Do your
beliefs or expectations limit or dictate your success?
Of
course they do.
Right
now, many of us are not thinking clearly. Literally.
We
are consumed by an unknown future. We reflect on what we’ve lost, from possibly
people in our lives to jobs or money. We are not ourselves, operating on a
status of Groundhog’s Day, where days blur and don’t distinguish themselves.
Anxiety, fear, stress are ever present.
So
how do we see beyond what grips us? The corona state of mind is like one long
storm that we have to wait out. Like a storm, we know damage is taking place, but we can’t fully assess it until the storm clears. Our goal is to stay safe and
weather the storm.
For
authors, publishers, and those who service the book ecosystem there’s delay,
defeat and despondency in our minds and hearts. We need something to ground us
and provide a foundation to operate from. We need a re-start date even though
it’s hard to say when or how that will happen.
So
how do we act productively, with optimism and empowerment?
Well,
we know that eventually we will move forward into a corona co-existence and
then into a post-corona world. What we
would normally do may seem unavailable to us now but it’s not lost forever.
This is a time to store things up—write more books and blog post content, and to film
your videos or podcasts that will get
unleashed once some normalcy returns. This is your time for researching,
planning, writing, and editing. And soon it will be time to promote and market
more.
I
know from personal experience that these things need to be in place:
1.
Stay
in a normal routine. Go back to waking up at 7:00 am or something close to your
old schedule.
2.
While
home, divide your day from night and set real boundaries of each day's start-end date
so that relaxation time doesn’t slip into work time and vice versa.
3.
Give
your day some structure. Schedule your day with calls or other activities. Give
a sense of urgency to what you do and set priorities.
4.
Be
hopeful and optimistic, despite negative news, rejection, hearing sad stories,
or feeling out of your natural comfort zone.
5.
Use
this time to retool. Learn a new skill, experiment, and explore things you had
mulled but never followed up on.
The
corona era is upon us. It ends when we get a vaccine (12-18 months), at the
latest. It ends sooner if we get
reliable treatments that are safe and available. It can be lived through with
more PPE to all, consistent social distancing, effective public cleanings, and
smart policies. But we know we’re in this for many more weeks and months, and
need to not just sit around waiting for someone to end our confusion or
abandonment. We need to take hold of our new life.
It’s
not easy.
It
really sucks.
But
from any challenge, we can potentially prosper.
We
shall survive—and then thrive.
Believe
it.
Live
it.
Share
it.
PLEASE CONSULT THESE TIMELY RESOURCES
How Do
Authors Promote Books When The Media Is Corona-Centric?
Advice to
Authors From A Book Promoter of 30 Years
How Are
Authors Selling Books Through A Pandemic?
A Book
Marketing Pandemic Playbook
What Types
of Books Can Get Media Coverage Now?
The
Bestseller Code For Book Marketers & Authors
What Should
You Do to Market Your Book?
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