Stacy: You’re the change. You. You are the change. Reading the news does not change anything. It’s important to be informed, I know, but reading the news doesn’t change anything. Looking at Instagram reels and being scared about the state of things does not change anything. You are the change. Your voice matters. Your story matters. Your story and your book is waiting. It’s like it’s in you. It’s just waiting to be let out. So I really hope that you will write it, that you will be part of just a flood of voices to market that are creating good in the world. Because that’s what I believe in. That’s the work that I am honored and privileged to get to do every single day with the authors that I get to work with.

Stacy: Welcome. It’s just me today, or just you and me. I have no guests. It’s just us. We’re going to spend time together. I realized recently as I was looking through my podcast episodes and thinking about recordings I’ve done, looking at my calendar coming up for podcast episodes that I really haven’t done that many solo episodes. So today it’s just us. Just you and me. We’re going to spend some time together. Topic. The topic for today is why now is the time to write your book. I’m going to dig into that. I want to say a couple of things before I get started. Number one is that I am really tired. I barely slept last night. I think I woke up, I want to say 30 times, but might be a little hyperbolic. Maybe 20. Somewhere between 20 and 30 times last night.

Stacy: I have a scratchy throat. I’m just tired and a little sick. So I’m a little raw today. Maybe a little less polished than normal, maybe a little brain foggier than normal, but hopefully this still comes out well whatevered. And it all is cohesive and makes sense because this is a really important topic and actually something I’ve been wanting and meaning to record a podcast episode about since the presidential elections. So on that note, that’s my other thing that I want to say, which is I’m generally not super political in the sense of talking about politics or I guess presenting my opinion on politics really vocally. I think it’s really clear if you follow my content, you follow me on social, you’re on my newsletter, what my political leanings are.

Stacy: I don’t think that’s any secret, but I, I’m going to be a little bit more forthright today about some of my views and opinions. And I want to say before I get there that I strive to create a space where any and all political viewpoints are welcome. I see that as actually part of my work in the world to be somebody that can receive all kinds of opinions and viewpoints and create a safe place for people to be. So if you are all Republican and maybe disagree with some of my views here, that’s okay. I was raised Republican. I love a lot of Republicans. Friends, family, they’re people that I deeply care about. I also actively seek out content, books, media, friendships that are on the other side of the aisle.

Stacy: I think it’s really important that we listen to and engage with people who disagree with us. If I was only listening to content from liberal creators, or only consuming or reading, I should say books that are exactly with my viewpoint, I don’t think that actually helps me. I think it doesn’t give me an opportunity to be a critical thinker and it also doesn’t expose me to the other side of an argument so that I can be more empathetic. I’m not saying that as a judgment for anybody who chooses not to do that, but I think that I’m uniquely positioned because of my background, because of my upbringing, to understand and empathize with other viewpoints. And so if that’s you, I hope that you’ll stick around. I hope that you will listen, maybe disagree with me, that’s fine.

Stacy: But just know that you are welcome no matter your political leanings. So with that said, let me tell you what we are going to dive into today. I’m going to share a little bit about my perspective living in Portugal and watching what’s going on in the U.S. Kind of my real time reaction to that I’m also going to share a little bit about helping you. Let me, let me say it this way. I want to help you reframe. If you’re feeling, I don’t know, like it’s hard or you don’t really know what to do or you’re feeling sad, you’re feeling dejected, I want to offer you some thoughts there.

Stacy: And my hope is that by the end of this episode you really see and understand the power and importance of your voice and that you believe in the importance of sharing your story and your message through a book. Maybe a book’s not on your heart. If that’s the case, that’s okay. Great. Pick something else. Launching a business, volunteering for an organization. Insert whatever the thing is, I’m going to call it a book. You can insert what you want. So let me start with my response to things here. It is such a weird experience. So the day after the election, I had a piece come out on Katie Couric Media. I’ll be sure to link to that in the show notes on my reaction to the election.

