen over and over again, the absolute, the people that you would think, how in the world would they ever have time? They have made that happen. I went on a retreat recently, and I had to excavate this real reason within myself. I had something I wasn’t making space for in my life. And I went on this retreat in the english countryside, beautiful, absolutely gorgeous grounds that I stayed at this resort, beautiful grounds, and took some walks there. And I was really able to.

I realized that I was pointing at all these things, like, I have so much going on, it’s really hard to carve the space. And what I realized is that I was actually taking, not taking action because I was afraid of travel, which is crazy because I love to travel, but I was afraid to go back to my pre Covid travel schedule. It was insane. It was so hard. And I really struggled because I would be gone for two to three weeks at a time. I would travel for 20 to 30 hours one way. I had sometimes 48 hours. It was just insane. And so I had this fear, and I told myself a story that if I achieved these things, that would mean that I would have to go back to that. And that just wasn’t true.

And so when I kept going deeper and saying, why? But why? Really? But why, really? And I got to that reason, it helped me understand the truth of why I wasn’t taking action. And it helped me move forward another layer to this that I have seen makes a huge difference for the authors that I have the honor of coaching is really shifting their mindset from this glorification of hustle and depletion, which is the american way. We really glorify depletion. We glorify working and working. And I know we’re not all american here, but I know that this is something that exists in the UK. I know it exists in Australia. I know it exists all over the world. So it’s this hustle mindset.

This depletion, like, we glorify it, shifting that around to realizing that actually, when we have focused time, when we have rest, we are way more productive. Way more productive than if we’re putting in extra hours or doing more things. And I’ve seen over and over that you can create time, abundance. So daily periods of deep focus, consistent creative productivity, daily flow state, and really accomplish that dream of writing a book and beyond. Because remember, that book is a catalyst. And it comes down to three core things. Strong daily habits, following a proven system, and maintaining discipline and accountability. We’re going to talk the most about habits today. I’m going touch on the system and the discipline and accountability. But we’re going to spend more time on habits. So we’re going to talk first about time, abundance, habits. Habits are your superpower.

They are the thing. They’re the foundation of all of the other goodness that you’re able to create in your life. And as we think about habits, it’s really important to remember that discipline and consistency are way more important than talent and skill. So let’s take an example. I want you to give me either a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Don’t do it yet. Do you think Taylor Swift is the best purist vocalist in the whole entire world? The best pianist, the best guitarist and the best performer in all of the world? Like, nobody matches her on any of those areas. She’s the best, every single one. Give me a thumbs up if you think she is, or thumbs down if you don’t think she is. So drop that in the chat. I’ve got thumbs down, down.

Watching for your thumbs ups or thumbs down? No, we got a lot of thumbs down. Poor Taylor. Or Taylor. She’s used to. She’s used to cheers. Amy doesn’t know. Got a lot of thumbs down. Okay, keep them coming. I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan, so I am not hating on Taylor Swift. I went to the heiress tour this year. It was magical. It was incredible. But even I have to say, of course, she is not the best vocalist, the best pianist, the best all of those things. What she is consistent. She puts out albums regularly. She drops double albums. She is out doing interviews. She is touring the world. She is showing up with this discipline and this consistency over many, many years.

And this is what has enabled her to become, I mean, along with being incredibly talented, become one of the most famous female artists in the world. So, pop quiz. How long does it take to form a habit? I’m curious if any of you have heard the stats on how long it takes to form a habit. 21 days, six weeks. 30 days. 21 days. 30 days. 90 days. Okay, we’re all over the map, but we’re kind of, like, between the 20 and 30 range. And there was a lot. There was a research that came out a while ago with that 21 days. And that is what a lot of people have anchored to when they think about habit formation. But the truth is, it takes anywhere from 18 days to six months. 18 days to six months. It takes a really long time.

There was a study done in the journal. It’s called biological psychology Journal. Actually, it was a research review. And to open this, normally, studies don’t open with stories, but I thought this was a fun one. They told the story of Sarah. Sarah is at a soccer match every weekend. Sarah, you know, after her match, she goes and grabs a snack that’s on the side for her that the parents have set out. So her habit is done with my game. Grab the snack, start eating. Well, one Saturday, she goes and grabs a donut, and she puts it in her mouth and then immediately spits it out. She realized she’s jewish, it was Passover, and she was definitely not supposed to be eating any snacks, certainly no doughnuts. But she had habituated this grabbing of the snack and the eating it.

