Your Permission Slip to Write a Book with Linda Sivertsen

Linda Sievertson. It is so good. It's beautiful to see you.

Ah, ditto.

Most people listen to this podcast via just audio only. It does go on YouTube and you're so lovely. I hope people will tune in on YouTube and not just listen to this.

So bless you.

Yeah, you're, you're. I don't know if it's just the light. You're glowing though, but it's your energy, I think that's a big part of it. We were just talking about, like, how we connected initially, which was literally 10, 11, 12 years ago. That's crazy to think.

Yeah. Pre. Pre. Your success or your miracle morning?

Yeah, well, no, we'll tell that story. So. And you and I were both trying to figure out who the heck connected us. We can't remember. So I said, well, it was the universe. It must have been the universe.

But. But somebody connected us because I had this concept the miracle morning. I was writing the book and thought that the only way I could be successful with that book was to traditionally publish it. Right. I got to find a publisher and then I started researching how do you get a publisher? And it's like, you don't get a publisher, you get an agent, you know, and then if you can convince your agent, they will take it to a publisher. So to get an agent, you need a book proposal. And so I. Oh, you know what it was, I actually remember now. I somehow came across a webinar that you were leading on how to write a best selling book proposal.

Oh, my gosh.

And then I just reached out and I'm like, oh, my gosh. If there's. This is the woman. Like, this is the expert that. And you had written. Remind me some of the people that you had written.

I think before you called me, I had already done the Compound Effect with Darren Hardy, which was a great business book. And I had done Harmonic wealth with James Arthur Ray, and those had both become New York Times bestsellers.

New York Times bestsellers, yeah.

And what happened was James, and this is before he had like a huge public fall. It was really crazy. But before that happened, he ended up sending an email to his list and this. I was in a divorce. I was losing my house. I was sort of desperate and I reached out to James and said, I'm thinking about trying a webinar. I've never done one before. They were kind of new.

Yeah.

And I said, if I write a sales page, which I didn't realize was going to take me like three months, if I write a sales page, will you promote it. And I thought he'd just send a blur about to his list. He sent an email out with the subject header, the secret weapon behind my seven figure book deal. And that webinar that you found me through saved my house.

Wow.

Wow. Yeah. Bless him. That was amazing.

That's incredible. Yeah. Yeah. And then you and I, you know, we kind of went our separate ways and then we reconnected.

First of all, wait a minute. Can we just say, like, I was so in love with Miracle Morning from the very beginning. I was so taken with you and your passion and your, your total unwavering faith, which is always what somebody likes, like me looks for when we're trying to help somebody be successful. You guys are the easiest people to help. Right. Because you're unstoppable.

Yeah.

And yet the. The few agents that I sent your query out to didn't jump. And I couldn't believe it. I was like, what is wrong with these people? And then you had no patience. You were like, I'm out. I'm just going to self publish. I thought, oh, God, this is the kiss of death. Like, self publish, Are you kidding? And sure enough, like 2.5 million books later, you know, you were right.

Yeah.

You were right. Hats off.

Yeah. Well, and that's why, that's why I ended up self publishing is while we were going through that process, I was just continuing to research the publishing process. And where I, where I landed was, okay, wait a minute. Because I was trying to understand, like, what's a publisher do? How does, how do you get in advance? How does this work? And where I landed was so a publisher, will they have a team that will edit the book? I could hire an editor. Right. Proofread it. I could hire that out. They'll do a cover design. I could hire that out. But what I landed on was I still have to do all the promotion. They're not going to invest money to promote a new author that they have no idea whether or not I'm going to be successful. That's what I learned, is they put their money typically behind the authors that have a proven track record. Right. Or have a platform, you know, and so I went, well, wait a minute. I believe so much in this Miracle Morning that I'm willing to promote the heck out of it for as long as it takes to get it out there to the world.

Right, Right.

And rather than give them, like, 80% of the profits, it seems like I'm going to take a shot on my, my own. And, and then, you know, and then maybe one day we'll, I'll reconnect with the publisher after it makes more sense. But yeah, but, yeah, but you helped me. The biggest thing was you writing that proposal helped me clarify how to explain the miracle morning. Right. Because that you are a such a gifted writer. I would say humbly, beyond my writing ability. Like there's levels to this.

Oh brother. Oh, bless you.