Stacy: And in a nutshell, it was, oh, okay, I guess I’m not going home, at least for the next four years. I see this election as not just, I mean, this is not going to be news to a lot of people on my side of the political aisle, but not just a political loss, but actually a vote against humanity. I really feel sad, confused. So many things that so many people are feeling right now. But it’s a weird experience because while, you know, my friends and family and people that I care about back home are living it in their geographic location. I live in Portugal. I live a mile and a half from the beach. We are in a very safe, calm place. There are a lot of Americans here. Most of them are traveling. Some of them live here.

Stacy: But it’s like a certain type of American typically. And this isn’t to say that Republicans don’t travel. Absolutely, they do. So I don’t mean to sound narrow minded there, but I do find that people that travel widely tend to have more open viewpoints or kind of more multifaceted ways of looking at political issues rather than from a nationalist point of view. And so we tend to meet more people and we actually don’t really talk about politics that often. But usually people will bring up little comments and kind of watch you to see how you react. And typically they’re of the liberal persuasion. So we’re not really around a lot of people that like in Idaho, where people have different viewpoints or voted for a different candidate. So there’s that.

Stacy: But also, certainly I don’t feel things as strongly as y’all in the US Are feeling it. I’m not there. I’m not concerned for the ramifications of some of the presidential actions. Those are things that I don’t really have to worry about except as really a taxpayer. And the fact that I don’t have citizenship here in Portugal, I will tell you on the ground, I haven’t received a lot from non Americans negativity. I have received a lot of empathy from them. I’ve been really surprised, actually, at how many Europeans like Trump and seem to see him as somebody who is going to bring about change. This was pre election. I haven’t really had these conversations as much recently, but I was really surprised because these were conversations with people that ideologically I align with on a lot of other things.

Stacy: So it’s very interesting that the world perception is not necessarily the same as maybe what you think it is when you live in the US So that’s been really interesting. But one thing that’s been a little troubling is that there have been some reports, well, I should say one report of some kind of bullying slash harassment at a school by non American child to an American child. I heard about that firsthand from the person that experienced this, making fun of them because of Trump. And so I don’t know if that’s going to continue or if it’s going to increase, but that was a little disturbing for me as a parent. That we’re here as immigrant maybe isn’t the exact right word. But practically, you know, we immigrated over here. Is it emigrated? Anyway, you can leave a comment for me on the correct use.

Stacy: What’s the right word here? I mean, expatriate is often what Americans will call themselves, but, you know, I think that there’s some privilege around that word. So anyway, I digress. It’s been interesting. It’s been interesting to see the reaction. It’s been interesting to see what is happening with kids, what’s happening with adults, the conversations that we’re having. But it’s a very weird thing because I’m so steeped in it because I’m American, I. I go home, I have family there. I love my hometown, I love my friends, I love my family. So I care. But it’s almost like just watching something on television. And in some ways I am right because I’m seeing reels or I’m reading news, but it’s like watching a movie because Actually, it doesn’t truly impact me at the scale in the way that it impacts my family back home.

Stacy: And yet, even so, I’m still really impacted. Just like with COVID I found myself going through this little big spiral of, wow, just dejection. Just. I won’t say I was hopeless, but there was this air of hopelessness about and really listening to a lot of podcasts, reading the news, having so many conversations. And I find that I do that sometimes when something big and hard on a global scale happens, or even personally, I kind of need to wallow for days, sometimes weeks, if it’s really big. Not usually weeks is Covid was weeks. This was more like week, sometimes a day. Even when I’ve had pretty major personal things happen, I just need to seep, steep, sink into that feeling, process it, experience it, and then by the next day, usually or within a couple days, I’m like, all right, let’s go. Boom.

Stacy: Let’s move forward. That’s kind of how I feel with this. I mean, of course, it’s all still unfolding in real time, but a couple things that I’ve done. One is disengage from the news. Not totally, because I want to be informed. I want to know what’s going on. But I have a podcast that I listen to that gives just a daily cap of the news. Okay, here’s what happened. Here’s what you need to know. That is the New York Times. I listen to the headlines, and sometimes, if I’m interested in the topic, I will listen to the daily. I check news sources maybe every couple weeks. Or if there’s something major that happens and I want to just read about it, I will go and read that. But I really have focused on my circle of control.

