What happened to your book? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR BOOK?
Have you ever shared an idea that you were excited about and then forgot about only to have someone ask you: Hey, so what happened with that thing?... Perhaps you gulp as you try to remember what it was that you said exactly, and mumble a story of why you haven’t completed the thing. I felt the overachiever “incompletion guilt” for a year or two every time someone asked me about the book I was writing (The Success Trap), before eventually switching approach… Good things take time Seeds take time to sprout and turn into a garden…The timing is not fully within our control. You may not even know the full impact of your efforts and simply have to trust that the garden will grow. Did you read the How to Be Useful in a Crisis Wise Wednesdays? It explains why you have a role to play even if you’re not on the frontline. You see, it’s not just the what but the how of actions (i.e. whether they are aligned with your true purpose) that has impact; and the impact can be felt both now and in the future. You may just not know exactly how or when. In fact, I made my small contribution to the policy and science of the pandemic four years ago…A colleague from the WHO sent me a scientific paper on building resilience against future pandemics and the lessons from COVID-19 referencing papers I’d written when I was working with the UN on disaster prevention, back in 2016! So remember:
The how of your actions (alignment) is as important as the what
Aligned work never goes to waste
Trust that there’s a right timing for your aligned actions to come to fruition
In terms of the book, I eventually decided to get a publisher last May. It gave me external direction and deadlines. The bad news is COVID-19 has pushed back its publication. The good news is the manuscript is submitted, in production, and even has a book cover (sneak preview below). So with a bit of patience…
The timing may not be in your control but your commitment is. Legend in the making: A vaccines specialist who wants to shift from big pharma to UNICEF and was feeling a little frustrated asked me in a coaching conversation this week: do you have any advice for me? I shared some of the biggest lessons I learned over a 15+ year career in medicine, science and population health. She said it was eye-opening and that she had plenty to work on now. Sensing that she was on the right track, she quoted a beautiful poem about patience by Shems Tabrizi (who trained Rumi):
"God/The Universe is a meticulous clock maker. So precise is His/its order that everything on Earth happens in its own time. Neither a minute late nor a minute early. And for everyone without exception, the clock works accurately. "
So tell me: What have you stopped doing that you really want to do? What are you doing out of guilt that it’s time to stop doing? What can you automate, delegate, or outsource to free yourself up for the things that truly matter to you? Have a great week, Amina