Seriously, I'm holding your new book in my hands. Beautiful writers. And it's just like, I mean seriously, it's a masterpiece like you are. It's just a different level of writing. You know, I can write for the every person to really understand complicated topics in a really simple way. But like your writing is like taking, taking me on this journey. And so let's start with that. So for anybody listening to this podcast right now, right, it's kind of a niche topic, writing a book, you know, and I think that, you know, there's been like a USA Today popularized study that's like 80% of people, you know, it's on their dream list to one day write a book. So it applies to the majority. I want to start with, you wrote that books unborn weigh on you. Books unborn weigh on you. Can you talk about the cost of not following that dream to write a book?

Oh my goodness. You know, Catherine Woodward Thomas, who is a best selling author, she and I used to joke that, that being pregnant with a baby was like having a 20,000 pound baby inside of you, like 10 years in gestation. That's what it's so frustrating when you have this big dream, this big goal. And I imagine this is the case for anybody with a big dream or goal. Right. I, I tried to write this book as a blueprint for success in any genre. This, you know, it's really a writing memoir with advice from bestselling authors. But this kind of goes across the board because, you know, my mother on her deathbed, she said to me, linda, I wasted my life now. Wow, right? The most painful thing I've ever heard. And she didn't. At least not from my viewpoint. I mean she, her memorial was 350 people standing room only. She had a husband she adored who adored her. They had been together almost 40 years. She had these daughters who adored her. I mean, she had a very, very full life, but there were things that she didn't do that ate at her at the end. And I have found that to be the case with writing. So specifically, I remember one gal, she called me years ago, probably 15 years ago, wanted to write A memoir. Super excited about it, really on fire. Had all these dreams and plans. And then she never came to one of my writing retreats. But I always remembered her because she was so driven and her story was really unique. She was from Africa. It was a beautiful story. A couple years ago, I found out that she had passed away, and I met somebody who knew her. And she said to me, you know, she was still talking about that book on her deathbed. And I think for anybody who's got a dream, like, you've gotta have. You've gotta have that belief that you can accomplish it. But then there's also all those practical things you have to do to put in place to make it happen, like I saw you do, you know, on steroids. Not really on steroids, but, you know. But you know what I mean. And, you know, I always say to people, if you have the ache, you have, what it takes, like, trust that. Trust your ache. And then put those practical steps in motion.

Yeah, yeah. And I think that. Well, let me ask you, what do you think stops people from starting that dream, let alone completing it, but even, like, you know, like, taking the first step and actually opening up their computer and starting to write that book? What. What. What's holding people back from that? And I think it's. And also. Right. What's holding them back from that? Which could also be applied to other dreams that they have.

Yeah, I think there are several things that hold them back. First and foremost, the very first thing I think often is that they just don't believe that they're smart enough. I was in that category in a huge way. Yeah, I always wanted to be a writer, but I was in the bottom third of my graduating class in high school. On poster board. Posted by the, you know, principal's office. Mind you, I didn't finish college. I had three classes left at USC when I left. And so when I had a literal dream that told me to write, told me how to write the book, what the title was, I mean, it was. It was gifted to me, like, as if I was taking dictation. I was worried that I wasn't smart enough. And then a lot of us have those voices of mean. In my case, I have a whole chapter, Chapter five, on mean girls silencing the. The bullies, inner and outer. I had some mean girls in high school who thought I was an airhead, and rightfully so. I think I probably acted like an airhead. I was a jock. I was super flirtatious. I mean, I didn't. I was always Late to my first, first class in the morning because I was messing with my hair. Like everybody had the right to think I was an airhead, but boy, these girls were mean.

Yeah.

And so when I had the dream, I had a lot of internal tapes to overcome and, and one of the ways I did that was through studying the greats. Like the greats who I've interviewed for the book.

Yeah.

The more you hear about people who you look to as icons or legends, the more you hear about their struggles to start and how they did it, the easier it becomes to believe in your own path.

Yeah. That's one of the things I love about this book that is unique is lots of people have written books on how to write books. Very few, if any, have been. Hey, because you happen to know all the writers, you know all these bestselling authors. Right. They're your friends. And so that's the beauty of this is it's not just your opinion or your take on this topic. It's. You're interviewing some of the, you know, most prolific writers, you know, that are alive today. What is some of the best selling authors that you've interviewed do to, to coax the muse, if you will, to, to foster their own creative miracles, to overcome the voice inside that imposter syndrome, all of that.

