How to Stop Running from Yourself and Finally Achieve Your Goals

Welcome to the Author Audience show, the podcast that helps you reach more people with your message, create a book, connect with your audience, change lives. Here's your host, Shelly Hitz.

Welcome to Author Audience, where I'm on a mission to help you reach more people with your message. It's time to let your light shine. Today I'm rolling out the red carpet and inviting you into my community for a behind the scenes of look at what's working for authors just like you. My name is Shelley Hitz and I'm the owner of Author Audience Academy. To be honest, the most rewarding part of my job is helping other people get results, to implement the training, and to actually get things done. And so in this episode, I want to position the spotlight on one of my members, Sharon Buck. Welcome, Sharon.

Hi, Shelley.

So excited to have you back. You know, you were recently on the podcast and wanted to have you on again just to share some of your success with Author Audience Academy and what you've been doing. And so I'm just gonna share your bio really quick here. Sharon has been writing professionally since she was in high school. That's awesome. She's ghostwritten five books, six on her own, and is currently at work on her third fiction novel in the Parker Bell Cozy mystery series. She just completed her first Christian book, Invisible Stopping the Self Punishment. And I have to tell you, Sharon truly has, like, a sense of humor. And she sent me this other bio, which I wish I could have read, but it was just a little bit longer. So go to her website and read her bio. It's funny. Her website's sharonebuck.com and also just check out her books and some of the things she's doing. She just has a great way of integrating her humor into marketing. So, Sharon, I'm excited for you to share. You talked about how you wanted to share a little bit about focus and accountability, and in this episode, we're actually titling it how to stop running from yourself and finally achieve your goals. So share with us a little bit about what that means for you.

Like you said in my bio, I've been writing professionally since I was in high school and written throughout the years, but really did not know. And since I'm a little bit older than you, back in the day, there really weren't that many role models out there where there were really very many women that were actively making a living writing books, fiction or nonfiction books, outside of the traditional mainstream publishers. So I always kind of had everything on the back burner. And I mean, I was writing I was actually a travel writer for a couple of years. Made my living doing that. Yeah, nothing you would have ever heard of. They were basically trade magazines, but they paid well, so, you know, sure, why not? But I always had other jobs. And the last couple of years I started refocusing on what I wanted to do, which was really just writing. And I had come across you several years ago.

I don't even know how I found you, to be honest, but somewhere online. Yes, somewhere online.

But I mean, it was like you had all this great content out there. And I was like, this is amazing. And who is this girl again? And so, you know, I was on one of your newsletters probably for a good 16, 18 months, and then things changed for me and blah, blah, blah. Then I found out about you and I felt like God said, join this group. And I was like, oh, man. You know, I talked to the big guy upstairs, much like I do everybody, and it's like, are you serious about this? And what happened was I really got this impression I should sign up with you. And so I signed up with Author Audience Academy, AKA Triple A. So I got in there and like, literally within the first 24 hours, I was like, whoa, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be at this particular point in time. And I just really integrated very well within the group. And for me, it was like all of a sudden this massive door just went open for me and it was like, focus. You really want to do all this? You want to get back into writing full time, making a living at doing this? And you, your group helped because you had all these great resources in the members area where you can go through and pick and choose, you know, one from column A, one from column B, where you could get this information. And I was thinking, yeah, I've been doing this for a while. Maybe she knows some stuff. I don't know, whatever. Well, first or second video I looked at, I watched. I was like, ga danga danga. She really does have a couple things in here I didn't know about. And I was like, okay, this is awesome. So I really started focusing more and more on what it was I really wanted to accomplish. And it was like, okay, she's got 90 day plans. I can live with this. Yeah, two years out, five year plans. I'm not very good at that because I may or may not have ADD undiagnosed. Let me point this out, but, you know, about the size of an ant. Yeah. And 90 days, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. So I went through and started making 90 day plans. And then one I put something out one day and probably like the first couple of weeks I was in the group. And you said, do you have a prayer team? And I was like, no. And I got a prayer team put together pretty quick, actually.

Awesome. Love it.

Had one fallout because she didn't want to pray the way I asked her to, which was okay. And we're still really super good friends. Let me point this out. Be friends even if they're not on the prayer team. And I started really massively focusing on what I wanted to do. And so I don't have it in front of me, but I actually have my 90 day list somewhere behind me on my desk. But I actually typed everything out and started going through it. And then I felt like God said, okay, you need to make this bigger. And I'm like, really? I think this is big now. And I was like, you know.

So I started focusing more. And then I guess about the first 30 days, I got an accountability partner. And huge difference. We meet twice a week for one hour. Sometimes it's a little less, but usually it's an hour. And we go over not only the writing, but the marketing, are we staying on track? And you know, and then of course we talk about godly stuff as well, but it's turned into a friendship. But the important thing is it's the accountability. And, you know, in a very gentle way, sometimes the 2x4 is taken because I'm kind of okay.

