Before recovering my own DOER™ cycle from beneath decades of misguided B.S., I struggled for twenty years to produce a single book. A book that cost me, in addition to two decades of work, thousands of dollars, but made me less than $100, and set me up as an authority on a subject I had no real interest in revisiting (domestic abuse).
I’ve always loved writing, but I didn't see myself as a legit “author,” so neither did anyone else.
Meanwhile, despite being a Fulbright Scholar, Ph.D., yada yada, I went through careers like Kleenex.
In every role I took on, the stuff I was actually getting paid to do was not the stuff I really cared about or exceled at; my true gifts were viewed as "nice to have" extras, not even worthy of mention in job descriptions.
As a result, I never felt recognized or appreciated for my authentic gifts, so I was always unsatisfied, no matter how much applause, accolades, and accreditation I garnered.
Finally, I realized that there was nothing wrong with my authentic gifts, only with a corporate culture that didn't value or reward them. That's when I made the excitifying decision to go into business for myself, a business that put my authentic gifts front and center rather than bundling them in with whatever I thought the market was willing to pay for.
But just a year later, I was ready to give up.
I’d been working my pants off, producing high-quality, value aligned content nonstop--two more books, a weekly podcast, video series, blog, daily canva-crafted social media posts, posting in FB groups, etc.
But I was getting little traction, and zero sales. My only source of income was from freelance writing and editing gigs scrounged off the internet.
When I tell you I was broke as a joke, I mean I couldn’t afford things like toothpaste and deodorant (it’s amazing what you can do with baking soda and coconut oil when you have no other options), let alone cover rent.
That stung so much worse than any of my crumbled careers, because I could always blame those on a “bad fit.” This felt so much more personal, like maybe my authentic gifts really were pointless, fluffy "nice-to-haves" after all if I could barely give away, let alone sell, all the quality products and services I had created in alignment with them.
But like any good breakdown, it led to a major breakthrough: The problem wasn't my products and services, but with the process I was using to produce and share them with my ideal audience.
I'd been going about it bass-ackwards, creating content for an audience I didn't yet have, and expecting them to magically find it. That's like preparing dinner for a dinner party before you've made a guest list or sent out the invitations. Not only do you have no idea what your guests dietary needs and preferences are, you have no idea who those guests are, or if anyone is even interested in coming to a dinner party!
My process wasn’t working for me, because it wasn’t mine at all. It was a series of “shoulds” I had picked up from external sources that were stifling my natural creativity and keeping me disconnected from my true desires, and those of my ideal audience.
That’s when I rediscovered my natural creative process, the DOER™ cycle, and started using it to build my AUTHORity and create real value for my ideal audience with ease & enjoyment.
A year later, I am surrounded by a thriving community of dynamic innovators growing their authentic authority, with whom I get to connect and collaborate every week in my Creative Flow Coworking Club. I’ve published five solo books, most of them Amazon bestsellers, and more on the way. I’ve also been published in five anthologies, and helped 20+ author-preneurs launch successful books, businesses, and beyond. I have a successful coaching practice helping others find and align to their authentic shine, and regularly get invited to speak and teach as the go-to AUTHORity on unleashing Creative Flow.
And honestly? That’s all I’ve ever wanted.
But by far the best thing about realigning to my DOER™ cycle is how easeful and enjoyable it was to build all of this. Not only did following the simple, cyclical process make it easy and fun to envision and complete multiple complex creative projects in far less time than I ever thought possible, I didn’t have to waste any of my precious time, energy, or money on learning a new system. All I had to do was uncover and realign to the natural rhythm of my own creative energy, the same perfectly harmonious and balanced cycle nature relies on to create all the resources we rely on for survival.
That’s how I knew I couldn’t keep this discovery to myself: because, despite what your third grade teacher may have told you, the world is not divided into “creative types” and “non-creative types.” Everyone is creative, we simply use our creativity in different ways.
Creation and innovation are not the domain of some exceptional subsection of society, they are part of our most basic functioning as human beings. It is our birthright to imagine possibilities and then make them into realities, simply by unleashing our natural creative flow.
And once that creative flow is unleashed, the flood of authentic, resonant, AUTHORity-building content that inevitably follows is truly a wonder to behold.
I’ve witnessed it again and again.
Folx who come to me burned-out, exhausted, overwhelmed and uninspired after years of fruiltlessly chasing external achievement & approval, dreaming about using their authentic gifts to make a real impact, but struggling to clarify what those gifts are, who they're for, and how to make that connection.
Despite being incredibly intelligent, creative, innovative, and in many ways over-achieving invidividuals and teams, they remain frustrated, blocked, and unsatisfied with the results of their efforts.
Then, just a few months later, they’ve transformed into confident, passionate author-preneurs with a book, business, brand, and creative process that is an authentic reflection of who they are and what they’re here to create in the world.
Are you next?
I hope you are...
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