Oh, gosh, you know, every. For everybody, it's a struggle. Cheryl Strayed and I were talking, there were the Senate hearings were going on when Cheryl and I did our interview and we did it with Nia Vardelos, who, who wrote the Oscar nominated screenplay for My Big Fat Greek Wedding. And Nia has this tape in her head that's just constantly barraging her with negativity. And so she was really honest about that. But Cheryl was just saying how hard it is when there's a dumpster fire going off in Washington. How do you believe? How do you pay attention? And one of the things that we all have to do, and that is pretty across the board when I was interviewing people about time, is just making boundaries, boundaries everywhere with people with your schedule, but also with your mental chatter. I mean, there, there has to be a point where you say, okay, this may suck, I'm going to do it anyway. Okay. I don't know what I'm doing. I'll figure it out. Like, you know, my writing is terrible. I'll get an editor. You know, you just have to keep corralling yourself and putting boundaries around your own nonsense.

Yeah, I think that's one of the first important mental steps for people is to go to write that shitty rough draft, right? That shitty first draft. Like, think. If you're writing. Think about that. Most authors, their rough draft isn't great. It even kind of sucks. And then you send it to an editor and then they make it better. And then I would like, for me, I sent it to a handful of my friends and then they read it and they made it. You know, it's like it was this team effort and what people actually read, it's kind of like success in general. Like what you actually. The finished product. You see, you go, that perfect is. That person is flawless. Right. They're so confident and well spoken. There's not a flaw that I could, you know, and it's like, no, no, no. Behind the scenes. It was so messy, right? It was.

Oh, God, so messy. I mean, Anne Lamont talks about. She's in my book. She doesn't talk about it in my book, but one of the things she's so famous for is her whole shitty first drafts conversation. And we all write shitty first drafts. And one of the things that makes somebody great, like a Mary Carr, is they edit over and over and over. I mean, Mary Carr tells this story that is so outrageous. Where she was writing lit, which was a massive memoir, I mean, kind of reignited the whole genre. And she threw away 1200 pages just over and over and over again. I think she worked on one section, one, one, like, opening of the book for like nine months or something. And she said she would get so devastated sometimes she'd just sit in her apartment in her underwear ordering takeout and think, you know, I'm never, ever going to get this done. And. But the people who are great are the ones who keep getting to the other side of that process, Right?

Yeah.

They know that what they're doing is shit. They know it's probably going to be shit tomorrow, but they just keep going, shoveling through the.

Yep. And then. And then what happens is I find that, you know, one day you're like, ooh, ooh, wait, I figured this part out. And then you figure that, and it's often just a paragraph. You're like, ooh, that paragraph is perfect. That's right. It's a game changer. I'm doing that right now. So I. I wrote a chapter for. We're doing a Miracle Morning Updated and Expanded Edition.

Yes.

My next book that I'm writing is called the Miracle Life. So I've been trying to do a Miracle Life chapter in the new edition of the Miracle Morning, kind of just because I want to Share that content and it would tease the new book. And so I worked with a ghostwriter and we started. She sent me back six pages, final start to finish the chapters done in six pages. I've been editing those six pages for the last three months. They're up to 39 pages and I can't get it back down anywhere near.

A chat, like, story of my life. Story of my life.

So what I do, I work on it every day and I get frustrated every day, but I keep going, you know, and again, it's such a lesson for, like, goals in general. Like, feel the fear and do it anyway. Fear the self doubt and do it anyway. Feel like an imposter and do it anyway.

Do it anyway.

Right. Feel like now is not the right time and get started anyway. Right?

100%. And then those miracles come in. Those, Those moments of grace happen where you meet the right person who tells you exactly what you needed to know. Or like me, you wake up and you have a dream tells you exactly what to cut. I always think that's one of my, you know, dead parents. Like, I think my parents were so in love with me and my writing that they just feed me ideas sometimes. But frankly, I don't care where it comes from. Yeah, but getting that certainty just when you need it often right in the 11th hour is like gift from God.

Talk about that story. It's a great story. Your first book, Lives Charmed, came to you in a literal dream at 3:00am.

