Interview on the “Blogger to Author” podcast. “Now I’ve lost all fear of any critique and now I just do it.”

“For me, back in 2012, I was not a writer back then, I was a a wanna-be writer, I was a wish-I-was-a writer,  I was a fake.”

Yeah, so that changed.

I was interviewed by Dr. Beth Brombosz of the Blogger to Author podcast. Below are some highlights and selected transcription or you can listen to the whole thing right here:

Highlights from the Podcast

• “For me, it’s to the point where it’s just like brushing my teeth. I don’t really consider it such a big deal anymore. In fact, that’s kind of the point of my book. My book is called “Every Single Day” and it’s about building habits and building habits into your daily life to the point where you don’t notice anymore. I’m talking about habits that before you started were difficult or scary or a pain or sounded impossible.”
• “For me, back in 2012, I was not a writer back then, I was a a wanna-be writer, I was a wish-I-was-a writer,  I was a fake. I was not writing. I was put up to a challenge on November 1, 2012 to write every day for a month and I did it and through that 30 days it reminded me or showed me, ‘Hey, I can do this.’ and I just kept going.
• Today is day 1,827 and something and when I talk to people they kind of get intimidated but I remind them ‘I started on Day One as well.’ I was scared, too. I thought, I didn’t know I thought. I didn’t know what I was planning. I didn’t have any huge plans. I just thought I need to get started. That’s all I knew.

• I’m 5 books later. I just published one which is pretty much about this journey and how people can start with a simple habit every day to change their lives.
• I was public, which was pretty scary for me back then. Now I’ve lost all fear of any critique and now I just do it. Back then it was kind of a big deal. I call it coming out of the writer’s closet. It was scary. So now I just publish every day and it’s no big deal anymore.
• I didn’t have this book in mind. I was very Nike ad: Just Do It. I was just doing it. I didn’t have big plans, I didn’t have big strategies, I just knew I needed to write. Just like somebody trying to lose weight: I just know I need to exercise, I just need to healthier. I don’t know how I’m going to lose weight but I’m pretty sure that’s how I’m going to get there so let me just do that and hopefully I’ll get somewhere. And that’s what happened.
• I published hundreds and then almost a couple thousand posts and in the past year I’ve been collecting the best of the posts that were related to the book: following your dream, it’s about inspiration, it’s about passion, it’s about procrastination, it’s about patience. All these serious topics and I take a light perspective on it. I had to gather all of these posts and put them together and make a book out of it. I thought I was going to cut and paste 27 posts and then I’d have 27 chapters and I’ll be done. That wasn’t the case.
• Yes, I copied and pasted, I put it into the big document but then I thought, “Oh, this doesn’t flow. Where is the overriding storyline? Oh, I have to weave that in there.”
• For your audience who’s thinking, ‘Why should I blog? Why should I write? Why should I write at all? Why should I write every day?’ Because then you are creating the foundation. Without that, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere. Later I can make it pretty. Later I can make it flow and I can fill in the blanks and delete that one.
• Beth: Yes, and I think it’s so much easier to go back and edit and make it flow, at least for me. For me, it’s the act of actually getting that first set of words out on the screen that’s the hardest. When I go back and edit it’s a much simpler process. 
• And it’s a different process. The hardest part is getting it onto the page the first time and that’s what I feel that I have conquered. That used to scare me to death. The whole blank page to the writer, it’s like a haunted house.

