Imma keep on going my way!
For decades writing a book has been a huge dream of mine. After years and years of studying all things about mindset, testing and experimenting my own tools and being my own best student, I finally sat down last year on the 9th of October to pour everything I learned and know to be true into a GDoc. On the 6th of march this year I ordered my first physical proofreading copy with a sample cover. And now I can finally announce that my debut book “And There She Goes Her Way” is finally realeased!!!
What has been an idea living in my head for decades finally came to life, so I want to share with you a little more about how we got to this point.
Writing a book was a childhood dream. I think the first time I remember thinking about this was around the age of 13-14 maybe?. I used to love books, was fairly good at writing stories, and thought why not? But back then it was quickly shut down by others, specifically a teacher who said, “you’re too young”.
And as I grew older, judgement and fear of what others might think about my writing crept in as well. It didn’t seem like I was made to write a book. So I kept putting the idea on the backburner, yet I loved to write.
So at the age of 18-19, I wanted to start a lifestyle blog, and I did! I was putting out some posts about anything that was of interest to me. So sometimes that was just thoughts about life, fashion or skincare, or baking recipes. I even landed a mini-collab to test out some bakery utensils to make cake pops and write a post about it!
Butttt the comments of others in my immediate surroundings, including my now ex, got to me. They said things like "No one read sit", “It’s boring and no one cares”. And after only a couple of months, I stopped. Bear in mind that was at the height of blogs really being a thing. I’m still following many influencers who started off with blogs and now turned that into amazing multiple businesses. I do wonder every now and then what would have happened if i didn’t stop. And so I silenced my dream of writing for several years, not even daring to think about starting a blog ever again, let alone writing a book.
Whenever I heard from other authors my age I would feel that little pinch in my stomach, but was quick to suppress it yet again. "I'm not cut out for this" I thought.
Only when I started taking my personal growth journey to the next level, did I allow this dream to bubble up to the surface again. I slowly welcomed the idea back in, familiarised myself with it. But it still took me another couple of years of working on myself and healing until I was ready to give first of all being on social media and having a blog another shot.
This time, I swore to myself I will stick to it, despite what anyone would say. And I did. This time I persevered through the negative comments from others, again mainly my ex, and I kept my instagram and blog up and running.
From there the journey accelerated, like a snowball rolling down a hill. I started writing regularly and fell back in love with it. I also worked with a coach to help me work through some of my limiting beliefs around writing a book. He helped me to bring to surface some old and stuck limiting beliefs around not feeling worthy to share my story and feeling like it would never be good enough. What really hit home to me was shifting my perspective from writing the book for others, to simply writing it for myself. It helped me to get clear on my “why” for the book. Of course I wanted others to read it because I knew it can help them. But it first of all was for me.
Though it still took a while for me to work through all that. I had a different initial book idea before but fell out of love with it, cause something didn’t feel right. It almost caused me to fall back into old habits and patterns but I kept on rinsing and repeating the same process of releasing the self-sabotaging thought, stepping into my best self, deciding on what needs to be done, and do it. If you want to know exactly what I did, I highly recommend you to download my free guide “Be the hero of your own story again” - it’s in the description box below.
Doing this, helped me to get writing every.single.day again. And when the new idea for my book hit me, there was no stopping. I got to work. I knew I couldn't ignore it any longer, I had to follow through, for my own sake.
So I set up my writing practice, got a handful of beta readers on board who kindly supported me throughout the process and provided feedback as I went. 40 writing days later, I had my first manuscript.
It wasn't perfect and flooded with grammar and comma mistakes, but it was done. I had written 50 000 words and roughly 200 pages about something I’m so deeply passionate about. How to path your own way, bridge the gap between your current and best self and live life according to your rules, not anyone else’s. This book entails everything I know that helped me to again and again choose to go my own path. Yes, sometimes it took me longer. But I know if I would have had this book at the age of 13 or 18, I wouldn’t have stopped writing on my first ever sci-fi book idea or the blog. The book really is first-hand a reminder for myself, that I can do tough shit. And that my purpose here is to help others do the same but their way.
So yeah, after the manuscript was finished, I got to do the editing and omg that part is definitely harder than the writing itself. But I hired an editor who did an amazing job in taking my book to the next level. I got to work with the cover design, nige-watched countless of videos and trainings about how to self-publish and correctly format a book, and kept on going.
And now here we are - the book is released! I’m a fucking published author now. Can you believe it?
If I were to describe it in one word it would be this: PROUD!
Want to hear a sneak peek of the book? Check out the full episode 21 in which I share my story and read to you one of my favourite sections of the book! Or go ahead and order the masterpiece right away!