Sharon, seriously, you're getting off track here. And so this has really helped me define and redefine my focus and keep me really on track to what I'm doing. And then right after I joined with you, God gave me an opportunity to pretty much write full time and do my marketing full time. And another one of the key things that I've learned on staying focused is writing. Even though, like on this particular Christian book I'm writing on, and I know you've experienced this as well, the writing's. It was tough, it was intense, it was emotional. But the marketing, you've got to market. You can't just write. You've got to market. And that's constant tweaking. I mean, it's not just okay, today, you know, I'm going to put out 15 Twitter posts and 16 Facebook posts and Instagram and whatever else. You gotta focus. You've got to have a plan. And that POA plan of action is what's critically important. So when I started defining and redefining my whole Mindset started. That's not a crazy sign, by the way. But my whole mindset started to change and it went, what are you really focusing on? That was it. And then I realized that in essence, in many ways, I had been running from myself for a really, really long time. Wow. I have been and I am a professional writer, that is someone who makes money from the writing. But I wasn't as focused on it as I needed to be. And that's what being in your group, watching your videos and taking your training has been. I mean, it's been worth every penny. If we had half penny measures, I'd say that it has been incredible for me. I mean, I'm probably one of the biggest advocates on the training because it's made such a huge difference. The other standpoint, which is an intangible, is it's Christian based. I did not know within my spirit, within my soul, how much I desperately needed that. And I am serious when I say desperately needed that, I mean I'm a Christian, I am a solid Christian. But I can tell you that my walk with the Lord has gone from like here to way up here. Really, really fast. Growth has been phenomenal. So I this all layers in together. But when you add it all up, I stopped running from myself instead. And I don't think it was fear based. But I wasn't being honest with myself on what I really wanted to do to get to where I wanted to go.

Yeah. And you know, you have just mentioned so many really key things. I just. Do you want to finish what you were saying and then we can kind of break it down just a little bit.

You probably have hit it right the nail. Go ahead. Yeah.

I love what you said about focusing and really being honest with yourself because you know, when I have members go through Planet Day, it takes some time, it takes some effort. I understand that. But what you're doing is you're getting underneath all this stuff and like, what is my core, core motivation? What is my core goals? Where is it I want to be? And if this is where I want to be, how do I get there? And then making that plan of action. Accountability. I love how you mentioned that. Now, did you meet your accountability partner in Author Audience Academy?

I did, I did. I actually put it out on the group. When you were talking one day.

About do you have an accountability partner? And I put it out there. Do you want me to say who it is or let it.

You don't have to.

Okay. This, this person I met.

I, you know, I am so blessed I am so blessed. It took us. We met, we talked. She was in the process of moving or doing something. I forgot now exactly what. And it took about three weeks for us to hook up. And I was pretty adamant when we were going back and forth saying, hey, I, you know, I've written a number of books. I'm not interested in talking with a newbie. I said, if you are, God love you, but you're not where I need to be. I need someone who is really going to hold me accountable on different things like that. And we hit it off awesome. And I mean, it was just incredible.

And I love hearing that because sometimes those things happen behind the scenes. I don't even. I didn't even know that that happened, but I pray for that. I want that to happen. I want those types of relationships to form in author audience Academy. So the accountability, not only that I offer, you know, every week, you know, right now in our accountability group, but you have that personal accountability. And then you were, you know, talking about, really just started to then, you know, take action in that focused way and growing spiritually, hearing from God, God saying, go bigger, go bigger, girl.

And sometimes, you know, we're just so busy and we're not focused. So even hear from God and what he had. So you're getting that direction, even from God and where to go and just how to move forward. And so I just love, love, love that I really have seen a transformation in you. And I know you've taken a lot of coaching programs and not every coach is the right fit for everyone. I know I'm not the right fit for everyone, but I'm just so thankful that you have come at this time. You've gotten a ton of value and you're taking action and you're seeing results. You're getting books done. You're selling more books, correct?

That is correct. I'm doing that. People are recognizing me for who I am. One of the things. And let me jump back to staying focused, you had actually put out. I wrote one day in the group that I was having problems with something and just, you know, the group is tremendously supportive. I love this group. And it's. Without being the ooey gooey sister Sally, the pious.

Real people who have really good ideas on things. And I mean, but one of the things. And I said, I can't figure out why I'm not doing this. And you said, so where does the resistance stem from? And I went, whoa, I still get goosebumps on that one, Shelly. That's huge. And I had put it up on my computer and I had it up there for almost a week. And I mean, it was like onion layers being stripped off or peeled off. It was like a blooming onion, you know, you're peeling the little suckers back. And I mean, it was like huge. And that's when a lot of stuff started massively changing for me. And I'm sure you probably, you probably didn't think twice about it. You just kind of tossed it out there. But for some reason it connected with me off of that. And once I really started looking at where the resistance was coming from, I would say probably 95% of the time it's not on a tangible level. It is a spiritual level where the stuff is coming from. And if you keep peeling back. For me, I started getting some of the reasons why I was running for myself instead of not progressing forward as fast as I really wanted to and so on and so forth.

