When Life Takes A Turn
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how some dreams and plans get realized, some never see the light of day, and some merely get delayed. I’ve been thinking about it because it seems something that I thought had slipped away after life took a dramatic turn for me almost 8 years ago didn’t actually go away. Well, not entirely anyway.
In February 2014, I published a book called The Day You Find Out Why. It was my third book and the culmination of work that I’d been doing since 2010 providing one-on-one consulting and group workshops based on the material. During that February, I also delivered a successful 4-week teleclass series on the subject. My plan was to keep the momentum going, and the teleclass provided the necessary feedback for how to turn it into a recorded, self-paced video course. I began to create the video course in earnest.
Then – you know what they say about best laid plans – two months after the book was published, I suddenly had to stop working on that course and anything to do with the book. Turns out the husband had moved on from the marriage and chose that time to tell me he wanted to divorce. So, instead of promoting my new book and creating my new course, I found myself focused on keeping myself together as I sorted through 28 years’ worth of accumulated furniture, kitchen utensils, and memories. Instead of working from a spreadsheet that outlined my course development plan or my book marketing plan, I was working from a spreadsheet to arrange an unexpected major life transition.
Of course, all that happened a long time ago, and this is NOT a tale of woe. At the time a friend told me, “You may not believe it now, but he’s done you a favor.” She was right, and today I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life. I’m only mentioning all of this to illustrate the point that I know that when life takes a turn, some dreams go away (and usually for the best!), and some dreams merely get delayed.
I’m pleased to say the video course based on the material from that book is one of the ones that merely got delayed. More than a decade after creating the first iteration as a live workshop, the self-paced video course is finally done. Last night, I put the finishing touches on the program and uploaded it all on Gumroad. Yay!
Even though I loved the book and know it has served well the people it eventually reached over the years, not long after it was published, I immediately had to let go of it and my plans for it. I gave up defining its success by how many copies it will have sold. What that whole period in my life taught me is how to hold on loosely to dreams and definitions of success. I’ve learned how to create work and then let it go. It’s sort of like raising children. Once they leave the nest, you must let them be who and what they will be in the world.
Anyway, creating books and courses is a cool thing to get to do, and I’m grateful that I’ve been able to get to do it many times during my career. But I’ve also learned to not get tied in knots over what happens after I’ve released the work into the world. And now, as before, I’m focusing on what I want to create next.
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Angela Loeb has written several books, published hundreds of articles, developed dozens of programs, and produced 100+ podcasts about career and personal development. Learn more at http://angelaloeb.com
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