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Why Do People Still Bother To Write Books?

 

Guest articles > Why Do People Still Bother To Write Books?

 

by: Lisa Earle McLeod

 

Have you ever heard someone say, “I should write a book?” Perhaps you’ve said it yourself.

I believe everyone has a book in them.

As an author, people often approach me with the “everyone says I should write a book” line. They then proceed to either tell me their idea, which I always like to hear, or ask me how the publishing process works, which I find far less exciting to describe.

Writing a book is hard enough. Getting it published is even more challenging. You have to want it pretty badly.

People want to write books for a lot of reasons. They want to be famous. They want to make a pile of money. They want everybody from high school to see that they’re not a big fat loser after all.

But there’s really only one good reason to write a book: because you can’t stand not to write it.

You have a story or idea that you truly must share with the world, or you will just die.

I know it was that way for me. You get to a certain point emotionally, where it’s easier to do the book than to not do the book.

My latest book, The Triangle of Truth, was born when I saw the same problem cropping up in multiple places. I work as a sales leadership consultant. I also write a personal development column and I’m a keen observer of politics. Here’s what I observed in each area.

Salespeople who can’t put themselves in the customer’s shoes miss opportunities. When they’re only focused on their own products and services, they miss what’s going on with their customer. They become so attached to their own agenda that they’re blind to any perspective other than their own. The result is frustration, unhappiness and lack of success.

Every time I write about personal relationships in my newspaper column I get loads of letters from hurt, angry, jaded people describing the many ways their partner didn’t “get it.” They want more conversation; their partner wants physical contact. They want a tight budget; their partner wants the freedom to spend. They become so attached to their own agenda that they’re blind to any perspective other than their own. The result is frustration, unhappiness and lack of success.

Which leads me to politics, where for years I’ve watched both parties take a hard line either/or stance refusing to work together. Wait for it, there’s a pattern here, they become so attached to their own agenda that they’re blind to any perspective other than their own. The result is frustration, unhappiness and lack of success.

I came to realize that the problem isn’t salespeople, romantic partners or politicians. The problem is people and the way that we think. When we get overly attached to our own agenda, we perceive that other agendas are in conflict with ours, when in reality, they may be complimentary. The “I’m right so you must be wrong mental habit wreaks havoc on our relationships and our organizations.

Once I saw the problem, I started searching for answers. After I found some answers I couldn’t bear not to write them down. Eventually I became so passionate about solving this problem, I couldn’t not write the book.

Do you have a book in you? I suspect that you do. You’ll know it’s time to write it when it becomes too hard not to write it.

 


Lisa Earle McLeod helps organizations win the hearts and minds of customers and employees. She is the author of three books included the best-seller, The Triangle of Truth: The Surprisingly Simple Secret to Resolving Conflicts Large and Small, A Washington Post Top 5 Book for Leaders.

She is an international keynote speaker and consultant who has been seen on The Today show and featured in Forbes, Fortune, CEO Read and The Wall Street Journal. You can reach her at www.LisaEarleMcLeod.com.


Contributor: Lisa Earle McLeod

Published here on:

Classification: Sales, Leadership

Website: www.LisaEarleMcLeod.com

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Site Menu

| Home | Top | Quick Links | Settings |

Main sections: | Disciplines | Techniques | Principles | Explanations | Theories |

Other sections: | Blog! | Quotes | Guest articles | Analysis | Books | Help |

More pages: | Contact | Caveat | About | Students | Webmasters | Awards | Guestbook | Feedback | Sitemap | Changes |

Settings: | Computer layout | Mobile layout | Small font | Medium font | Large font | Translate |

 

 

Please help and share:

 

Quick links

Disciplines

* Argument
* Brand management
* Change Management
* Coaching
* Communication
* Counseling
* Game Design
* Human Resources
* Job-finding
* Leadership
* Marketing
* Politics
* Propaganda
* Rhetoric
* Negotiation
* Psychoanalysis
* Sales
* Sociology
* Storytelling
* Teaching
* Warfare
* Workplace design

Techniques

* Assertiveness
* Body language
* Change techniques
* Closing techniques
* Conversation
* Confidence tricks
* Conversion
* Creative techniques
* General techniques
* Happiness
* Hypnotism
* Interrogation
* Language
* Listening
* Negotiation tactics
* Objection handling
* Propaganda
* Problem-solving
* Public speaking
* Questioning
* Using repetition
* Resisting persuasion
* Self-development
* Sequential requests
* Storytelling
* Stress Management
* Tipping
* Using humor
* Willpower

Principles

+ Principles

Explanations

* Behaviors
* Beliefs
* Brain stuff
* Conditioning
* Coping Mechanisms
* Critical Theory
* Culture
* Decisions
* Emotions
* Evolution
* Gender
* Games
* Groups
* Habit
* Identity
* Learning
* Meaning
* Memory
* Motivation
* Models
* Needs
* Personality
* Power
* Preferences
* Research
* Relationships
* SIFT Model
* Social Research
* Stress
* Trust
* Values

Theories

* Alphabetic list
* Theory types

And

About
Guest Articles
Blog!
Books
Changes
Contact
Guestbook
Quotes
Students
Webmasters

 

| Home | Top | Menu | Quick Links |

© Changing Works 2002-
Massive Content — Maximum Speed