This week I share the details behind the third and fourth of the seven turning points during which my upcoming book from Hay House/Balboa Press, Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life, gained significant manifestation momentum. To refresh your memory, here’s a summary of the seven turning points.
The first was enrolling in a life coaching certification program offered by the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) in September 2010. The second was launching my first blog in October 2010. The third was beginning to write my clients’ stories of transformation in August 2011. The fourth was enrolling in Christine Kloser’s 2012 Transformational Author Experience in May 2012. The fifth was a combination writing retreat and vacation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the South Jersey Shore in July 2012. The sixth was finding New Dawn Center for Spiritual Living in Aurora, Colorado, in November 2012. The seventh was a three-week writing retreat in January 2013, during which I completed the manuscript.
The common denominator was a process of baby steps through which I embraced and transformed fear so that I might step further into my calling to foster hope and personal transcendence through the power of unconditional self-love.
Turning Point 3
Many coaches use brief testimonials that say things like, “This coach rocks!” As Barbara and I began talking with my clients about their experiences, we found their stories were more than testimonials. They were messages of inspiration—lessons in hope, courage, and triumph. Deeply personal opportunities to share the unique lessons each individual had learned about the life transformation that is possible when you learn to love yourself unconditionally.
We were certain one of the best ways to foster hope and demonstrate the possibilities for transformation in the lives of others was to allow my clients’ results to speak for themselves by sharing their stories on my website. Barbara and I collaborated with them to write their stories, basing each on a different life lesson. I began publishing the earliest versions of these Lessons in Living under the “success stories” tab of my website in early 2012, including my own story, “The Lesson of Hope.”
As more and more clients shared their stories, in Spring 2012, I saw an opportunity to provide even greater value by creating a series of interactive self-study workbooks based on the lessons inherent in their stories. With the ongoing impact and evolution of the lessons; continued personal and professional experience, study, and growth; substantive blog posts; and a robust social media presence, my own unique life coaching perspective and voice began to emerge. By summer 2012, it became clear that pulling everything together into a book was one of the best ways to share my message even more broadly. I set my intention, and you will soon be able to hold the result in your hand.
Many thanks to Barbara and the clients who graciously invested their time in sharing with you so candidly from their experiences. While the stories are real, I have changed the names out of respect for privacy. Respecting that boundary is an important aspect of my code of ethics.
Turning Point 4
By May 2012, the stars and planets were in full alignment for me to move into the final stage of birthing my book. I had transformed my body, mind, heart, and soul, found my calling, become certified as a life coach and Reiki master, and thanks to my blog, client success stories, and website, I had tons of content with which to seed the manuscript. I just needed a little additional nudge to start integrating everything into a book. The Universe responded with an unsolicited email (one I actually read) that pushed me across the threshold into Christine Kloser’s book writing program, the 2012 Transformational Author Experience (TAE).
Through Christine’s program, in a two-week period, I participated in twenty-six one-hour educational teleseminars led by experts in all aspects of writing and publishing, including futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard (Birth 2012 and Beyond), author Neale Donald Walsh (Conversations with God), literary agent Bill Gladstone, New World Library Publisher/President Marc Allen, and Hay House/Balboa Press President/CEO Reid Tracy. At times, it felt like drinking from a fire hose; thank God I took notes and purchased unlimited rights to replay recordings of the sessions into perpetuity. By the time we were finished, I had been exposed to every angle, aspect, consideration, and nuance of writing and publishing my first book.
As an added incentive to get serious and get moving, the program provided the opportunity to submit a proposal for my transformational book by July 31, 2012 to be entered into a contest offering amazing prizes such as agency representation by Bill Gladstone, a print publishing contract with New World Library, and assisted-publishing contracts with Hay House/Balboa Press. Knowing from firsthand experience the valuable role a coach can play in helping us manifest our deepest longings, I happily purchased the platinum level option to join Christine, a renowned spiritual guide and award-winning author in her own right, for six months of group coaching to help me sustain my commitment and momentum. If you are serious about writing a transformational book—one that, as Christine teaches, will transform your life, your readers, your business, and the world—enroll in one of Christine’s programs.
