Have you ever tried walking in someone else's shoes only to find they just don't fit? That's the heart of our conversation today as we talk about the intricate subject of author success. What defines it, how to create your own unique path of success and not getting caught up in all the noise.
This episode reveals Jenna's sacred morning routine, revealing how it anchors her creativity, ensuring her writing remains a source of joy amidst everyday life.
Let's celebrate our individual dreams and the belief that when our aspirations and actions align, the universe conspires in our favour.
Key Takeaways:
Don't blindly follow someone else's "success map" if it doesn't align with your values and vision. Succeed YOUR way.
Developing the right entrepreneurial mindset is crucial. Think of yourself as the CEO of your author career.
Build a protective "bubble" around your writing to block out negativity or opinions that don't serve you.
True success stems from being in alignment - feeling joyful in the full creative process from writing to marketing.
Regularly check in with yourself. Does this path/strategy/goal feel genuinely good and achievable for YOU?
Book your complimentary discovery call here! Discover what social media platform is right for you here! Download 50 content ideas for authors here! Website: https://thedaringpress.com/
Have you ever tried walking in someone else's shoes only to find they just don't fit? That's the heart of our conversation today as we talk about the intricate subject of author success. What defines it, how to create your own unique path of success and not getting caught up in all the noise.
This episode reveals Jenna's sacred morning routine, revealing how it anchors her creativity, ensuring her writing remains a source of joy amidst everyday life.
Let's celebrate our individual dreams and the belief that when our aspirations and actions align, the universe conspires in our favour.
Key Takeaways:
Don't blindly follow someone else's "success map" if it doesn't align with your values and vision. Succeed YOUR way.
Developing the right entrepreneurial mindset is crucial. Think of yourself as the CEO of your author career.
Build a protective "bubble" around your writing to block out negativity or opinions that don't serve you.
True success stems from being in alignment - feeling joyful in the full creative process from writing to marketing.
Regularly check in with yourself. Does this path/strategy/goal feel genuinely good and achievable for YOU?
Book your complimentary discovery call here! Discover what social media platform is right for you here! Download 50 content ideas for authors here! Website: https://thedaringpress.com/
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Daring Author Podcast, the show that takes you behind the scenes of building a successful author business, bringing you inspiring interviews and information on writing and marketing ideas for your book so that you can build an easeful, empowering and profitable author business. I'm your host, jenna Lee, owner of the Daring Press, a virtual marketing and support agency where we help indie authors who are ready to take their author business to the next level with more ease, growth and time. You can find the episode show notes and a bunch of marketing resources at thedaringpresscom. Let's become daring authors by diving into today's episode. Hello and welcome back to another chapter of the Daring Author Podcast.
Speaker 1:
Today we are going to be talking about defining your own success as an author. Defining your own success as an author and this is something that comes up a lot for me, for our clients, for people that I interview on the podcast. You know, success, in a nutshell, comes in so many different forms and if you've learned anything on this podcast, it is, and what I have learned myself is that there is a lot of different ways and paths to create success and success looks different to a lot of different people, and what I see and I have been, you know, I have done this myself is that people, when they think of success, they want to have success like somebody else and they want to do, you know exactly to a tee what that other person has done for success. And we get lost in this whole thing of like this whole wheel of following somebody else's path. And then we wonder when we get to you know, the middle or the end. We wonder why it didn't work out for us the exact same way it worked out for that other person. And the number one reason that is is because it it's not your path, it is not what it doesn't nine times out of 10, it does not even align with what you want to do, how you want to feel, the path that you really want to take, and everything feels a bit like icky, you know that feeling where your whole body is just like, oh no, this does not feel good and it's not in alignment with who you are as a person in that way. So I want to talk about defining success for yourself and, you know, I think that we really need to get in this habit of finding and defining our own version of success, not somebody else's, because it's just not going to work out that way. I'm sorry there is. You can follow, you can buy a course, you can follow someone's success map, but if it doesn't feel true to you and it doesn't feel good, it's not going to work.
Speaker 1:
And there has been times where I have followed somebody's strategy which is really, really good and as long as for me, that it really feels aligned with how I want to market my book, how I want to write my book. All of that it really comes down to making sure it does align with what I want to do. You know, do I want to show up on video? When it comes to marketing, do I want to write in this particular genre? Do I want to write to market? You know, working out and defining what actually feels good for you and, if it doesn't, not taking that path just because somebody else had success in that way.
Speaker 1:
There is lots of multiple, different ways to make success in business, not only in the author industry, in other industries as well. I have been working with businesses, with authors and with coaches, creatives, for the past like eight years and there is multiple. Everyone does things differently and I think it really comes down to defining success for yourself, really being, you know, I think true success really needs to be defined by you and align with your core values and goals as a writer. You know, does success mean having the freedom to write full time? You know, building a loyal base of readers who connect with your stories. You know, is it earning or hitting a certain income? Getting really clear on what feels like and what looks like a win for you, and then you'll be much better equipped to actually achieve it. You know setting the goals that feel really good, that feel achievable, and then looking at support as well. And like, you know, if one of your things is to really get into facebook um, facebook ads and marketing and you really want to lead down that way, but you need somebody else to help and support with that. You know, because facebook ads feels really good, it feels like this will be the right path for you. And then then you know outsourcing if you don't feel comfortable creating those ads. But you know working with somebody that you do feel comfortable with and that you can align with and that can do that work for you in a way that feels authentic to you as well and that you feel aligned with what they're putting out there and making sure that it does really align with your core values and your goals as a rider as well.