• Beth: Why is doing something every day so powerful? Why does it have the power to transform?
• That is the million-dollar question. That is what the book is about. It’s so simple you don’t believe it. I talk a lot about simple and easy. Some things are simple, some things are easy. Some things are simple but not easy. Some things are not simple but easy. In the beginning you’re going to think ‘It’s not simple and it’s not easy.’ But then you’ll get to the point where you say, ‘Well, it’s kind of simple. I just need to write every day. But it’s not easy because it’s painful.’ Then you get to the point where, and don’t quote me that it needs to take 1,800 days, not at all. It takes whatever it needs to take. There comes a point where it becomes simple and easy. That is the magic, the beauty, the goal. And then you’re cruising.
• The different sections of the book are: Procrastination, which is a doozy, no fun for anyone, believe me I’ve been there. I procrastinated for a good 10 years and that does not include the last 5. I procrastinated for 10 years wanting to write, wishing I was writing, dreaming I was writing, but I wasn’t doing it. Procrastination is a killer. It makes me cringe just thinking about it.
• But then there’s Passion. It could be knitting or cycling or exercise or studying or whatever. But you need the passion for it. If you don’t know what that is I think that you can learn. Do it for 30 days and after 30 days I can almost guarantee you that you’re going to say, “Wow, this is it, this is what I’ve been longing to do.” Or maybe it’s “Wow, this is a pain. I don’t know why I’d do this any longer.” Or maybe some vague spot in the middle. But you’re going to know and you’re not going to know if you don’t even get started.
• Which gets to the third part: Perseverance. Maybe you’re a little vague, “You know, I think I like doing this but I’m just not sure yet.” Are you going to keep going with it? That can be a hard part too. We think, “Oh, I’m finally over the procrastination and I’m kind of causing and it kind of hurts and it kind of takes a lot of my energy, but I just need to keep going.”
• And then we get to Patience. I used to be a cyclist. I also used to be a math major in college, but not to scare non-math people. It’s really simple math like 1 + 1 = 3, stuff like that. Well, 1 + 1 is more than 2 is my actual equation.
• Which is like this, Beth: you and I are talking on this podcast and you and I are making it better than you or I would have done separately and I think that’s important. I have a chapter called Better Together.
• Patience is back to the cycling analogy. Maybe Perseverance is that last part of the uphill, you’re pretty close to the top and then it’s just leveling off but not quite so easy yet.
• Beth: and your’e tired.
• And you’re doubting. Is this working? Will I ever be able to get to the top? Will this ever be easy? You’ll think this is the worst idea ever and you’ll want to give up and you do give up. But then you get back on the bike.
• If you can past Patience. But the hard part about patience is how do you know if you’ve been doing this long enough? Or should I just give this crazy thing up? That is a hard one. You have to just power through it.
• Another word for Patience might be Allow or Surrender. Back to the cycling, you’re close to the top of the hill. I’ve given it everything I’ve got. What more could I possibly do? And that’s when you allow or surrender. You’re not going to give up, but you’re going to give in. I’ve done everything I can. And that’s when you get to the magical section and that’s called Play.

• I’m not going to talk about Play too much because if you are still at somewhere like Procrastination, Play is going to sound out there that it’s going to sound so out there you’re going to say, “You know, pal, about the Play and everything but can I just get past the Procrastination please?”
• So Play is when it becomes magical. I can say this from experience because that’s where I am now. I’m now in Play. Everything is fun. Everything is easy. Everything is simple. Everything comes together.

• I hope that this is inspirational for your listeners because it is possible. Back when I started, I was struggling, I hated it, I was depressed. I had an awful job. I looked forward to going to bed because then I wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore. I was not having fun.
• Now I look forward to Monday morning because then I can get started on what I’m doing.
• Beth: and that’s the dream, right?
• That’s the dream. That’s the dream. I know this probably sounds cheesy, but I am living my dream. Whereas before I was just dreaming my dream. I was so good at it. I have a chapter called “The Devil at the Dinner Party” where the devil comes up to me and challenges me. The devil asks me, “You’re dreaming your dream, how long are you going to keep doing this?” It’s almost like a horror chapter in the book. I was lost up against the power of the devil and when was going to live my dream instead of dreaming my dream?
• Beth: what’s something new that you learned from launching Every Single Day?
• It’s launching. I could have edited another year. I could have done more interviews. I could have done more research. I could have procrastinated. I could have made it more perfect. I forced a date on myself, which was October 17, 2017, and I stuck to it. Getting this out, having something out there, and I’m going to say something that I wish I heard when I was starting out and that is: Just Get It Out There.

• I don’t care that it’s not perfect. This has opened doors already that I didn’t expect. I have people calling. I have people texting. I have people emailing me saying “Hey,” and either “I read your book” or even “I saw you published your book.” and that’s been enough of a foot in the door to have an interview, to get a call, to make a connection.
• Nobody cares if you say, “Yeah, I’m working on my book. Yeah, I’m thinking about writing my book. Yeah, I have a book idea. No one cares.” It’s basically, “I finished my book and here it is. It’s a little harsh, but sorry, that’s all that matters.”

