Soundtrack: Eminem: Lose Yourself.
The idea for this post is from a real-life and real-time reflection from me. I am listening to the book When to Jump: If the Job You Have Isn’t the Life You Want. This book is mostly testimonial driven, showcasing people that have changed their paths. Their lives… People that have led one life, often what is expected or the obvious, then listen to their inner voice and then pivot. The people in this book drew a line in the sand and proclaimed to follow their dreams. The ample amount of testimonies range from business entrepreneurs to sailing the oceans. There is no one right answer as to what your pivot should look like. The only requirement is that you have thought, about something different than you’re doing, and make a plan to chase after…
I have a voice. A voice that has whispered something else. The details were unclear for some time, but that hasn’t stopped the voice.. “You should be doing something else.” But that is not really actionable. At first, there were no guide-rails to what that meant. I am here and should be there? I am doing this and should do that? The thoughts continued but clarity was nowhere to be found. I just knew there was something. Something that I wanted to be doing, that I needed to be doing, that was not being met in my normal life. From the variety of career positions that I have tried, to hobbies that I have dabbled with, to research ideas… nothing was standing out. Sure, I had some thoughts, but nothing stood out more than the others. The themes were: I am not happy now. I want to create. I want to share something with the world. My job isn’t fulfilling the need. However, I felt like saying I wanted to share with the world – was implying that I had to be an expert at something. And my self-talk was not playing nice when I mustered up any confidence.
Let’s go back a ways. In high school, I was not sure what I wanted to be when I grew up. Being a lost teen, I fantasized about being a rockstar. I dreamed about being an entrepreneur and I would come up with some “next big thing.” Then, my high school teacher in 9th-grade English opened a door for me. I learned about poetry and also the power of words. So, as a teen with angst and guitar hero ambitions, I started to write. A lot. Mostly song lyrics and small entries of thoughts. In 12th grade, I had a teacher that was sending a movie script to Hollywood. Playing off of his excitement, I asked to do a movie script for an assigned writing project. He agreed, and the result was a 100+ pg. full-length movie script (with industry-standard formatting, which is ridiculously precise by the way). Several letters to literary agents later, and several rejections later, I lost confidence and moved on. Back to the obvious and expected…
When it was time to go to college, I applied and started a business degree. I needed to get the good job… Lost, I joined the NAVY for a small stent, dropped out of college and moved on. When the NAVY did not work, I moved back to my hometown and got a regular job. A sales job. It was also my introduction to pressure sales… which I now detest. I lived a party life for a while and then adulthood kicked in. I was married and headed back to college. I applied and was accepted into the broadcast journalism field. Later, convinced again, that it was not marketable, I switched back to business. I majored in computer studies inside of the business world. As it were, life continued, and eventually needing insurance, I went to school online and started working in manufacturing where for the next 15 years I would be groomed into a continuous improvement manager or internal consultant.
This brings me to now and to the book Jump, to be exact. Listening to that has stirred passions inside of me. I have realized how much I enjoy writing. Some of my best nights involved drafting a blog post. Sharing my opinions or stories for others to read and put what is rattling around inside of my head into text. And this week it hit me. I am a writer. I love to write. With the momentum of my current read in my mind, I have decided to do something about it. And this post is my proclamation. I am going to write. Not journaling (or just journaling). I have several pieces inside of my mind: six story outlines to be precise. Two of which, are in a completed rough draft form; the original sci-fi screenplay from high school and a business non-fiction book aimed at helping small businesses. This week, I started the submissions process.
As of writing this post, it is well underway. To put a NF book out there, it usually requires a book proposal as well as a query letter. The exact wants/needs for submission depending on the agency. Each submission needs to be personalized to the agency – and I need to have a solid hook or line that catches the reader’s attention. Something to set me apart from all of the other entries. I have the book proposal started; it’s only waiting on the first section of the book, which is usually a chapter or first ten pages. Today, I finished about 14 pages of material. I have the query letter started. I also have researched several publishers and literary agents that look for the genre that I am submitting to or have published a book that I like which may be similar. I am really excited… I am doing it…
While I am not where most of the people in the Jump book are. I am not on the other side, with completed dreams, summarizing how I did it. I am telling you that I am doing it. I am ready and confident to start the process and want to hold myself accountable to finish this process. I want to share my journey with you. And even more than that, I want you to pause for a moment and think about your Jump. Your pivot. What is it that sparks a fire in your soul? What words affirm that little voice inside of you? What are you doing about it? Squandering it is like taking a piece of yourself and locking it away. It is time. Let’s jump. Let’s pivot. Here is to you *tips tea.*
As always, warm wishes. -joe
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