Personal Development;Life Enhancement;Achievement
Posts tagged Coaching
The Power of Your Dreams
Jan 10th
“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.” ~T. E. Lawrence
I am a dreamer and I am proud of it! I love dreaming. I believe that our dreams come to us for excellent reasons – to motivate us, to educate us, to help us find our purpose – our place in the circle, and sometimes to frighten us – if we need to pay attention to something.
I start all of my clients off with a dreaming exercise. One of the reasons I do this with my coaching clients is motivation – their motivation. I think that all of the power and energy that we need to manifest our goals comes to us in our dreams and I want them to have that power. My clients love this beginning process and next time I will begin sharing with you just how I do this with them.
Till next time…Jack
Juice Fasting Update
Day 13 – down 18 pounds this morning. I was hoping for a faster rate of weight and fat loss. Still, this is a great start and I have many weeks yet to go. My energy level continues to rise; I am starting to sleep better and feel less need for a nap or break during the day. My skin is getting smoother than it has been in years – dare I say that it glows? Well, not quite yet and I’m not completely sure that I want glowing skin. Just thinking about that term seems to lower my testosterone level just a bit.
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” ~Walt Disney
Why did I Choose Self-Publishing?
Jan 5th
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” ~Alexander Graham Bell
My first book will be out for sale, on my website and through my affiliated partners on Thursday, October 25th, 2012. I will be self-publishing this first book. I call it my first book because I have already begun writing the second and the third books. I think I have more than enough material based on more than 20 years of coaching to write at least 20 books – if I choose to do so. But why did I choose to self – publish?
Why did I Choose to Self-Publish?
It wasn’t because I couldn’t find a publisher. I was fortunate enough to have a couple of smaller publishers approach me after seeing me speak and ask if I wanted to work with them.
I decided to self-publish for 2 reasons:
1) I wanted to make more money than publishers could realistically offer a first time author like myself.
2) I thought I had a decent author platform already and that I knew enough that I would be able to build a great marketing channel for my first book and then use that channel for marketing other self-improvement products that I might create in the future.
Would I make the same choice again given what I know now? Yes I would, but after working on this first book for so long I have a tremendous appreciation for all the work that publishers do for authors – they do earn their money!
Till next time…Jack
Juice Fasting Update
This is the 8th day of my juice fast. In that time I have not eaten any solid food – I have only drank freshly extracted vegetable and fruit juices. I intend to continue this juice fast for a total of 67 days. In the first seven days I have lost twelve pounds of bodyweight, a decent start, and my energy has certainly increased. My only complaint so far is that I have lost so much weight in my face that my former double chin has now become a turkey waddle! Tighten skin – tighten!
“Note to self: finding a cool quote and writing it in your journal is not a substitute for Getting. It. Done.” ~Betsy Cañas Garmon
Creating Your Ideal Life by Time Traveling
Feb 14th
“I can not travel into my past, without consent of the future me.” ~Toba Beta
I was doing a bit of time traveling earlier today. Sorry, I haven’t invented any new machines or physical technology, but I have made time traveling a regular part of my life for many years – and I am going to strongly recommend that adopt this habit as well! So what am I actually doing when I “Time Travel” and why should you do something similar? I’ll tell you next time – I promise…Jack
“His older self had taught his younger self a language which the older self knew because the younger self, after being taught, grew up to be the older self and was, therefore, capable of teaching.” ~Robert A. Heinlein
Ready to Make Your Dreams Come True?
Sep 9th
“Goals are dreams with deadlines.” ~Diana Scharf Hunt
Over the next four months or so, I am going to be sharing on this blog many of my top techniques for achieving goals – both personal and professional goals. Much of this is material that I will be including in my book about goals and achievement that will be released in September of 2011, but you will get to see it first here. These will be the exact same tools and strategies and tips that I use today with my high-end executive coaching clients – information on goal achievement that I have tested and refined over more than 25 years as a coach. I am going to deliver this life enhancing information in small and easily assimilated chunks. Be sure to come back here often or subscribe to my RSS feed – I promise it will be time very well invested.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” ~attributed to Leonardo da Vinci
$100,000 Mistakes in Book Writing
Aug 27th
“A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should.” ~Author Unknown
This article assumes that you have some interest in getting a non-fiction book published some day. You might find it interesting even if you don’t have any such desires!
