crazy gratitude practice

I wanted to tell you a story today. The story is about my client Gretchen who has been working on a book with me for about 5 weeks. Gretchen wants to change the world by helping people tap into the wisdom of their bodies and she is trying to work through whether she wants to write a memoir or a self-help book. She keeps going back and forth and changing the title, the target reader, the items in her outline. She just can’t settle.

So I told Gretchen what I would tell you if you were struggling to move forward with your book – I told her to stop working on the book and to start writing the acknowledgements section. Sounds crazy, I know, but if you are stuck on your book or a project, try these steps:

1. Sit down at your computer or with your journal and write the acknowledgements for your book
2. Quiet your mind with a few deep breaths and imagine how you are going to feel when your book or project is complete.
3. Grab a few of your favorite books and quickly read through the acknowledgements sections so you remember how you are written.

Some people white-knuckle their way through writing their book or completing their project – but you don’t have to do it that way. You can choose another path and relax into the game of it all.

Gretchen’s acknowledgements surprised her. She wrote a lot about her mother who was always very overweight when Gretchen was growing up and who died due to diabetes complications before she turned 60. In writing her acknowledgements, Gretchen realized the book she needed to write, right now, was a memoir.

The next week when she came to our coaching session she had completed 5 weeks of assignments and she was ready to go with her book. The log-jam had been broken with that one easy exercise.

If you are stuck – try this unique gratitude practice and see what you learn. I currently have 2 slots for one-on-one coaching clients starting in June so if you are really serious about getting your book done, sign up for a free consultation to see if you will be a fit for my openings.

I just wanted to add that I struggled with telling you this because confidentiality is so important in my book coaching relationships, but I have written this in a way that the client’s confidentiality is protected and I did get her permission to tell this story.

Oh and real quick, great idea from CGW Admin Tami Mathisen. Take a minute and add your twitter handle to our Twitter doc and then go in and follow everyone – and make sure you follow back the coaches who follow you. Here’s the doc: https://www.facebook.com/groups/coachesgonewild/doc/382751061740452/