• My point is: Get It Done. You don’t want trash, not terribly quality. Get it to a point where you feel comfortable or good enough or a couple people say it’s good enough. Make a deadline and stick to it. It will, guaranteed, open doors and if it doesn’t open a lot of doors you know whose door it’s going to open? It’s going to open your own door to the next step.
• Which book is going to do it for you? I don’t know. But I can tell you the number of your book that’s not going to do it for you and that’s book number zero. Because that book doesn’t exist. So what’s that book going to do for you? A whole lot of nothing.
• Beth: The biggest distinguishing factor is between someone who’s working on it and this is good enough, this is something I can be proud of, I realize that the perfect version of this book doesn’t exist and I just need to get it out there. 
• “Yeah, I’m writing a book.” Yeah, you and everybody else. But how many finish it?
• The most exciting thing for me on publish day was that I’m looking forward to my next book and this book is one of many. Of course, I’m a writer, I want to write books. This is the first, or, this is the 6th, of many. I say the first because this is the first book I care about. I really put my heart and soul into it. It could have been better. Of course it could have been better. But I just needed to get it out there.
• Beth: it’s important to get this message out because it’s near and dear to you. I interviewed others here on this podcast and I think that the same is true for Every Single Day. This is a message that people need. This is a transformative message. The more you sit on it and the more you hem and haw about whether it’s perfect is time that your message is not out there helping people. 
• Do you know what’s been surprising? The people who have written me and have said Thank You. Thank you for the gift of step one. The gift of having me start the life I’ve been wanting to lead. Thank you, the timing was perfect.” And that just like “WOW!” If that doesn’t tell me, “OK, that was worth it. OK, check! Giant life accomplishment. Bye!”
• One woman said, “I’ve read the chapter on Possible, Impossible, Repossible 10 times.” My heart melts. “Thank you, I love you!”
• I don’t see it as a sit-down-and-read-it-in-one-sitting. Read a couple chapters a day. Let it sink in. There are some big concepts in there. I try to make them light or fun or funny, hopefully, but some of them you got to let them sink in.
• I want to inspire you to motivation. You can’t force inspiration but you can motivate yourself to be inspired. I want to inspire you to motivate to get started on the life that you secretly think that you should be living.
• Beth: This is a really important powerful framework and tool for anyone who wants to make a big change in their life. Whether that’s writing a book or anything else they want to do.
• One of the most fun aspects of this entire path has been the surprise. The unexpected. Now, for example, things just sort of arrive in my lap. I don’t expect them. I just say, “Oh, look at that.”
• For example, I’ve been working on this Every Single Day book. It’s nonfiction, it’s self-help, it’s motivational, I plan to speak on stage and be motivation. Absolutely looking forward to that, yep, I will do it. But the surprising sort of magical stuff? I started writing fiction that I did not expect. It just sort of happened. I have this character, his name is Charlie Holiday. I call him the Unknowing Majestic Mystic. This guy, he’s sort of like an accidental superhero. He kind of has magical powers that he doesn’t really understand yet and he doesn’t really know what he’s doing and he’s nonchalant about it. He thinks, “I don’t know if I’m really into this, I gotta go to dinner.” People say, “You have some kind of power.”
• So it’s maybe paranormal fantasy, which I don’t write! I don’t know about that stuff. But it’s magically happening and I’m just going with it. I see it, its like an IMAX movie in my mind and I just type and tell the story as fast as I can see it. That kind of stuff? That’s at the Play level. I didn’t expect this, but it sure is a lot of fun!
• I’m here to say, “You can get through it and it’s actually a lot of fun out the other end.”
• The exciting part for me after now having finished this book is a lot of this process was “Me, me, me. How is it helping me?” and that’s great and it sure helped me. Yay. I’m helped. But the bigger story is beyond. It’s what bigger than yourself. How can you get to this bigger place where it’s beyond just you and you are helping others? The emails I’m already getting from people that I have helped others, my heart literally melts. I could die tomorrow and I’d be “That’s OK. I’m all good!”
• Whereas I started struggling and “How do I get through this?” and now I’m to the point where I just want to give. I just want to give. I have so much to give. The crazy part is that it gives you even more joy to give than to receive. I know that’s hard to think about if you’re struggling and you’re just getting started but at some point, it’s like on the bicycle, you just coast at the top and then you can coast and then it’s fun. But you got to get up that hill first. 
• My method is very simple. I have two pills on the cover of my book and that’s part of the joke with the quick fix. “Take these pills and you will transform your life.” I have a chapter on the pills in the book and I say, “The pill is your will. There is no pill.” And that’s how you get to the top of the mountain and then you can coast and then it’s going to be fun and Play.