When I walked into the house last Friday, I knew what was waiting on my doorstep would excite and delight me. I’d experienced it before. Nothing quite compares to finding a box of your own books waiting at the door and opening it up to see your title and your name plastered across the top of them, one book lined up after another. It’s surreal. I equate it with giving birth artistically. (I’ve never had children of my own, so this is the closest I’m going to get to it…minus the epidural and discomfort.)
The process of building something of our own from start to finish can be a massive undertaking — whether it’s launching a business, transitioning a career, creating a new product or publishing a book. It’s easy for us to get more focused on the end point that we might miss those little mini-celebrations in between. So I’m here to remind you… don’t. Don’t get your head so caught up in a release day or an opening day or one big event to culminate all of your efforts that you miss out on little victories leading up to it.
Why is that, you ask. Because those little moments become part of a tree that sprouts a little bit more each time we take a risk or climb up one extra peg of the beanstalk. We learn from them, we grow confidence from them, and best of all, we can truly find pure joy in sharing those smaller milestones with others we care about in a setting that is far more personal and memorable.
The other day, I had one of those mini-celebrations…with my new puppy, Jax (aka the Crazy Wookie). When my first book came out that August of 2013, I had already lost my little Dex. I would have loved sharing a similar moment of victory with him but I didn’t get to but you know what? I will always remember this past Friday afternoon of coming back from walking Jax and cracking open the box of books with him like it was this special unexpected treat and I didn’t know what I was going to discover under the papers stuffed on top of the box. And I felt so much personal satisfaction watching him scamper and delight in his human mama’s joy and his own happy dance among the packing materials afterward.
I know there will be a lot of cool moments to come. I look forward to hearing someone tell me about their own reading experience. Or getting to sign someone’s book at a signing or special event. And I have already determined that I could have some unique opportunities to give back as it relates to this book and am already devising some ways to do so in those communities that I feature. (I look forward to rolling out those campaigns over the next year of its release.)
But I think Friday was a reminder that just because the book is “finished” doesn’t mean it’s ever really done, not if I’m paying close attention to all of the opportunities along the way to learn, grow and yes, even dance among the packing material.
So I encourage you to channel your inner Jax today and take a twirl or two of your own and celebrate whatever personal victory, big or small, comes your way. You’ll be glad you did. ~ Chris x
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