If you are a regular follower of www.greenhopecoaching.com, you may have noticed that there was a great deal of time that lapsed between my blog on April 28th- and my post last week.
Considering the fact that I am a blogger, that space of time concerned me. You see, it wasn’t just the blog, but I wasn’t writing original content for much of anything, including the book that I told everyone about in my April 28th post.
I must admit I was overwhelmed by the response to that post on my website and Facebook.
- Nearly 13,000- yes, that many 0’s- were reached with that post thanks to several of you who shared the post to your own Facebook friends.
- 1,200 of those friends visited my website and actually read the blog post.
- Over 350 of them engaged with me some way; leaving a message, a prayer response, a memory, a picture.
- plus there were almost 75 others who signed up to support me and the project with prayer.
I have been overflowing with gratitude. While overwhelmed is not quite the right word, I do have a confession. As the responses started coming in, I found myself writing less and less on the book. Honestly, in the last 8 weeks, I have not written much at all.
As I have pondered my action- or lack of it, I realize that I was worrying!
I just listened in to an interview with Mitch Matthews of Dream, Think, Do over at the Self-Publishing Summit going on with Chandler Bolt.
Mitch talked about how worry keeps us from focusing. Worry strangles the ability to see ahead or to think through options.
I felt the weight of expectations that others might have on me – on this book- and I just stopped writing. I felt paralyzed almost. The more I tried to get in the right frame of mind, the more stress I felt. And if you know me- stress puts me down faster than anything. I spent much of early spring sleeping. Some of you know what I mean.
But Mitch gave a great outline of how to overcome worry. I was grateful to realize that I had been taking some of those steps without naming them. But I did want to share them.
3 Steps to PUNCHING Worry in the face
Step 1: Acknowledge it
Step 2: Address it by Replacing it
Step 3: Do Something Intentional
I had to ACKNOWLEDGE my worry finally.
- What am I concerned about?
- What if I’m not a good enough writer?
- What if I can’t tell my deeply personal stories of my life in a way that helps anyone?
- How will the book be received by others?
- Can I really pull off the cost- both money, time, etc.
They are real, tangible things to be concerned about. But Mitch reminded us that most issues can be dealt with and overcome with a little training. Or with knowing the right people to make it happen.
Yet, most people get so caught up in the fear, they don’t acknowledge the fear and overcome it.
There is good and bad worry!
Good worry- keeps you out of dark alleys! It flips the light on so you can see what ‘s out there!
Maybe the thing that causes you to worry is something you need to give attention. Sometimes worry is a precursor to identifying something that will help you do great.
For instance, look at my worries above
- I can take classes and workshops to become a better writer.
- I can work with close friends and coaches to help me tell my story in a way that is full of hope for others.
- I can break down tasks of writing or research into smaller chunks of time. If I do a little everyday, it won’t be so overwhelming and yet I can make a great deal of progress in the long run.
Bad worry hold you back like mine was doing for me. There are things that you can do nothing about . That is the worry you must let go of.
So using the worry I have above about how others will receive the book, I have no control over that. I know there is interest from the responses to the April 28 post I shared earlier. But I can’t control how those same people my respond to the book. So I need to let it go.
But how….!
