If not now, when?

By Michele Lewis

“Once your mindset changes, everything on the outside will change along with it.” - Steve Mariboli

There is nothing more frustrating than to have a dream and watch it fade away year after year. I have a family member that has dreamt of moving from his current state that has a great deal of rain and clouds, to a sunny state that is more desert like. That was 35 years ago. Today, he is still in the wet, cloudy state and still wishing he had done something. He feels now he is too old to move. Too old to make a change. His dream is just a regret now.

I had a dream to write a book. It was eight years ago. I started and stopped more times than I can remember. Each time I got more and more discouraged that it would never happen.

Maybe you have heard the phrase, 'nothing changes if nothing changes'? Well it's true. I may have started writing my book, but each time I stopped at the same unchanged place; not knowing how to do it and not knowing what to do once I did do it. Nothing changed every time.

Until one day I said, I'm going to get this book done.  So I started again and this go around, something did change. I got more words written. I deduced that if I just wrote, the rest would come. I instead had a new stuck point. I didn't know how to write a book. I didn't know the first thing for how to become a published author. I didn't know how to edit a book. I didn't know how to self-publish a book. So I panicked and stopped. What I didn't know is that I was one step closer because I did something different. It may not have been the end all fix all step but it was different.

Then after months of frustration and my book nagging at me to be written, I said "ENOUGH". I was tired of staying stuck. So I researched and began writing again. 97 days later I not only finished the book but it was published. My book was a best seller in 3 days.

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“Quitting is never an option on the road to success. Find the way forward. If you have a positive mindset and are willing to persevere, there is little that is beyond your reach. The attitude of being ready to work even in the face of challenges and despite odds is what will make all the difference in your life.”- Roopleen

Perhaps you are like me. Always wanting to write a book but something has kept you stuck. The way forward is, well, forward. Nothing changes if nothing changes. You can do it. Your book is screaming to get out of you. Don't be that person who is in their last days of life, wishing they would have written that book. Taken that leap. Believed enough.

Write that book. Start it today. If you get stuck, start again. If you need help. Ask. Just. Don't. Give. Up