Today coach Natali Sanchez Rheault shares 10 tips with us for clearing your mind and getting into the zone for writing your first book. Many people want to become a published author, but so few actually make it happen—why? Because the task overwhelms them, they don’t have a proper support structure or they pick a topic that doesn’t make a fire in their belly. Writing a book is an act of courage–if you do feel like giving up, remember how many people you are helping who will read your book. Thank you again, Natali, for helping us get into the “write” mindset for making our books a reality!

Writing a book can be a bit of a daunting task, don’t you think? At the end of 2014, I left the corporate world after 13 years and became a life coach, speaker and writer. I left because I wanted to work closer to people and empower them to be their optimal selves. I wanted my work to be meaningful for me and to others. Sure the corporate world was great. I made good money, traveled, and got to live in places like Japan and Sweden. However, the work did not provide the fulfillment I craved. So I decided to make a change in my life and after careful consideration, left my job.

I was successful in the corporate world and I always got good grades in school, surely I could write a book, I told myself. After all, what are the ingredients that you mainly need to write? Well, aside from creativity, you need to be disciplined. You need to stick to a routine. There was a TEDx talk in my city recently and my husband, knowing how much I love TED, got me a ticket. One of the speakers was a best-selling author and he mentioned a couple of tips that I thought were quite interesting. First, he told us that he writes either 1000 words/day or 5000 words/weekend. He also writes an autobiography for his characters. The reason for this is to make his characters as real as possible.

From nonfiction authors, I have heard that they break up their books. So for example, they divide up their book by subject and then develop the content in chunks. That seems less daunting to me because you’re now not writing one massive book. Instead you break down the work in pieces, which makes it more manageable. Lastly, I have spoken with published authors who tell me that they just make sure they write at least three times a week.

So, now I want to write a book and I need to empower myself to step up to the challenge. I am a strong believer in that you can make your mind either your best friend or your worst enemy. At the end of the day you can do anything and everything you set your mind to with the right mindset. Below are some points I have come up with, which will help me have the right perspective as I take the plunge into writing my first book.

Please practice these with me if any of the below resonate with you:

1. Believe that you can—think of a time in the past when you were successful at something and draw your empowerment from that.
2. No self-punishment—it is wasted energy, energy that you need to preserve in order to write your book.
3. Let your writing flow. Go back and review your writing, but not in a critical way. Let the editors criticize. You just focus on writing, moving the content around as needed.
4. Have a writing goal and set specific times to write so that you can get accustomed to a routine. For example, I will write 1000 words daily in the mornings.
5. Let the progress be the reward, meaning that writing on a daily basis will be my reward, not how good the book will be at the end. Keep a calendar or a way to check on your progress by checking off every day that you write.
6. When you achieve your weekly writing target, celebrate!
7. Never attach your self-worthiness to the result of the book. Meaning, do not tell yourself that you will be happy when the book is finished or if it is successful. Simply work with the notion that you are doing your best; be grateful and proud of that.
8. Be patient—writing a book is a long process.
9. Keep your energy high and resilience strong….now, during, and at the end of the book. Do this the way you normally do it (exercise, yoga, meditation, etc).
10.  When you feel like you are no longer flowing, reflect on what the obstacles may be. After all, reflection is the key to growth.

In your entire writing and book journey, be kind to yourself as only you know the blood, sweat and tears you put into writing your book. Be proud of yourself when it is finished, but not because the book is a best-seller (even though that would be awesome) but because you followed through on what you set out to do. The next time you need confidence for another project, call back on your writing book experience and draw your confidence from what you did today.

About Natali:

Natali Sanchez Rheault is a full time coach, speaker, and writer. As a coach, Natali works with clients worldwide and focuses on self-empowerment through values-driven action. Natali believes strongly in the power of coaching to overcome hurdles and empower clients into action. Natali’s coaching training is with the International Coach Academy, an International Coach Federation (ICF) accredited training program. She is a member of ICF Global and the ICF Raleigh Chapter.

Before coaching, Natali had 13+ years of experience in the automotive industry leading sizable transformational initiatives and process improvement projects worldwide. Natali’s roles included general manager, project manager, management consultant, global change management lead, and account manager. Natali has an MBA in business and a BA in criminal justice. Natali lives in the Triad area of North Carolina.

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