Like, oh, yeah, right. Well, here I was, the kid who just totally didn't think she was smart enough. Right. But had this dream. Always wanted to be a writer. Avoiding the dream. I was a professional dog walker in Beverly Hills in Hollywood, which was so sweet. I mean, I'm a total dog freak. I'm like, walking by, you know, streets. I'm walking through streets and buy homes that like, tour buses are sitting in front of. They're so beautiful. I've got keys and alarm codes for like, Kiefer Sutherland and Kirk Douglas and on and on.

Nice.

So I'm thinking, I have a great life. I get puppy kisses all day, every day and I'm paid to exercise. What could be better, right? But then my sister, so obnoxious. She's like my friends. And I think you're wasting your brain. And that really, really hurt. And it need it needled at me. And I thought, well, what. What could I be doing? Am I supposed to be doing something different? And what I. I'm not qualified for anything is. Was my belief.

Yeah.

And Then two things happened, and I think permission is a really important thing for people. You either have to give it to yourself.

Yeah.

Or you gotta go get it.

Yeah.

And I. On a wing and a prayer. Actually, accidentally, I went for my husband because he was kind of an out of out of work actor at the time. I went to a Vedic astrologer, and he looks at me. He had printed up my chart to kind of help my husband. But he looks at me and he's like, wait a minute. You're supposed to be doing something really big, and it has to do with writing. And it's the. It's going to come to you really soon. You couldn't avoid it if you went underground. I'm like, what? I started getting excited, right? And then around that same time, my sister had called me and said, I just had this session with this guy named Guru Singh, and he's so amazing and you've got to go. So I booked a session, just strictly out of curiosity. Never. Never thinking he was going to give me some prophecy that would change my life.

Yeah.

And yet he did. He looked at me and he said, what the hell are you doing hiding behind all those dogs? And I never told him I was a professional dog walker. And he said, you're supposed to be a writer remembered for 150 years after your death. And I was like, and. But here he is talking to my secret inner wish. Right. That I never told anybody.

Wow.

So. So when I had the dream of six books, titles, format, how to do them, the order in which to do them, I would. It was so real. And because I had probably been implanted.

You know, in your subconscious.

Fantasy, at least was there?

Yeah.

I was whole hog. I woke up, I was like, that's it.

That's it.

I know exactly what I'm doing for the rest of my life.

That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Right? You have to pay attention to the signs. And I think a lot of people might dismiss that and go, and it's just coincidence, or it's just this or just that. And it's whatever you decide that it is. Right?

That's it. It could have been completely delusional. And. And believe me, my path. I've had so many face plants. I mean, that's the. The face plants are my favorite things to write that. I loved writing that stuff. But. But, boy, when you're perseverant and you stick with the same thing over and over again for a long enough time and you network and meet enough people on the path that can help you. Good shit starts to happen.

Yeah, it does. Well, there's. There's an old quote. The harder you work, the luckier you get. You know, And I so believe that. Right. It's so true. Like, if you're. When you're on mission and you're like, I'm going to figure it out, and you're banging your head against the wall every day and you're frustrated and then. Yeah, the right person, the right idea, the right.

Like you with Robert Kawasaki. Is that how you pronounce?

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, the fact that you. I mean, you did so many outrageous things like I did on the pathway up, and I love those outrageous stories. But when you handed him your manuscript when you were a nobody and you. You know, that's part of the networking thing. Right. You got to put yourself in situations where you meet the right people. But when you handed that to him, you had no idea that he was going to read it twice and then recommend that book everywhere he goes, to huge, huge groups of people. But you got lucky because you put yourself in the situation to be lucky.

Yeah. And that's such a great.

Ready. Your stuff was good, right?

Because in my head it was like, I'm not going to give it to him. You know, I almost didn't give it to him because I'm like, I was embarrassed. I was like, who am I? I'm a nobody. And like, you know, and I'm like this. Mr. Kiyosaki, will you read myself published book about waking up early? You know?

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I've done so many of those things and I love it.

It.

It works more than it doesn't work.

I want to talk about rituals for a second. Right in the miracle morning, obviously it's a. You know, we focus on morning rituals, but I know that you had a nighttime ritual for writing your first book. Can you elaborate on that?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I just really had a relationship with my muse, my higher self, God, whatever you call it. But I really. I was always cultivating that relationship. And one of the ways that I did that was before I would go to bed at night. I would say just the quickest little prayer. I would just say, please show me what I need to know too. And then whatever part of the book I was on and needed help with, like how to finish chapter three or who's the next person I should reach out to to interview.