Stacy: So what can I actually do that I can control? Like, what do I have control over? I don’t have control over presidential executive orders. Nope. I don’t have control over relations in Gaza. I don’t have control over racism in the federal government. I don’t have control over any of that. What do I have control over? Well, I have control over what time I wake up in the morning. I have control over whether I am letting my attention wander or I’m staying focused. I have control over whether I nourish my body. I have control over whether I exercise. I have control over whether I engage in hobbies that. That stimulate my spirit. I have control over so many things. And so I’m choosing as much as possible to stay in my circle of control. It does not mean I’M perfect. Ask my husband.

Stacy: I’m sure he’ll. I’m sure he will corroborate that. But largely, I am trying really hard. I’m making a big effort to remain in my circle of control while being informed. So with that all said, here’s where I think in our work, your work, my work, we have a lot of potential in this circle of control, and that is sharing our message, sharing our stories, writing that book, doing whatever that big thing is that has been on your mind. Again, I’m going to use the word book because that is my work. I’m a book coach, I’m a book strategist. This is what I do. But you can insert. Pick your adventure here.

Stacy: So what I’m suggesting is rather than feeling hopeless or distracted or going down those rabbit holes or throwing your hands up or disengaging completely, but in a way that’s not helpful, what if you choose to lean in? What if you choose to make now the time to focus rather than feeling like it’s all too big and your voice doesn’t matter? What if. What if you remember that change starts at home? What if you lean in? What if you do that thing? What if you write that book? And what if you think about your small impact as having a ripple effect? Because it does. And I have seen this over and over and over again in the work that I do.

Stacy: I want you to just take a moment, do a little thought experiment right now about a book that has impacted you in your life. Do you have that book in your head? For me, there are a couple that come to mind. One is the Little Prince. I’ve always loved that book. I think it’s so deep and it has so much to offer. And the House on Mango street by Sandra Cisneros. There’s so many more, but just two immediately come to mind for me. And the thing that I often think about when I think about authors journeys, because I’ve had the honor of supporting many more than 100 authors along their journeys, is that at the beginning there’s often that negative self talk that comes up of, gosh, will anybody want to read this? Who am I to write this? This isn’t any good.

Stacy: There’s fear, there’s uncertainty. Any creative process holds all of that. But if you do it anyway, if you lean in, if you put your message and your story out there and you do it in a way that honors the reader, on the other side, you see it as an act of love, an act of service, it will have a ripple effect. And I often think about books as throwing not just a pebble, but a big rock in a pond. Because as an author, you really don’t know what your book is out there doing in the world. You spend all this time and energy pouring your heart and your passion and your story into this thing, and it’s like you cast it out and it plops into this pond and it makes a ripple effect.

Stacy: But then what’s so cool is that there’s more like mini ripple effects coming out of that. So it’s not just the one. It is sparking all of these different experiences with your work. And you never really know the magnitude of the impact that you have on the world. But that truly can never happen if you don’t write the book to begin with. And as somebody who has had the deep honor of supporting so many authors from marginalized groups, authors of color, authors with disabilities, queer authors, and yes, white authors too. Male white authors, female white authors, but also a really wide range of authors from so many different backgrounds, so many different stories. As somebody who has supported so many of those to market, help them clarify their ideas and write their books, I have seen the power of one book.

Stacy: And it’s not just the book in the pond that we talked about, this casting and the ripple, but it’s also that author’s anchoring to the message, to the story. So for you, maybe you’ve had this idea rolling around in your head. Maybe you have a really important message that you want to share from your unique perspective to your unique reader. And the process of clarifying that, of that deep introspection that comes from writing your book of the. The challenge of putting that onto a page in a way that connects with someone else, the experience of refining that into something that’s publishable, that creates a level of confidence and clarity that is unmatched from my experience. I have yet to see anything else in the world, anything that comes even within, like smelling distance.

Stacy: Is that a saying within whatever shouting distance of writing a book. It is truly one of the most transformative journeys, not just for your reader, which is what we would hope, but for yourself as well. There are a few things that I hear from authors when they’re debating whether to take a step toward crafting their books, toward writing them, towards sharing their message. And I, I gathered three of them that I want to share with you that I think are really important right now. If you are somebody who has a book idea, but maybe you’re like, gosh, there is so Much going on in the world. What is the point? What is the point? Well, the point is that you can have an impact. Your book can have an impact.

