Toxic Positivity
Tag: author mindset
Scarcity Mindset
Is What You’re Doing Working?
New Page! Courses, classes and workshops
October 17, 2021-We’ve added a brand new page to our site where you can see the educational resources age opportunities that we’re offering! Whether you’re just starting your education with us, or continuing your quest for knowledge, we have something for everyone. Check out our brand new page here https://pandamoniumpublishing.com/virtual-courses-classes-and-workshops/, and visit again soon as we have new classes added frequently.
Happy learning!
Tick (Tock) not TikTok
June 30, 2021-That’s all, folks! I hope you’ve enjoyed our theme this month which was Author Mindset. We’ll be back on July 2nd with our next theme, which is Author Public Speaking! During July, we’ll cover everything from book signings, school visits, engaging with the public, and best practices. This theme is essential because people are more afraid of public speaking than death! We’re hoping to change all that with some easy-to-use tips and tricks so that you can speak confidently about yourself and your books in public.
But, for now, let’s finish up our topic for June! We’ve got one more thing to talk about when it comes to Author Mindset, and that is knowing yourself. The only person who knows what motivates you, makes you tick, what thoughts, feelings, and beliefs you have, and what makes you happy, excited, motivated, and energized.
All of this is so important, and without clearly defining these things for yourself, you can’t possibly be your best author self! I’d like you to complete the following exercise:
- What are the things about writing that excite you?
- What new possibilities in your writing life would you like to explore?
- What would you like to learn this year as an author?
- What is it about your writing life that makes you jump out of bed in the morning?
- What motivates you about writing?
- What do you need to improve as an author?
- Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years in your writing career?
- How do you feel about your writing life? What do you like best?
- What energizes you as an author?
Continue to focus on the positive and what you want more of! Combine all of the things that you’ve learned about author mindset this month on our blog and our podcast on Podbean while staying consistent, and you’ll be an author force to be reckoned with. Join us in July for our new theme, Public Speaking for Authors-you won’t want to miss it!
Victim Vocabulary
June 29, 2021– Tomorrow is our final day of exploring Author Mindset! I hope you’ve gained some valuable tips that you’ll put into action to create the writing life that you’ve always imagined. Our topic today is Victim Vocabulary-let’s dig in!
Authors stay stuck in their careers for several reasons, but one of the reasons that come up all the time is Victim Vocabulary. If you’ve ever been to a writer’s conference or a workshop, you’ll know that there’s always that one author with the ‘woe is me’ story; the one that you can’t quite seem to get away from or at least out of earshot? The one that complains about everything? Here are some common Victim Vocabulary phrases:
- The market is too saturated.
- I can’t seem to find the time to write.
- I don’t know where or how to send in my work to get published.
- I’m not doing that writing prompt; it’s stupid.
- I won’t submit my work anymore. What’s the point? I always get rejected.
- I shouldn’t have spent the money on this course; it’s useless.
- I already know this.
- There’s no way that it will work. It’s impossible.
- Why does this always happen to me?
- Everyone else gets published but me.
And the list goes on. When we use words and phrases like I can’t, I don’t, I’m not, I won’t, I shouldn’t, there’s no way, it’s impossible, and why does this always, we quite simply give away our power. How did you feel after reading those words? Depressed and defeated? Me too. Our words have a lot of conscious and subconscious meaning to them, and as authors, we should know that words carry power. They can be used for good or evil; they convey messages that are bold and brash or are barely a whisper. The point is, if we tell ourselves something long enough, we start to believe it.
It may come down to conditioning, limiting beliefs, past experiences, and other reasons why an author would speak that way, but it’s essential to remember that those things don’t serve anyone. They certainly won’t contribute to your current or future success.
Change your thoughts, change your words, and watch your life change. Stop using words that victimize you, and start using words that empower you!
Specifically Think Bigger
June 28, 2021– Well, it’s almost that time again where we’ve wrapped up another theme for the month! I hope you’ve enjoyed our June theme, which was Author Mindset and that you learned a lot of valuable tips and practices that you can put into action. We’ve got a couple of days left, and today I want to talk about something invaluable to your success as an author-Thinking BIGGER and being more specific! Let’s dive in:
When you decided to become an author, what did you envision for yourself? Here are what most authors said when polled by Pandamonium Publishing House.
- I want to sell a ton of books.
- I want to make a lot of money.
- I want to do school visits.
- I want to quit my day job and write full time.
These are all wonderful things to want for yourself as a writing professional, but what if I told you, you’re not thinking big enough, and you’re not being specific enough, and that’s probably why you haven’t reached your goals yet. Not to worry, I’ll talk about what you need to do to think bigger and be more specific, but first, let me entertain you with a true story.
One Saturday morning, a young boy paid a visit to his grandfather. A fence needed mending on the property, so the grandfather took the boy to the hardware store. Nails sold by the pound, yard supplies, a limited selection of penny candy and chocolate bars, and the usual items you’d find in a small town establishment lined the counters, aisles, and walls. The one thing that stood out was a brand new bike hanging on the wall behind the checkout counter. The boy noticed the bike as soon as he walked in and couldn’t keep his eyes off it; the tires were gleaming black with silver spokes, the cherry red paint was perfection, and the silver bell on the handlebars reflected the sun from the large front window. The boy followed his grandpa around the store in a daze. He thought about riding the bike with his pals and how he could ride the bike to the fishing hole instead of walking, and how that bike would make him so happy.