And I would literally put in a little order with the universe every night before I would go to bed. And then I always Had. It's reminding me now I need to do this more. But I always had a pad of paper by the bed, and I knew I would often wake up with exactly the instruction of what to do next.

Yeah.

And it was so spot on. And I would often. I remember one. One night there was a. I wanted to interview Weiland, the whale muralist who. Who was in the Guinness Book of World Records for, like, the largest painting in man. In mankind history. And I wanted to interview him so badly because I'm a greenie. I'm an environmentalist. I wanted to help spread his message about saving the oceans, but he had turned me down. So I went to bed the night before, and I was like, please tell me how to get to Wyland. What can I do? I woke up with an entire introduction to his chapter in my head. Three pages, just. I saw the whole thing. So I sat down and I wrote it really quickly. And I knew it was. It was beautiful. I mean, I'm. I am not the world's best writer, but when I feel like I'm channeling something, it can come out perfect. Right? And it did. It was perfect.

Yeah.

And I faxed it to his people, and they. They got back to me five minutes later and said he'll. He's happy to do it. And I interviewed him that week, and we became friends. And that was given to me because I believe that ritual.

Well, you know, last week on the podcast, I had a conversation with Mary Morrissey, who is just.

Yeah, yeah.

And. And we talked about, you know, like, where do thoughts come from? Right. And we talked about the field of infinite intelligence, where thoughts. Just because you think about it, like, when you have a thought that you've before and you're inspired in the moment, like, for me, if I'm on stage speaking for you, I'm sure if you're right, you know, or before bed, right. It's like, where are they coming from? You know, it's like, it's hard to take credit for the thoughts or the ideas when they just came out of nowhere. You know what I mean?

Exactly.

And what you're talking about, though, before Bed, that's such an important piece. I think it was the book. You ever read Psycho Cybernetics?

No, I've always wanted to.

Psycho Cybernetics, it's basically about that, is that you. And I think, you know, really talks about the science behind it and what it's doing your subconscious, basically. It's just simply that before you go to bed, you set an intention that, hey, I Want to solve this problem? Hey, I want to figure this thing out, right? And that like clockwork, there's a reason that book sold millions of copies. Because it works. What you're talking about is not unique to you, right? No.

No offense, of course, of course.

Yeah. But it's available to all of us. But how many people do that? Right? Most of us go to bed thinking stressful thoughts and wake up feeling stressful.

I am so re. Energized about this. The biggest one of my life that I remember. I could. Nobody can spell Sieverts in, right? They can't say it. They can't spell it. And I had like all these disparate websites. And one day I was Daniela Laporte and I were coming out with a book, and I was like, I've got to have like a name, an umbrella name. And I was teaching a retreat. I said to the women, help me, help me. Somebody came up with Book Love, which I loved, but it wasn't quite it. Went to bed, said a prayer. Tell me, what is the name of my business? How I want it to be easy to spell, available and memorable. I need to remember it when I wake up. I woke up with Book Mama. And it was so simple. I ignored it. I. I just thought, whatever. And about an hour later, I thought, book Mama. That's pretty good. I should look it up. Tons of people were using it, but not as a URL. Available in Russia for like 800 bucks. I offered them 500 and I had it the next day.

Book Mama. Yeah. And you don't forget Book Mama. Like that's. Yeah, it's the same thing. When I had the idea for Miracle Morning, I was like, that's for sure taken. That's for sure a thing. That's for sure a brand. Right? And then I'm like, I go to GoDaddy and MiracleMorning.com's available. I'm like, no freaking way.

That's amazing. It's waiting for you, right? Sometimes I think the universe really saves things for us.

Yeah. Yeah. There's definitely. You know, it's so interesting. I'm. I. I really ride that line between being like very woo woo out there and being very left brain practical.

Me too. I'm so jaded. And I'm also so faithful.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Interesting, right?

But he called. Somebody called me practice to woo. I'm practical and I'm woo woo.

I like that. Or whooptical. One of the two. Yeah, Practical.

That's good.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. So I want to I want to stay on. You know, you're talking about the evening routine. You devote a whole chapter of beautiful writers to habits. And I know you were Darren Hardy's collaborator on the compound effect.

Yes.

And I love that. This writing book weighs heavily on habits. Beautiful writers. Your new book, heavily on habits. What would you say are the top three habits that have led you to your best selling success?

