10 Things I Learned About Life (and Aging) From Writing a Book
Yep, I learned a lot. Let’s go!
1. Never say never:
I am not an author, or even a writer. So I could never write a book. Until I did. We often tell ourselves we can’t do… We need to stop.
2. Eat the frog in the morning:
I know this sounds gross and not relevant, but it is relevant (albeit still gross).
Mark Twain, who just happens to be a fellow writer is given credit for the phrase “Eat the live frog in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”
Difficult things have a way of not getting done, such is life. Writing was difficult for me, I moved it to the morning. It worked.
Our “frog” is the biggest, most important, and often most difficult task. Eat it, in the morning with coffee. Tastes better with coffee.
3. Give it your best effort:
Is this one too obvious? It should be. If something is not worth our best effort, don’t do it.
4. Live with purpose:
I (semi) retired at the same time my kids left the nest. It created a bit of a “purpose gap.” The book filled the gap. We need our Ikigai, our reason to rise in the morning.
5. Don’t give up:
Just don’t.
6. Never be the smartest person in the room:
Confucius shared his wisdom by saying “If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.” I chose experts to make my book better. I was never the smartest in the room (not hard to do…for me.)
7. Words matter:
”Sticks and stones…” Nice little rhyme that got us through grade school. But words do matter, like always, and not just in a book.
8. Don’t try to be perfect:
Life is so much easier when we learn this. I gave the book my best effort. As I have read it (many times), I have noticed a “lack of perfection.” I am ok with it.
9. Celebrate small wins:
Writing is difficult and takes time. My simple celebrations provided powerful motivation - finished a chapter, a good research session, my first review on Amazon. Celebration is good for the soul.
10. Nobody is gonna like my book as much as I do:
Powerful wisdom from my wife. Although it felt like a slap in the face. It did hurt for a while, until the reality set in. People have their own lives. They don’t really care more than a minute about what we wear, how we look, or the book we wrote. And once we accept that reality, it is actually very freeing. We don’t have to go through life woried about what others think of us, because they are not thinking about us, or our book, that I worked so hard on (ok, I need some time with this.)
OK, there you have it. The 10 things I learned about life from writing a book. All pretty obvious actually. But it may be good at times for a little reminder. So, what is your book writing story?
Enjoy your day,
Just a little extra-
If you have ever thought about writing a book, may I suggest you start by writing one chapter., or even a short blog.
Starting is the most difficult step. Oh, and see #1 above.
References
Life.
Writing a book.