I love this time of year. Besides the fact that I really do love the cheer of the holidays, it’s also when I do my best assessments and introspection. It’s my reboot season, to think about all that has happened and all that I want to happen, and what I gotta put in place. I’m thinking about how I showed up in this year, what grinded my gears most and what I wanna shift for the coming year.
Also, my birthday is a month away (CAPRICORN SEASON SOON COME!!! ♑️🐐). As I’m starting to dream, I’m also encountering a few things that keep us from achieving our dreams. If next year is to be intentional, we gon need to get some things together.

RANT

The people who need to doubt themselves ain’t the ones doing it.
​You know when folks talk about “I want the confidence of a mediocre white man.” NAH, man. 😑
The thing is that mediocre white men need to not have so much confidence, because that hubris is what makes them think they should be CEOs, Presidents and heads of everything. That same hubris is the reason why the world is a dumpster fire. The unabashed chest and effrontery to believe you and others like you are the smartest, most important people in the world, thereby entitling you to everything else everyone has, is why the world is in shambles.😡 Isn’t that ultimately what colonization and imperialism is? And all the wars that have started from people with more audacity than intelligence.

Whether it is the entitlement to land, positions, companies, money, ideas. We should actually stop praising the confidence of mediocre white men. Because while we’re doing it, the rest of us, who are much smarter, qualified, empathetic, are sitting back. We’re waiting to be good enough and feeling all this impostor syndrome and opting out of purpose work.
NOPE.
I need white men to find some doubt and the rest of us to find some audacity.😤 Because simply put, it’s affecting EVERYTHING we act on, and that has a major domino effect on how history unfolds and is told.

REFLECTION

We talk ourselves out of too many things, but we are ready NOW.
​Y’all know me as the Professional Troublemaker, but I’m also CEO and President of Overthinkers United. I’m really good at coming up with reasons NOT to do something, especially if it feels daunting to me 🫣. BUT one thing that changed everything for me was when I started noticing when I was doing it, and then I started saying I’m gonna do it anyway.
Fun fact: today is the 6th anniversary of my TED Talk, “Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable.” It’s a talk I didn’t think I was ready for and turned down TWICE. The 3rd time, at the encouragement of one of my good friends, I had to say YES. And that talk changed my life. It now has 9 million views. WOW.
The ways we don’t think we have what it takes to do the things we are purposed to do, stops us BEFORE anything else (like the awful systems we’re a part of) can. And frankly, the systems of oppressions we’re a part of, and the margins we’re on, exist partly to cage us before they can even throw obstacles in our way.
​If you convince people that they don’t matter, and you shame them into cowering, you never have to worry about them using their voice or power, because you’ve successfully convinced them they don’t have any.

Read that again slowly.
The self-doubt that has been oppressed into us also means we’re silent about our stories and our lives. Or it makes us think what we have isn’t good enough, so we erase it before it can even be seen. Because who benefits from our shrinking? Who benefits from our silence? Who benefits from our doubt? Right.​
​There are moments I can point to, that transformed everything, simply because I said YES, even though I didn’t know if I was ready. And as someone who has dared to put pen to paper, I’ve seen how I’ve been rewarded for the courage 🥹.
It has me thinking about how some of the best books that should exist don’t because the people that were supposed to write them did not think their words or experiences were good enough. We think what we know is basic and really easy. We think “but everyone knows that." Everybody does not. The reason you know is because you’ve been through it, you’ve learned it, you are credentialed at it 🗣️🗣️🗣️. So it might feel TOO easy but that’s also why you are the right person to speak on it, teach the lesson, to write the book.

So if you’re sitting there, wanting to write a book one day, but you’re thinking who’s going to care, why does what you have to say even matter, why would anyone wanna hear from you. Because you know who ain’t questioning whether their voices should be heard? Those mediocre white men. And it shows, because libraries are full of bound books written by them 🤨.
​I want you to know that your story matters, and your lessons matter, and your joy matters. All of that, put that in ink.
​And if you’ve ever thought about writing a book, but you feel stuck, don’t know where to start, or can’t decide on the idea, I GOT YOU.

RECOMMENDATION

Let The Book Academy Help You Make Your Book Dream Real
​I’ve been able to get my own words out, and on bookshelves, and I’m obeying my assignment to help others, get theirs out too. That’s why I’ve created The Book Academy: to remove the barriers of entry into an industry that is shrouded in mystery on purpose. And to give you the CLARITY you need to move forward on a dream you might have. Writing books is not about you being creative, but about you being confident, being clear and moving forward with intention. ​
I’m bringing what I’ve learned on my path to becoming a four-time NYT bestselling author and laying out the processes and frameworks I use to dream up, write, and market my books. I’ve been in the trenches of the publishing world for the past few years and have invested thousands of hours of time figuring out how to go from idea to ink to impact. I’m sharing that learning in The Book Academy.
​There are probably a million things keeping you from putting actual words on paper.

• 😩 “I want to write a book but I don’t even know where to start! It feels overwhelming.”
• 🧐 “I don’t know what my options are: do I need to self publish or get an agent and go for a deal?”
• 💡 “I can’t formulate a clear idea for what the book should be about. I just know I want to write one.”
• ⏱️ “I have the best intentions, but I can’t seem to find the time to write!”
• 📣 “I don’t know anything about marketing my book and I don’t want to be pushy about selling it.”

The Book Academy can help. I. CAN. HELP. 💪🏾
​Not only does The Book Academy have full sessions that dive into all the answers you need to have confidence in your path to get your book published. We also have…

• A full session to help you get clear on your book idea that will help you move forward with confidence
• A plan to help you actually do the writing
• A full session to help you write a powerful book proposal that you can use to get an agent and a book deal, but more importantly, will help organize your writing process and make it seamless so you waste no words in getting your book out in the world
• And so much more! From idea to branding to marketing to launching, to the design of the book itself, our sessions cover you every step of the way.

Everyone has a story worth telling, and that story should be in a book. Books are the map that others need to succeed, and I want to help you create yours.
I’ll be sharing a little more about The Book Academy over the next couple of days, but if you’ve got a dream to write a book and you want the help of someone who has actually done what you want to do, sign up for our next cohort of The Book Academy.

Doors close on Dec. 5, 2023, at 11:59pm CT

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It’s exciting to think of all the books that are out there waiting to come to life.
​Soooo my question for you is: what is something you’ve wanted to do, that you don’t think you’re ready for? Reply to this email and lemme know.

P.S: This 2nd cohort is going to be a special one, as it will probably be the final time the sessions will be happening live with me. After this launch, we’re going to tweak things a bit. Sooooo if you want this type of access to me, jump in now. Doors close next week!