Oh, my gosh. Well, they're, they're your savers. I mean, I always exercised in the morning. Always.

And what, and what'd that do for you? What's the benefit of that?

You know, I feel a couple of things when I would walk in the morning, whether I lived in Los Angeles or the New Mexico, like hinterlands or wherever I am, I always feel like a. Like you say, it gets the blood pumping. But also now we know a lot about sunlight. Right. When you get sunlight in your eyes before 10am it helps your sleep schedule, it helps your melatonin, helps your mood. We. I didn't know any of that when I was younger. I just knew that it made me feel optimistic. I knew that, that when I would say my gratitudes when I was walking and talk to God as if God was my best friend and notice the beauty wherever I was, and if I was in a funky, ugly place, I would drive to beauty before I would walk. But I just, it's always helped me to be more optimistic and to get. I think I'm a natural, a little bit of a nervous person. I'm definitely a doomsdayer. I definitely worry. I'm super sensitive, so I feel the weight of the world all of the freaking time. And so I think it helps me to kind of release that stress and, and start the day optimistically. And then, you know, like, you're scribing, right? Yeah, I wasn't physically scribing, but I was. I was talking my scribing. I was talking my gratitudes while I was doing the walking. So I think that was really key.

What else? Oh, I think reading. I've always read in the morning. I've always like picked something. Now it's audiobooks. So if I'm walking, I'll do an audiobook. And then the other thing, visualization. I am, I'm a really big thinker, but I'm not good at sticking with something and like really holding a vision for something. I'm too impatient.

Yeah.

And so I think I was kind of good at it, but I got a lot better at it when I met you because what I love about your Piece for. For the visualization is visualizing. What are those steps that you can take today that are going to make everything unfold? And once I do in my mind, the things I know I should do that I don't want to do, and I make them easy in my mind, then they have been easier in the world. I think that's really helpful.

Yeah, Beautiful. All right. So the answer is the miracle morning. I mean, that's it. That's the answer to everything.

It's all you, babe.

So I want to talk about what you refer to in your book. In beautiful writers, you call it the messy middle. And, you know, both in life and in writing. Right. Like, the messy middle, both in life and in writing, because we all go through it. Right.

So nasty. I mean, there. I helped both of my parents die, so they both had cancer. I moved home. My sister and I moved home and took care of them when they were dying. And in each case, I had book deadlines. So life doesn't stop because you're dealing with tragedy, and all of us deal with tragedy, all of us. And, and so. And in your manuscript, there's that messy middle where it's like, you know, you start off and it's all. People are cheering you on. If you're sharing it with people, they're cheering you on. They believe in you. It's like, you know, so exciting. And then, you know, at the end of a project, oftentimes you get all that congratulations and it's like the end of awards. Like, people are in Times Square kissing and high fiving and all of that. But the middle, for me, it's like all foxholes and breadlines. Like, it's just lonely. It's lonely and it's ugly. And, you know, you were going to be done with that project how many years ago? Yeah, it's just. It's just messy. And I think so many people quit so close to being done because they can't handle that, that marathon middle where it's like nobody's. Nobody's meeting you at the power bars and you're on your own and your knees hurt.

Yeah.

So I think. I think one of the things that helps is to know that we all go through it. Yeah, life is messy. Projects are messy. They're often messy until the very end. Yeah, I mean, I've been in Deadline where I didn't figure out the end of a book until it was due, then the next day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't want to live like that, but sometimes that's just the way it goes. And what's helpful is to know that everybody, everybody, all the greats, everybody deals with this. This is just life. This is Steven Pressfield's resistance. This is Rhonda Britton's fear. I mean, this is. You know, everybody has a different take on it. My astrologer sister would say it's your celestial timing. But what my sister also says is that if you came for an easy life, you picked the wrong planet. This planet. This planet is in a solar system where most of the planets are molested.

Fix.

They're not benefics. There's. According to Vedic astrology, there's only two positive planets in the solar system.

So.

So we're here to learn lessons, I guess.

Yeah. And it's going to be messy. Yeah, messy. You know, I was reading. I'm rereading a book right now. I mentioned this to Mary last week. Living Untethered by Michael Singer. Have you read that one yet?

Oh, he's so amazing. I read his first one. I haven't read that one yet.

