If you’ve followed me for very long, you know that I love books, especially because they inspire change and spark conversations. As a book coach, I get to help authors create frameworks that organize complex thoughts and help them communicate their message effectively in various contexts. Their writing creates a lasting influence that extends into their personal and professional realms.
Join me as I talk about the internal and external impact of writing—from transforming confidence and self-expression to refining the presentation of ideas and engagement with audiences.
If you’re interested in turning vague ideas into clear, purposeful messages, and moving into true thought leadership, you’ll love this episode.
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Writing as a tool for clarity for your personal life and business | Episode 250 Transcript
These transcripts were generated by robots, not writers.
Stacy: Welcome. Welcome. I have been thinking a lot this week about my own writing process and also my clients writing process and how writing is such an incredible vehicle for clarity. And I’ve been thinking about this particularly because of AI, because of how much people are now outsourcing their own thinking, their own problem solving. And I really want to make the case for using your own internal experience and going inward with writing as a vehicle because it matters and it’s so important. And as I’m working on this book, I’m working on a book all around creative productivity. I’m bringing all of my 16 plus years in the industry and lifetime of study of writing and creativity and I’m working with these incredible authors. I am a book coach and strategist and I guide authors through this transformative journey of authorhood.
Stacy: And a lot of times when authors ask me what sets me apart as a coach from others, I really point to this journey of clarity. And so I want to talk about that because I think that a lot of times when people set out to write a book, they want to have written a book, they just want to get the thing done and out in the world it’s like check off this goal. But what I often find is that authors who and writers, let’s just put the book aside. Even if you’re simply writing for writing’s sake, who engage fully in the act of writing. They emerge better, clearer, more confident, with stronger anchoring into their purpose, clearer language, often frameworks. There’s just so much that evolves through the process of writing and I would say specifically writing a book.
Stacy: And this really takes place along three parts. And we’ll talk through these three today. Introspection, clarification and creation. And that’s really what the journey of writing takes you through. So let’s talk about introspection. I want you to think about the last time that you spent 30 minutes, even five minutes alone with your thoughts. So these are not.
Stacy: I’m walking down the street and thinking of the things I have to do today, but really sitting with your thoughts, sitting with your inner self with no distraction. So few of us do that. It is Such a rare thing to create space to think. And especially now. And I promise not to go back to AI too much today, but I have to talk about it. We are so quick to go ask an opinion of a robot rather than asking the opinion of ourselves. We’re so fast to go say, tell me what you see rather than saying what do I see? And this is a problem not just for you right now, but for your long term brain health, for your thought leadership. Because you cannot be a leader of thought if you’re not doing the thinking.
Stacy: That’s kind of like the definition of thought leadership. And it’s so important that this process is engaged in fully while you’re writing your book. This is part of why I tell authors that this will be. Writing your book will be perhaps the most powerful introspective journey you will ever undergo. Because there are few things in our lives that ask more of us on an introspective level and ask us really to go inward, to think, to push and then from that introspection to move into clarification. So that’s that next part of that pathway, introspection, clarification creation. Here’s where transcends the introspection. Because now we have to start to find clarity. And especially for a lot of the authors that I work with, they’re leaders, they are super successful humans.
Stacy: And success in many different ways, right from exiting companies, to running non profits, to giving speeches around the world, to everyday extraordinary people with great stories to share, important messages to share. And so these individuals who are now undergoing this introspection, you, as you’re undergoing this introspection now, you need to take all of this decades of life and knowledge and expertise and you need to find patterns, you need to find the through line, you need to bring that together. And that’s what’s unique about the book writing process, because it forces you to bring it together and to hold it in a space that makes sense, that’s engaging, that’s clear. And that clarification process takes time. It does take sometimes wading through the muck and the mud.
Stacy: I don’t have the quote on hand, but I remember reading a quote describing writing like driving through the fog with headlights that can only see like four feet in front of you, like there’s all this darkness behind it and you just can kind of see your way forward a little bit at a time until eventually the fog clears and you have that crisp message, you have that clarity around your book and it is really powerful. And this is really an incredible Part of the book writing journey is that journey to clarity, the clarity, space. This is something I guide authors through to find that because it is hard to access. I think without some guidance or some system or direction or coaching. It’s not impossible by any stretch, but it is useful to have a process to follow.
Stacy: When I guide them through this, they’re often finding frameworks. And I think sometimes we glamorize frameworks. Or not glamorize, that’s not the right word. It’s more like we put frameworks on a pedestal. Like, oh, I have a framework. And fair enough. Like, you put the work into creating a framework, but a framework is just a process with labels on it. Like, it’s just a package that you put around a process or a system. And so oftentimes what I’m helping authors do is understand what their process is, if they haven’t already clarified that and then put packaging around it to create a framework. And they’re doing that themselves as they work through the process. But I’m often thought partnering with them as they are creating that and working through that. And so then you get to this point.
