Categories
Coaching

Is Your Metric for Author Success Becoming a Problem?

Do you feel like every time you log onto Instagram someone else is sharing that they have an agent or an amazing publishing deal? If only 1 out of 1000 authors get an agent, why does it seem like that?

I’ll tell you why: your reality is being distorted by confirmation bias and selective attention. It’s like choosing to buy a red car, and suddenly seeing only red cars everywhere.

Here’s the truth of it: If your focus is purely on traditional publishingas a success metric, you’re going to miss out on the diverse experiences and perspectives in the writing community, and, unless you become that 1 in 1000, you’re going to find the experience far less rewarding than you would if you changed your metric of success.

And here’s the brutal truth: your dream agent or publisher may never materialise, but don’t panic, because there’s also good news: traditional publishing isn’t the only path to share your story.

If you are comparing upwards, which means making a comparison to the people who you believe are incredibly successful, you are doing yourself a disservice. You are forgetting to see how lucky you are, how intelligent you are, how talented you are at writing, how much joy it brings. It’s essential to think about what success means to you as an author. For me, it is readers enjoying my work.

Without exaggeration, redefining your metric for author success could change your life, and bring so much more joy into your writing world.

Want to read something similar?

Check these out:

5 Things I Wish I Had Known before Writing My First Novel

10 Ways to Grow as a Writer

Categories
Coaching

“Why Would I Need a Writing Coach?”

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why would I need a writing coach?”

If so, here are some possible reasons.

1) Having space held for you can change everything.

It’s not every day that you can expect someone to give you their full attention, and that’s fair enough. But when they do, amazing things can happen. Coaching is a wonderful experience, and it’s partly because of this. Having someone hold that space for you, listen to what you are saying without interruption, and ask the right questions can help you reveal solutions you didn’t even realise existed. A coach listens to your words without judgment in a safe space. This alone has helped me become a better, happier, and more fulfilled person.

2) Coaching can build on success, not just solve problems.

Did you know that coaching isn’t just for specific problems? Nope, coaching also builds on success. For example, you don’t have to be struggling with a writing routine or draft to hire a writing coach; you can also be having the most prolific writing period of your life and want it to continue. You could be finding yourself motivated every day to create and want to investigate the set of circumstances that led you there so that you can keep being your best self.

Coaching to build on success is a great way to invest in yourself. It’s saying, ‘Hey, things are going great, and long may they continue. In fact, I’ll make sure they do.’

I continue to invest in a coaching programme because I want to continue building on my success.

3) Having someone rooting for you can hold you accountable.

It’s not the deadlines a coach gives that hold me accountable; it’s the fact that they are rooting for me personally. Coaching is a professional relationship with a difference—you have someone on your team who believes in you and your progress. The thought of sharing my achieved tasks with my coach makes me happy because I’m excited to move forward with them in our next session, not because I’m afraid of missing a deadline.

4) Positive change starts with you.

Depending on what you opt for, you only have a coach for an hour or so a week or even a month. Outside of this time, it’s down to the client to make what has been discussed work for them. I spend a good few hours a week working on my action points and planning for my coaching sessions.  Whatever it is, I make sure that I take responsibility for that positive change in my life outside of my coaching sessions. Coaching gives me the action points to work from, but the action comes from me.

5) Investing in yourself is about much more than money.

When you give yourself the opportunity of time, education, and accountability, investing in yourself becomes about more than money. It becomes about believing in yourself and setting yourself up for success. I made a private video around four years ago. It was me talking to my new coach about where I currently was in my business, life, and expectations. She was the one who told me to make it because it would be interesting to look back on later. Well, four years later, I’ve just watched it! It was amazing to see the growth of those years. I know that coaching helped me get there, and I am so grateful for that reminder of how far I have come.

Have you ever been coached, and if so, what did you learn? I would love to know, so share it with me today! And don’t forget, I open up my Discovery Calls in March!