I remember some years back when I made a conscious decision to become an entrepreneur. I was tired of the rat race. At the time I was working with adult students at a computer training school. Don’t get me wrong — I loved my students. However I couldn’t help but to feel strange about preparing other people for jobs that were paying twice what I was getting paid in my own job. I had gone to college, graduated, I had no children, and at the time was planning to go to graduate school. I had done all the things I was told would lead a young black woman to success in life. Yet somehow I found myself exhausted and dissatisfied with my life.
That was when I decided that there had to be an easier way to make money. I decided to become an entrepreneur. Mind you, I knew no entrepreneurs. I come from a family of hard workers who’d worked since they were teenagers taking very few vacations or sick days. Entrepreneurship represented freedom; it was an opportunity to design my day the way I chose to rather than be called to work like cattle during the day, nights, and weekends.
From Decision to Progress
I had no idea how to start a business. I just knew that business owners had business cards. And a website. I bought business cards online and called myself an Adult Education Consultant. I wasn’t quite clear on what services I would offer. But I was confident that somebody would pay me to do something. And the website — somebody told me about WordPress and I decided to check it out. That blog had gone through several incarnations. However what I created eventually wound up looking like this: The First Teacher Framework.
I had made the leap! I now had options. I no longer had to live my life counting down to retirement in 40 years. I no longer was waiting for the next big promotion so that I can make a few dollars more per hour in exchange for heavier responsibility and an extra 10+ work hours per week. Although I had no clients, no services, and no clout just declaring that I was a consultant on my business card and website made it so. I needed no one else’s permission.
Stop Aspiring and Just Write That Book!
I see the same thing in many of you who want to write books. You’ve got big dreams to move the world with your message. You want to help people eat better. You want people to have the courage to live their dreams. But they aren’t because they are waiting on you to finally write that book that you’ve been saying you were going to write for years. I want you to take the same leap of faith to become an author in the same way I took a leap of faith to move towards entrepreneurship. Just write something. If a book seems too daunting, start a blog. If you don’t have a blog, open up a Word document, Google Doc, or even a 5-subject notebook and keep track of your ideas. Writing is what makes you an author. Let’s stop wishing and hoping that one day we’ll find the courage. Let’s stop waiting to be inspired. Let’s stop worrying about what others will say. Just write something already.
What’s keeping you from making progress on your book on your book? Find out at your free 30-min Author Jam Session. Email me at info@HalonaBlack.com.
Halona Black
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