On the screen were the Publishers Weekly announcements of new book deals next to photos of smiling authors. Of course they were smiling. They’d just had their publishing dream come true. Unlike me.
Last week I talked about the first key to achieving your dreams—being willing to pivot (you can read that here). After much procrastinating, I had pivoted from my tired dream of being a musician to my vibrant dream of being an author, but results were slow in coming. After three years of hard work, I’d encountered only a mountain of rejection.
My bestselling author wife Lisa McMann and many of my published author friends gave me the same advice—don’t give up. Keep fighting. Keep pushing. Keep working. Persevere. As one friend put it, “The main difference between an aspiring author and a published one is often that the published one didn’t quit.”
So I kept going. Kept writing. Kept studying my craft. Kept putting myself out there. And after three rejected novels, a fresh idea came. A spooky monster mystery series called Monsterious. I crafted it in a creative way and handed it off to my agent. A few weeks later, I got the call. It had sold in a four book deal to Penguin Random House, the largest English-language trade publisher in the world.
What’s your dream? Have you pivoted toward it? If so, don’t give up. Keep learning. Keep working. Keep seeking help. Keep believing. Keep persevering. If you do, your dream will soon loom large, and you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself.
If you’d like more info on my published books, click here.
If you’re a fan of the classic TV sitcom Friends, it’s an iconic scene. Ross is directing Rachael and Chandler on moving a couch up a switchback staircase, with predictably hilarious results. But hidden inside the humor is a clue to achieving your dreams.
I lived my dream of being a professional musician, but after twenty-six years the passion was gone. Still, it was comfortable, familiar, and easy, so when my long-buried dream of being an author resurfaced, I ignored it. Denied it. Tried to stuff it down.
When I finally acknowledged that music wasn’t fulfilling anymore and pivoted toward my new dream, the difference was palpable. The relief. The excitement. The energy. The passion. All the things I’d lost long ago doing music came flooding back when I focused on becoming an author.
None of us get everything we want in life. Many things are beyond our control. That said, how close is your current life to your dream life? Does your career, way of living, health, relationship, hobby, fill-in-the-blank, bring you deep satisfaction? Perhaps you’re holding on to something that was a dream-come-true in the past—is it still your dream now? Has your vision of your ideal life changed? Do you have the courage to pursue the new one?
Get quiet. Look deep inside. Be truly honest. Then ask yourself a hard question—are you ready to pivot? If so, tell people you trust. Make a plan. Take the first step. If you do, you’ll be on your way to achieving your dream, and you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself.
If you’d like to know more about my published books, click here.
While I’m away on book tour promoting my debut novels for a few weeks (you can read about them here), I decided to share some popular previously published content. The following post was originally published February 6, 2021.
I didn’t want to go.
My wife and I don’t own a car. We work from home and live in a highly walkable area. Recently we rented a car for the weekend to run some long distance errands. Wanting to take full advantage of it, I planned to drive to a favorite hiking destination that Sunday. But after a full day of running around on Saturday, sitting in my chair Sunday afternoon sounded a lot better than navigating rocky trails. It was also gloomy with a forecast of rain.
But knowing how life-giving hiking is for me, and how rare it was to have a car, I decided to press on. I made the drive and hit the trail, proud of myself and looking forward to the emotional lift that exercising in nature always brings me.
It didn’t come. Midway through the hike, I realized that I felt completely flat. No buzz. It was the emotional equivalent of walking a grocery aisle. Minus the food. Alone on the empty trail, I stopped and said aloud to God, “What am I doing here? I normally love this. Why am I not feeling anything? Why am I wasting my time?” What came to my mind and heart in response was this:
It’s okay to feel what you’re feeling. Just keep going.
So I did. Something about simply embracing my feelings made me feel better. Though it wasn’t the emotional high I expected, the weight of disappointment and frustration were gone.
I paused to catch my breath after a long ascent and looked back. In the distance, I saw a solid sheet of rain steadily approaching. Instead of inspiring dread, it made me smile. For this hike, it seemed somehow fitting. I pressed on, seeing if I could out hike the rain.
The gusts increased, sending gray clouds sailing by overhead. I reached a rocky outcropping with a panoramic view of the foothills below me. I breathed in the scene, and as the rain began to fall, it felt like I was alone on a windswept moor in England.
Fortunately, the real downpour drifted to the backside of the mountain, and I was spared a drenching. I made it back to my rental car with a deep sense of accomplishment. When I arrived home, I was surprised by the realization that I felt more alive than I had in a long time.
We all know that things that are good for us often aren’t enjoyable in the moment, like doing pushups or eating raw broccoli or swallowing bitter medicine. We do them for the benefit that comes later. But sometimes things that normally give us pleasure fail to do so. Yet they can still bear good fruit. Often when I feel lost or confused or gloomy or beaten down or unmotivated, I make myself do something that I know is good. That I’ll be glad I did when the storm clouds pass. The sense of accomplishment I gain doesn’t always pull me out of my funk, but it usually helps.
So when a normally life-giving activity disappoints you, try pressing on. If it continues to taste like stale bread, then maybe your interests have changed, and it’s time to move on. But in the meantime, stick it out. Do the good you know to do. Remember that it’s okay to feel what you’re feeling. Just keep going. If you do, you might feel yourself coming alive, and you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself.