It's amazing. It's awesome. First one was great. This one's great. But. But he talked in the book. What? Really, one of the things that I just. I can't shake. It just stuck out to me is he talked about the human brain and how miraculous it is. And he said people often, you know, two things. Either, A, they think I'm. I'm dumb like you. You thought, right. In high school, right? I'm stupid. And he goes, you have a brain. Like Edison had a brain or Einstein had a brain. He said, the difference is, what are you doing with your miraculous, brilliant brain? Are you watching Netflix every night until you pass out? Right. Looking at your smartphone. Right. Or are you thinking of ways you can help the world, help humanity, you know, live to your full potential. You know, write your story. I mean, on and on, right? Like. But it was this. It really took away this whole. Like, they're smart and I'm not. It's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We all have this incredible thing called the human brain, and it's fricking brilliant. And it's a tool. What are you doing with that tool? Right?

Oh, God, I love that so much. I mean, the average person in America. I talk about this in the book. Spends five hours a day watching television. And it was interesting to interview all these bestselling authors about their habits. I mean, Seth Godin says he doesn't watch television. He doesn't go to meetings. He's not on Twitter. Ann Patchett doesn't watch television. Doesn't ever even plug hers in. And she was like, you know, and she said. She goes, linda, my. My art requires my eyesight. Why would I spend hours watching other people living their lives on the screen, hurting my eyesight when I could be saving my eyesight for reading and writing? So I think it's just a matter of we all have to know what we need. I'm a big entertainment person. I get inspired by entertainment.

Yeah.

I just have to be careful about putting boundaries around it. Otherwise, I'll zombie out and watch five hours of the Crown every night, Right?

Totally.

But I do let myself watch the Crown every night. I'll do an hour.

Yeah. An hour.

I won't do five hours.

Yeah. And that's it. It's just having that discipline where it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Right. But I can't just. You have to ask yourself, is binging Netflix? And that's the problem is there's. So there. You. That used to not be a thing. You used to have to watch your show Thursday night and wait till next Thursday for the next episode. Right. You couldn't watch 12 hours worth of shows. You know? Right. And. And then the beauty. Or not the beauty. The problem with Netflix is there's so much out. Right. It's like, I. You. You can watch season after season after season after season after season. Right?

Right. And we. We lie to ourselves. Like, I have this section in the book about time where I say, my husb. My now husband made me a time tracker. Because when he met me, it was like, you're wasting so much time. And I was pissed. I was like, are you kidding me? I have a kid. I'm a single mom. I'm working my ass off. Like. Like, what the f. Okay. But when he made me the time tracker and I started watching, I noticed I watched Oprah every day.

Yeah.

I watched the View every day. And it was like, okay. So I. The way I justified that was I need to know what's going on. It makes me more connected to emotional stuff, which is healthy. Like, there's so many ways to justify it. Right. I got to be current with topical events, yada, yada. And then I realized that.

While that was fun, it was never going to take me to Best Sellerville.

Yeah. Was. It wasn't going to be the. You weren't going to get your dreams by doing that. Right.

Right.

Yeah. And for me, for anybody listening, I like TV as well. I just have it. Stack it. Interestingly enough. With lunch. So the only time that I really. I watch TV while I eat lunch, and it's the middle of my day, so it's like this total. I get to zone out, not worry about work, not think about work. I'm eating and just watch, you know, and. Right. Like, yeah, I did.

I did the same thing with. I. I read Client Proposals or client books.

Yeah.

But I do it when I'm on the treadmill. So I'm getting my exercise done and I'm getting that reading done.

Yeah. Kill two birds with one stone. All right, so as we're coming toward a close, I want to ask you about something from chapter 21 of beautiful writers. So start thinking of chapter 21. Divine timing and dreams. Realize you wrote that despite all the delays, the naysayers, the, you know, the deleted files, the money woes, the sleepless nights, writer's block. Many books are born every year. Right. From other human beings that have the same fears and insecurities and, you know, mental and emotional challenges and time constraints and kids and all of it. Right, all of it. But millions of books are born every single year. And you say that there's always room for one more, which I love.

Yeah, Right.

If you're listening to this, there's room for one more. And so what do you think is the difference between people who start writing but never finish and those who see their books like this one? Beautiful writers that I'm holding up in front of the screen right now, but a pretty cover, very classy and simple. The typewriter. But what's the difference for those that see the books on shelves, on the shelf?

