What It Takes

To Make Yourself A Success

This short post is about being an Author. However, it applies to almost any endeavor you pursue. Hopefully, you find some inspiration in it, enough to get done today what you need to get done to succeed tomorrow.

Keep pushing.

Balancing family, a full-time job, dating, kids, and the dozen other obligations that fill your life? Yeah, it's tough. Very, very tough.

Even if you’ve got the chops to craft characters that hit home, nail the pacing, and squeeze every ounce of emotion out of your readers—that’s just the beginning.

Next comes the hard choices. The lost sleep. Missing out on friends and family. Spending money you don’t have on covers, editors, marketing, and all the other expenses that come with chasing that one spark.

Because that spark could be what turns your quality writing into a real success.

When I was pushing myself to get by on just four hours of sleep a night, there was one thing that kept me focused: daily affirmations. Five times a day, I’d stare into the mirror—right into the eyes of my toughest opponent—myself.

Self doubt, real or imagined, inevitably takes hold.

This is one form of what the unparalleled author, Steven Pressman, calls “Resistance.” Resistance in the form of self doubt, impostor syndrome, haters, and even real world responsibilities which we all have. It is simply put, all that which stands between you and your goals—the only way forward is through.

If you don’t do that, your subconscious will fill in for you, running through every excuse in alphabetical order of why you can’t, won’t, or never will make it as a writer.

So, here’s the deal: Write down your goals. there are many great approach to this, but here’s my take: make them positive, time-oriented, and written as if you’ve already succeeded.

Here’s an example: “By November 2024, I’m an Amazon Bestselling author, making more money from my writing by breakfast than I ever did in a full day at my 9-5. Wherever I go, people tell me how much they love my work and what it means to them.”

Pick a couple of these affirmations, and say them while staring down that doubter in the mirror five times a day. Because I’ll tell you what—every single affirmation I’ve put to the test this way has come true.

Every. Single. One.