And this study was all around goal directed behavior and habits and how those show up in our lives. The thing that I love about the donut metaphor is that how many of us are grabbing donuts all day, but many of us are not even spitting it out because we don’t realize that we have just done something that we’re not supposed to do or is really bad for us, grabbing the phone right when we wake up in the morning or staying up too late or doing other things that are really sabotaging our ability to take action on our goals. The great news, and I’m sure you’ve heard this, is that we have these beautiful neuroplastic brains, and that means that when we really solidify these habits, our brains create new neural pathways for us. Here’s how it connects to writing.

What’s amazing about this is that if you have this belief that I sit down and I can’t get the words on the page, research shows that when you show up consistently with a clear set of habits leading into that experience around the same time of day, with about the same. Yeah, around the same time of day, similar lead in habits to it, you start to form new neural pathways that help you get into that activity faster. And I have seen this over and over again with the authors that I work with. But it does take discipline. It means that you need to keep showing up and showing up until that habit really clicks. So that’s going to require you to do it anyway, even when you’re not seeing the results that you want to or think that you should be.

Seeing something becomes a habit when it’s easier to do it than to not do it. So it becomes more automatic to our brains. It’s something that we just do. And habits are really useful because they reduce decision burden for us. Right? So when this habit of writing becomes, well, when we create a habit of writing, this is going to enable us to have a like a fluidness to our writing time that enables us to really get into that flow quickly, and it becomes so natural and so joyful and so easy. And maybe that feels a little far off and far away right now, but I’ve seen this over and over again. So how do you start to build some of these habits? Well, there’s another layer to this that you need to be mindful of, which is willpower.

And we don’t talk about this enough when it comes to habits. A lot of people tell me, well, I’m a night owl and I don’t really like waking up early, so I’m going to write my book at night. That’s when I am going to show up and do the work on this book. Same, same. I’m an eye dowel as well. But the research shows that our willpower decreases throughout the day and it is highest in the morning and lowest at night. Additionally, our goal directed behaviors decrease throughout the day, so we are more likely to engage in goal directed behaviors in the morning than we are at night. And that’s according to research in the European Journal of Personality. So this is really important because sometimes this is, well, sometimes.

I’m sorry if this is bad news for you, but it’s important to know that if you really want to get your book done for most people, you should write in the morning. That’s my first takeaway for you, is one of the habits to support your writing success is to write in the morning. Also, layering on that neuroplasticity and new neural pathways is to commit to less time more often. A lot of people have this idea that I need to just set aside 2 hours on Saturday, and that’s when I’m going to get my writing done. But then they go to that writing time and they’re really not as productive as they thought they would be. Well, research shows that when we show up more frequently, we start to be able to get into the flow faster. So I highly recommend less time more often.

A while back, somebody on my email list sent me an email. They were having trouble getting progress on their book, and they said, you know, I. I just need to write an hour a day and I just can’t seem to make it happen. And I wrote them back and I said, maybe you’re setting the bar for success too high. Why don’t we lower the bar for success? Let’s make it achievable. What if you showed up for 15 minutes or 20 minutes a day? And about a week, two weeks later he wrote me back and he said, I can’t believe it. I have gotten more done on my book in the last couple of weeks than I have previously. And it was that simple reduction of this bar that we like just randomly set in our brain of what we have to do.

So if you can’t find an hour, can you find 20 minutes? Can you show up for 15 minutes? Can you do it four to five days a week? Also create a series of habits that signal to your brain you’re going to be dreaming soon. And I am referencing Stephen King here. He has this really great quote where he talks about his own routine. He says, there are certain things I do. If I sit down to write, I have a glass of water or a cup of tea, there’s a certain time I sit down from eight to 830. He goes on to say, as his vitamin pill, his music, he sits in the same seat, his papers are arranged just so.

