I Published My First Book Before Getting My Bachelor’s Degree

And I regret it.

In 2015, I started my studies in business administration.

And even though I don’t feel as if I learned anything that would improve my life or me personally, I still believe that it was the right decision. However, 1.5 years later, I tapped into personal development and entrepreneurship, and I quickly realized that there is so much more to learn than what schools and universities are teaching.

I also realized that I enjoy growing as a person and learning more about personal development every day.

Additionally, I discovered a wholly new career path.

While until that time, I thought that I’d get my degree to apply for a corporate job, I suddenly realized that there are so many more options to choose from.

I loved the idea of being self-employed. I mean, being your own boss, deciding when, where, and with whom you work sounds pretty amazing, right?

So at some point, I knew that I don’t want to climb the career ladder in a corporate but rather be an entrepreneur. Putting both of these passions together, I started hosting personal development workshops besides my studies.

And after some time, I created online courses.

Fortunately, I wasn’t alone, I did all of this with my boyfriend, and he still is my business partner (and the co-author of my book).

When I finished my last exam at university, it was somehow clear that my next step would be to dive deep into entrepreneurship and further build my business.

I never really thought about it; it was just the next logical step. However, what was (and still is) missing is my bachelor’s thesis. I didn’t write my thesis besides the exam because I was also working at a full-time internship, and additionally running my side business.

It was so apparent that I would ignore my thesis and try to build a business in personal development.

Looking back, I might have thought that that’s the easier way to go.

In truth, I wouldn’t do it the same way again.

Here’s what I’ve learned from writing a book at the age of 22, before getting my degree.

Everybody is writing books

About two months after I decided to focus on our personal development business, we randomly decided to write a book.

We didn’t think a lot about it. We just knew that we would have an advantage when selling workshops because having written a book on a specific topic means that you know what you are talking about.

Plus, it feels as if everybody is currently publishing a book, so we thought we’d do it as well.

And to be honest, I am a little bit angry about the fact that everybody can publish a book.

We obviously went for self-publishing. We wrote 400 pages, found a print shop in Poland that would print us a 400-page book for 2.5 €, and we ordered 1,000 books.

Easy as that.

The fact that it’s so easy was a reason why we wanted to try it out.

Though it’s cool to have a book with your name (and your picture) on it, but it never was my big dream.

Plus, I spent so much time on it, which I could’ve invested in other activities that would’ve scaled my business much further.

Just because it’s easy and everybody is doing it, you don’t have to do it as well.

If it weren’t that easy, I surely wouldn’t have a published book right now.

It’s cool that certain things are so accessible nowadays, but it doesn’t mean that it’s the right move for you.

It’s not that cool

“I have written a book.” is, without any doubt, a cool statement.

However, publishing a book is not that satisfying if the decision to write it wasn’t from your heart.I love learning, I like writing, and I adore personal growth, but writing a book was the wrong option.

Maybe the timing that was wrong. I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter anymore.

I just know that I wouldn’t start such a massive project without the right gut feeling anymore.

Throughout the whole working process of more than six months, I felt as if it was not the right thing to do, but I kept continuing.

Maybe I continued because it was the most comfortable choice. If I stopped writing the book, I wouldn’t have known what to do. I would’ve needed a completely new strategy for my business, which felt too exhausting. So I just kept writing the book.

I know, it sounds stupid. And it was. I am not proud of it, and I wouldn’t repeat it.

Finishing projects is a highly valuable skill

I feel as if the majority of people are struggling to finish open projects. Brainstorming and creating new ideas is always more fun than doing the actual work, especially if you are working on a topic that you are utterly passionate about, like in my case.

Finishing the book was really tough.

Because I didn’t want it to be finished.

Long before we were done, I knew that I wouldn’t be 100 percent proud of this project. I had already completed so many tasks and projects that I was super proud of, however, I knew that the book is not going to be one of these.

It just didn’t feel right.

So it became harder and harder to complete the book.

While proofreading, every mistake I discovered discouraged me further. Not only did I not want to write it — I now thought the outcome wasn’t a high enough standard either.

I am not sure if “good enough” is sufficient

I don’t think that I’m a perfectionist.

I once heard that what you do just needs to be “good enough”, not perfect. And, while I’ve been following this advice for a few years, I’m not sure if this advice applies to a book.

There are so many books out there.

Why would you publish one that doesn’t bring something new to the table? Something that isn’t unique?

I know that every book is unique, but I guess that the aspiration of publishing a book should be to deliver a great one.

Getting a degree means that you can finish big projects

That’s what a wise man told me a few weeks ago.

He said that he doesn’t believe that the subject of the degree itself is important, but the fact that you got one. Someone who has a degree is someone who can bring huge projects to an end.

And that’s who I want to be.

My boyfriend and I have been joking around for a year, saying that we didn’t write our bachelor’s thesis because we wrote a meaningful book instead. We thought that we are cool if we just ignore university and build our own business. However, that’s not what I want anymore.

I want to get my degree as soon as possible.

I believe that it will be a huge release. I love reaching milestones, and a degree is definitely one.

Plus, even if I think that skills are more important than a sheet of paper, I believe that a degree means some sort of certainty in life.

Bottom line

Writing and publishing a book is fun and easier than ever — but that doesn’t mean that you need to do it, or that it will fulfill you.

On the contrary, the opposite happened to me. I didn’t find any joy in publishing that book. Even the highly positive feedback I receive can’t change my mind because it just didn’t feel right.

Working against your gut feeling might generally not be the smartest action.

In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell explains how we take rapid decisions. If we have to make any choice in life, we actually decide within a few milliseconds.Everything that we do besides that is trying to find arguments for our decisions.

After completing our book, I promised myself to never ever dive deep into a project that doesn’t entirely excite me.

Our lives are too short to waste doing something that we don’t love.

If you have different options available, never go for something that doesn’t wholly excite you.

That’s the advice I needed one year ago. If I’d followed it, I would be much more satisfied with my career and business right now.

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