Stacy: You showing up, you focusing on local change within your unique reader group can create that ripple effect. It matters. It matters so much. Let me walk you through three things that I hear all the time. Maybe not every day, but certainly every week. And I want to help you think about how to reframe this. And if that book journey is something that you want to take, hopefully these will help anchor you in this journey. To help you say yes, to help you take that step. The first one is, who am I to write a book? Who am I? Who am I? It’s this idea of, gosh, like, it’s just me who wants to read what I have to write. You’re somebody with a unique story and message and mission who can reach a unique reader who is waiting for your message.

Stacy: Let me read you a quote you’ve probably heard before, but I love it so much. And you can replace. It’s going to mention God, replace it with whatever your spiritual practice is. So just. You can just replace if needed. And if you are, if you do believe in God, and that’s your spiritual practice, it will fit perfectly for you. This is from Marianne Williamson from A Return to Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles. And remember, the question that we’re answering is, who am I to write a book? And Williamson says, our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

Stacy: You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. It’s such a beautiful quote. I think about it all the time. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

Stacy: This idea of maybe there is power within me, maybe I’m afraid to admit that, maybe I’m afraid to acknowledge that I might have Something big and important within me. And I’m gonna downplay it and say, who am I to write a book if that’s you? I hope, I hope these words resonate with you. Next question. Does my voice, story, and message even matter? Remember earlier when I asked you about that book that had an impact on you, the book that really resonated with you or books for me, I said two and I mentioned how the author felt, certainly felt on their author journey. This question of whether their voice, their story, their mission, their message. Well, maybe they believed in their message, mission, but certainly their message even matters. They felt that.

Stacy: They felt just that same thing that you’re feeling right now, and yet they wrote it anyway. And that book found you and it impacted you. Maybe it even changed your life. We all feel this way as authors. I’m trying to think if there’s anybody I’ve worked with who hasn’t have felt this at some way, in some way. I don’t think so. I think every client I’ve ever worked with has had some variation of this. Might not get expressed this exact way, but there’s always this internal struggle, this internal questioning of, does this even matter? The world is on fire. I’m writing a book. Yeah, it matters. It absolutely matters. Because your voice matters. It’s worthy, can make a difference. And it doesn’t matter if you’re writing an activist book or teaching, you know, a business owner how to balance their books.

Stacy: It does not matter because you are helping. You are helping. And by helping, you are improving this world, you’re making a difference. And maybe you could even ask yourself a down the road question of, okay, let’s take that example of a book about helping. Let’s pick a niche. Like, I don’t know, firefighting consultants. Is that a thing? Balance their books. That’s your very niche, super niche book. Or maybe it’s about increasing cash flow and business revenue. And you can extrapolate from that what the downstream effect of them successfully doing the thing that you’re trying to do for them in that book. Well, they’re probably gonna create jobs. They may have more time and energy to give back to their community or spend with their family, which will create better humans to go out in the world.

Stacy: I mean, there’s so many different things that you could pull from that. Yes. Does your voice matter? Yes. Does your story matter? Yes. Does your message matter? Yes. And now I really believe more than ever before. Question three or pointless. Not a question, it’s a statement. I’m not enough yet to write this book. So I’m not enough. Insert, insert the thing. So I’m not seasoned enough or successful enough or whatever. Enough. There’s always a word that needs inserted there. This idea that I’m not at a place where I’m good enough, I think that’s really what it comes down to, is good enough. I’m not good enough yet to write this book. And there’s always, at least in my conversations, the yet this assumption that eventually you will be good enough.

Stacy: But the problem is that can just keeps getting kicked down the road because when you get to the place where you think that you’re enough, you realize that there’s a lot more to go. And then that self confidence never just magically appears. The truth about great books is that oftentimes the people that are at the very, very top of whatever it is, their industry, their profession, they’re so disconnected from the earlier stage that it’s really hard for them to speak to them in a real way. If you’re just a few steps ahead of your reader and you can offer them something valuable, your specific experience in this very moment is actually more valuable to them than the book that you would write in three years. Still write that book in three years, please.

