53406 words. The sum total of many hours tippy typing away on my ugly old keyboard (now replaced with a thocky, wonderfully tactile model).

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I feel like I should feel something specific. The 'I-wrote-a-book' feeling that I'm not sure I feel yet. I think that will come at some point later, once the dust and energy has settled in my body and mind. Once I realise that I don't have to think about diagrams, and restructures and re-thinking and cover art and all the tiny details anymore.

What's already started to happen though, is the noticing of what writing a book has given me that I wasn't expecting.

I already knew that one of my top strengths is creativity —handy for writing and bringing out ideas into the world. Another is developing others —useful that the book's purpose is to do just this.

I also already knew that detail orientation and results focus were not so much my bag. I know all this from my Strengthscope profile and from reality itself. Belbin told me I'm a Plant (an ideas person) but not a Completer-finisher. And Belbin would be quite right in his assessment.

The book-writing process tested every fibre of my being. I had to lean into my non-strengths and go against type to get it finished. The first draft was the easy bit but the following year of iteration after iteration, mulling (and talking with my co-writer) over details, proof-reading over and over, creating images (and making sure the details were correct) — that's what almost finished me off.

And as I reflect, I understand a bit more about myself and my capabilities.

I don't have to avoid doing hard things. If there's enough of my strengths involved in any part of a process and my motivation to carry it out is strong, I can do the things that cause a visceral, negative reaction in my body. It's ok. I don't have to be excellent at the things I dislike either, just good enough.

And if I can do the hardest thing I've ever done, then everything else that I used to think was hard suddenly looks much easier.

Marketing, writing newsletters, putting a picture of myself on social media, selling my programmes and services. The list goes on.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this stuff is now easy peasy but it certainly feels a lot more doable. Especially when I remember that selling is just relationship-building, writing newsletters and posting online is the kind of creative writing that I don't have to re-visit seventy-fumf-hundred times and marketing is just a series of experiments to see what works (for me it is - I don't mean to offend professional marketers!).

My book-writing process was not a solo sport - apart from working with a co-writer, I had to ask people for help all the way through. Whether it was interviews, beta reads or endorsements, I found myself having to make a lot of requests from a lot of people. Asking for help is something I love to avoid but this process has knocked that right out of me. As much as anything I found people so willing and generous with their help that it's made me realise how much people LOVE helping. What was I so worried about??

Lucky for me, another top strength of mine is self-improvement and this book has given me so much more than I'd imagined on that front. Besides all the side-effects I've already mentioned, it's given me a new-found confidence in my ideas and a clearer sense of direction for the next bit of my own career.

And so to the sales pitch... the book is available for Kindle pre-orders at the keerrrazy price of just £2.99 until 29th September, after which it goes on general release, the price reverts to normal and you can also buy the paperback from all good bookstores. There, that was easy!

And if you're keen to get a flavour of the book and how it can help you move forward with your career development plans take the online Core Career Dials assessment now. That'll give you a head-start on understanding which bit of the book you might want to dive into first.

See you soon!

Sarah

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Reader, if this got you thinking - whether about how to succeed in your own career or how to support others doing the same - I'd love to stay in touch.

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