The boy’s grandpa went to the front counter with a paper bag full of nails to be weighed and paid for. He turned to his grandson and said, “Pick out what you want and then we’ll go home and fix the fence.” The boy looked at the candy, picked out some sweets, and placed them on the counter. The grandpa smiled and said, “I didn’t think you’d pick that.” The boy looked at him and said, “What do you mean?”
The old man chuckled, “I thought the bike was what you wanted.” The boy shrugged, “I didn’t think you would buy it for me.” The grandfather turned to his grandson, “You need to think bigger.” To this, the grandson replied, “And you need to be more specific!”
The boy eventually got the bike, and it was even better than he could have imagined. He learned an important lesson that day, THINK BIGGER and BE SPECIFIC.
Returning to the list at the beginning of this post, let’s revisit each one with a bigger vision and more specificity.
- I want to sell a ton of books. I want to reach one million aged 5-7-year-old readers with my book because I know it will make a difference in their lives. How many books exactly do you want to sell? Who do you want to sell them to? How are you going to sell them? When do you want to sell them by? Where do you want to sell them?
- I want to make a lot of money. I want to make one million dollars selling my book to elementary schools across Canada in the next year. How many books will this take? Which schools? How will you accept payment? What other fees are incurred? How will you reach out to the faculty, and how will they order? Etc.
- I want to do school visits. I want to read my book to grade 1-3 classrooms and have an interactive discussion about the book at the end of my presentation. How many visits will you do per year? How will you set up the visits? Will they be digital or in-person? How will your presentation be interactive? How long will the reading and discussion take? Etc.
- I want to quit my day job and write full time. I want to earn $150,000 per year to supplement my current income by writing and selling my series of cozy romance novels to an established female audience. Will you self-publish or go the traditional route? How much will the book sell for? What is the royalty rate? How long will it take to earn this income? Will you go all in right away or build up your savings first? How many books will you write? Etc.
Oftentimes writers never reach their goals because they aren’t specific enough, and sometimes what’s worse is that they reach their goals and realize that they should have dreamt bigger. It’s never too late to actively start building the writing life of your dreams. Be specific in exactly what you want and how you plan on getting it. Don’t play small; this is your life, and you are the captain of the ship. Don’t be like the boy with the bike; ask for what you specifically want without a snap judgement that you won’t get it because it’s too much or too big of an ask.
Intend It
June 18, 2021– First, we’d like to wish a very Happy Birthday today to, Michael (my favourite person EVER) and my sister, Meghan (my other favourite person ever, June 20)! May all of your wishes come true and may you be as happy as you make others ❤️.
As we continue to talk about author mindset this month, I hope that you’re putting the work in on getting your mind right! We’re talking about intention today and how it’s a catalyst for growth, change, and making your writing dreams come true.
What is intention? An intention is defined as an aim, target, plan, objective, and goal. But did you know that it also means deliberateness, calculation, and forethought?
So many wonderful things have happened in my writing life because they were my intention. Some of them include: Working with the best and brightest, being a guest speaker at a massive superconference, being a best selling author, winning best local author in my city, being published multiple times globally for books and magazines, attending educational seminars around the world about writing and publishing, increasing my income by 50%, and working with ideal clients who share the same values as we do at Pandamonium.
Thoughts lead to feelings. Feelings lead to intentions. Intentions lead to action. Action leads to realization of the thought. Whatever you think about consistently (good or not so good) is what will happen and show up in your writing life. Let’s explore each of these in detail by using a case study.
- Thoughts-What you think of most of the time happens.
- Feelings-What you feel about your thoughts happens.
- Intentions-What your intentions are, lay the groundwork for what you want.
- Actions-What actions you take toward your intentions make things happen.
- Realization-This is the completion of the intention. This is the realization that what you thought about, felt, intended, and acted upon has come to fruition.
Emilia was an author who came to me for some coaching. She had struggled over the years with author confidence and mindset, and she said that no matter how hard she tried, she felt like she was simply spinning her wheels. I put together a plan for her, and this is how our conversation led to an author mindset roadmap of sorts.
L: What do you spend most of your time thinking about when it comes to being an author?
E: That I’m not good enough and that my work isn’t good enough, that’s why I keep getting rejected.
L: How does that make you feel?
E: Lousy, defeated, like bursting into tears.
L: What were some of your intentions when you set out to be an author?
E: I wanted to sell a ton of books, be recognized by my peers as a great writer, and be a best seller.
L: What actions did you take to meet your intentions?
E: I submitted a couple of manuscripts and queries, but I got rejected, so I shelved everything from there and haven’t been able to write since.
L: What if I told you that if you started over and changed your mindset from the get-go, that this time you would have a different result, would you be interested?
E: Of course!
L: It all begins internally. We just need to change your focus and the voice in your head.
