EP266: How to Go from Big Idea to Bestseller - Writing the Book You have in You with Jake Kelfer (Enneagram 8)

Welcome to the Leadership Formula podcast, where you will learn the secret sauce behind achieving massive success. I'm your host, Tracy o', Malley, multimillion dollar entrepreneur, your Enneagram expert, master performance coach, and mom to millennials. Do you want deep, meaningful relationships? To wake up every day with purpose and make money doing something you love? Well, you've landed in the right place. Every week, I will teach you how to get exactly what you want in life by strengthening your emotional intelligence. Using a combination of the Enneagram framework, live life coaching sessions, and real talk from yours truly. It's time to transform yourself into the ultimate leader of your life.

Let's do this thing.

Hey. Hey, you guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Leadership Formula podcast. I got a repeat guest. He came on to do an Enneagram typing session back a few months ago. And you know, if I'm bringing a repeat guest, I really like this person. And you also know I don't just interview people to interview people. I'm not about that. I only bring people that I would a hundred percent stand behind, send you to. No bullshit. That's how I roll. It's why you like me, right? Like, you know, I'm not just gonna shout out products and people that I don't care if you're my best friend. If I think your product shit, I'm not sharing it. And the guy that I'm bringing you today is Jake Helfer. And Seriously, he's only 29 years old, but probably one of the most inspirational people in my life. No bullshit. And, you know, I don't throw that around lightly. His energy, his directness, his passion for life and what he does and serving people is infectious. And he walks. His talk, which is like the big factor, because I'm not all about hype. I'm not all about fluffy, passionate language if there isn't anything to back it up. And quite honestly, I'm not sure there's anybody that can back it up like Jake can. And I'm really, really excited to bring him to you guys today on a more professional level. Not just Enneagram. We'll talk Enneagram. But I know that I hear probably more often than not in the work that I do and in the trenches with people that everybody almost always says, I think that, like, I need to write a book or it's been on my heart to write a book. And one of the best learning tools there is is hearing other people's story and knowing that somebody has walked the journey. And if that has ever been Something on your heart. Do I have a treat for you because Jake is the guy to take you through the process, and we're going to talk about why it's important and maybe why you're to talk yourself out of it. It is a very vulnerable process. I have done it myself, and I downplay it all the time. So I'm sure I'm going to get schooled a little bit here myself and learn from the very, very best. I want you guys to not just hear his passion, but, like, his skillful the way he's going to bring you through the process. And I'm telling you, he's an enneagram 8. He was originally mistyped as a 3. We determined he is an 8. There's nobody like an 8 to take you through the trenches of a journey. Jake, I am excited to have you here to pour into today and get them off their ass and writing a book.

Let's go. Thanks for having me back, Tracy. I'm happy to be here.

So when I first met Jake, we're in a Mastermind together. And just because we're masterminds together doesn't mean I automatically interview people. Like, side note, just so you know. But he was so direct. And I'm used to being the most direct person in the room, and he's direct in a different way than me. And he, like, immediately, like, reached out to every single person in the Mastermind. He's like, how can I help you? Like, I'm Jake. This is what I do. I'm passionate about what I do. What about you? Like, where did that come from for you?

It's always been a part of me. All right, so I'm blessed to have two parents that love me. And I talked a lot about them on when we were doing my Enneagram typing and everything. But I'll take you back to when I was in elementary school. My parents were always like, jake, first day of school, go up and ask the teacher a question. Go up and say hello, because you want to figure out a way to. How do you stand out from everyone else? Because in life, things aren't objective. They're subjective, based on someone's opinion. And if you can create an opportunity for you to stand out and have somebody help you, you put yourself at an advantage over everybody else. And so every time that I do something new, every time I'm speaking at an event, I'll look at every other keynote speaker, introduce myself, try to get on a call before I actually meet them in person. Then I come in with this great energy and it just naturally sets the tone to help people feel more comfortable, help people feel more confident and to ultimately create a great relationship that could turn into God knows what. But you'll never know until you start. So I always start there.

