2,200 Posts in 2,200 Days

Simple, but not easy.

That may be what Repossible has finally come to mean. Except that it’s not quite right. I’ll give away what it is at the end of this post.

I’ve written now for 2,200 days in a row. Haven’t missed a one. Personally, I don’t really find it such a big deal anymore. It’s like saying, “Hey, I brushed my teeth all year, every day!” Sure, that’s great if you’re 7 years old. It’s just now what I do, it’s what I’ve become, it’s who I am. I’m moving on. I’ve moved on. It’s not a “thing” anymore. More on the story here.

Here’s the “marketer’s” perspective on Simple But Not Easy: I’ll explain what you have to do, but then you need my (complex) explanation so you too can do it.

Did you catch that?

1. I’ll tell you how to solve your problem (in fact, the answer is simple).
2. But it won’t be easy. Whew. Sheesh. Yeah, tough. It’s OK, I’ll walk you through it. Thank goodness you have me.

Real World Example

A perennial favorite: lose weight.

1. Simple: eat less (and better). Move (exercise) more.
2. Easy: do that.

We all know how simple it is, but we want to make it not easy so we can:

1. Procrastinate,
2. Buy books and courses and gym memberships,
3. Not really do it at all.
4. Talk about how much we want to do it.
5. But another book.
6. Join another group.
7. Make friends who also don’t do it–but would all really, really like to.
8. Sulk.
9. Eat chips.

See how complicated that all got? Whew. I need a break.

Shorter, Focused Books

My (current) plan is to write more books that are shorter. Boom. There you have it. I just gave away my huge marketing strategy for the coming year. You’re welcome.

Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe I’m not good enough at marketing or selling books. Maybe I need more fluff and reasoning and research and programs and online courses and follow-up books and …

I’m currently reading (and/or listening to) several books. Here’s off the top of my head:

1. Origin by Dan Brown. 463 pages. 18 hours. I don’t care how long it is because I’m enjoying the story. I’m not even sure where I am in the book (maybe more than half) but I also don’t want to know because I don’t really want it to end.
2. Rising Stong by Brené Brown. 312 pages. 9 hours. I started the audiobook maybe a year ago. I’m almost done. Just two hours to go. I think. I enjoy it when I listen to it, but I’m not drawn to it. It might be repeating itself but I can’t tell because I can’t remember what I heard way back when. #yeahsorrybrene
3. I Can See Clearly Now by Wayne Dyer. 387 pages. 12 hours. I have listened to this twice. Yep, it’s by an author I like and it’s about how he became an author. #canrelate I don’t need to remember where I was and can drop in on any chapter and it’ll whisk me away in his storytelling.
4. Becoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza. 375 pages. 14 hours. As much as I love this author, I’m flailing in the audiobook. This is after I couldn’t get through the ebook. Again, I’ve read and love this author. This is even research for my Charlie Holiday series of fiction where he discovers how close the supernatural is to our regular lives. But it just seems to go on so long. Maybe it’s all just too intelligent for me.

Those are just a handful.

OK, Mr. Concise, get to the point already …

I also just read (listened to) this book:

1. The Indie Author Mindset by Adam Croft. 232 pages. 3 hours. Three hours. I finished it in a few days. He had one topic to cover (the indie author mindset) and he didn’t go off on a zillion tangents. He would even touch on a topic but consciously state that he wouldn’t go deeper as that was content “for another book at another time.” Boom. There you have it.

I wanted to know about the indie author mindset. I didn’t want to read about book marketing, about how to get your Vellum version onto Kobo. I wanted the “answer” and I wanted it quickly, clearly and “cleanly.”

Here’s a quick summary of some of my past, present and future books:

1. Every Single Day: daily habits evolve into skills and knowledge (e.g. stuff you can actually use)
2. Audio for Authors: why and how to get your books into audiobook format (and podcasts)
3. Decide: just make the (^%$#^&@) decision
4. Spark: start the fire, make the first move (the rest will follow). Oh, especially if you’re a parent and would like a closer connection to your kids.
5. Create: not consume (that’s too easy). No, you need to create. Yes, this can be less easy. “What you do when you want to start (really) living.” No, you don’t need to be a creative person already. We’ll cover that.
6. Meditation for Creatives: take creativity to the next level (that you might never have imagined you could reach). This is going to be fun.

Some of my books could be a single sentence or a page long. Here’s a book on quitting smoking I could write:

1. You smoke.
2. You don’t want to do that.
3. Stop it.

There you go. $4.99 ebook, $8.99 paperback.

It’s simple but not easy.

After 2,200 days of writing, you might think I want to write more. I could fill loads of books with all of that writing (oh wait, I did).

I want less writing. Fewer words. More substance, less fluff. Give me one topic in one book that I can finish, ideally, on a long drive to the coast (and maybe back) for the weekend. I get my topic into my head fast and furious and I can act on it.

OK, here comes what I really think Repossible is about.

Simple and Easy

Simple: make the decision.

Easy: execute what you decided.

Did I just say decide?

My truly honest, no joking, no messing around perspective is that I think it’s both simple and easy. Once you make the decision, the anwer, the execution is actually easy.

Yes, I’m biased because my Decide book is coming out on Oct. 17, 2018 (in 11 days). But that’s exactly my point: I made the decision to write the book, it’s short, it’s concise, it’s going to help you get over the hump from procrastinating and not making the decision so you can move on, get on with it, hop along to bigger and better things.

Speaking of bigger and better things, we have a basketball game in a few hours and I need to find a needle to pump up the ball.

Simple.

Easy.

Decide.

That’s where I am on day 2,200. Hope you’re doing well. We’ll see how things are going in another 100.