Quietly Write the Book That Will Change Everything in Ten Years Time

Secretly write every day without telling a soul

“You wrote a book? What? Congrats.”

Those are the messages I’ve been getting for the last 4 days straight. It’s nice in a way. I didn’t, for the last 4 months have the pressure of anyone holding me to account, not really anyway. I quietly wrote a book for the last 4 months without any other external validation. No publisher beating down my door (although it would have been nice). No one, no one really needing me be anywhere, apart from me.

And you know, on reflection I think it’s the best decision I ever made.

Write a book for you, by you, on your own terms

If you’re writing a book to get rich, don’t bother. I’m not sure anyone got rich with their first book. If you’re writing a book because you told all your friends you were going to and now you have to, that’s pretty rubbish too. If you writing a book because you accidentally (/ on purpose) lied to your parents about why you haven’t really made any progress in the last 6 months, also don’t bother.

Writing a book is hard. Really hard. Honestly, it’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It takes intense (I mean intense) effort. Like effort that you’ve never considered. It’s not like writing 50 articles, being able to write with the same pace, tone, voice, attitude for 275 pages straight is honestly, really difficult. There were times where I read chapters and realised I’d written out the same thing but tweak 7 words and I’d allocated it a whole chapter. There were times where I’d reread my words and had honestly no idea what I was trying to get at. There were plenty of times that I was just straight up fuming at myself because I’d thought I’d paid attention and I had not.

Writing a book is no small feat. Being spurred on by work colleagues, friends, family is only going to get you so far. You need to build and stoke the fire within you, it’s the only way.

The metrics can fool you into embarrassment

I’ll tell you a secret. I wrote a book in no less than probably a thousand hours, spent circa £50 on Facebook ads (that all went pear-shaped) and sold 12 copies. 12. Embarrasing.com. But here’s the thing, it’s not embarrassing.

Every behavioural science bone in my body tells me to not tell people that. People follow people rights. So if the crowd is moving in a direction, everyone else will want to follow, telling the world that pretty much no one bought my book will have the opposite effect. But vulnerability is really important.

It’s so important that I am willing to sacrifice any future sales to tell you that fact. It’s important because it’s the truth. As a novice book writer, it is unlikely that I would ever sell over 100 copies. Truth hurts. The pure volume of writers out there added to the fact that I don’t have huge following online means that little old me didn’t reap any financial rewards for working myself to the bone for the last 6 months.

Do I care? Absolutely flipping not. I have learnt more about myself, my values, my work ethic, my passion and overall writing than I could have ever imagined. I have got more back from writing my book than I could ever imagine.

Think about ten-years-time you

Am I proud of myself right now for writing a book — yes, yes, yes. I love the fact that this year I wrote a book. I learnt how to design the cover, work within Kindle / Amazon, build a story, work through chapters, edit, rewrite. I learnt so much. Okay, I’m not reeling in my riches but if I was wouldn’t that be the most boring thing ever.

I know it’s a hard pill to swallow and sure people have written their first books and been international superstars but that’s not what happened to me — and I’m so glad it didn’t. It’s funny when a successful person tells you how hard it is, I always think “that’s easy for you to say, you’re a millionaire.” I can assure you that I am definitely not a millionaire and I am so glad I only sold 12 copies. Do I wish I sold more? Yeah, course, it would have been great to hit the 100 mark but we all start somewhere. I’m proud of the work, I’ve learnt so much along the way and that’s all that matters.

Sometimes we get metrically obsessed. If we don’t hit a certain number at a certain time we question everything, as if life revolves around numbers on a spreadsheet. I disagree. Write a book for you, by you, that will change everything in ten years time.

Why will it change everything in ten years time?

Simple. Because if you can write for 1000 hours with nobody watching you can do anything. To get to the point of publishing your book after months, as you sit down with your fast-food of choice celebrating the fact that you got 1 sale; then imagine what else you can do. Imagine if you didn’t need anyone, ever, to tell you how great you are?

What would happen if your world was internalised? If you only did work that made you proud that you know has instilled some incredible values in you for the long run? Well, you can do anything right?

Right. Write a book for you, quietly, that in ten years time will change everything.

So after months and months of work, my first book is out, you can order it here and get full access to my writing here.