Echoes of Kimberly

You've all heard too much about how I've "written a book" under my real name about the stuff that I used to do professionally, but it's still sitting on my hard drive because I can't figure out how to publish it. Almost six months ago, I asked Kimberly Steele to consult her Ogham, to tell me what I ought to do about it. She told me that it is very important that I publish it—"one of your major tests in your life"—"but you have to be very flexible and open to multiple ways of publishing and promoting it: eBook, website, podcast, audiobook, even self-publishing... Nothing should be off the table."

Today I was traveling back home from spending the Thanksgiving holiday with relatives. Brother was driving. And out of the blue, he started talking about my book.

A while ago I'd sent him a copy (a PDF). He'd tried to read it and couldn't. It's not that it was too hard … he just couldn't see any way to relate it to his own life. But he also said that didn't matter, because he believed in it anyway. And in me. (Nice to hear.)

Then he said this: 

Sit down with a blank sheet of paper, and spend 30 minutes brainstorming all the other ways anyone could possibly use the ideas in your book. Never mind that right now you have all those ideas channeled into one particular business operation—what else are they good for? Write down everything that comes to you, no matter how stupid. You can filter them out later. But how can someone benefit from them? Can the ideas help you with life management? Can they help you get through Thanksgiving with your relatives? What about examples from history: can you apply them there? If Napoleon had used your ideas, would it have stopped him from invading Russia? Capture all these ideas, because I think you need to look beyond your immediate application to see how wide and broad the principles can really be.

In other words, "you have to be very flexible."

But I promise you that I never told him about Kimberly, nor about soliciting her advice, nor even hinted at anything she said.

It's just that obviously this is a message I need to hear, and so far I haven't been listening. 

Good to know, I guess.