Book Writing Mistakes Cost $100,000
Last time I talked about the mistakes that I made after I decided to write a book. I would guess that those mistakes cost me at least three years – three additional years where I did not have a book working for me to increase my income. Guessing what that has meant to me in lost income from additional speaking engagement fees, increased coaching income and direct book sales to my seminar participants, without out even calculating in any book sales thru Amazon or other sources, I am going estimate that not having a book for those three years cost me at least $100,000 in additional income. (Wow! It even hurts to type that out and read it!)
What will it cost you to add an additional three years onto the book writing/publication/marketing cycle? I don’t know, but I guarantee it will cost you at lot! Depending on your business, it could cost you much more than $100,000!
So what would I do differently if I was starting a book today and wanted to get it done and working for me as quickly and elegantly as possible?
11 Steps to Non-Fiction Publishing Success
- I would completely forget about getting my first book published traditionally and I would immediately start the process of becoming an expert on self-publishing. (I’ll talk about the why of this in future entries, and notice that I said first book.)
- I would find and join or create a non-fiction writer’s group that met weekly and made me read new, not revised, material each and every week. (I’ll talk more about this in future entries as well.)
- I would immediately start blogging, however short the entries, 5 times per week. (More to come here as well.)
- I would immediately hire an email newsletter service and start collecting names of people that like my material. (More coming)
- As quickly as possible, I would start to release a weekly newsletter to those collected names – however short the newsletter! (More coming)
- I would create a Mastermind group of like energy and achievement minded and completely different skills people and we would begin to meet weekly. (Much more about this process later – this is one of my strongest passions!)
- I would decide and commit that I was going to write every single day, no matter what, and I would slowly amp up the volume of that writing. (More coming)
- I would hire a book writing coach, if I could afford one, or join a monthly book writing coaching membership site if I could not afford a personal coach. (More about this to come as well)
- If I wasn’t already a public speaker, I would join Toastmasters and start the process of becoming one! (Yes – you guessed it…more coming)
- I would open a twitter account and start following people that interested me. (More to come!)
- I would start on account on LinkedIn and then dedicate just a bit of time each week here.
I wouldn’t expect to get all of these things done right away. But I would expect to have most of them in place within six weeks and all of them in place and working for me within six month. (In point of fact, I don’t quite have all of them in place myself yet, but I will within a couple of weeks!)
Did I mention yet that I have a non-fiction book coming out in September of 2011? I do! More about that next time as well.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.” ~John Wooden
How Far Should You Plan Your Life?
Feb 24th
“If you don’t have a plan for yourself, you’ll be part of someone else’s”. ~American proverb
Last time I talked about my new laptop running Windows 7. I’ve been using it many hours a day for a couple of weeks now and I still love it. Windows 7 is a great improvement over Vista, so much so that I am going to convert two of my other computers to run Windows 7. And the new Sony Vaio “F” series? I have never had a computer boot up and settle down so quickly and the hd screen and blu-ray player are just great!
How Far Should You Plan Your Life?
How far should you plan your life? In my opinion: as far you’d like to be alive living it! In more practical terms, I encourage my clients to have motivating and exciting goals that go out at least 10 years. In 10 years you can accomplish virtually anything – as long as you use those 10 years wisely.
Planning and goal setting go hand in hand. I set goals that excite me and then I put together the best plan that I can, to make that goal happen. Does that mean that goal setting and planning happen at the same time? Generally speaking – no. For most people, and most businesses, the process of setting goals and the process of making plans to achieve those goals should be very separate. For companies beyond a certain size, goal setting and creating workable plans to achieve those goals may even be best done by different groups of people. I’ll talk more about this separation of creation and planning in larger companies in another post.
Do You Have 10 Years of Exciting Goals?
If yes – great! Congratulations! Now go set some great and motivating goals 15 years out and soon we will talk about the process of creating plans to make these goals part of your everyday reality.
