10 Aug 57. Focus on Value

The number of people who want to write a book and actually make it happen is quite small.

But there’s no reason you can’t be one of that elite group.

If you’re struggling to get started, continue, or finally finish writing your book, this episode is just for you.

Keep listening and I’ll share how you can focus on what truly matters and finally achieve your writing-related goals.

Mentioned in This Episode

Jump-Start: A free guide to help you jump-start your nonfiction book.

Redefine Wealth Podcast – Patrice Washington

Redefine Wealth for Yourself – Patrice Washington

Short Books: Big Results

Just Keep Hosting Summit – Marie Fratoni

Episode Transcript

Hey there and welcome to Nothing but the Words. I’m your author coach, Candice L Davis.

I hope your week and your writing are going well.

I’m really excited to announce that my client Patrice Washington released her fourth book this week.

Patrice, who’s also one of my coaches, is the host of the Redefining Wealth podcast.

I’ve edited two of her books and this time, I had the privilege of serving as her co-writer, which means all the ideas, stories, and philosophies are hers. 

And she’s really brilliant.

Redefine Wealth for Yourself takes a holistic approach to wealth unlike any book I’ve read—and I read a lot.

It’s divided into Patrice’s Six Pillars of Wealth—you can really dive into the pillar you want to focus on at any given time.

It’s available on Amazon, of course, and I can’t recommend it enough. I’m really proud to have been a part of such a wonderful project.

Last year, when the pandemic became a reality for all of us, lots of people reached out to me about writing a book.

Some of them signed up for author coaching.

Some joined my group program, Short Books: Big Results.

And some stayed in touch but didn’t sign up for any services.

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that the people who signed up to get help with their books made progress.

Some of their books have already been published.

And a larger percentage will be publishing their books over the next several months.

I love that I’ve been able to help them achieve their book goals.

But I’ve seen something really interesting happen with the people who didn’t sign up for any services.

Some of them have made real progress on their books too.

They’ve stayed consistent and enough to write ten or twenty thousand words or more since last spring.

Would it have been easier if they’d worked with me?

Sure. Everyone can use feedback, accountability, structure, and answers to their questions.

But even without all that, they’ve pushed forward and made progress.

Of course, there are other times when I follow up with some of the people who reached out to me and I find out they haven’t made any progress at all.

I’m not here to judge anyone’s pandemic progress by any means.

2020 was harder on some folks than it was on others. 

If you haven’t achieved the book goals you set in 2020 and you’re beating yourself up over it, I want to invite you to let it go.

The days and weeks and months have passed.

2020 is over.

But you still have today and, hopefully, tomorrow.

You just need to get started again and get some momentum on your book.

Go back to the beginning of the writing process.

What’s your book idea?

Do you still want to write that book?

Is it still relevant to your audience?

If not, what do you want to write about?

Who’s your one perfect reader—the person who’s waiting for your book whether she knows it or not?

What do you want her to get from your book?

How will she be changed by reading it?

What will she do, think, feel, or believe after she reads your book?

How will she be transformed?

Stop right there.

There’s more to the process, of course, but stop right there.

How will the world be changed by your book?

This doesn’t have to be anything profound, though it might be.

In 2020, I set a goal of providing $500,000 in value in business.

That included everything I did, my ghostwriting projects, the clients I coached to write their own books, the books I edited, this podcast, and speaking on other people’s stages.

Every day, I took out my journal and wrote ten to twenty times, “I am creating and delivering $500,000 in value in 2020. (A tool I got from Patrice Washington’s book, by the way. She calls it writing your standards.)

Writing that goal kept me focused enough to publish a new podcast every week.

It kept me focused enough to write seven books with my clients last year.

It kept me focused enough to invite more people into my program Short Books: Big Results.

At the end of 2020, I added up the numbers and knew I’d exceeded my goal of creating $500,000 in value.

And yes, I gave a dollar value to all the things because it’s easy to measure.

If you’re struggling to get back to your book, get serious about understanding the value your book can create.

Listen, if your book isn’t creating value, there’s no need in writing it.

But you and I both know all kinds of books create value by educating, enlightening, inspiring, informing, and entertaining readers.

If you don’t believe in the value of your book you’ll struggle to write it.

And you’ll definitely struggle to tell people about it when that time comes.

Define the value you want your book to create in the world.

And then write that goal every day, ten to twenty times, until you start to believe it’s possible for you to make it a reality.

Focusing every single day on the value you’re creating will help you get consistent in taking the action you need to take to achieve your goal of finally writing your book.

If you’re listening to this episode the week it comes out, you can also catch me on a really cool summit where I’m talking about how to keep going and finish your book.

It’s the Just Keep Hosting summit, hosted by my friend Marie Fratoni, at no charge to attendees.

I love Marie’s laid back approach to this summit. You won’t feel overwhelmed by it at all, but you’ll get great information on video and social media marketing, entrepreneurship, writing your  book, of course, and more.

If you want some tips to keep going as we move into the second quarter of 2021, go to www.getclientseverywhere.com/summit.

That’s www.getclientseverywhere.com/summit.

There’s a great line-up, including yours truly, and your ticket is free.

That’s all for this week, my friends. 

Thanks for listening to Nothing but the Words. I’m your author coach, Candice L Davis, and I’ll see you next time.