Tag: 7 why’s

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Best-Seller Status

January 4, 2020– Today we kick off our month-long exploration of How to Become a Best-Selling Author! As a side note, Best-Seller Bootcamp starts today: Best-Seller Bootcamp January 4th-31st – Pandamonium Publishing House

The first thing you need to do is define your goals for becoming a best-selling author. I like to use the rule of 7 Whys. The process looks like this and it’s imperative that you see the exercise through even though it can be difficult at times. Here’s a sample for you so that you can fully understand the psychology and reason behind your goal.

Start with the question, Why do I want to be a Best-Selling author?

  1. Because I want the status of best-seller on my resume. Why? 
  2. I want the status of best-seller on my resume because it will give me credibility as an author. Why? 
  3. I want credibility as an author because I want respect from my peers. Why? 
  4. I want respect from my peers because it will make me proud of myself and my work. Why? 
  5. I want to be proud of myself and my work because this will make my family proud of me too! Why?
  6. I want my family to be proud of me because I was raised by a single mom and I don’t want to let her down. Why?
  7. I want to make my mom proud because she gave up everything for me. I want to show her that I can be a success and that all of her hard work wasn’t all for naught.

Boom. There’s the reason and the psychology behind WHY that particular person wants to be a best-selling author.

By this point, you get the picture. Continue the 7 Whys exercise until you boil it down to one final answer of WHY you want to become a best-selling author. Only YOU know why you want to do this, your answer is very personal; if we set goals for ourselves with no idea of why we want to achieve them, we’re only setting ourselves up for failure. Everything we strive for has an underlying reason as to why we want to do something. Sometimes we lie to ourselves and say that we want to do it for reasons that are superficial such as status, money, or fame, but at the end of the day, that stuff doesn’t matter. What matters is the WHY behind all of that because, during the tough times, you’ll be able to draw on your WHY to keep going, stay focused, and see your goal through to completion.

I hope that you’ll join me this month as we dive into best-seller status! For additional information, in-depth exercises, and access to Lacey as your mentor for the month, check out the Best-Seller Bootcamp here: Best-Seller Bootcamp January 4th-31st – Pandamonium Publishing House 

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Publisher’s Corner…

August 2, 2019– Here’s the question of the week and it’s a great one!

Q: “Lacey, I’ve set goals for myself as writer and I’ve reached a few of them. I really want to be a famous author, but I can’t stay on track no matter how hard I try. Should I throw in the towel and do something else with my life?” 

A: Whoa, this question is deep; first of all, congratulations on reaching some of your goals, you’ve proven that it can be done and if you’ve done it once, you can certainly do it again! I’m a firm believer in never giving up no matter what and I know that some of you reading this will say it’s easier said than done. But, if we all gave up when things got hard, none of us would accomplish anything. Today, I’m not going to talk about tips to stay disciplined or organized in your writing routine, nor will I give you my opinion on what you should and shouldn’t do with your life because frankly, it doesn’t matter what I think. I’m going to dive into the WHY part with a super simple exercise.

It’s called 7 Whys…(I ended up calling the person who sent me this questions and went through this with him, with his permission, I’ve posted his actual answers and he definitely gained clarity).

  1.  Start with a statement of what you want for your life: I really want to be a famous author. 
  2. Why do you want to be a famous author? Because I want people to read what I have to say.
  3. Why do you want people to read what you have to say? Because what I have to say is important and I want to make lots of money at the same time.
  4. Why is what you have to say important and why do you want to be rich? Because I’m tired of being silenced and not respected by friends and family and I’m tired of just being barely able to pay my bills.
  5. Why are you tired of being silenced and not respected by friends and family, why are you tired of barely being able to pay your bills? Because they look down on me, I don’t have as much education as them and they think my opinion and voice doesn’t matter. Because I want to control my life and I don’t want to make decisions based on how much money I do or don’t have, ever again.
  6. Why do they think your opinion and voice doesn’t matter and why do you want to be in control of your life? Because I’ve never stood up for myself before, I usually just go along with whatever they say. I want to be in control because I’m sick of being controlled and decided for.
  7. Why do you go along with whatever they say, why are you sick of being decided for and controlled? Because I don’t trust myself and because I don’t believe in my own capabilities. I’m sick of being controlled because I know that I can do better and that I can make better decisions. I want my family to stop being ashamed of me and I want to make them proud, I want to make myself proud.
  8. Why do you want to make yourself and your family proud? Because I know that  I can do better than I currently am. I’m just as able as my brothers and sisters to make something of myself.

I honestly felt like crying after this conversation. It was difficult for him to answer the questions, but he tells me he’s glad he did.

So in essence, this person wanted to be a writer because he wants to make himself and his family proud and he wants to make something of himself and his life. This is his ultimate reason for writing and when the dark days come, he can look at his reason why and keep going. The other reasons before this one were superficial at best. They wouldn’t be enough to keep him on track.

Wow…we dug deep, didn’t we? The point of the exercise is during the first few whys, the brain gives a nice, neat, acceptable answer, but after the 5th why, it starts to get subconscious. Write down what you want and ask yourself why 7 times, building on the previous answer. Don’t go any further. You have your reason to continue or your reason to quit.

X LLB