That is one of the things I loved most about you and respected the most about you because like, I am not into the fluffy hypey bullshit and the fact that you not, not just because we were in a mastermind together, but you genuinely, you could like, your energy doesn't have a poker face like none us do. And you could tell the way that you were leading was a genuine connection. And automatically I was like, I'm in, I'm in. Like, obviously if your product sucked, like, we'd still be friends. But like, but I really, really appreciate like, you know, in this space and in this world and we're going to get into where the book comes into play for this that, you know, there's very much of this like stroking that goes on or you're kind of urinate. So you probably get understand this too. Like, I'm always kind of looking for the, like the person's angle. Anytime somebody slides into my DMs, I'm like, okay, I give them three or four hits at me before the ask comes in. Or the oh, we'd be great collaborators. Or, or do you have that sense of like reading a room like that?

Oh, 100%. I've also been on the other side of being the one that sends the DMs. I've probably sent DMs to people than almost anybody I know as myself. And what I've realized was five years ago, when you send these dms, you could come in and kind of say something generic and people would still feel the energy that I'm meaning to give off. Fast forward to this day of age. The only reason most people in your DMs is to sell you something, right? And it's annoying as heck. So how do you figure out how to differentiate yourself to those people through the same message when now their guard is higher than ever before? And this is something that I've tested over and over again. I sent thousands and thousands of DMs, and you have to come in with one. A mental energy that sets a stage of like, oh, I can't wait to meet this person. We're going to get along. The vibe is going to be good, right? We're sending that energy out. But from a tactical standpoint is you have to come in with commenting on Their name, you have to mention something in common that you have with them, some form of a compliment, some form of, how did they impacted you already? Then you got to come in and really make a question different than everyone else's question. How did you begin your journey? Worked five years ago. How did you begin your journey? Now can be seen as, okay, I know their cycle. They're going to find out what my journey is, they can find out what is my goal and they're going to pitch me on something. But if you ask a different question, such as what's the number one thing you wish you would have known when you started, you've automatically now put yourself in a different category. The question is still very basic and mundane, but instead of their guard going higher, you've now brought their barrier to their guard lower by helping them think of something personal. And anytime you can make somebody feel a personal element of connection, regardless of it's in person or in the DMs or whatever, you've now just given yourself a chance to have that conversation.

Not only that, like, if you kind of skip the bullshit, which I love this about you, it's like, oh, no, I really do want to learn from you and I'm not going to patronize you by all this fluffy kind of complimentary stuff. And I will give that person 100 more minutes of my time than somebody who's like, oh my gosh, you're so inspiring. And like, thank you so much. So I love that about you. Where did this love of books, book writing come into play? Because, I mean, this is your thing and this is what you take thousands of people through on a daily basis. Where did this happen for you? Because, you know, I gotta say, it's usually a women kind of dominated industry as far as the book writing and stuff goes. Where did this come up for you?

So I always liked, I always liked books and I always had this dream that I was going to go to college, I was going to be a sports agent, I was going to make millions and millions of dollars. I was going to buy a house, I was going to buy an island, I would get married, I'd have kids, and then I'd give back and write books. I always had this vision that that was going to be part of it, but I had it all backwards. I thought you had to do what everyone else did. I thought you had to go to school, get a job, make money, then you could do the things that brought you joy. Fast forward to I'm working for the Lakers right out of College and I'm working for the team during Kobe Bryant's final NBA season. And I'm like, damn, this dude has made an impact on people so much that they're willing to spend their life savings to come watch him play a two and a half hour basketball game just to say that they saw him and to have a memory that will last them a lifetime. And I said, I may not be able to change everybody's world just like Kobe, but what if I could change one person's world? And that led me to coming home and asking myself, what do I know and how can I help people? And those questions put me on the trajectory to write my first book at 23 years old. In less than six months, Colby retires, I retire, I launched my first book, and boom, I have now changed the entire trajectory of my life, realizing that you don't have to achieve something to be able to give something. And that was when I started to give more, I started to speak more, I started to build out this part of my life and things started to evolve. Fast forward another couple years, I wrote book two, fast forward another couple years, I wrote book three, fast forward a little bit longer. And people started saying, Jake, like, how you doing this dude? Like, I've always wanted to write a book. You now have three bestsellers by 28. How did you do it? And that's when I started really focusing on teaching other people how to do it and helping them turn that dream of writing a book into their reality so that they could achieve the life that they really did desire.

