Our
family’s end-of-the-summer vacation was highlighted by my foray into
zip-lining. I did the adventure in the
sky for the first time ever. My wife
too. It was amazing but it’s something
that I’ve put off for more than a decade simply because of fear and ignorance.
The
lesson here is that many authors fail to write and publish books out of a
similar fear. And many fail to promote
their books because of a fear or ignorance about the process. I’m here to tell you these things can be
accomplished – without fear, worry, or concern.
Zip-lining
is all about trusting in the process and of giving yourself an opportunity to
see life differently. You take a leap of faith that a bunch of harnesses,
clamps, and cables will support your weight across a distance high above the
ground, hundreds of feet away from one point to the other. It’s scary and exhilarating all at once.
You
don’t really have to do much except not freak out and listen to some
instructions. You can hold onto some
handles but you’re not really supporting yourself. The harness acts as a seat
and you really can coast without doing a thing.
But our mind tells us to fear and we clutch and cling to things that
really don’t help us.
We
do the same when it comes to writing and promoting books. Instead of trusting
in the process and letting ourselves get published and marketed properly, we
hold onto useless modes or debilitating methods, allowing our writing careers to
be driven by fear and ignorance.
It
doesn’t have to be that way.
You
can zip-line through publishing and life.
It takes a bit for one to step back and gain a different perspective,
but when you can start to see that you can do things you didn’t think were
possible you suddenly can see how you’d do a lot more than you ever imagined.
Zip-lining
also taught me that our success depends in part on the support of other
people. Our group of 12 zip-liners were
guided and aided by two instructors. If
they weren’t there to catch us, hook us in, or encourage us, we would not have
made it. Some of us would’ve quit and
others may have gotten injured.
Book
publishing has guides and coaches along the way, from editors and promoters to
book packagers and literary agents.
These passionate professionals help us zip-line through the parts we see
as tricky and treacherous. Sure there will
be times when we feel fear of failure or of success – but we need to ride the
support of others, trust in the process and approach challenges with courage
and a bit of frenzied laughter.
Oh,
and one more tip: Don’t look down!
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