And he says, the cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon. So it’s all these cues, much like you have a bedtime routine, he goes through this, you brush your teeth, you lay on the same side of the bed, have that same routine for yourself in the morning. Also create mama bear boundaries around your discretionary time. Discretionary time is really that protected space that you create for yourself in your day. I really recommend that happens in the morning. It’s way more likely that you’re going to follow through with it. And when it’s done, it is completed. Check. I got in my time. I have a whole training that I do on building out your rhythm and your lifestyle design and your weekly rhythm.

I’m not going to go into detail about it today, but I just want to show you briefly, and I know you can’t read these words too well, but what I recommend and what I work with my authors to do is to build out a rhythm to their day that’s going to enable them to create. And if you have some control over your calendar, even better, because you can decide, okay, I’m only going to check email twice a day, but this block right here, the pink, dark bluish purple and the blue is that discretionary time. And I don’t know if you can see that. 06:00 a.m. That means I’m getting you up a bit early. Maybe some of you are already early risers. And then what I usually recommend as well is that you expand that out into your week.

Some days might look a little different, but that you’re really protecting discretionary time. Again, it does not have to be an hour. It doesn’t have to be 3 hours, be 20 minutes if that’s what you have, but really show up for yourself in that time. And then the last one is to communicate your needs. We underestimate how much people will show up for us when we want to do something meaningful. And I would just encourage you, the people in your life that care about you, maybe your boss, if they’re supportive. There may be ways to adjust. Remember, it’s a finite period of time. We’re not talking about forever.

But if you commit and you lean in and you have an idea of where you’re going and how long it’s going to take, people will rally around you to support you in reviewing your lifestyle and looking for areas that you can adjust. You will be receiving a lifestyle design checklist. We’ll send this as a follow up to this program so you can complete that and use it to assess your lifestyle and what adjustments can be made to make time for writing. Okay, so we have those habits firmly in place, and the next step is move is to follow a proven system. I think this is where it gets fun.

I love systems because I, as a teenager, was really disorganized and really struggled with a lot of just follow through on a lot of my life, especially school and actually not just a teen, but even my preteens. And it wasn’t until I was almost a young adult that I discovered that if I had systems for things, I could be successful. And that’s how I went on to go from really not doing well academically to graduating magna cum laude and getting my master’s degree later on. Systems helped me do that. And if you look at the back end of how we run the business. It’s so systems driven. I love systems. If you look to the dictionary, the good old dictionary, it describes a system as a harmonious arrangement or pattern. Order in love order.

And the idea here is that if you find a great system, you get to simply show up and create and really lean into that journey of clarity and creation. So today I’m going to talk you through my system and how we organize it. And hopefully this will give you a good sense of how you could follow a similar pathway in your book. So we’re applying the habits now into the system so that you can be successful in creating your book. I always start with the authors that I support with helping them understand the big vision. So we start with where you are today. That’s point a. And point b is the impact you want to make on the world. And a lot of times people will come to me and they’re like, I have so many ideas, so many ideas.

I just can’t sort out what I want to do. And what we’re always looking to figure out is the right book for right now and then. And part of what I walk you through is how to really define that and then how to organize around that and write a that. Now, of course, you can Google and cobble together information, but a system enables you to follow step by step by step so that you can create. And here’s the core of the system that I recommend. First, we start with vision. That’s that big idea of where you want to go. And we move along into your book idea, outline, plan and write. Defining your vision is really important because this adds meaning to your entire journey.

It gives you anchor and something that you can connect to as you are creating this amazing book that you’re working on. To support you on this, we are sending you a life visioning guide. This is something that in my program I have a module and we have some activities designed around this. But you can use the guide absolutely to support you. I really recommend making time for that. From that vision, then we walk through an iterative outlining process. And the idea here is that we start with the book idea. The book idea is the high level expression of the book. So it’s the core message, it’s the book overview, it’s the audience, and it’s really clarifying the high level of the book. And from there we go down into the outline and really create a clear roadmap for the book.

And that’s really what an outline is. I like to think of it like a physical map or a Google map. You wouldn’t go somewhere like 8 hours away that you’ve never been to, and you don’t even know what direction it is and just drive, right? You would have directions to get there. You would have a map, and that’s what an outline is. You might take a little side ramp to go and get gas or stop and get lunch. You might change a few things, but you know where you’re going and you have a path to get there from there, from that outline, then create a plan. And this is where, you know when we’re looking at time and we’re looking at habit application to your big goal. The plan is really important. In my program, I provide an Asana template.