So you write a book at 23 years old and maybe some more old fashioned people that are more my age might say, well, what the hell kind of experience do you have at 23 where you could teach me something? Now I'm a parent to 24 and 25 year olds and they're my greatest teachers. So I'm not one of those people. But somebody might say, well, that's kind of narcissistic of me to write a book when I'm only 23 and I have so much more to live. And quite honestly, my book I wrote five years ago, I am a completely different person than I was five years ago. So how do you help people overcome the stinking thinking? Or, or even. I'm not even going to call it arrogance. I love that you're like, no, I'm 23, I have experience that I can help people with something. How do you. Because this is a vulnerable process for people and people can feel self absorbed, narcissistic selfish. How do you help people through that and how do you work through that?

Well, let me add on to it because it's even bigger than what you just said, which is so true. Not only was I 23 and I had this book, but I was 23 and my book was on career development, okay? So now I have less than one year of work experience and I have a career development best selling book. I have people saying, who in the world do you think you are to do this? I have more work experience than you have life experience, okay? So getting ready to launch that book, I had every doubt in insecurity that you can imagine. My mind was like, who am I to actually write this book? And so what I did was a few different things because I was like, what if no one reads this? What if only my parents buy it? What if my career fails before it gets started? Like, what if this is a complete flop? And I'll never forget, I'm sitting at the island, I'm talking with my dad and. And he looks at me and he goes, jake, I really got to tell you this. I don't care if you sell five copies or 5 million copies, the minute you put yourself out there, great and unexpected things are going to happen. And I had to recognize in that moment that it's bigger than me. And it's always bigger than you. It's bigger than a book, it's bigger than you. It's about, can you help somebody do something that will make their life better at that moment in time? And can you do that with the knowledge, the experience that you have at that moment in time? Because I believe that there is somebody out there that is waiting for you to give them your message in your voice based on your experiences at this very moment in time. And if you have a desire to help somebody and you put your ego aside and you put your pride aside, then that is the most important thing that you can do is find a way to give them that gift. And that is how I focus on doing it and continue to work on it. And was like, you know what? Everybody that I'm talking to is getting jobs. Okay, guess what? I may not be the best in the world at career development, but I sure as hell know how to help somebody get a job. I'm good enough to help them, so let's keep going.

I love that. And I love that your dad said that to you. What a beautiful thing to kind of get out of your own way. And you know, I know people my age, you know, and I could Be your mama. Like, I know people my age that they make it about we. We do. Or humans where it's. When it's very vulnerable, we will make it about us to protect ourselves. That's what the ego does to kind of keep us safe. But it really ends up doing the opposite and keeps us stuck. Right. I love that. Like, this is also the cojones of an eight. Like, seriously, like, who am I not? Tell me. I can't. Great, I will. I love that. So book number one happens. It's on career development. What is book number two about? And why? Book number two? What is the importance of a second?