Stacy: So you’ve gone through the introspection, life changing, transformative, deeply anchoring, confidence building, clarifying. We move into the clarification process. You start to find clearer language, you have frameworks, you start to talk more confidently about your work. You can express yourself more clearly on stage in conversations in your business with potential clients. And then we move into creation. Okay, so this is where you start to write the book. If we’re talking about book writing, of course we can scale this down to journaling, to article writing, but let’s talk about book writing because that’s my world. And maybe since you’re watching this, it’s your aspiring world too, or it’s something that you’re in right now in the creation process. I think that this is the ultimate expression of your introspection. It’s the ultimate expression of your clarity in is creating something that other people can use.
Stacy: And I love a quote. I have it here. You can’t see my paper, but it’s here from the book Cat’s Cradle. If you haven’t read it’s such a good book. Kurt Vonnegut. And this is said by Dr. Asa Breed, which is one of the characters. And I just love this quote. He says, Dr. Heniker, although I can’t remember if Asa is a male or a female now because it’s been a while, so they say, I’ll say they say Dr. Heniker used to say that any scientist who couldn’t explain to an 8 year old what he was doing was a charlatan. I love that so much. And this is, I think, such anchoring perspective for book writing because when you’re in the introspection stage, you are, oh, there’s so much, right, so many ideas, so many things that you’re working through.
Stacy: And then you move into this clarification, you start to kind of get your arms around it, you start to your messaging, your book architecture, you start to get clear on your content. And then you move into the writing stage. And here is where you need to translate it for your reader into something useful. And I, I see a book as the ultimate expression of humanity, actually. It is something that you as a human create and you put out into the world and it impacts other humans. And even just today, I went to an event at my child’s school and as were leaving the school, one of the parents goes, hey, Stacy, I know you write books, but do you read books? And I said, well, yeah, I love books, I read them all the time.
Stacy: And he goes, oh, let me tell you about this book. And then he told me about this book that he loved and he gave me the recommendation. I can still. A great title. I still remember it. And well, I would hope so. It was from earlier today. But, you know, I digress. So he gave me this title and he shared it and I was like, okay, I’ll probably read that. Sounds really interesting. Books are something that create, that we not only create, but they create other. They created their own meaning in the world. They impact, they spark conversation, they inspire people, they transform people, they change businesses, they change lives. And that is a beautiful thing to create from your own experience, your lived experience, your humanity. It is hard to put into words. I’m trying.
Stacy: I don’t know how long I’ve been talking now, but forever, for however long, say 15 minutes or so, I’ve been talking. I’ve been trying to articulate this for you. I’d probably do better if I was writing it, to be honest. But I’m trying to put into words for you this access point that writing creates for you in your ability to understand yourself and your work and your message and your story, and to be able to gift that to others. And that’s through a book. But it’s also what’s so cool about becoming an author is it’s also in how you talk about your work. It’s in your conversations, like I said earlier. And it really is one of the most deeply clarifying journeys, deeply introspective journeys, and deeply transformative journeys that any human being can undergo.
Stacy: I believe that to my core because I’ve not only experienced it myself many times, but I have guided others through it as well. So, with that said, I hope this was helpful. I hope it’s maybe inspired you to write today or to work on that book outline or to reach out to that person that you have been following that you’d like to work with about your book. Whatever it is that inspires you forward on your writing journey, your author journey. I hope this episode helped you with that today. I want to thank you for tuning in. It means a lot to me. I put a lot of love and heart into every single thing I create. And I know your time is precious, your attention and energy is precious. And I’m really grateful that you’re here with me today.
Stacy: Do be sure that you’re subscribed. Whether you’re on your podcast app or you’re on YouTube, you want to get more of this, right? So be sure to subscribe so you’re alerted to new episodes that will support your journey and help you live a life that’s not just better, but beyond better. I want to thank, as always, Rita Dominguez for her production of this podcast and my YouTube channel. She is the marketing engine behind all the things, and without her, you would never, ever watch or see this. I mean, she’s really, like, nudging me. Get it done, Stacy. Even though I love doing it, you know there’s other things going on. So she gets it on my calendar, she helps me plan. She puts up with me when I change plans and just do something I want to do because I want to do it.
Stacy: So I am so grateful for her. And if you have just like 30 seconds and you’re listening to this in a podcast app, please rate and review the podcast. It is such a huge, huge gift for me to help me reach more listeners again with that message of living a life that’s not just better, but beyond better. And I will be back with you before you know it.
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