We are all telling ourselves stories every day about what is good, what is bad, what is hard and what is easy. What I’ve been telling myself in my role as newbie author is not working for me right now.
The story from James Carroll blog yesterday brought this idea to clarity:
“Near the end of his life, living in Berlin with his lover, Franz Kafka went for a walk in the park and saw a little girl crying. He asked her what the matter was, and she told him that she had lost her doll. Without missing a beat, Kafka assured the little girl that the doll wasn’t lost, only traveling; Kafka knew this for a fact, he said, because the doll had written him a letter describing her journeys, which he promised to bring the girl the next day. Every day for three weeks, he brought the girl a new letter that he had spent much of the previous night composing, until she could no longer remember why she had been sad in the first place.”
It’s been months and months as I’ve been telling myself how the book work “is hard”, “a struggle”, “not fun”. And it’s of course not.
And so much so that the team I’m working with is (not so surprisingly) not having any fun and we’re struggling with one another. The actual facts are that it’s hard to be a first time author, I have no proven track record yet, and while I have many successes to my professional accomplishments, I’m well-regarded inside the beltway of Silicon Valley, and have many good leaders who want me to be successful….. I did not spend the last 10 years “building a platform” as they say in publishing. So when we set out to do anything whether it is to get an article byline published or an idea spread or anything, what we might accomplish is relatively small. It all relies on this very small platform. (Which at times can make me deflated).
But that’s NOT the point. And not the full story.
We have an idea worth spreading. One where collaborative work can take place and people can be engaged. We can teach organizations how to actually take into new insights and move quickly into action. We can help raise up the higher performance of team AND companies.
There is joy in getting to do this work, to pursue an idea, to enable others to engage it. It’s not hard. It’s a JOY. And the people whom I’m working with to do it are all engaged in this endeavor. And I’m going to appreciate what is working, what is possible, and what many good people are doing. So I’m going to change my story and let the rest flow. It may mean many things but at least I can lead the part of the story I need to lead.
What is the story you’re telling yourself today? Is it working for you?
Great thinking and inspiration, ta! Do write the new story as it grows and celebrate with posts the smallest joys & wins
will do. had the first meeting with the publishing team today since this post and it was drastically different .. for the better. #grateful.