So after my first book, I'm speaking at different colleges. I'm talking about the book. I'm having a great time. I have my book in college curriculums and syllabi. And I'm like, oh, this is amazing. Four years ago, I was the guy that didn't buy those books. Now my book is one that people are supposed to buy. But at that same time, I was still following my basketball dream. And so I had built this event called the Professional Basketball Combine where I wanted to really help NBA draft Hope turn their dream of playing pro basketball into their reality. And so we had built that up. And at this time, we had two years of the event. And I was like, this is amazing. And I realized, like, why am I having this success and why am I having it so quickly? And I realized that the number one factor was my ability to build relationships. And so I was like, that's book two. It needs to come out and it needs to come out now. So I end up Writing Book 2. It's called Elevate youe Network 25 Keys to Building Extraordinary Relationships in Life and Business. And it was just sharing my best tips and tricks. At this point, I still didn't know everything. I wasn't the greatest networker in the world. But I know that a lot of people were asking me how I was able to build these businesses. A lot of people were asking me how I got in touch with some of the most high profile MBA executives in the world. And I was like, oh, networking. I got something there. And then I said, how do I make this fun? How do I make this meaningful? So there's 25 chapters and I actually call them Kelf Keys, as my last name is Kelfer. So I shorten it Kelf. Kelf keys. 25. I don't want to do chapters. I want to do Kelf Keys. It's my book. I can do whatever I want right And I wanted to make it fun. And then how do we get to 25? Well, one of my best friends who passed away my first week of college, his favorite number was 25. So the book had 25 chapters. And so the biggest thing was, why book two? Because I had a message that needed to be shared to more people. And I knew it would help me continue to build credibility as an entrepreneur, continue to open new doors for speaking engagements, and continue to give me a chance to meet people from around the world and hear their story of how Chapter 4 Kelfke 4 helped change their life. And that's bigger again, goes back to the same mission of bigger than just a book, bigger than me.

When did the dream of being a sports agent or helping the NBA hopefuls get to the NBA switch to. Wait a second. I'm onto something here that not only I'm onto something that I can be successful with, but for an eight, we have to be passionate about it in order for it to be successful. No matter how gritty we are, if we're not passionate, it's a big fuck no for us. So where did it. Where did the switch happen between sports agent, like the guy from Entourage to Jake Kelfer? I'm the guy that helps you make bestsellers.

There were a few big points that. That happened here. One is we had run the basketball event for three years, and at that point, we'd helped over 70 guys sign contracts. We had a first round draft pick. We had. We had some amazing, amazing success. But at that point, I knew that the mission wasn't to be an agent anymore. The mission was to help these players achieve their dream. So immediately it went from agent to making dreams reality in the basketball space. Then you factor in that this event was once a year. So then you factor in on top of that, whoa, we have a pandemic. All of a sudden, live events are shut down, speaking engagements are shut down. What do we got going on here? Now I've been helping people along the way with their book launches, helping them become bestsellers. But I was doing this for fun, because I just genuinely enjoyed the game, right? The problem solving the game, the approach. And then the pandemic happened. And I'm in a coaching program, and my coach, she literally goes, jake, like, you gotta switch this. Like, you're doing some great stuff. But what if you coach people on how to write a book to grow their businesses? And I was like, whoa, whoa. You know, I was like. I was like, this is something new. And so that's when it Changed from helping NBA players turn their dream of playing pro ball into their reality to helping entrepreneurs, executive and experts turn their dream of writing a book into their reality. The mission has never changed. The way of which I've helped the mission come to fruition has changed. And that has been, like you said, I love the passion behind it. You got to have the passion. For me, that has become the passion and the purpose.

So I'm a big sports nut myself. I love Sports Obsessed. Are you watching the new Derek Jeter thing?

I haven't watched it yet. I'm waiting a couple more episodes, then I gotta binge it.

You'll love it. I could not wait. So, like, I'm super passionate about sports and going from, like, something that's in sports and around sports and that kind of energy to book writing and helping people. That's a big shift. Yes. Like, the mission hasn't changed. You want to help people, you want to serve people, you want to educate. You're fucking great at that. But it's a big, huge different market. I mean, you're working with dudes that want to go to the NBA and sports. To a lot of women probably wanting to write a book. Like, how do you. How do you still get that outlet of sports so that you aren't missing that? Because I know that's a huge. I mean, you grew up in Southern California. You're a USC kid. Like, that's just like part of who you. That's your makeup. How do you still get that fix in while you're helping others write books?