Stacy: I hope that you not just write one book, but you write many books. But the book that you will write right now is hugely valuable to them. Hugely. There’s so many more of these that I could detail, so much negative self talk that I’ve heard over the years, and also so much positive reframing, so much anchoring in mission and message and vision. And I hope that you will do that too. I hope that you will harness the energy that maybe you’re expending on things that you can’t control and pull it back within your circle of control, within the place that you can actually influence it, you can actually make a difference.

Stacy: And it’s like you like wrap your arms around your focus, you pull your focus in tight and you say, I’m going to control what I can control, which is my focus, my energy, my time. And that might mean that you’re shifting some things in your life that might mean that you’re less on screens or exercising more, eating better, whatever it is, sleeping more. That could be something I could use as of last night. But you likely have something that you will need to shift because you do need time to be able to write your book. But let me just say that a lot of times when people want to do something big, like write A book, they think that they have to hit this really high bar.

Stacy: So if you’re trying to focus in the circle of control and you want to take back control of your time, you might think, well, I need two hours a day to write this book. But that’s such a high bar that you’re probably going to miss that if you try to run out of the gate tomorrow and put two hours into your book. There’s a lot of reasons I wouldn’t do that. But just I’m going to set aside the reasons. You’re probably not going to be as successful if you try tomorrow to start a two hour a day habit, even an hour a day habit. So I usually recommend a graduated like a walk up to those higher intensity focus periods. So here’s my challenge for you today.

Stacy: If you are still listening to this episode, hello, I’m glad to be friends with you, first of all. But second of all, if you are still listening to this episode, here’s my challenge for you. All right, so my challenge is that you spend five minutes. That’s it. That’s a pretty easy bar to reach, right? But that’s five minutes you’re taking away from another thing that is pulling your attention. Five minutes writing. I don’t care what you write about. I don’t care if it’s free flow writing. I don’t care if it’s on a prompt that you find, if it’s on your book, if it’s something that you like, an article that you will post, if it’s, I don’t even know, like just a journal entry, I really don’t care what that is. But just five minutes this week for seven days.

Stacy: If you do that and you’re still listening to this, drop me a note@hellotaceanes.com I will send you my book writing and editing checklist. They’re normally $7 to purchase, but I will gift that to you and it’s obviously an honor system. So send me a note. Helloaceyanist.com say, I wrote for seven days. Tell me how it went and I will gift that to you because I want to support your success. I want to support your journey as an author, to bring you back into that circle of control, to put the heart, the energy, the time into this book that we both know you need to write. Like, let’s not pretend this book needs to happen. And I really hope that you will make this a reality in 2025. You’re the change. You. You are the change. Reading the News does not change anything.
Stacy: It’s important to be informed. I know, but reading the news doesn’t change anything. Looking at Instagram reels and being scared about the state of things does not change anything. You are the change. Your voice matters. Your story matters. Your story and your book is waiting. It’s like it’s in you. It’s just waiting to be let out. So I really hope that you will write it, that you will be part of just a flood of voices to market that aren’t creating good in the world. Because that’s what I believe in. That’s the work that I am honored and privileged to get to do every single day with the authors that I get to work with. That’s it. That’s it for me this week. Thank you for joining me. I always love to hear from you and just to know your reaction, your reflection.

Stacy: You can leave a comment on this episode. You can reach out to me@hellostacianist.com I want to thank, as always, Rita Domingues for her production of this podcast. I know I say this every week, but y’all, this would not even be a thing. This podcast would not exist. Well, okay, it would exist, but it wouldn’t be nearly as good as it is without Rita. She does all the editing, she posts things, she creates our YouTube, like uploads the videos to YouTube. She’s awesome. So thank you always to Rita for her production of this podcast. And if you’re still listening, if you believe in the mission of living a life that is beyond better, I would be so appreciative if you would take a moment to rate and review this podcast. You know, ideally five stars. It helps me reach more listeners with the message of beyond, of living a life that is beyond better. And I will be back with you before you know it.