On a Scale of 1-10, Where Would You Rate Yourself?

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. And in this episode, I'm going to talk a little bit about your passion for life and work. So to start off, I want you to think about and reflect on this question. On a scale of 1 to 10, where is your passion for life and your work today? So one would be no passion, 10 would be the most passion. Where would you rate yourself today? Maybe it's a different number for your life and a different number for your work, but just think about that number as we talk. So as I grow roots deeper and deeper into the areas that I'm most passionate about, I notice that also my energy grows. Like, I just can't help but get excited. And I'm not like this 100% of the time. I'm just like anyone else. I need downtime and alone time. However, who you see online, who you see on this podcast, who you hear from this podcast is who I truly am. It's not an act and it's not me trying to be someone else. It's me. Several people in the last week have privately told me they just can't believe how much energy I have. And I was kind of laughing about it because, I don't know, I mean, you may see energy, but to be honest, to me, it is simply the passion God has given me shining through. There certainly are days that I don't have the energy and I have to pray and ask God to give me the energy. But I truly believe when you follow God's call for your life and you're living in what I call your sweet spot, which what I believe is the center of God's will for your life. I just believe your passion will naturally shine through. And yes, it looks different for everyone. So it's going to look different for you than it will look for me. I personally am an extrovert, and so you'll see a lot of videos from me. I process externally and so, you know, you'll see me, you'll hear me, you'll, you know, you'll see that from me. And I recently posted a short video clip on my personal Facebook page, facebook.comshaliehits it was. It was just a little clip from the end of an author audience academy training. I literally just started crying and it wasn't because I was sad or it wasn't because I was stressed. It's just because I just my passion and just my desire to see God do work through my author audience, academy members just started overwhelming me. And that's just who I am. I wear my emotions on my sleeve. And you probably know that if you've been following me for any amount of time. So I'm not saying that you have to be like that or you have to be emotional or you have to be doing all these things that seem extroverted in order to have passion. Your passion is going to look uniquely different for you because we're all different. But if you don't feel passion for your work right now, I encourage you to get alone with God and seek him in this area.

I know it's hard to get alone these days, but even if you can just get alone for 10 to 15 minutes, lock yourself in the bathroom if you have to schedule time away, it's so important to really get with him and to listen to him and seek him in this area. It might actually be that God's asked you to do something and you still have not taken that step of faith. It may be fear holding you back. It may be doubts or the voices of others replaying in your mind.

Or it may be that you've been pursuing your will instead of His. Ouch.

Just to be very honest here, I did that for years. I'm very driven. I'm very much of an achiever. That's one of my highest strengths on Strength Finder. And so it was very easy for me to push and pursue my will instead of his. And I would say it was just this past year that I finally surrendered 100% to his way. Now I still struggle and sometimes meander off the path. You know, we're human this side of heaven. We're not perfect. But in the depths of my soul, I truly know I'm doing what I'm meant to do. Coaching authors who are Christian that have that faith based mentality. I'm coaching them and helping them to write, self publish and market their books, get their message to more people, share their story, share what they have with the world. And right now I'm in the midst of my passion project. My book, Broken Crayons Still Color is being formatted as we speak and getting ready to be born birthed into the world soon. My launch date right now is set for November 11, 2016. If everything goes well, it's one of the hardest books I've ever written. But I know that it's what God has asked me to do. And so I know that right now I'm doing what I'm meant to do. And I will admit that almost every day, you know, you may look at me and you may say, wow, Shelley, you know, you can just take action. You can do these things. Look at you. Wow. But the truth is, almost every day I do something that scares me. It doesn't come easy to me. It gives me butterflies in my stomach and it doesn't feel easy. But when I keep taking those steps of faith, it amazes me how God continues to provide and how he is giving me the courage to do it. Afraid.

I actually don't think the fear will ever fully go away. You know, sometimes we want to wait until the fear goes away, until we feel ready, until we have that courage. But I honestly don't know if it will ever fully go away. I mean, God does, You know, it says, his perfect love casts out fear. And so I know I have moments of peace. I have those moments of just pure joy. And. But the fear continues to return and I have to continue bringing it to God. I have to continue doing it. Afraid. Being, you know, taking that step of courage every single day.

One moment at a time. But his peace does come flooding in as I walk in obedience. One step at a time. If writing and publishing a book is the next step for you, I would love for you to join us inside Author Audience Academy. This is my group coaching program. Not only do you get the training and the tools you need, but you'll get the encouragement and prayers to get you through the tough days. Because there will be tough days. There will be days you feel like giving up. There will be days that, especially if you are writing material that will impact eternity, there will be a spiritual battle. So I encourage you to join us. You can join@authoraudienceacademy.com I would love to serve you and to help you cross that finish line. So just kind of coming full circle from my first question to you on a level of 1 to 10, where is your passion for life and for your work today?

Something I think we need to reflect on on an ongoing basis to kind of check in. Where are you at today and what are your next steps? I want you to know that I'm cheering you on. I will see you next time in our next episode and have a wonderful day. Buh. Bye.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Author Audience Show. Connect with us online@authoraudience.com where you'll find all the resources meanwhile 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.