You may have gathered in a recent blog post that I recently had published my long-awaited book: The Tell-All Guide to Airbnb Hosting, Proven Tips, and Tricks for Successful Hosting. It’s a book that I started a couple of years ago and due to a combination of the pandemic in 2020, and the backup with printers and publishers its arrival was a bit later than expected.
Giving birth to a book is very similar to birthing a child. Everyone knows it’s coming and you have an expected date of arrival but you could be late and you are likely to get asked consistently, “When is the book going to be available”? It was after some time that instead of giving a date, I would just say, “ I’m not sure when it’s supposed to be here. It will arrive when it’s supposed to be here”. I had let go of the process and was leaving it up to someone that knew better than myself when it was to arrive! Good thing I did surrender because it did arrive at the best time! May 4, 2021. Things were beginning to open up with the pandemic, people were out and about and traveling more. Now was the time to be talking about travel and home hosting!
After its publish date, you then wait for your “contractual “ copies with the publisher. Again, you wait and wait for them to arrive via the mail. Finally, the day arrives and with your two children, you open the package to reveal the cover of the book that you’ve seen a million times in a PDF document. My daughter asked me, “ How do you feel? I had been thinking of this a lot in the days prior. Why if I had published a book did I not feel more excited and proud of my accomplishment? What was wrong with me?
My professional background for over thirty years has been corporate sales. Anyone familiar with this culture knows that once you accomplish something it’s on to the next! Remember the 1986 song by Janet Jackson, What have you done for me lately? I often laugh as that’s how I’ve lived my life. Victories were a short celebration and then it’s on to the next goal.
My daughter was asking me to stop, pause and celebrate my accomplishment. Enjoy the moment, bask in the congratulatory messages, stop and smell the roses! Here I was taking advice from my daughter for once and why not? The logical side of me says, of course, you should celebrate!
Studies have shown that celebrating a success leads to developing a “success mindset” and acknowledging one success increases your confidence so you are more likely to have the motivation to tackle something new! But really… taking time to celebrate releases dopamine and who doesn’t want to have more “happy chemicals” in the brain! I decided to let myself not think so logically this time. Why not take a moment to smell the roses because it will be fun to celebrate this milestone with the people I care about most in my life! Why not just pause to have some FUN!
So, Drum Roll… I’ve decided to hold a small book release party in my home as a way to acknowledge, mark the milestone and celebrate! A small party with close friends and family. Full disclosure, old habits die hard. I am already off blazing the trail to the next goal. For me, this will be a learned behavior but one I might start to enjoy!
What has been your most recent accomplishment and how have you stopped, paused, and celebrated? I would love to hear from you!
