2 Keys to Achieving Your Dreams (part 2): Perseverance

I stared at my laptop in despair.

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.