So this really helps you create clear milestones that you can go and, well, you check. I love Asana because when you check things off, you get like a magical creature that flies across the screen. It’s super fun. I love it. Asana, by the way, if you haven’t heard of it’s a s a N a, And it’s really great project management software and it’s free. And in here, then you have the whole project plan, so you can check off as you go. You know what’s coming up. You can create deadlines and make sure that you are on track to achieve your goal. And then from here, you write. And the nice thing about this whole process leading up to writing is that by the time you get into the writing process, it should be like a dam breaks and the words are just gushing out.

And that’s the goal of the outline, is that you have done all of this thought, all of this work, that when you get there, the words just, they flow. So here’s how to tap into the power of a well designed system. There are obviously many ways you can do this. First is to find a program or coach that aligns with your needs. And when you find that system, if it’s proven, follow it. Now, of course, follow your intuition, adjust where needed. Not every system is going to work perfectly for every person. And in fact, generally you will have to adjust a little based on your book, based on your needs, but generally follow that system and really lean into the clarity, the organization, the creation of the book. If that program doesn’t provide a project plan, create one.

Or if you’re doing this on your own, create a project plan. You can absolutely do this on your own. Create a project plan. Give yourself deadlines for every stage of the journey. And that will help you keep track and adjust as you go. A lot of times when I’m working with authors, they. They will have a date that they want to get everything done. But when we reverse engineer that date and we look at all the things that need to be completed, we get real and we say, okay, with this in mind, what is the actual date? And we’re honest about it and we’re clear about it, and we make sure that if we get off track, we adjust. And that’s really important to keep you moving forward. And when I think about. I told you about Ingrid earlier, and I.

When I think about somebody who just did such a beautiful job leaning into that creative space, I think of Amy Lafko. Amy is a just wonderful human being. At the time that we met, she was. She had just. I feel like maybe she was two years into her consulting practice. Now it’s been a few years out still, and she was very busy, just like you, so much going on. And in our process, she said, I didn’t think of myself or I don’t think of myself as a structured person. And yet with our work together, she was able to develop a repeatable process for creative time. And that is a beautiful thing to see for somebody who’s not used to that, to then be able to efficiently and successfully create its magic. Another person I think of is Regina Lawless.

Regina, what an amazing human being. When were working together, she was the head of diversity, equity and inclusion at Instagram, and of course, was very busy. She was already getting up super early, and she really made sure that she prioritized her writing time. It happened before anything else. And when her weeks were a little busier, she adjusted and made space. She really stuck to it and wrote a really beautiful book. She says that becoming an author is truly a dream come true. It still feels surreal. It’s been so amazing. Her book came out in, I think it was in February. And just watching her success has been absolutely incredible. Okay, just a little energy pause. Give me a chance to take a drink of water. Just drop any emoji. Can be as goofy as you want. Show me something.

I want to see some emojis in the chat. A cat. I’m always loving a cat. That’s great, Amy. Lots of heart eyes. We got unicorns. Love it. Hearts and smiles and sunglasses. And more hearts and eyes. Awesome. More hearts. Loving the hearts and pink theme. More sunglasses. We’ve got our hands up dancing. Love it, love it. David. Smiling. Good, David. Glad to see that. Awesome. Okay, we’ve got football. Nice. American football. Love. Is there a football game going on right now? That’s fun. I like it. We got another hands up. Love it, love it. Celanie, I think yours is selected to just go to hosts and panelists. So if you change it to everyone, everybody can see it. Just FYI, in case you want to do that. Oh, same for you, Valerie. Yours is like that as well. Pat smiling. Laura’s hearts.

Love, love, love. Okay, let’s move forward. We’re going to go into the last one, which is discipline and accountability. I love discipline. In fact, I will say one of my favorite things about portuguese culture now that I’ve been here for five years is they are such just disciplined people. And I love that. It really vibes with me. Discipline and accountability is really about showing up for you, or the discipline pieces, anyway. Discipline is about showing up for you. In the publishing industry, we have some well known abandonment points. They’re when the books get dropped and never picked up again. So the first chapter, which might not surprise you, but then there’s one that might surprise you a little. And that’s 20,000 words, give or take 20,000 words. It’s a well known abandonment point.

