Over the past year I’ve edited a few books which have touched on mindset, spirituality and the law of attraction as a part of the main framework of the book. And I’ve noticed that, whenever authors write about an area that might be deemed unusual or unconventional in their circle, they tend to apologise.
The first step in Miriam Sandkuhler’s Property Prosperity is fixing your money mindset. Angela Counsel’s Secret Mums’ Business has an entire section on healthy thinking, featuring topics like limiting beliefs, the importance of gratitude, meditation and being present. Christina Morgan-Meldrum’s Working Your Mojo talks about goal setting and authenticity, along with practical, entrepreneurial advice for musicians.
What’s interesting is that, in each of these books, these authors made comments like:
While the second two are a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun, they all create the feeling that the author is slightly embarrassed or ashamed to be writing about this sort of thing in a book that’s supposed to help her business. If she wasn’t, why would she need to assure the reader that this part will be quick, or use self-deprecating humour?
I know how challenging it can be to be on a journey of personal growth and spirituality, especially when you’re surrounded by more conventional colleagues. I spent years hiding my ‘woo woo’ self in the corporate world and, even when I committed to being my true self in all areas of my life, it was still difficult to open up about that part of myself. In fact, even on this website I don’t go into that part of me – sure, I’m a little bit quirky and fun, but I haven’t gone into any monologues about the meaning of life and how to find yourself.
But sometimes it’s necessary.
If you are writing a book, you need to trust your judgement. After all, you are the expert in your field.
And if you believe it’s important to talk about mindset or energetic alignment as part of what you teach, then it is important.
And you should never apologise for writing what you know is important.
Yes, Property Prosperity might be about how to find the right investment property (and pay the right price), but how well’s your wealth-creation strategy going to go if you don’t have your mindset up to scratch?
Likewise, if you want to learn to create a balanced life, where work, business, family, fun and your own health and happiness all have their place, how are you going to do that without making sure your head’s in the right space? You could do every other step covered in Secret Mums’ Business, but without looking at the way you think, everything else is superficial – like giving a structurally unsound house a new paint job.
The same goes for Working Your Mojo – if you aren’t clear on who you are and what you want to create, how are you going to create an awesome music career? How are your ideal fans going to find you, if you’re just copying what everyone else is doing, rather than following your own true north?
If you truly believe that something unusual or unconventional has a place in your book, then write it. Your editor can always tell you if it doesn’t work. ;)
And once you’ve committed to writing it, don’t apologise. You wrote it for a reason – trust your expertise and your instincts, and rest assured that something a little different is exactly what will set you apart from the other property investment, women’s empowerment and entrepreneurial books out there.