Bet that got your attention.

And why wouldn’t it? We all want what we want now, now, now, sans effort. We’re a culture of instant gratification. The media plays off that fact, as do the snake-oil salesmen out there on the internet.

There’s nothing that gets my goat more than an “expert” claiming he can get you a best-selling book over the course of a weekend. Can you get something published in a weekend? Absolutely. Would anybody actually want to read said book? Hell no, unless you’ve got someone out there looking for hard proof of your ineptitude.

Look, I could interview you right now, ask a whole bunch of penetrating questions about you and your business, your whole why for doing what you do. And you’d no doubt speak on point, offer up some useful information, tell a few colorful stories that would make me chuckle, or shake my head in wonderment. We could then take the recording of our conversation, transcribe it, edit it, then fob it off as a short (e-) book, run it through an Amazon best-seller funnel to snag that status, and call it a day.

I once had a client who did just this, much to my horror, because she was too impatient to sit down and do the actual work. I’m telling you, it was such a pile…so not good. A crying shame, because there was so much value beneath her story that never came to light.

There’s something to be said for slowing down, for going through the process of writing a really good book, as inconvenient as that sounds.

You miss out on so much by not taking the time to do the job right; by not digging deep and thinking things through; by not spending months (or even a year) to get your stories, process, message, lessons, and conclusions squarely down on paper, shaped properly for your target market, for powerful reading.

You miss out on:

1. A true understanding of yourself and the clients/readers who share the problem you address.
2. The clarity that allows you to speak about your process, your philosophy, your unique system in compelling, understandable ways on the stage, in media interviews, to potential clients.
3. The kind of self-acceptance that comes with knowing why you did what you did along the way, the inevitability of it all. (P.S. With self-acceptance comes compassion for others)
4. The ability to describe the problem you solve, the solution you offer in a way that resonates with your target market.
5. The confidence to approach other writing projects like a boss. And life in general.

So just slow the hell down. Do the job right. Breathe a little.