You know, the simple answer here is I went from working in sports to just being a fan again. And it's almost like it was a shift of an identity. It was a change in the waves, right? It was. You know what? It's okay to be the kid that roots for Lakers again. It's okay to be the one that has a couple beers at a tailgate. It's okay to just be a fan again. And it doesn't mean that I didn't achieve my sports dreams. It just means that I'm going to enjoy it even more. So and so for me, that that shift was part of my identity growing and evolving into that next phase of Jake Kelfer. But the other part of it was recognizing, like, why am I doing all this in the first place? And, you know, my biggest dream is to have a family. It's to have kids. It's to have a mini Jake running around and. And then I get to do it again with him or with My daughter or whatever kids I have. Right. And so I realized that, again, the mission was the same, but I just got to be going back to what makes sports so fun anyways. It's entertainment. It's a joy. And I just happened to get access to a few extra perks because of what I had done in the space.

I love that you say that, because I think so often people get so fixated on what you've invested your time in or what you've already put out into the world. If this is what I want, and. And all the things. And I think life sometimes has a beautiful and funny, hilarious way of giving us exactly what we need in the most unconventional ways. Otherwise known as, like, a pandemic. Right. It's like a forced season of silence for you to reevaluate kind of what you're doing and if this is what you want to do. And I love that you have taken what you learned and what you did in the sports. And it's not like it was like, oh, my gosh, the pandemic ruined it for me. It was like, that part of the story is over. I've learned a lot, lot from it. It's been beautiful. It's still a part of me, but in a different way so that I can make a bigger impact, maybe a different way. Right.

And I. And I still, you know, even to this day, people hit me up all the time, hey, do you have any more internships? Are you still running? This is it coming back. And, you know, there's that part of me that. That wants to do it because I loved it so much. But. But at the same time, you know, there's different seasons of life, there's different experiences, but life, I'll say this like life is a game. We want to talk about sports. Like, life is just one big game.

It is.

And you just have to show up and play. And you never know what may come. One day you might be playing baseball. One day you might be playing basketball. One day you get your ass kicked. One day you win the championship. But you got to show up, you got to play the game, and you got to find a way to enjoy it as it's happening. Otherwise, what the hell is the point of any of it, right? We're all going to die at some point, and we don't know when that's going to be. So why not show up, get off the bench, get in the game, and start making magic happen with the people you care most about?

I love that. So back to why a book is Important. You know, I hear it all the time. I did it, I did a little ass backwards and you know, I probably need to revamp it and do some things. But you know, in an age where anybody is writing a book or everybody's writing a book, if, if you have somebody that you know who needs to write a book, first of all, like, who needs to be writing a book and why?

There are so many types of people to write a book. But, but what we specialize in is specifically is nonfiction. And the people that need to be focused on writing nonfiction are executives, entrepreneurs and experts. Anybody that is selling some form of information, some form of service, some form of program can benefit from a book. So if you are a real estate investor, you can write a book to leverage not just an audience, but to leverage more deal flow. You can get involved in higher ticket deals because you now have the book people associate you with a higher tier investor. You could be an attorney, an attorney can have a book. You can be a spiritual teacher, you can have a book. We work with all types of people. But the key thing here is, is when you are in an industry where your consumer has choice by not having a book, you are now becoming the many. By having a book, you have become the one. And when people have choice, they go to who they perceive to be best or who is the cheapest. They look for different things that make somebody more appealing to them based on their perspective. Right? So for example, here, let's say there are two coaches, okay? And you could be a fitness coach, fitness trainer. You could be a financial coach, you could be a business coach. I don't care what kind of coach you are. But there are a million coaches in the DMs. There are a million coaches out there. And most people have choice. Most people don't just look at one person and pick that person. They look at, well, who's out there? What are my options? Let me check out one or two or three people and then based on that, I'll make a decision. So if you have coach A and you have coach B, and they are both great, their pricing is maybe $1,000 different on a $10,000 package, they both resonate with you, you get a good vibe, and your gut's pulling you in each direction. Well, if coach A has a book and coach B doesn't, you automatically perceive them to be a more established and informed expert on their topic, Whether or not that's true because they have a book, they have the book. Therefore they must know more or therefore they must have Spent more time or therefore they must be more willing to try things. Whatever it is that you latch onto, your mind starts to associate with that as the more credible person, the more legitimate person, the person that you should be choosing over the other person. So who can have a book? Anyone could write a book, really. But anybody that is an expert, an executive, an entrepreneur that is selling something or giving some information to establish credibility, to establish higher ticket sales, to establish speaking credentials, that is who a book can really benefit.