And then also when the draft is done, sometimes people just don’t know what to do next. Or a lot of times I find people get done and they’re like, what did I just write? And they don’t know what to do from there. And that’s too bad, because I want to see these books make it, make their way out into the world. This stat blew my mind. Research shows that scheduled accountability makes you 95% more likely to achieve your goals. And this cat cannot believe it. That is crazy. That’s a huge, huge number. That means that you have something scheduled on your calendar with somebody that you are accountable to. You can drive accountability through a number of ways, from completely free to being in a program. So there’s lots of different ways that you can drive this.

You can join a proven program with live, scheduled meetings. You can participate in a writing group. I met with somebody recently who’d been in a writing group for 20 years. That’s amazing. And that accountability is so supportive. You can partner with a peer who’s also working on their book. Just make sure they’re really serious about it. You can ask a loved one or a friend to support you and check in. I’ll tell you how we do it. And hopefully this can also help you think about ways you can drive accountability in your own work. So they’re supported by our lovely team. Here. They are here. A few of them are here with us today. They are supported by each other. And this peer accountability is really incredible. These are clients who embed in real life. Isn’t that so cool? And they sent me pictures.

I just love seeing that. It just lights my book, coach heart makes it sparkle. It’s so fun to see. And then we have all these other ways that we support them. So these are some of the things I already talked about. Scheduled meetings, we’ve got WhatsApp group email, we have our videos, our calls, we have our program. These are all ways that we drive accountability for our authors. And this becomes most important when hard things arise. That’s when having a coach or peer accountability partner really matters most. And this makes me think of Giovanna Gonzalez, again, incredible human. Are you sensing a theme here? All of our clients are just the best, coolest people in the world. She shared publicly that she had a big health challenge while she was writing her book.

And it was so incredible to see her move through that she was present for the experience that she had. She had to be. But to be able to still move through that and complete a book that is now just rippling across the US, I mean, she has been, since her book released in February, I don’t even know how many cities her book has just done so well. It’s been incredible to watch her. And she says that there’s no way she would be where she is in the book writing process if it wasn’t for our work together. Really, it’s beautiful what she wrote, but I think that for her story, it was really about that showing up. And I think having that, knowing that she had that accountability and support on the other side as she was moving through it was so powerful.

So that can be accomplished with a coach, it can be accomplished with a friend. But again, just make sure it’s somebody who’s really serious and they’re going to make it happen for them and they’re going to keep you accountable for you, too. So we’ve talked through habits, systems and discipline and accountability. Remember, I’m sending you a bunch of stuff, too. So I have that lifestyle audit. I’m sending you that life visioning guide. These are going to help you so much as you are creating this space and time. We have some simple things that I think are simple in concept, sometimes a little harder in practice. And just I would suggest picking something. Maybe it’s getting up a little earlier, maybe it’s shifting your morning schedule a little bit.

Pick one thing and find a way to work that into your life, to make time as much as you can. Really find a way to support accountability. So I promised you at the front of our conversation today that I would tell you how to continue this journey with me if it feels aligned. I’m going to tell you a little bit about that, and then I’ll give you that free, cool resource that I promised that is just for those of you who are here live. We’ll be editing it out later in the replay, and then I’ll open up for questions. So I will stay about 15 minutes after today to answer your questions. I’ll be sure to end exactly right on the 15 mark to make sure I can get you all out to your wonderful lives and days.

If all of this is feeling aligned for you, if you’re like, yes, I’m ready. I’m ready to make that space and ready to write this book. Why don’t we do it together? Let’s make time to write that book together. I have a six month program called idea to draft that really provides that step by step system, the coaching and the accountability, to write your first draft. And that’s really so that you can make the impact that you are meant to make on the world. And my cohort has told me it’s like taking a graduate course in writing a book. So I. I’m a former teacher, by the way. I taught high school language arts, and I have experience in curriculum design. So. And I also, in my graduate program, had an assistantship. So I have a lot of experience with building learning environments.

