031 - Using This Down Time to Birth Your Book

Hey guys! Nicole Gabriel here!

Well… we’ve figured out we are inside a bit longer than a few days. How much journaling have you been doing? How much deep thinking or meditating have you been doing? What have you accomplished in all things self-growth or new business initiatives? If you are any kind of entrepreneur you know this time is a tremendous gift…an opportunity to get ahead!

For me, I’ve made tremendous steps forward in my business in this time. And, I’m truly excited about it! 

But, when it comes to producing a podcast as a regular part of your communication during a worldwide pandemic its almost impossible to know where to start gabbing! You wonder as a content generator if there could possibly be anything meaningful that one could say other than…it’s going to be ok…and having proof that it really will. 

So, if you generate content without heart and compassion you might be viewed as cold and not focused on the global issues affecting us all. So rather than tell you what I think you need to know about something I’m no expert in, I guess it will be best to lead in what I do know.

So here’s where that becomes challenging for me…I’m a spiritually connected medicine woman who happens to be curious…curious about a lot of things. I think a good author really has to be. A good medicine healer or spiritual teacher also has to be…we pay attention to rhythms and ebbs and flows…we are learning how to relate…how to communicate what we experience from our own unique set of eyes. Like all good artists, we bring to the surface all issues we are facing personally and collectively. History is preserved in all of the arts. New teachings emerge and are captured in text. 

Cataclysms and devastation were captured in all ancient texts…the Bible for example. Markers in history have been etched in stone in caves and walls across the globe. Places like Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, and the Mayan ruins all markers of history. We are currently in a dark night of the soul collectively and we are deep in thoughts about what needs to be said, what has been said, and what we hope to say on the other side of a return to our new world. 

I have seen visions in my meditations, felt recent earthquakes in my body prior to them occurring, I’ve felt the exhaustion of our planet and the the energy of this virus. I’m an empath and I sense and feel and see deeply. It’s a normal part of my life I have lived with for all of my life, but in these times it’s taken me more time to get out of the muck and the heaviness and find myself. I’m sure you can relate. 

Loosing track of time, days, and self is likely what any good dark night of the soul might be expected to churn up. I have been in this place many times in my life. I have emerged countless times. And each time I reach a new plateau there is always a new challenge to wade through. When you’ve seen enough challenges you find coping mechanisms and new ways of living. You can heal the wound and you can move on. We’ve seen many things in our lifetimes. We’ve watched and participated in our own ways. We’ve seen viruses, buildings collapse, soldiers go to war, and watched loved ones die. Our life is full of wounds, but it’s also full of happiness and joy and moments of appreciation.

We all have unique stories to tell about our experience here and we are moving into a time where we have to collectively move together going forward. When we share we burn bridges of separation, we create common bonds that unite us. When we bleed out onto the pages we are sharing with others where we have been and what we have conquered and learned, and share from a place of “I’ve been there and I can relate”. We are more alike than we are different and this time in our lives is showing us that we are in this together! 

We are learning who our leaders are and by the way, have you noticed how well-rested some of us are looking? We are now excited to be present with others (even if only online), we are flush in our skin from a good nights sleep, we have had time to get laser-focused on our career, read a book, journal, and research online. We are ripe for a new world. We are going to come out of the gates much like a cow that has been locked in a milking barn its whole life and seeing a green pasture for the first time…

What is it that you have learned, what have you conquered, what have you contemplated in your time behind the closed doors of this quarantine? How have you grown? What has been realized? Have you been witness to your strengths? How about your weaknesses? What do you feel compelled to share?

I believe that there are so many stories to be told and books to be written. Remember that time when we were all locked in our homes? Remember that time when… 

My yoga has taught me that to master something is to teach it. Have you learned new ways that you now feel compelled to teach? Can you organize your thoughts in the structure of a book? Where have you seen the need for change and how can you improve it? Are you a medical professional on the front lines that now has new ideas for a future crisis? A food service with new ways to enhance delivery? A delivery service with new ways to protect workers? A business owner with ideas to enhance ways of working from home? Have you watched the earth heal as it’s humans have stayed home and now can propose new ideas for helping our environment. What have you observed that now can be wrapped into a book and shared with the world? 

And better yet, how can you use a book to share ideas and concepts and parlay it into a training program that can be shared and implemented online in classes and webinars? What is your social responsibility for this new world we are about to be birthed into?

• I challenge you to get out a computer and open up a new document and start making notes and begin writing. Let me start you with a few simple exercises. 
• Number 1-15 and choose just 15 points or topics that you can write a minimum of 3,000 words about. 
• Identify key points; key action items to take; identify research where something like this has worked before or even provides a baseline for your discussion—identify resources if necessary; provide your relatable story and why this means something to you. 

Start here and begin blowing it out. 

One of the primary reasons people don’t write books is time. We have plenty of that right now. So perhaps you’re just lacking an understanding of process. Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered there!

I do sincerely hope that you find yourself well and you and your loved ones are safe. The time can pass here in fear or boredom or it can pass in doing some big deep work and emerging with incredible focus and strength. What do you choose? 

I’m wishing you peace, love, light, and many blessings! We will get through this and become so much stronger on the other side! I’m excited to see what we are giving birth to!