You don’t have any goals that go out 10 years or more? Then here is some homework. Remembering that you can accomplish virtually anything in 10 years, and being completely unconcerned (at this time) about what it will take to make these goals a reality; set at least 3 goals that stretch out at least 10 years. If you need a little help, consider these questions:
If you were certain that you could accomplish it, in the next 10 years,
- Where would you like to be living?
- How much money would you like to have saved?
- What would you be doing for a living?
Next time I’ll talk more about 10 year goals – big goals – and a great attitude for creating these goals. (And soon I’ll give you a simple technique to put yourself in a great mental frame for setting exciting, compelling and authentic goals.).
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“Wishing consumes as much energy as planning”. ~American proverb
Self Publishing – My Final Analysis
Feb 8th
“And Winter slumbering in the open air, wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring”! ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge (and Bill Murray in Groundhog Day).
(As I write this entry, we are experiencing another blizzard here in Iowa. Another blizzard – no! I am more than ready for this winter to be over!)
Last time I wrote about some of the reasons why I was choosing to self-publish my first book.
Here is the rest of my reasoning.
My Reasons for Self-Publishing my First Book:
- Speed: I can get a book out much more quickly. I can get a book out in 6 months or so, including much of the pre-marketing, versus the 14 to 18 months for “traditional” publishing.
- Profit: I will make much more profit from each copy of my book that is sold – especially if I do a print run of 5,000 to 10,000 copies.
- Control: I will be able to control every aspect of my book’s creation and publication. It will truly reflect my vision.
- Learning: I will learn a great deal about the book publishing business and since I intend to publish more than one book, this knowledge will serve me well in the future.
- Better Future Deals: I know a little bit about book publishing and my likely sales results right now. After I get this first book out and have the results of my first marketing cycle, I will know much more and be in a better position to negotiate with agents and publishers for future book deals – should I decide to go the traditional path in the future.
Please notice that I did not mention anything about self-publishing so that I could get published. I think that any author, that has done their homework and has a book worth publishing, will eventually find both an agent and a publisher.
Should you self-publish? Maybe – maybe not. If you have an audience already and don’t want to invest the time in learning the book business – then find an agent, have them find you a publisher and let them handle it for you. You will still be doing much of the promotional work – I don’t think there is a way around that unless you are a really big “name” in your field. Otherwise, self-publishing is worth a ponder.
Next time I am going to talk about the actual content of my upcoming book and why I chose to write this one first.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome”. ~Anne Bradstreet
I’m an Idiot for Self-Publishing?
Feb 4th
“One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it”. ~Sidney Howard
I’m an idiot for self-publishing? Maybe, but maybe not. Last time I talked a bit about what I had recently learned from my study of the genius British novelist Charles Dickens. I also mentioned that some of what I had learned from my study of him had been a deciding factor in my decision to self-publish my first book. I think if Dickens had been beginning his writing career today, he would have almost certainly self-published his first works. Then I think he would have partnered with a great publisher for his next works.
For me, the decision to self-publish was a hard one. I am already busy and writing and then publishing a book – and really doing the proper promotion to ensure a great reception for the fledgling book – this is a lot of work. I had no idea how much work it was until I began the process. For me at least, the writing of the book has turned out to be the easiest part. All of the things that the publisher would do for me, if I had sold the rights of my first book immediately to a publisher, – that has been quite a steep learning curve.
So why did I decide to self-publish? I’ll start from the side of what I won’t be getting or what I am giving up.
- It will cost me more money to self-publish, quite a bit more. Since I am taking on all of the costs of proofreaders and editors, cover designers and printing and the hiring of top-notch PR people, all things that a publisher might have done for me, I am spending more money.
- I am giving up a great deal of my time learning the book business. Had I sold my book immediately, I would have needed to learn very little about the book business – at least at first. I could have let the publishers handle all of the details for me.
- I am giving up the money that I could have made by simply coaching or speaking instead of learning the book business. I am usually fully booked or as booked as I care to be for coaching and I could have simply coached more, earned more, and let the publishers do what they know best.
