I had a secret worry.
Our walls are full of books. My curse was that many of my books are about publishing and how to write. There’s a good chance I’ve read every book in English on how to write and edit. My secret worry was that I would die and my children would be left with all these books, each one a reminder of the books I had failed to write. The idea of my wife and children seeing me that way scared the shit out of me. But I still wasn’t betting on myself. I wasn’t all in.
Then in November 2009
(UPDATE: Whoops! That was actually 2010 so I made the jump in one year)
I saw director Kevin Smith onstage in Kitchener.
I expected to laugh a lot and I did.
What I didn’t expect was inspiration.
I had thought about writing full-time but I only thinking, not doing. I attended writers’ conferences and wrote novels I kept secret from the world. I had a few drafts written but hadn’t polished and submitted them anywhere. I’d won seven writing awards, but hadn’t leveraged that fact. I wrote the back page column in Massage & Bodywork magazine for several years, freelanced some speeches and marketing materials, ghosted a bit and edited for writers and publishers on the side. Still, I hadn’t committed to making a real change for me. I was helping to make other people’s dreams come true. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I was ignoring my dreams and I wasn’t setting goals for myself.
I was waiting for…something.
Image via Wikipedia
Don’t wait. Take your shot.
Life is too short to wait to pursue your dreams.
I figured out the math. The risk I wasn’t taking was more dangerous than failing to try.
No matter how this experiment turns out, I can say I tried.
As you can see from the video, things have changed for me.
I’m having more fun. I’m putting myself out there.
Self-help for Stoners, Stuff to Read When You’re High, is now available in paperback.
The Self-help for Stoners podcast is on iTunes and Stitcher and six ebooks are up for sale just about everywhere.
Look for three novels coming in 2012.
Thanks for the laughs and the inspiration, Kevin!
I went all in before it was too late.
The curse is broken.
Related articles
- Hot Sweaty Hottie Motivation (allthatchazz.com)
Filed under: book trailer, Books, DIY, ebooks, getting it done, publishing, self-publishing, What about Chazz?, Writers, book trailer, commitment, inspiration, Kevin Smith, resolution, start your business, video