You know, I think how. That it goes back to what we were talking about earlier, that you really have to believe that if you have the ache, you have what it takes, and if you have that ache, it's coming from somewhere. There's a destiny involved in that. I do. Who was it?

Somebody very famous. Ellie Wiesel. Is that how you pronounce his name?

I'm not sure.

He said. He said that books have a destiny. And I really believe that. I've seen it now through helping hundreds, thousands of people, people with their books. I. It's just amazing to me to see the trajectory of an idea that becomes a reality. And I think books do have a destiny. So if you believe that, even if it's not true, like, if you believe it.

Yeah.

It helps you to have faith when shit hits the fan, when those delays happen, when your money woes happen. Because that stuff happens pretty much to everyone.

Yeah.

But. But if you just hold that beautiful desire in your heart and. And keep making space for it, Even if it's 15 minutes in the morning, even if that's all you've got. I know so many people who've written books with 15 minute increments.

Yeah, yeah. Two or three paragraphs a day.

Yeah. Just hold. Just hold on to it and. And keep going.

Yeah, yeah, I'm with you. And I so believe that books have a destiny. I never thought of it that way. But, you know, Miracle Morning, I feel like, has a destiny. And here's what I would encourage anyone to consider. The reason I wrote Miracle Morning wasn't because I wanted to be an author or make money or any of those things. It was because I felt that I had discovered something that helped me and the few people I had shared it with. And I had a responsibility to not be selfish and let my own fears and insecurities hold me back. That was selfish, in my opinion.

It's so good.

I had a responsibility to get out of my own way, get over my fears and take action and share that message with the world. And so I want you to consider that, because I think that's a different frame of reference, that if you're like, well, I don't care about being an author or being famous or being whatever. Right, okay. Do you care about helping people? Do you care about other people? And can you consider the possibility that to not get out of your own way and, you know, and get Linda's book, Beautiful writers, right? And follow this journey, and I'm telling you, it's doable. Like, it's. Do you get one foot in front of the other? You know, you get the book, you learn how to do it. You schedule the time. Right? And you go from, like. I mean, it's. Right when you finish a book, you look back, you're like, oh, my God, how many times, how many days was I thinking, there's no way I'm throwing in the towel. I can't.

Oh, yeah, not gonna happen.

I can't think. I can't figure it out. I don't know where I'm going with this. Right, right.

Like Cheryl. Cheryl Strayed says writing a book is impossible. Like, it isn't. It's impossible. And yet millions of us do it every year.

Yeah, yeah.

It's Herculean. Like, when I look back on my book now, I'm like, how did I do that? I mean, decades of work, a billion hours went into it. But. But it's done. It's done. And it's physical and it's real. And I. And I'm working on the next one. Like, so fun.

So the book is beautiful. A journey of big dreams and messy manuscripts with tricks of the trade from bestselling authors. Where is the best place for people to pick up their copy of Beautiful Writers and to connect with you after this episode?

Oh, well, bookmama.comm a m a has all the buy links from all the retailers. So go there and sign up for my newsletter and y', all, hopefully you'll be entertained, inspired, and have one big fat permission slip. I'm all about making people feel and remember that they're magical.

I love it. Maybe that's what I'll title this episode. Your big fat permission permission slip. I like that.

Oh, I love it. I'm all about it.

Awesome. All right, well, Linda, I love you. It's so great see you, talk to you and thank you for getting out of your own way repeatedly and putting this book. Beautiful writers out to the world.

You're the best. You're the best. I just adore you. Thanks a million, awesome goal achievers and.

Members of the Miracle morning community. You know I love you. I love you. I appreciate you. And get this book. Beautiful writers, and take your message, your mess, turn it into a message and schedule that time every day to start writing, and you can make this happen. And you could end this year 2023, with a finished manuscript, and that will. And think about this. Linda talked earlier about how, you know, it's a regret of her mother and other people that, you know on their death. But, like, man, I had this inside of me, and I never put it on paper. I never did that. I want you to think of the other side of that coin, which is that if you do it, when you do it, you now leave something permanently behind that can transform other people's lives, make their lives better indefinitely. Indefinitely. So I think that I feel like I have a responsibility to do that with whatever message I receive from higher power. And I think that you do, too. So make it happen. Beautiful writers at Book mama. Com and love you. I'll talk to you next week.