All right, so let's use myself as an example.

Okay?

So obviously, if I'm writing a book moving forward, which I do need to enneagram and leadership, right? Bringing the two together and how it's important in that, how much of an idea, other than a desire and knowing I gotta do, you have to come to the table with to start the process. Because that's pretty much all I've got. Like, I know it's enneagram and leadership and the dynamics of teams and all of that. I got nothing else. Like, when do I sit down and say, okay, now's the day. I'm gonna start the process? How much information do you have to have ready?

So you have enough information already? You have plenty of information. And I'm not saying that just because I know you or just because I know what you have on the back end. I'm saying if you said I need to combine, I want to write a book, and I have enneagram and leadership, what do I do next, and how do I know that it's the right time for me to write the book? Well, the first thing, there are several things that somebody must do before even thinking about writing their book. And we call this the let's get started phase. Okay? You must ask yourself, why are you writing this book? This is called your intention. All right? So there is an internal intention, an external intention, and an overall definition of success. Writing a book is hard if you do not have a strong enough intention for why you're doing this and why you're doing it. Now, when the going gets tough, you will go to a different thing over your book. That's how everybody operates. That's what we've seen. The second thing you must do is create a commitment to yourself. Okay? People don't like to break commitments to themselves because they don't want to let themselves down. So we have people literally make a commitment to themselves. Then you must identify who's this book for? So very simply, who is this book for? And go after it. All right? There's a whole process of that. But essentially you need to know who it is. And then before you write, the next thing you want to do is put it on your calendar. The minute you put book time on your calendars, the minute it becomes, holy shit, this is real. I'm doing it. What the flying is about to happen next, right? Like, like that's when it becomes, oh shit, this is real. So now at this point, I want you to think about how different of a framework you're at once you have this established. You're not writing anything yet, but all you've had is an idea. You still have no idea what's going to be in the book, how you're going to structure the book, how you're going to leverage the book or anything. All you know now is that you're committed to yourself. You have an audience that you're going to talk to because you know you can help them solve their problem. You have it on the calendar and you know why you're doing this. That is enough to get you ready for the content piece of your book. So I always, always, always stress for somebody if they have an idea of writing a book, it's like, okay, your idea is probably good. Well, why do you want to do this? Do you want to become a bestseller? Do you want to get high ticket clients? Do you want to use it as lead generation? Do you want to do speaking engagements? Who's it for? Who is going to help you get those results that you're ultimately looking for? Right. We start to break it down and all of a sudden you're like, oh my gosh, I'm writing a book for corporations, specifically for high profile executives. I'm writing a book for them to improve their performance. Leveraging leadership in Enneagram. And this is why I'm doing it, so I can get more speaking engagements and consulting gigs or whatever it is for whoever's writing the book. Now all of a sudden you have a great frame of mind and that helps you build out the content and the structure of everything that comes next.

So something you said I don't necessarily think is 100% truth. As far as people not wanting to break promises to themselves, I think like, yes, of course we don't want to, but when it comes to breaking promises, we're the first ones we do that to. So how do you really. Because I think that's where like the fork in the road for people is exactly what you said. When that intention isn't solid or the insecurity or the vulnerability starts to take over the first thing that goes is the promises to myself. How do you help people stay on track with that? What's advice that you could give the person that does that? I've been doing it. You've been holding me freaking accountable for months now. How do you help people?

