Visualize Your Author Career

The Problem

You’ve often dreamed of writing a book, but you’ve never done much about it.

The Forces Involved

Many people want to write, but few do.

Writing is hard work.

You work some sort of job to earn money right now. Perhaps you had to develop skills to qualify you for that job. Perhaps you had to learn on the job, progressing from novice to master under the watchful eyes of your boss and colleagues.

What pulled you through all the hard work of learning those skills?

Maybe it was simply the promise of getting a paycheck so you could buy food and pay rent.

Maybe there was more. Maybe you imagined yourself in your career, doing great things.

Most people don’t think about it in these terms, but you need a vision to pull you through all the hard work, especially when you’re first starting out.

A vision primes your mind for the work. Your brain has something called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). Its job, among other things, is to filter out unwanted stimuli so your conscious mind can focus on important things, like obtaining food and shelter.

By harnessing your RAS to a vision, your unconscious mind will be on the lookout for opportunities to fulfill the vision. The more vivid and concrete the vision, the stronger the effect.

This isn’t magic or bunkum like The Secret or The Law of Attraction. This is just your brain working in the way it’s designed to work.

Therefore:

The Solution

Grab your favorite writing tool. Write out your vision for your successful authorial career. What sort of author are you?

Get specific! What have you published? How many books have you sold? Who reads them? What awards have you won?

How much money do you make from your books? Do you still go in to the day job, or are you writing full time?

Make it vivid. You’re a writer. Use your powers.

What do you see?

What do you hear?

What do you smell?

What do you taste?

What do you feel?

Now at the top, summarize your objective, in this form:

“I, <your name>, will be <your authorial career>.”

Write this objective summary on a sticky note and put it somewhere you’ll see it many times a day. Whenever you see it, repeat it to yourself and re-imagine that vivid scene.

Again, this isn’t magic woo-woo nonsense. You’re simply priming your brain to look for opportunities to make it happen.

Next Steps

• Visualize Your Book of Gold
• Set Firebreaks
• Always Ship
• Systems, Not Goals