- I am giving up some credibility for this my first book. A self-published book does not have the credibility in the eyes of some people that a traditionally published book has.
- I am almost certainly giving up some sales that I might have had otherwise. I don’t know all of the distribution channels that an established publisher knows and although I am learning fast – it is certain that I will miss some of them – and not sell those copies of my book.
So, with all of that, why on earth would I self-publish? We will both have to wait until next time for that answer – my time is up for this entry.
Next time I will explain the balance of my thinking about traditional publishing versus self-publishing.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps – we must step up the stairs”. ~Vance Havner
Charles Dickens and Groundhog Day
Feb 2nd
“Groundhog Day is a lot like a rock concert but the people are better behaved and there’s a groundhog involved…” ~Tom Chapin, editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper.
… As an aside, it is Groundhog Day in the United States while I am writing this entry. Although I am not sure that “Punxsutawney Phil” is any better at weather forecasting than me, and I am not very good; I do love the concept! The cute little devil did see his shadow today and has forecast 6 more weeks of winter. Not a shocker – this winter does not seem to want to let go. …
Last time I talked about my first book and its upcoming release in November of 2010. I also mentioned that my decision to self-publish this first book was influenced by my research into the life of Charles Dickens. Here is a bit more about that story:
I recently read “The Making of Charles Dickens” by Christopher Hibbert and I really enjoyed the experience! I not only discovered a new author whose style I liked, but a prolific author as well. This means I have lots of great books waiting for me to find and read. I also got some great insights into what might have helped Charles Dickens be the incredible novelist that he was. (Did you know that he is one of the very few authors that has never gone out of print? And this, as I write this entry, some 140 years after his death? Wow!)
I am always looking for the “secrets of success” or the unique beliefs that help exceptional people be exceptional. Here are some of the secrets that I extracted from my recent study of “Boz”:
1) Being extremely focused on the task at hand – fiercely determined to get it right – is a key to success in writing (and any other aspect of living.)
2) It is okay to be afraid about the reception your writing will receive – as long as you are brave enough to get it out to the public to read.
3) Believe in the value of your writing, even if others at first do not share your enthusiasm.
4) Write about what you know intimately well and share the clarity of your vision.
5) Don’t be afraid to ask what you think your writing is worth.
6) You can do more than you think you can.
7) It is fine to use newest technology to publish your books. (Dickens commonly used magazines and serial releases of chapters – then he sold the books as completed documents. This was pretty cutting edge stuff for the day.) This final point is the one that swayed me to the side of self-publishing.
Next time I’ll be talking about the complete set of reasons why I decided to self-publish this first book and what the implications might be for you and me.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time”. ~Charles Dickens from his novel “David Copperfield”
My First Book Released November 2010
Feb 1st
“Writers will happen in the best of families”. ~Rita Mae Brown
I am excited to announce: (Drum Roll Please) … My first book will be released for sale sometime in early November of 2010. (The exact release date will be set soon.) I am very excited about this upcoming event and virtually all of my spare energy is going into this project.
I’m not sure why it took me so many years to finally make the decision to write a book. I have known for many years that I wanted to write a book someday, that perhaps I wanted to write more than one book. Anyhow, about 18 months ago I committed to myself that I would write a book and get it published and this year it will finally happen.
I am going to be self-publishing this first book. I have had offers to buy my book from traditional publishing houses and I was originally going to follow that path. I will discuss in an upcoming post my reasons for taking the other path of self-publishing for this first book. (I will say for now that my research into the history of the famous English novelist Charles Dickens had much to do with this decision – you can read about that in an upcoming post as well!)
This will be my first book, but it will not be my last. I am completely committed to publishing a significant number of books; indeed it feels like I am being called to do so. I have enough unique material after nearly 30 years of coaching, speaking and consulting to write at least 20 books and I think, once I have the process figured out, the next books will happen much more quickly and easily.
Will I self-publish all of these? I don’t know that yet, but it seems unlikely. It is enough for now to get this first book written as well as possible and get it out into the world.
That’s it for this entry. Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good”. ~William Faulkner