How Writing a Book Saved My Life…

The unexpected things I learned by becoming an author

They say writing a book will change your life.

Well… “They” are right.

When I set out to write my book, I knew it was going to be an important step in my life. It had been calling me so strongly that I knew I had to let it out.

Like a mother feeling the contractions before giving birth, my life was being punctuated by painful “contractions” that I knew would only stop the moment I chose to “push” my book out.

My life felt like a sparkly band-aid stuck over a painful oozing abscess.

I had quit drinking almost a year prior, and that alone was hard enough: I had given up the key to my escape and was now stuck in life, in my life, with all my unresolved issues, unhealed wounds, buckets of shame, guilt and shit.

I was trying, though, trying to clean the place up. But you don’t clean up 33 years of mess in just one day.

Mind you, I’m not saying that I was a total mess, I was quite “together” actually. Starting out my career as an online entrepreneur, living in a beautiful city. However, when I looked within, there was quite a mess: lots of unaddressed feelings and emotions.

They say becoming an entrepreneur is a personal growth journey in itself.

Boy, they are f*cking right!

The whole book journey, coupled with growing my business was such an (unexpected) extraordinary creative release, that I often say it warrants a book of its own!

It felt like army-level bootcamp while I was doing it, but in the end, I came out a superhero, ready to conquer the world.

Authors know exactly what I’m talking about.

Honestly, this is the reason why I do what I do now.

Seeing first-time authors transform into unstoppable human beings over the course of their writing experience is one of the greatest everyday miracles I have the privilege of facilitating.

They always start out scared shitless, but at the same time willing to brave their fears. And THEY DO.

I remember a couple of years ago, I had just taken on a new batch of 1:1 clients and just a few weeks in, my client M. texted me to ask:

“Did you find that writing your book transformed your life in general?”

Girrrrrrrrrrrrrrlll!!!

Does the Pope shit in the woods?!

You bet it did!!!

HERE’S HOW:

#1) Believing In Yourself

Deciding to say yes to writing my book meant committing to something BIG. Way way bigger than me. It meant gifting myself with the trust and belief that I had what it takes to see it through, and that was one of the most precious gifts I could ever give myself.

#2 KonMari-ing Your Emotional Life

Writing the book meant looking at my story, unpacking it, and in so doing, sorting it. It was like toppling over a messy drawer on the table, sorting through the contents, and putting everything back in a neat manner. Kinda like KonMari-ing my life.

In fact, I also left my boyfriend, moved country and literally KonMari-ed my house too, amongst other things.

#3 Defragging Your Life

For years I’d been dragging my past with me. I’d let so many old stories define me, and I felt like I wanted to break free from them. Writing my book was like finding those stories a new home; a new container in the shape of a book, a new place for them to live outside of me.

It was a way to honour all of the events that had shaped who I was, but at the same time, free up space in my life for something new. Like transferring files and programmes from your computer onto an external hard drive, adding a new lightness to your processing unit.

#4 Reclaiming Your Voice

Sharing my story for people to read was daunting. There were days when I’d be paralysed by the fear of judgement. What will people say? What if they think I’m a mess?

But then I remembered, this was exactly what had gotten me there in the first place: letting the fear of other people’s judgement and opinions leave me feeling inadequate.

It was time to break free from that pattern. A f*cking big challenge, but oh so worth it.

#5 Awakening Your Inner Superhero

Keeping at it and not giving up through the process of getting the book published made me feel like a superhero indeed! The day my book came out, sure, I was exhausted and ended up having salad in a bag in bed at 9pm (PSA: Launching on your birthday IS a terrible idea!).

But I knew in my body that I had just broken through to a new badass-er version of me, a bit like when Superman rips off his clothes to reveal his superhero suit. I never saw myself in the same way after that, and neither did the world.

#6 Organically Growing Your Following and Business

During the six months between finishing the first draft and the moment my book was published, I had countless chances to share my journey on social media: from which cover to go for, to unedited excerpts of the book.

Sharing the joys and challenges through each step was a truly genuine and authentic way to get visible, talk about myself, and let people get to know me.

Talking about my book journey gave me the opportunity to put myself in front of people without sounding like a salesy broken record. People felt like they were part of the process, and in turn, were thrilled to be part of my launch team — and that my friends, made my launch a raving success.

Your book is going to change lives, starting with your own.

When you get to the other end of a book writing journey, it shapes you for life. The real beauty of it though is that you don’t even have to wait until the book is out to start experiencing the transformation. It begins the moment you write that first chapter.

So, in case it wasn’t yet clear…

Your book is going to change lives, starting with your own.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, because throughout all the inner work I did — the therapy, the healing, the personal development programmes…writing my book was the ultimate test. Kind of like an end-of-year assessment, it was my chance to apply everything I had learned so far, and enter my next level soul quest.

I’m not sure I would have ever truly owned who I am as a human being if I hadn’t been for this book-birthing journey.

It was part of my path, and definitely a huge contributor to where I’m at right now.

So, this is my invitation for you to own who you are and believe in yourself. Challenge your status quo and awaken the superhero in YOU. And hey, it might not be a book, but another project or experience. You know exactly what it is, I don’t need to tell you.

Deep inside of you, you know what it is that you have been wanting to do, but are too afraid to even try, in case it doesn’t work out.

Today could be the first day of the rest of your life, my friend.

Dare to believe in #teamYOU — Because on the other side of that decision lies a world of Magic and transformation.

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If you’re a writer (aspiring or otherwise) and would love to explore starting to write your book, check out my 3-part workshop and get everything you need to get started with ease and grace!