And when I approached this program, I wanted to create something that both gave you what you need on your own time for education. So I have an educational program I designed and recorded. It’s fully produced. And then we meet for our sessions. So we meet twice a month for sessions. And it’s this in the spirit of the journey of writing a book, but also the skill that you’re developing to learn how to write a book. That is how I’ve designed this program to guide you over the six months. So our core goal is to write your first draft, to get that first draft done, and to understand the next steps, to get it out and share it with the world. So here’s how we do it. I have a step by step system, very step by step.

I take you piece by piece, and we expand and build, and then we start to write. And that’s when that damn gets unleashed and you get to really move into the writing process. I provide a clear project plan so you can track everything along the way. And so, as I mentioned, we have a full educational program. We also have a workbook so you can track with the dates of our calls and, you know, who’s, you know, kind of what’s happening. When we have bimonthly live group coaching calls, we have a private WhatsApp. So this is for our cohort. But you also have access to the larger community of past clients and authors that I’ve worked with. You have email access to me and my team in between coaching sessions, and you have group accountability and collaborative discipline. I love that phrase, collaborative discipline.

That’s something that one of our authors said once, and were like, yes, I love that so much. And this is all hosted within a project, within a platform that makes it really easy to access all the education. We send you thoughtful weekly emails to help support that forward momentum, because momentum is so important in this process. Our next cohort. Yeah, it begins October 8. I know we have at least one cohort member here. Feel free to raise your hand if you want to. I am so excited. I think fall is the best time. We’re going to have such a great time, and it’s a little bit longer. This one is slightly longer than our other cohorts because of the holidays.

So we have adjusted to make sure that you’re fully supported, but you also have the time to celebrate and be with loved ones and make great progress on your book. As I mentioned, we have a goal of writing a first draft. Right. This is our core goal. But one thing that I wish more people understood about the process of writing a book is that the journey is, I think, even more powerful than the end result in some ways. Obviously, I’m obsessed with books. I love books. But I see a book as a bonus along this journey. It’s like the whipped cream on the desserts. Because you go through this incredible journey, you discover more about yourself. You have clearer language, you often develop new frameworks.

You’re creating this fertile soil from which all of these other amazing things can grow a pinot talk new revenue streams, more impact in the world. Whatever your big vision is, it’s helping really create the soil. It’s planting those seeds so that this vision can bloom. I mentioned, I talked about my clients plenty, but they’re just so awesome, I have to bring them up again. Here’s just a little screenshot of some of the things that clients have said over the years. You please google my name, you will see all that you want to see about me and the work that I’ve done in the world. I think a couple things that sets this apart. One is that I really care, like, a lot about the people that I get to work with. I think about you and your book and how we can support you.

We’re always looking to support you more fully. And then I think the other thing is that sometimes when you go and try to learn how to write a book, people are just trying to get it to market as fast as possible. I believe in momentum. I definitely want you to be moving, but I believe that you should engage fully in the journey of authorhood, and you should arrive on the other side transformed and better than when you started. That’s my hope for the authors that I get to work with. I have a few authors I have quotes from on this screen. Kevin has been so fun to watch. She’s done so many book events all over the US. It’s been incredible. May just, again, incredible to see her move from this really successful professional career into this next impact stage of her life.

Mike, he was living in Saudi Arabia when we first started working together, and now he’s in Alaska. He is living his dream career, taking people on alaskan leadership adventures. How cool does that sound? And then Lindsey, she has been also. So it’s been so cool to watch her journey. She is also very successful, professional, and she had this offering within her that didn’t totally tie to her work, but she felt so compelled to share and to create. So these are just some of the clients that I’ve gotten to support on this journeY. It is 1750 per month for the investment you can pay in full for to save about 500, a little over $500. And I really want to reiterate that this is a high touch coaching program, so we will know each other very well, we will be connected.

And our team is really here to support you. It’s high touch and. And really designed to support your success. So you can go directly and book a call with me. And I would love to meet with you. So even if you’re on the fence and you’re like, I don’t know, just know, I am the least pressure y person ever, and I will do my best to help you figure out the right path for you. So whether it’s with me or not, I will help you, and I’ll help you think through the best steps. Of course, I’d be so honored to get to be the person to help you, but if there’s another pathway that I think is a better fit. I will always tell you, and I’ll do my best to connect you with the right person.