Emilia worked with me for four months. She had such a huge change in her author mindset that things began to manifest in her writing life, and she surpassed her original goals. Her mindset allowed her to see things differently; not everything worked out perfectly and on schedule, but her life did a 180. The things that didn’t work out, she had a completely different perspective on. Once we changed her thoughts, it was a chain reaction.
Your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and actions all need to be working together! Don’t contradict your intentions by not having the feeling, thought, or actions to match. Take a look at your own author roadmap, is it pointed in the direction of success?
We’ve got a brand new course coming soon just for authors! It’s called The Author Mindset Blueprint. Email pandapublishing8@gmail.com to reserve your spot and get more information!
Destroy It.
June 16, 2021– We’re talking about author mindset this month and today’s post is all about FEAR and how to destroy it as an author. Let’s dive in!
Fear is something that shrinks us, it keeps our world small, it’s a liar. Don’t get me wrong, there are things in this world that are scary, but they shouldn’t be debilitating. The best way to get over your fear is to jump right in. Usually, it’s fear of the unknown that scares us the most! That’s why we don’t take chances in our writing life, we don’t advance our career as authors, and we find ourselves watching opportunities slip through our fingers from the sidelines rather than actively participating.
As an author, there have been times where I’ve been afraid too. Like the time I lost my reading and writing skills for an amount of time because of a concussion. Or the time where I was chosen to be a guest speaker at a superconference and the room was packed with my peers and other professionals who were waiting to hear my presentation. I’ve been afraid lots of times, but each time I overcame those fears by jumping in with two feet, sticking to the plan, and doing what needed to be done no matter how difficult it was. I also stick to a rule in my life and that is whatever I’m afraid of, I run toward. Fear is an indicator of what we need to do next. I think the key to destroying my fears was threefold:
- Preparation– I prepared as much as I possibly could. Whether it was practicing my speech a hundred times in the weeks before I was due to present, or taking an active approach to my recovery, I did what I needed to do to feel prepared for what was next. When we have a plan, we feel more confident, able, and assured.
- Self-Belief-One thing I’ve always believed in is myself and my higher purpose. Once you realize that you’re here for a reason that is so much bigger than yourself every excuse of why you can’t do something or why you’re afraid, falls away. You must believe in yourself and your abilities and know that no matter what comes your way, that you’ll meet it and rise above it.
- Perseverance– Anyone who knows me knows that I’m stubborn to a fault. I’m one of the most stubborn people on the planet and when someone tells me that I can’t do something, I do it and take pictures. Perseverance and practice are what help melt fears away. When you stick with something and hold it in your mind and visualize your success, the fears get smaller and eventually disappear completely. You’re not going to hit it out of the park on your first at bat, it takes practice, perseverance, and patience. Be stubborn in your goals, but flexible in your approach. Fear hates persistence.
As an author, what are you most afraid of? Write down your biggest fears and ways that you can destroy them. ACTION is the way to success and overcoming any obstacle. Action destroys fears and gives you the confidence to realize your goals. Run toward your fears, not away from them and watch your writing life transform.
Grateful
June 15, 2021-A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to wish me a Happy Birthday yesterday! I’m so thankful for each one of you. On the subject of thankfulness, we’re continuing our theme of author mindset this month, and it would be a shame to leave out something that will change your *ENTIRE* life; we’re talking about gratitude! Did you know that gratitude is one of the most important mindsets of all when it comes to being successful as an author?
Yesterday while enjoying my coffee, I decided to peruse the bookstore. It’s one of my favourite things to do, and I always said I could never work there because it would ruin the magic for me! It’s one of my happy places. As I was browsing, I came across a beautiful aquamarine journal with The Gratitude Journal scrolled beautifully on the front in white writing.
I picked it up and decided to purchase it for myself as a gift from me to me. The pages are divided into sections:
- Highlight of my day. This is where you would list the best thing that happened during your day! I wrote, time spent with my niece and nephews at the park while eating ice cream.
- Today I am grateful for. In this section, you write down what you’re grateful for. You can put down three things. I wrote a fantastic note from our client who says that he’s so happy with what we’re doing in his marketing plan. I added I’m so grateful for my team and the opportunity to work with such a talented group of individuals on the same page.
- Express joy. This section is where you can draw an image, doodle, or word that helps you express joy. I wrote, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
- Something I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Here is where you write down your hope for the next day. I wrote, getting back to work, spending time reading, and walking Luna.
Gratitude for what we have in our lives reminds us of how fortunate we are and places a spotlight on the many people, experiences, and things we have to be thankful for. Working and communicating from a place of gratitude is powerful and life-changing. When we focus on what we want, we get more of it. Careful! Because it works the other way too! When your author mindset is gratitude, thankfulness, appreciation, and happiness, you begin to unlock doors, and great things start to happen. Even if you’re in the worst mood or things aren’t going your way, or you’re having a challenging day, focusing on gratitude will change that. You’ll start to feel better in no time!
As an author, try this exercise:
- What are you grateful for in your writing life?
- Who are you grateful for in your writing life?
- What are you looking forward to celebrating in your writing life?
- What are you grateful for that your writing lets you experience?
Focus on the good things that are happening for you as an author. You’ll find that you have so much to be grateful for.