So I'm so glad you mention this because I think this can be something that gets overlooked. And so I'm really grateful that you called it out. And it's. And it's this, which is the next thing in the process that you have to do. And that's form some form of your accountability. Now I like to do it in a three prong approach, accountability. I believe that you should have people that are writing the book during, at like the same time. That is a great form of accountability. I believe that you should have a coach or a mentor or someone that has done the actual work on this process because they will be able to anticipate your needs, they will be able to reassure you when you need reassurance and they will be able to kick you in the ass when you need to be kicked in the ass. And then the third form of accountability is you need to find a partner, somebody that is a friend. It can be a family member, but this person has to be willing to call you out on your shit. This is not a, oh, hey, did you do it? This is a you must do this or this happens, right? Like you put skin in the game. And that is how you find the right accountability partner. That's how you find the people that are doing it with you for your community accountability. And then you have your coach or your mentorship for your personal accountability and trust accountability. And that's a three prong approach to high level accountability which will help you honor that commitment to yourself that you have made at the very beginning.

All right, do you guys all see why I brought Jake to you? Like seriously, if there is a book on your heart, this is who you need right here, right now. One of the things that you said that I love for myself and it's one of the things that I highly encourage other people to do is, you know, you mentioned booking time on the calendar. I think most of us, you know, we want to wait for the perfect time. And usually the perfect time when we have freedom in the calendar is not when we freaking do it. That's when we get lazy, complacent. Good becomes an enemy of great and then the shame stick comes out. But I think that there is a lot of validity to putting pressure on the calendar. And you know, you and I talked offline before we even started about me doing that. The pressure on my calendar is getting intense. And the thing that I've been having you hold me accountable for is actually going to happen because of the pressure in my calendar, because it's crunch time. Right. And I love that you were just called to the carpet on this, too. So tell people like, this is. This is also why I'm bringing him, because this is a man that fucking walks his goddamn talk, and I love it. So you were challenged with a little something with book number four, correct?

Yeah, no, I was. And I just want to mention one last thing on what you were talking about, which is the calendar crunch, and that is that when you are in crunch time or you are trying to decide on putting something on the calendar, not putting it on the calendar, however much time you give yourself is the amount of time it's going to take to get that thing done. And this is Parkinson's law. And so what's really interesting is people are like, oh, it's going to take me two years to write a book.

Book.

Well, no, I'm going to show you how to do it in four to six months, writing for about an hour a day. All right? That's it. Why? Because we put on your calendar, most of our clients finish their rough draft in 30 days or less. So imagine you listen to this right now, 30 days down the road, you have a rough draft. Now back to the question that you actually asked, which is, I was called out. Calendar. We are in crunch time. So I'm turning 30, December 17th. Super excited about it.

Big Sagittarius energy. I love it.

Yeah. Yeah. So I'm like. I'm like, let's go. So. So I had already been thinking about book four, and I was like, you know what? I'm writing book four. This in the. In the fourth quarter of the year. It's crunch time. And then I'll launch it in, you know, Q1 or whatever it is. And I was talking to my coach, Chris, who's mastermind, we're both in. And he was like, dude, let's. Let's spice it up. Can you get it done in 90 days or less? And I was like, yeah, you know, I can. I'm going to be traveling, you know, 40 of those 90 days or something absurd. And I was like, you know what? No. Like, I'm not gonna make an excuse. I'm gonna do it. And what I'm gonna do to make sure I do it is I'm gonna invite Anybody who's ever wanted to write a book, I'm gonna invite them to watch me do it in real time so they can see exactly how I do it. And so it's the race to 30. It's gonna be this unbelievable thing. I'm going to write a book literally in 90 days or less, and have it ready for purchase by the time I turn 30. And that is my upcoming challenge for book four. I am so excited. I am incredibly like, whoa, let's go. But it's gonna be. It's gonna be big time, and people are gonna be following along. You're gonna be like, are you making it? Are you not gonna make it? But even more important is you're gonna actually get to see exactly what I do. So I'm gonna put it on the calendar and I'm gonna show you exactly when I'm gonna write my book. I'm going to outline my book using what we call the Avengers process. I'm gonna show you the Spider man phase, the Ant man phase, the Iron man phase. I'm going to take you through my rough draft. I'm going to literally show people everything. What do I do? And then I'm going to have Q&As every other week to allow people to ask questions about their book writing process as well so that we can do it together. And I'm freaking pumped about it. I'm freaking pumped.