So I hope to see you on my calendar and get the opportunity to connect with you and learn more about you and your book and your big vision. I know, like I said earlier from experience, that it feels really big to take fierce, bold action on a dream, on a goal. I know this firsthand, and I’ve gotten to support people as they are taking that bold action. Joining my program is a huge, bold action. Right? Because now you have a time frame, you have a financial commitment, you have something you’ve committed to. I do not take that lightly, whether it’s with me or it’s elsewhere. I really hope that you take action on that dream that you have and that you go for it and make this beautiful book happen. I would love to hear from you.

One word just as we’re closing out, moving into questions to describe how you feel after today’s webinar slash masterclass. What’s one word to describe how you feel after today’s masterclass? I am feeling gratitude. This was so fun. There was so much energy here today. Like you were all here. It was so fun. I really appreciate it. Dilitha says, inspired. Lauren says. Grateful. Inspired. Says. Katherine. Mike says. Prepared. Amy says. Ready. I love it. Ginny, energy. Lynette, hopeful. Valerie, thankful. Kim, hopeful. Seekers says, encouraged. Again, great. Laura says, grateful and prepared. I love it. These are really great words. Okay. Wonderful. Wonderful. Well, let me close this with a quote and then I’ll move over into our q and A. And I invite you. If you haven’t dropped in a question, you are welcome to ask me anything. Okay.

It does not have to be about the topic today, but certainly you’re welcome to. And I know we have a question already in the chat I’ll get to. I want to just close with this beautiful quote from Harriet Tubman. I tend to include in a lot of my presentations because it’s so beautiful. She says, every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars and change the world. And I hope that you will, you know, climb that summit, reach for those stars and make this book happen because you got this. Thank you for your engagement. Today our team will drop in the chat, our social handles. I would really love to be connected with you on social, if we’re not already.

I’m very active on Instagram, so we can have some fun. On there and also on LinkedIn. So, with that said, I’ll move into your questions. First question is, I’m working on, well, into a novel versus nonfiction, and I’m a pantser coming off a few crazy years. A crazy few years. So in case you aren’t familiar with that term, a pantser is somebody who just writes their book without, like, a really detailed outline. Sometimes pantsers will do, like, really light outlines and write, but that’s what that term refers to, so much less straightforward versus a planner slash outliner. Any thoughts? Okay, so fiction and nonfiction are pretty different with how you approach it. They’re not, and they are. I guess I say that because typically with nonfiction, I believe you always need an outline. Like, there’s almost no exception to that. Like a detailed outline.

Whereas with fiction, I think it really depends on your brain and your needs and your follow through. You should have an outline. This is my opinion. There will be people out there that maybe disagree with me, but it doesn’t mean that it needs to be a super detailed outline. I would consider doing the level planning to the level that aligns for your needs and your brain, and that will enable you to be able to successfully write that book. So if you are finding you’re getting stuck or you’re kind of losing momentum, that might be a sign that you need more of an outline. That would be my suggestion with this. It’s funny, though, because I am actually working on a novel as well. I’m co writing one with my daughter and I.

We’re kind of pancing it a little, but it’s just because we’re playing and we’re having fun. And everything else is so structured in my book world that I really wanted to do something that was, like, silly and, I don’t know, just more fun. I mean, not that it’s not all fun, but just like a playground. And I think it’s a little hard for me to not have an outline, but I’m enjoying it. So I guess it just kind of depends in fiction on your style. Laura asks, what are the principles or artifacts of a good outline? Okay. When I coach authors through the outlining process, we always have your book concept that’s primary. That is the high level of the book. It’s the. I mentioned this earlier. It’s the core message. Well, first, it has a working title. Don’t overthink this. Just pick something.

