When I was writing my book How to Make a Silver Lining – I got stuck! Time was eluding me with work, parenting and managing a household taking my valuable attention. So when the opportunity arose to work on my book with my coach I snapped it up!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it"

Rene Descartes

So when the opportunity arose to work on my book with my coach I snapped it up! The goal I came up with was "contract with wings" as I didn't just want to complete the book - I wanted to get some sort of publishing contract that would help the book fly and be a success. The idea behind this was to help me see past just the achievement of writing the book and focus on the result past that which was a publishing contract.

After several coaching sessions and fantastic exercises like "writing a book review" and "create a file for each section/chapter of the book" I was near completion of the first draft of the book which is where I ended up at the end of the coaching series. Alas I had not achieved my goal completely in terms of getting a "contract with wings" but I had completed way more than I would have on my own and my inspiration came from coaching sessions for which I was held accountable for my progress plus an image of a contract that was going to fly.

It is now one year on and the book has since been edited, proofed and about to be printed and while this process has taken longer than I may have liked I have ended up with a "book with wings". Yes - only the other day did I receive a file from my graphics designer with the subject line of "book with wings!" I couldn't believe my eyes! My screen reading software read out the title, again and again, as I went over it - "book with wings"

How did my graphics designer know?

Thank you Coach Kerrie for helping my book fly!

Action: If you are creating something, like a book, a painting or a speech, write an imaginary review of your work as if it would appear in the local newspaper the next day. This will help you focus on who you are targeting your work towards as well as help you get clear on what the finished result will look like.
 
"Focus on the gain not the pain"

Julie Woods
Professional speaker and coach 

julie@thatblindwoman.co.nz
www.thatblindwoman.co.nz

About the author

Julie is now a professional speaker and is a member of the National Speakers Association of New Zealand. As an inspirational speaker, Julie speaks to conferences, AGMs, community groups and schools. In October 2008, she made the top speakers and top topic list at the Coach Mecca conference held for Australasian coaches in Queenstown. Julie has self-published a book called "How to Make a Silver Lining" which details the story of her journey through blindness - from the Hospital Waiting Room to the Celebrations of her 10 years blind party.