Decisions
I was talking with my dear friend Jacqui about a blog I sent out a couple months ago called, Quit to Win. I wrote about how I quit my big time real estate career to follow my dreams (which somehow managed to inspire hundreds of people and the reason I know this for sure is because they wrote back to me and told me so), and she insisted I write a book. “But, on what?” I asked. “How you quit to win” she replied, and went on to say, “It’ll be great, just write out seven or eight steps on ‘how’ you did what you did and people will be inspired by your story!” Easy enough, I decided I would.
Have you ever written a book? Wait, let me back up. Have you ever thought about a writing a book but that’s about as far as you got? Yeah, not so easy. Especially if you claim yourself as the “expert” in an area you feel quite confident you could use a lot of help. And, steps? Yikes. But, I tried, I did. I thought and thought about what those “steps” were (or could be) and even though it had only been a few short days, I knew I was in big trouble because I was absolutely clueless.
Bless you sweet Jacqui, but who am I to tell people what to do, step by step, and voila! – promise they’ll have a better life? If only. Each person is so unique and so different, how could one way (my way) work for everyone? Sooo, long blog longer, I decided not to write the steps but that I would indeed, write the book. Quit to Win will be a book of my own personal insight and revelation that make up who I am, what I’m doing and where I’m going. I figure the “how” will work itself out.
April 10th, 2007 at 7:33 am
I totally understand Michelle:
As one who has done writing in various forms (including my own stories and fan fiction), I know it's not as easy to write as it looks. For instance, one story of mine that I want to make into a movie is sort of a remake of the 1995 movie "Before Sunrise", but is actually set on September 30, 1967 around a running of the Woodward Stakes (mainly now a major race for older horses that is a prep for the Breeders' Cup that back in the day was usually the first time three year olds met their elders) at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York that was billed as "The Race of the Century" and can still arguably be considered the biggest non-Triple Crown race of the past 50 years. People truly went to great lengths to see that running of the Woodward in person, and that's why I think it would make a great base, not to mention if it were made into a movie, I could also use it to possibly pay tribute to arguably the greatest radio station of all time, MusicRadio77 WABC. You can see for yourself how big that station really was in its heyday by going to the massive tribute site for it at:
http://www.musicradio77.com
The story is something I still want to see done as a movie, but under the right circumstances, as the actual writing of this is over 100 pages, and I would suspect going from story to script form would take it between 150-200 pages.
I suspect you'll do just fine in your own writing Michelle.
Walt
April 10th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Good luck with your writing.
April 10th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Michelle, best of luck with the book. I actually wrote a book a few years ago (a text book, so people HAVE to buy it, but it does sell well!). It was NOT easy. One mantra that helped me through the process was "WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW". When I would say that to myself, the words would flow much more easily.
Good luck once again. In the meantime, I hope to meet you at the finale!
Seth
April 10th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Hi Michelle. This is Steve and I had written once or twice to you over at Myspace. I hope you are finding many rewarding challenges.
The "quittowin" idea is intriguing because it is about being resourceful, redirecting to succeed and adapting to limitations to be more successful. I recall all the examples in sports where one diverts to win. Think of football running backs zig-zagging for a yardage gain, pop-up flies to advance a runner in baseball, or, a hockey play where the offense retreats to reorganize.
You will be successful in whatever you do. Blogging is a great way to "micro-cast" (instead of broadcast) your ideas and philosophies. (There is a way to incorporate your blog into your website. Email me if interested.)
I am sure you will get many interesting ideas for your book. Don't overlook all the examples of "quittowin" in big business case studies. Might be an interesting angle.
I would enjoy greatly seeing you be a wild success to counter Mr Trump's demeaning arrogance. Just don't go on the World Wrestling Federation and "jump the shark" like Trump.
April 11th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Michelle – I was one of those people that you inspired to go on and do what I have always wanted to, but never felt I could. That's one of the ironies of the Apprentice – that two of the people who inspired me the most were portrayed as 'losers' on the show. 'Reality' huh?
As far as writing a book is concerned, I have started many times and never finished.
The problem for me (and maybe the same for you) is that I am very creative, and idea people often have trouble following through on the mundane tasks that inevitably follow. Idea people need to team up with the kind of people who have the talent and ability to follow through and finish the task.
That may be an option for your book worth considering.
Thanks again and good luck with all you do.
Doug @ Globespotter
April 21st, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Hi! You left many things behind?
Billionaire – Joe Aldeguer will bring you on in a heartbeat. Where are you located? We are selling some badass properties. ex. Mondrian – South Beach with the Morgans Hotel Group.
500k yr easy
Let me know – Todd
tallen@mtgexchange.com
April 25th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
I see some potential in this book. Some times you have to get rid of all the mental garbage to succeed. Good luck with your project.