“Amanda, this book is so powerful. AND… you’re still not claiming the truest part of you and your work. Don’t worry. I’m not going to let you publish until you do it.”
A potent cocktail of anger and panic coursed through my body as I read her early morning text, and put the phone down without answering.
Ugh. I need my mocha first.
As I filled the hot water pot, I argued with this sister friend in my head.
Seriously? I’ve already reworked the introduction, added stories I never intended to share, and focused the language on messages more than books! What more do you want from me, Woman!?
By the time I sat down at the kitchen table to enjoy my steaming drink, I was feeling really overwhelmed.
Didn’t I just do this with my last blog acknowledging that I am not an f-ng book coach?
[Important Note: She was also responsible for that blog and the FB post about wanting to slap someone with gratitude. I love her and don’t know where I’d be without her. In some messenger ditch somewhere, for sure. If you don’t have someone like this in your world, I encourage you to find one and then practice deep breathing for the ride.]
Sipping my coffee, I reflected on how for the last ten years, people have known me as a book coach—someone who could help them clarify their message, structure the content in alignment with their Sacred Code, and keep it from heading down rabbit trails while they wrote.
But we’ve been doing much more than that.
Beyond the book, I help them craft revenue models and client experiences that will make them excited to get out of bed every day. When I am done helping them lay out the content for talks and courses they can monetize, I show them how to speak and facilitate powerfully. And of course, I connect them with team to help them fill in any gaps they may have: visual branding, sales training, technology, etc. And I love, love, love showing up to their events and watching them facilitate magic for their audiences/clients.
And…
I also sit beside them when they collapse with confusion and resistance. I ask hard questions and wait in silence while they find their truest answers. I listen to their fears about what pursuing their dreams might do to their relationships, their finances, and their families. I challenge them to identify and build the structures they need to transform with the least amount of collateral fall-out. I guide them through developing new scripts and behaviors as they learn to co-author their stories. I answer their upside-down phone calls and emails as they move through new cycles of growth, and I challenge them to stay true when I see them wavering in the face of the latest fast-fix formula and hype.
Writing and delivering the content is the easy part. Living and embodying the message—becoming true to intention—is where all the work really is.
There’s a reason many messengers lose their way. It’s too easy. Some of us step off the path because of the bullsh*t promises of “quick and easy” and some make uncomfortable compromises with the best of intentions; but many of us are simply unconsciously walking just outside the lines because we, in the words of Jordan B. Peterson, are “too complex to know ourselves completely.” Most of us don’t see how our superpowers are deeply intertwined with our deepest wounds, and how we hold our message and true self back from the world because of it.
And, maybe because we are afraid of claiming who we really are because then we would have to be true to it. And what if we can’t? What if we fail? What if people don’t like us when we tell them the truth? Sh*t. What happens if we succeed and actually end up loving our whole life? Then what would we do?
Well, by mid-morning, I’d gathered enough courage to sit down and let my soul and fingers work together to show me what it means to own my truest work. A few hours later, I called my sista friend to read the revised conclusion out loud. Before I could finish, we were both in tears.
There’s definitely a difference between acknowledging truth and embodying it,
and the tears told me integration had occurred at a deeper level.
As I read through the final draft of the conclusion a few days later, I realized that I’d done it.
I’d finally integrated the lesson that Ruben catalyzed in my DNA almost six years ago in our final conversation—that my impact was more about who I BE than what I DO.
Sure, my superpowers really help messengers see the value of their story, get organized, and move their message forward powerfully; but the stories I’ve shared in this book proved that it’s who I BE in their lives that makes the biggest impact.
I am a Witness to ALL of them—the wounded child and the raging teen,
the student and the master, the visionary and the healer, the vulnerable artist and the unbridled risk-taker, the fierce warrior and the exhausted partner, the hero and the villain—and it is in those moments of raw vulnerability and full acceptance that their old stories heal and they reclaim parts of themselves that got lost along the way.
And then it hit me…
I need to honor this man and the legacy he left for me and so many others.
So, Upside-Down Messenger: Making the Magical and Messy Journey from Inspiration to Impact will launch November 21, 2018 – the sixth anniversary of Ruben’s transition from living and sharing his message in the physical – to honor his legacy and hopefully inspire everyone reading to live their legacy now.
For those of you who are determined to get your message in the world, and know you need some support to get it out there, check out the Bestseller Quest Discounts here. If you feel the tug, hurry. I’ve only got a few spots left at this reduced pricing through 2018.
For those of you who know you’ve got a story that needs some love and attention, check out the Bestseller Quest Discounts on the story-healing programs: Break Through Your Story Ceiling and The 21-Day Quest from Character to Co-Author.
It’s time to talk about REAL Integration and Impact!