What Would Your Life Look Like If You Had Laser Focus?

The recently-released documentary The Redeem Team tells the story of the 2008 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team and their quest for the gold medal. 

Four years earlier, they earned a bronze medal, falling short of the gold for the first time since basketball became an approved sport for the games.

In preparation for 2008, the team--overflowing with superstars--performed to mixed results. Because they were training in Las Vegas, the players also wanted to maximize their time in the Strip's casinos and night clubs.

Except for one person.

"One night all of us were coming in from the clubs," LeBron James said. "It's was about 4:30 in the morning. And in the lobby, we passed Kobe Bryant, who was on his way to the gym to prepare for practice.

"The rest of us went to bed and then showed up later that morning for practice.

"But when you see one person so focused, it affects everyone around you. The next morning, a handful of players practiced at 4:30 with Kobe. By the end of the week, the whole team was showing up early."

And you know who won the gold medal that year? I'll let you watch the documentary. But I highly, highly recommend it. See it on Netflix.

Would you like to have that kind of laser focus?

It's the difference between being an author and being an effective author.

That’s the direction we’re headed in this week’s post.

Please join me!

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Effective authors know where they’re going and take positive steps to get there. They may not sell millions of books, but with laser-like focus, they hit the intended target.

Let's look at...

Six Core Beliefs of Every Effective Author

Belief #1: I believe in my book

I have this hypothesis that every author is delusional. Delusion drives every author to finish their manuscript, because let’s be honest: starting a manuscript is easy. Finishing it, not so much.

Without a little delusion, no one would be able to finish writing their book. It’s just too hard.

You believe in the message of your book or the power of your story.

You believe that your book will make a difference in the world. Without that belief, why waste your time?

That’s why I can go on and on about the importance of releasing transcendent books (a topic in the coming weeks). 

You believe readers want to read your book. That they need to read your book. It’s going to change them. Change the world.

When you really believe in your book, you want to tell everyone about your premise or story.

I’m not referring to your writing abilities (which is fixable--see below), I’m talking about your book idea.

If you don’t believe deeply in your book, not all is lost. Spend time reflecting on what you can believe about your book.

Right now, I’m on the front end of ghostwriting the autobiography for the president of South Sudan. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but the people funding the project insist that I write a 70,000 word manuscript. I argued it should only be 55,000 words. 

The task is pretty daunting.

Two barriers make the task even more daunting: 

• I have little-to-no access to the president.
• I’m writing to an audience in a completely different culture than mine.

In a situation like this, I need a belief that drives me forward, that motivates me to finish the manuscript and give it my best.

Here’s the belief that drives me in this project: Through the words I write, I can help create a new identity for the people of South Sudan. 

It’s one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world. The country has been in racial turmoil for centuries and suffered numerous civil wars since 1967.

With the president’s blessing, I can help the people think differently about themselves. That they can forgive and live in peace. That corruption will only keep them in poverty.

I believe in my book.

This next belief is probably the hardest to accept…

Belief #2: I am not my book

If your book and your identity are the same, if they’re inextricably bound together, the two of you are enmeshed. You need to do some work (read: see a therapist).

Your book is NOT who you are, it's a byproduct of who you are.

Read that again.

About a month ago, the whole South Sudan book project almost fell apart (mostly) due to our debate on the word count. And what did I tell myself? 

I am not my book.

My self-worth does not rest on whether or not I write this book.

When you believe in your book and you know you aren’t your book, then you can accept feedback on your manuscript without being hurt.

If you're enmeshed with your book, you WILL NOT grow as a writer. My hunch is, this is the cause of writers block for many people. You're afraid to release your book because you equate any possible criticism of the book as criticism of you. Or you're afraid that you're really messing up your manuscript (again, which is fixable--see further below)

When you believe in your book and you know you aren’t your book, then you can talk about it all day long without feeling awkward. 

You can stand before large audiences and explain why they'll benefit from reading your book.

Even if you've written a memoir.

I could talk about Illumify Media all day long because I believe there’s no other hybrid publishing company in the country that releases books as good as ours. 

Am I bragging about myself? No. I am not Illumify Media. But we’re that good. 

You believe in your book but you know that you aren’t your book.

When you understand the difference, then you can handle a negative review on Amazon. Actually, a negative review on Amazon is a rite of passage for every author.

But I've had authors who were mad at us because they received a negative review. Some even asked Amazon to remove it.

A year after my book Strange Fire, Holy Fire was released, it generated a few negative reviews by readers who disagreed with my premise (it got caught in a vicious theological debate between two camps). But it was obvious they hadn't even read my book.

You just move on.

When your identity is separated from your book, then positive feedback won’t go to your head.

When your identity is enmeshed with your book, you ride an emotional roller coaster. 

A reader tells you, “Mike, your book changed my life…” and up the emotional roller coaster you go.

Then your aunt calls you. "Mike, I found a dozen mistakes in your book..." and down the roller coaster you go. 

I gave my parents a copy of my book that Thomas Nelson released last February and they haven’t even looked at it. I also gave a copy of my book to a close friend, and it still sits untouched and unopened on his desk nine months later.

I am not my book.

Next week, I'll share four more core beliefs.

About Fixing Those Writing Skills

Earlier in this blog post, I mentioned that writing skills are fixable. We have seasoned book coaches who can help you cross the finish line with your manuscript. 

Sometimes people just need encouragement. Other people need teachers. And other people need someone to go line-by-line through their manuscript to ensure it's clear, readable, and compelling.

We have three book coaches who've been writing way-y-y-y longer than me and sold way-y-y-y more books than me.

You can learn more by scheduling a strategy session with me. Click here to schedule a no-obligation Zoom appointment.

Let’s bring your book to life!