Successful people find the best place to pay things forward while the unsuccessful wait aimlessly in hopes of a payback.
If you haven’t figured it out from all my latest emails, I am obsessed with books. Over the years, as my love for books grew, I didn’t just become interested in reading them, I became very interested in the process of writing them too.
Yes, I am proud of the books on my shelves that I have both read and written (Stephen King said, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”), but I have also traveled the world investigating the “magic” behind what has made some of the most famous books in recent history possible.
Some examples of my writing adventures include:
I have been to The Elephant House in Edinburgh, Scotland, and sat exactly where JK Rowling would nurse a cappuccino and wrote her Harry Potter series.
I have been to Ernest Hemingway’s writing room in his house in Key West, Florida and also sat in the chair where he wrote in Paris, France.
I have stood in awe in the home in Amsterdam, Holland where Anne Frank was hidden behind a wall and wrote her classic diary.
After those experiences and many others, I questioned whether I had the “right stuff” in place to write my best book. Maybe in order to be more like those other authors, I wondered if I too had to find the right place or time for the “magic” of inspiration.
Maybe I needed the perfect chair?
Or was it the perfect weather?
Perhaps I needed an office with perfect view?
Or would inspiration only come with the perfect challenge or life threatening circumstance?
I was sitting around for years waiting for “perfect” to happen. Because everything never felt “just right,” I delayed myself with the same excuses people use when wondering whether to start a workout program, fix a relationship or change careers. I always stalled in the faith that the perfect moment would eventually show itself and I would just know when the time was right.
What a sham!
The book gnawed at me. For years, Coach to Coach would say, “Now!” and I would battle back and say, “Not yet!” But when I finally gathered the resolve to write my book, I had an epiphany. I realized there was only one “perfect place” to write it.
Like every other author before me, I discovered the only place I could have created my best work. And I am happy to share with you that your perfect place or time will have nothing to do with the chair or weather.
The only perfect place I could write the book was IN THE NOW!
The only reason I didn’t write the book sooner was because I was spending too much time in either the past or future coming up with reasons why I wasn’t ready.
I looked back into the past and I would be blocked from writing by fear.
Then I would look ahead into the future and I would be blocked from writing by anxiety.
Fear and anxiety, as I have come to understand them, are just worrying or stressing about something that may or may not happen. When I started to see that neither one is real, I decided to stop spending my time there. It was only until I left those two places and joined the NOW that Coach to Coach was written.
The past can be a trap. So can the future. Until I decided the NOW was perfect, I was spending all my time digging through my past to write blogs. I would also spend so much time thinking ahead and worrying about future podcasts and events. Both of these acts took my thoughts and actions away from the only place I could do anything about it; from the present.
I instead started to examine the “here and NOW” and found my greatest work inside: Coach To Coach.
You have probably heard the classic story about the battle of the Two Wolves.
I had a battle going on inside of me too, but my battle was between three wolves, not two. Even though there were more characters in this story, the moral was the same: The wolf that is going to win is the one you feed all the time.
Which one of these three wolves are you currently feeding the most?
WOLF #1 THE PAST
This wolf would constantly remind me there was a time I wasn’t a writer at all. And it would ask questions like, “Do you remember all your weaknesses and the struggles involved with getting a book done?” and “Remember all those failures and setbacks you’ve had?” This wolf would challenge me to question whether I was ready to have this book fail too?
And all those old thoughts in the past would keep fighting for my attention to distract me from the now.
WOLF #2 THE FUTURE
This wolf would constantly remind me I might not be able to write a good enough book. And it also would give me questions like, “What if no one likes it?” and “What if you make a fool of yourself?” This wolf was also great for constantly challenging me about all the work, editing and marketing that would have to be done.
And with all those thoughts on the future would keep fighting for my attention to distract me from the now.
WOLF #3 THE NOW
This wolf was much more positive than the others. This wolf would remind me, “you can be anything you want to be and do anything you want to do!” This wolf would challenge me by saying, “Let’s take some action now and see how it goes” and “If you don’t feel like it, get started and maybe you will feel like it.” This wolf would challenge me that the past isn’t real anymore and the future isn’t real yet either.
The past and the future are both illusions that stop you from doing something now.
Your past does not dictate your future, so stop fearing it.
The future isn’t real yet, so stop worrying about it.
If you don’t have what you want, ask yourself WHICH WOLF ARE YOU FEEDING?
Now with Coach to Coach being released in a few weeks, I have learned if you feed Wolf #3 and do the things you know you need to in the NOW, you will be happy about how your past and future turn out. In fact, if you do it right, they might just turn out perfect. I hope this email has inspired your to take action. While you are feeding Wolf #3, a perfect time to order my new book Coach to Coach is NOW!
Yours in Strength,
Martin
P.S. If you want more inspiration and want to hear these emails come to life, check out my Into The Roar Podcast.
If you would like to find out how to have me present for your team or your business, Write Me Here.
