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Just a quick note tonight.
I’ve decided that for the rest of the month of November (partly in honor of Thanksgiving), I’m going to be posting thank you notes. Most will be made in appreciation for resources that have helped me grow this year.
Books. Podcasts. Websites. Tools. Groups. People.
Daily updates? Maybe.
Stuff worth checking out? Definitely!
See you tomorrow with the first installment…
James
In June I made a public declaration. I drew a line in the sand by saying that I would write and publish my book by November 1st. Today is the deadline. Today I have failed.
Well, not really. I actually failed a few months ago when I realized there was no way it could be finished in time. And I’m okay with that.
I could create a list of excuses, but instead I’d like to share a few things I’ve learned from this failure:
Zig Ziglar said, “Failure is an event, not a person.” That is true of me and my book. And it’s true of us all in one arena or another.
There are only two valid responses to failure. You can get up and try again, or you can give up and try something else. Either can be the right response depending on the situation.
So today I have failed to meet a deadline, but I am not a failure. Today I offer myself grace and persevere. Today I start writing again!
The only other option is to give up and never try anything again. And if I did, my heart would beat but my spirit would die. And then I really would be a failure.
What about you? Have you failed, or are you a failure? Which do you choose?
Note: This article will appear in the November 2010 issue of the Tri-City Review.
A few weeks ago some friends of mine attended Don Miller’s Storyline conference in Portland, Oregon. I wanted to go. I wanted to be with them and I wanted figure out all the buzz about Don Miller.
After they attended with rave reviews, I purchased the audio version of his latest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I love to read, but I knew if I bought the book, it would get started and then overcome by my life of late. So with two hours in the car every day, the audio version would get a fair shake.
I listened to it twice in two weeks. I chewed on it and let it soak in. I wondered if I liked it after the first listen. After the second I knew that I did.
Then came the viral campaign to save Blue Like Jazz, a movie based on his earlier best seller. On Oct 16th, Miller announced that the movie, (which is a central character in A Million Miles), was being shut down. But fans of the book wouldn’t let it die so quickly.
Much like the central character of Christian Spirituality, the movie was resurrected. Sorry if that seems blasphemous…it isn’t intended to be. It’s just that the story of the movie’s creation matches the story of the point of it all.
So I bought Blue Like Jazz. Also in audio (though disappointed it wasn’t read by Miller). And in just a few days, I finished it–just as the deadline approached to donate to the movie.
Blue Like Jazz intrigued me. It offended me at times, but it made me think. It made me question things I’d taken for granted. It made me want to be a better Christian, but more importantly it is making me want to know Christ better.
We are all on a spiritual journey, whether we admit it or not. Miller documented his for us, and I could identify with much of what he wrote.
And now a few minutes ago, just before the deadline hit, I became an Associate Producer of the movie. I helped save Blue Like Jazz.
Why?
I liked it. It’s cool to be a part of something like this. And it’s a story that needs to be heard by more people. I believe the movie can do that.
To Don Miller, Steve Taylor (Director) and everyone else involved in the movie: Thank you and go make it a good one!
Note: Written 6/2/2010…see updates below.
Have you ever wanted to write a book? That’s one of the most cited dreams people have. Sadly, too few follow through and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). The dream becomes a lifelong regret after decades of neglect.
I have about 20 book ideas. None have gotten past a few pages, and most are simply interesting concepts, great titles or rough outlines.
My desire to write a book goes back at least as far as the second or third grade. I remember doing a “book” project, writing a cookie-cutter story about snakes having tails or something. It’s probably sitting in a box of old papers somewhere in my attic.
Writing always appealed to me, and I ended up as the editor of my high school newspaper. Wrote a lot of articles, won some awards…but never got the book thing going.
Now it’s almost twenty years since I graduated and still no book sits on my shelf with my name emblazoned on the spine. That’s about to end.
No, I’m not making an announcement about my recently completed book. I’m announcing a challenge to myself, in public, that my book will be written and published by November 1st, 2010. As I write this it’s nearly midnight on June 2nd, 2010. I’ve got 152 days to write it and print it.
I have no illusions of it being a best-seller. It’ll be self-published (easy to do these days). Maybe my mom will buy a copy (she’ll get the family discount).
There’s no title. There’s no topic. There’s nothing but a dream and a public declaration.
Why do this? It’s simple. Everyone who reads this and knows me will be asking me how the book project is going. I’ll have a support system and a lot of people I don’t want to disappoint.
Your dream doesn’t need to be a book. It can be anything. But if it stays in your head or your heart, you’re betting against yourself. Put it out there. Promise someone it’ll be done by a certain date. That’s the best way to take a first step and have momentum into every step ahead.
What are you willing to do to realize a neglected dream?
Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2010 issue of the Tri-City Review.
Update: 22 days later I have a working title, an 18 chapter outline and a lot of help from Dan Miller’s Write to the Bank seminar…more on that later! Progress is good! :)
Update 2: Failure! (or is it?)