Do you have a title of the book?

Yeah, yeah, the book. As of now, the working title is going to be Big Idea to Bestseller.

Which also happens to be the name of his podcast that I was just recently on. It just, like, released this last week. So you'll have to go check it out. It's in the show notes. Definitely check it out. Big Idea to Bestseller. And you know, you guys, you can't hit a target. You can't see and. Exactly. It's like, whether you pack a week in advance or pack an hour before the flight, you're gonna get packed either way. So I love that theory of, like, crunching it down and making it happen. What are you most excited about in that 90 day challenge for yourself?

I think I'm most. I mean, there's so many things I'm excited about. This is pretty fresh, too. So this, like, this could be the first time it's been announced, like, officially to a podcast. So, I mean, I'm just. I'm still excited, I'm still processing. But here are a few things that I'm really excited about. One, I'm excited to walk the walk. I'm excited to put myself in an opportunity where it might not go according to plan and it'll be in front of people and I'm going to be okay with that. But at the same time, I'm excited because I get to say, let's fucking go. This book's getting done. I'm on the road this much and I'm gonna find a way to make it happen. There are no excuses. I'm most excited to show people what's possible that they don't even realize they're capable of doing yet. And that's gonna be through the form of a book. And I think people, more people are gonna write a book because of this than if I didn't do this. And it goes back to what I said earlier. It's bigger than a book and it's bigger than me.

Oh my gosh, I love you so much. Seriously. I'm not quite sure. I'm not somebody that throws around like I'm proud of you very much, but I really, really am because there is nothing more refreshing than somebody that walks their talk for me, at least for this girl. And you really are the poster child of that. And you're inspiring me to get off my ass and do a few things that I have been slacking on, including writing a book that is more intellectual property than just like, yeah, here's my story. See you later. Bye. Where can people find you to follow along for those 90 days from September 18th to December 17th? The big 30.

Oh yeah, look, I'm gonna be on Instagram, I'm gonna be posting about the content. My Instagram is Akelfer. I'm gonna be talking about it. I'm gonna be still giving my normal tips and content about how to write and launch a self published book. And then if you want to get more access right off the bat, you can just hit the link in my bio and you can get an entire training on how to write and launch a book in one hour a day. So Instagram is the best place to hit me up in the DMs to chat about your book idea, to learn more about the book process, or to frickin watch me write my next book in 90 days starting September 18th or whatever it is you guys.

He also is probably top three people that I've ever not only been interviewed by, but like is made for the whole podcasting thing. One of the greatest interviewers you will find. So much value and entertainment and just juicy nuggets from his podcast. Big idea to bestseller, especially if you have a book in you definitely go check it out. My friend Jake, I freaking love you and adore you and I'm so grateful that you are in my life. Any last words for the people?

I'm just thankful that you gave me a platform to speak and talk on. It's always so fun and anything for the people. Of course. I got something for the people and that's get off the bench, get into the game and write your damn book. You have the knowledge, you have the skills. Put it on the paper.

You guys, I'm gonna tell you, I'm already gonna have him back on after he does the 90 day challenge because I think it'll be really, really cool to hear like what the whole experience experience was. Obviously they'll be following you along on Instagram, but like the. After the dust settles, like the. Holy shit. I actually freaking did it. I can't wait to have you back on. I love you, my friend. Thanks for coming and serving us all and helping us all become the ultimate leader in our life.

I'm so happy you enjoyed the Leadership Formula podcast. Please help us spread the word about this show by sharing it with a friend and leaving a written Apple podcast review. If you have any follow up questions to this episode, you can DM me directly on Instagram at traceyomalley. You can also find additional resources on my website@traceeomalley.com I'm excited to lead you into the next level of your life.

Sam.