People spend way too much brain energy on it. It’s going to change later. Just pick a working title, a core message. So this is the through line for your book. It’s the thing that anchors the whole thing together. It’s the threads that connect all the way through. Then you have your book overview. So this is the high level description of the book. Then you have your audience, your reader description. Bear in mind the process I walk you through. We have many steps to get to these high level descriptions. Sticky note activity. We get very tactile. We organize those. We move, we bucket them. We go through this whole process. And I have a reader Persona, all these things that we do to get to that. But that’s the culmination of that.

Those are some of the elements on the first page to page and a half. And then the way that I teach outlining, of course, there are many ways, is that we have a high level chapter description, and then we use a layered outlining approach. So it’s really similar to what you learned in high school. And how do you write a five paragraph essay similar to that? So we’re including the top level description. We’re including the opening section, the subsections within the chapter with titles and basic descriptions so you know what to write. And then the closing section. And so every single chapter will have those elements. And then we normally, at the bottom, have important considerations or we have other pieces to it that, like notes that you need, will sometimes include there, depending on the type of book that it is.

So outlines are fun. I know sometimes people think that they’re a waste of time, but I think that they are the most important stage because it’s all you’re doing is thinking through the book that you’re going to create and creating a map. And when that map is done, you get to just create. And that is so fun because you’ve already done all that thinking and all that work ahead. You get to really lean in to the creation process. So thank you for that question. That was really wonderful. Okay, I have another question just came in. It says, does the program include modules? If so, how many modules? And would feedback be provided throughout the module completion? Okay, so we have ten modules, although nine of them are educational modules. And in these modules you learn different topics. So we start with your vision.

That’s actually pre work. Then we go into an overview of the nonfiction book writing process. We go from there, excuse me, into the ideation and outlining process. We work through that ideation, and then we learn book structure. This is a really fun one, and my Megan nerd side loves this one because you actually learn how a book is structured and the different types of books so you learn one of the key rules of structure, actually a few of the rules that you need to know about how to structure something really well. And it’s this principle that also applies to writing too, which is really neat. So you learn that we also go into best selling writing practices. So you learn how to level up your writing. We walk through the editorial process so the four types of editing, you understand that process.

We go through the publishing process and then we have a final module. That is your next steps as an author. In our program as well. In the educational program we have a bunch of additional components on different topics. So branding, speaking, those types of topics. And then in the program we have special guest experts that come in. I didn’t even mention that earlier. They’re in the latter half of the program and they are coming in and teaching on different topics beyond the book. So branding, speaking, marketing and beyond. So those are, that’s in the second half of the program. As far as feedback, we have our group coaching calls. We have that very important outline review and we have the one one coaching call. I do not review your individual work throughout the program because this is a group program.

If I work with somebody, one to one in a private coaching engagement, then I am looking at their individual work as we go through in the group program. I’m coaching to your needs throughout the program. We do have a shared tracking sheet as well for the program. So everybody has their own sheet and you update it every week. So I know exactly where you are. I know if there’s anywhere that you’re stuck or you need extra support. And I certainly will support outside of kind of our quote unquote scope if you need it. Hopefully this is something you’ve already figured out about me in this time together that I really care and my team and I will provide extra support if you need it. It’s very important to us. Okay. Those are all the questions that I have in so far.

I have had such a wonderful time being with all of you today. It’s been so fun. You’ve had such great energy. Thank you for showing up today. I truly hope that this was valuable for you. I hope you’re leaving feeling like I can do this. I’m ready to make time. I’m going to make this book happen again. I’ll invite you to learn more about the program. I don’t know yet if we’ve actually dropped the link to the program in the chat. It’s the actual link to the program, so we should probably do that if we haven’t done it. I’m scanning so you can learn more about the actual program itself. Book a call with me.

I would absolutely love to connect with you, learn more about your book, your vision, and see if we might be a good fit for helping you achieve your goal of authorhood. So thank you for your time today. Valerie. Thank you, Laura. Thank you, Dalitha. Thank you, David. Thank you so much, everybody, for being with us. I hope you have such a wonderful rest of your day. Maybe take some time right now to write down an intention that you have to make this dream of yours a reality. Thanks, Pat. And thank you so much to all of our team. To Katyani, for being here, to Hita, to Andrew, thank you so much for supporting. I really, and Kim as well. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody.

I look forward to hopefully getting to meet with you and maybe getting to support you on your author journey.