Speaker 1:
And another tip I want to talk about is developing the right mindset. Now, I'm sure you've heard me talk about this a million times. That mindset is 90% of the business when it comes to not only in the author industry, in all industries. You know, creating your own success really requires an entrepreneurial mindset, and you really have to think of yourself. You know, as a CEO of your writing career, you know no one else will invest as much time, energy and passion into your author business as you do. Okay, so it's really important to really look at you know, and get really be willing to get really deep with yourself and really be open to learning and adapting, and everything is constantly shifting and you need to be able to stay flexible while holding your vision. Having a growth mindset that really embraces challenges as opportunities for things that come up that will better serve you as well. So I really do believe that when we do work on ourself and build a better relationship with ourselves when it comes to mindset, it's really about not letting other people's opinions and noise get in the way of your path and what you really envision and in your writing career, you know, um, I could, just for an example, I could be like okay, I'm writing this suspense, murder mystery book and I'm really loving it and I'm on a high and I'm just absolutely loving the whole process.
Speaker 1:
Somebody an author, friend could come to me and say oh, that's not really selling right now. Or oh, I don't think you should be writing this, you should be doing this. And one part of me could go oh, she's right, or they're right, I should be doing this other thing. And there's that magic word should, which I absolutely hate. But the other part, and something that I try and do a lot is you know, take that opinion, because sometimes other people's opinions really help and help us move forward. But taking that and checking it in with yourself and being like, hmm, does this feel true? Does this ring true to me? Does this feel really good in a way that you know, do I value their opinion? Is what they're saying, does it feel true to me? You know what? And just reflecting on that within yourself and in this particular instance, I would be like you know, I do value their opinion, but this feels really good for me and I'm loving the process, it feels really good. I'm passionate about writing again. The words are flowing and I'm just going to continue in my bubble and not let that outside noise come in.
Speaker 1:
It's like putting this protective bubble around yourself and anything that tries to come and get in it's just literally bouncing off that bubble and unable to get in because you're so in tuned with what you're writing, what you're doing, your mindset around it and, like you know, telling yourself, like how proud you are of what you're writing and you're just in this interconnected beautiful bubble and nobody else's noise or opinions. Or even if you're scrolling on social media and this happens to me sometimes like you'll be scrolling and you'll see something and media and this happens to me sometimes like you'll be scrolling and you'll see something and it will trigger you and you'll like reflect that and compare it back to yourself and be like, oh, this is shit or whatever it might be in comparison to your own work. And I think we really need to work on that because the only way that we're going to move forward is if we're in our protective little bubble and everything outside noise, everything like that is literally reflecting and bouncing off it. And you see people in this industry where they're just doing their thing, they're owning their craft, they're doing what they're passionate about and nothing can get in there. And I believe that's when success comes to when you are so into your writing, writing, you are so connected with your marketing and everything and you are like attracting your readers left, right and center because you are just this vibration. Your book is this vibration. You are the vibration. Your marketing is a vibration of what you are and who like who you are and what what you you are creating and nothing can, nothing can get in there and bounce out.
Speaker 1:
Like to me that is like amazing mindset and I get like this in the mornings and it's a reason I wake up at five o'clock and do my writing before I even talk to anyone in my household, before I even get on social in my household, before I even get on social media, and I'm literally I have my coffee and I open up my sprint, my sprint sheet, and I just write. And for me that has been the best process, because if I get up and I have a coffee and check my social media, I'm already like adapting and into somebody else's world, their mindset, what they're doing, and that just does not work for my mindset and it just if I then go into writing, I'll be thinking about oh, I've got to get back to that email, I've got to get back to that person, oh, this person's person's already done, as you know, a heap of stuff today and here I am, haven't done anything and I might as well just give up. And that's mindset. Like that is that mindset of just that noise and that voice inside your head, whereas if you go in and do and if you're able to do this, this is just an example of how I work. Other people might not resonate and that's completely fine, but I find if I just go and do that and produce that, then like my day is like 10 times better. I've done my writing, I've done what I'm passionate about and filled my own cup first, before then going into that, people pleasing and opening up to you know, working with my clients during the day, or opening up the social media and responding and in that type of energy. So for me, mindset is like a really crucial part of this, and developing the right mindset and then everything else will follow in terms of what your success path is and what you deem as success, and success can look like a whole lot of different ways for different people, and I think it's really looking at what works best for you and how you see success.
Speaker 1:
And for me, success is me just loving the whole process of it, me loving the writing and not getting in this, not getting in a way where I am just I've lost the joy for writing. For me, that's the opposite of success. For me, it is very much around being finding that joy in writing and enjoying the process from writing to editing to marketing, to interacting with my readers, the community, all of those different parts. If I'm not finding joy in that, then the success won't come. If I'm in alignment with all of that and I am joy, I'm feeling joyful and everything just feels so good and nothing can get in my bubble. Going back to that bubble again, to me that's what success is, and success will then come in turn because I am co-working, I am co-existing with the universe, whatever it is that you believe in. I am doing the work that I absolutely love and the universe will help me and support me to make that success happen and whatever way it looks like will be.
Speaker 1:
And that is it, and that is where I'm going to leave the podcast today. So I hope you have enjoyed this episode. Let me know your takeaways and if you want to share with me what success means to you, I would absolutely love to hear and I will see you in the next episode. Thanks for listening to the Daring Author Podcast. If you loved this episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review, and if you are ready to grow your author business with the support of the Daring Press book in your free discovery call today, before places fill up, we'll see you in the next Daring episode.