Yeah, and that's powerful because when we can get to the root. And I invested in life coaching last year to really work on some of my own stuff. You know, we all have stuff wherever we're at, you know, and I'm still growing, still learning, still going through the process, but being able to be coachable. And that's the thing, when you are in a group like that and you feel the freedom to share and then you're coachable, I mean, you're just going to grow leaps and bounds. And I've seen that so much. You're such a valuable part of our group. I appreciate all your input. And so as we close down today and just close down this training, and I hope everyone listening has gotten a ton of value. What would be a take action tip that you would have for our listeners today?

Well, I actually have three and the first one is commit to yourself. And you may say, oh, I'm committed to myself. What are you doing to in essence prove that and then reaffirm to yourself that you're committing to yourself? Are you committing 20 minutes a day, an hour a day to writing? And I really do think it actually pretty much has to be on a daily basis. You've got to schedule time for yourself and at the very least three times a week, every other day or something, you've got to commit to yourself because otherwise, eh, so what, you know, if you get the book done, great, you know, maybe this, maybe that, but you've got to make some type of commitment to yourself that you are a professional writer. That's really what it comes down to. You've got to commit. The second thing is you have to write, like I said, at least three times a week. But the other standpoint is that you have to commit to taking like three different marketing actions at least three times a week. You've got to market. It's not just, oh, I'm going to write for three days, oh, I don't like to market. I'll put that off. Well, how are you going to give glory to God on whatever genre that you work in? How are you going to give that glory? How are you going to get your message out? And even for a long time I thought writing funny was not that big a deal. Well, you know what? If I can make one person laugh every day, that's worth it to me.

Yes, it is. You're entertaining, you're lifting their spirits, you're encouraging. And I love how you integrate your humor even into your marketing. Just a side note, check out her on her website, her sad book diaries, they're hilarious. And I love how you're being yourself. You're letting your personality. Like that wouldn't work for me, but it works for you because it's you. And I love that. I love that you're letting Sharon shine through your marketing even.

Yeah, absolutely. The third thing is you do have to have a goal. You really do. And that's the reason why I like the 90 day planet goals. Yeah, it does take time. It takes a lot of time to sit down and do that. For me, it was like I had to commit pretty much four or five hours to sit down there and really do it because it's very easy to write something down on a superficial level. But it's another thing to go, yeah, can I really do this? Am I, am I really going to do this? And when you start being really honest with yourself, that's when you know you're starting to get there. And it's a constant because every day is fluid. You've got to constantly look at that. Or at least for me, I have to look at it every day to see if I'm on track or not on track. What's working, what's not working. What I thought would work sometimes really doesn't work at all. Things that I thought, you know, it's a throwaway. That's where I get the sales. I mean, you never know.

I know.

It really is trial and error. We have to test, track, tweak. I always say that a lot. But I have my little thing here, you know, that has my 90 day goals in it and it's just so important to just be open, though, because it can change. Like you said, I mean, there are things that work, things that don't. And yet you're taking consistent action. So I think that's what I hear from you. Take consistent action. You know, schedule it. Schedule your writing, take consistent marketing action and whatever works in your schedule. Some people are doing it full time like you. Some people are doing it very part time. And so whatever you can fit into your schedule consistently do something every week that moves you forward towards your goal. So, Sharon, where's the best place for people to find you online if they'd like to connect more with you online?

My website, Sharon E. Buck. B u c k.com there's that. Or you can do Sad Book Diary or I have a number of different domain names that lead into that. On Facebook, my personal page is Sharon facebook.com Sharon Buck I think it's three, but it's Sharon Buck. My author page is facebook.com Sharon E. Buck. And then on Twitter it's sharonebuck.

Awesome.

I'm sorry, I forgot. And YouTube is Sharon E. Buck.

Oh, awesome. Yes. Yes. Well, thank you so much for sharing your experience. I mean, I have truly just seen you, you know, having a transformation and I know that the rest of this year is just going to continue. You're just on this momentous, you know, growth and so it's so exciting to see that. And I love that you're sharing now with others. So thank you so much for being on this podcast and thank you to everyone who is listening. Thank you for tuning in and we will see you next time. Bye Bye. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Author Audience. I would like to invite you to attend one of my free trainings on three proven book writing formulas. Every nonfiction author needs to know. This is a fun and fast way to write a nonfiction book, but also a book that you're proud of. Plus, I will give you two free gifts just for attending. No credit card required. First, you'll get my 10 nonfiction book title templates and you'll also get my ebook titled Brilliant brainstorming. It's a 28 page ebook and both of these bonuses are yours at no charge. Just for joining us for the training, you can sign up for my free training by going to shellyhits.com formulas. That's Shellyhitz S-H E L L E Y H I T Z.com formulas. This training and the two bonuses are free and I would love to help you write your next nonfiction book thanks.

For listening to this episode of the Author Audience Show. Connect with us online@authoraudience.com where you'll find all the resources mentioned in today's episode. While you're there, grab Shelley's free video training on how to write and publish your book using her Six Step Ascent method. Join us again next week to learn how to reach your audience with your message.