I was on a car trip to Surrey with a friend I call Mox Diamond. They gave me a great deal of advice and feedback that also gave me some perspective. They seem to think I didn’t glean what they were trying to tell me, though I did take a lot of what they shared for my awareness.
They told me some things about what I’ve been doing with my books and Facebook posts, and I agree with some of their points. I should not be using Seed Fund ideas as marketing leverage to earn money and sales for myself. If I’m going to give back, I must receive earnings and advocate for distribution of the books honourably.
The friend’s advice gave me some insight into how I’ve been quite pushy and money focused. By trying to be transparent, I was a bit scummy. When I’ve been saying that I’m not writing for money, though want to earn with what I’ve created, there’s a contradiction. If I’m going to work to earn money, then I should maybe explicitly make the focus of sales more pronounced. I also wonder what would happen if I shift to becoming money focused for my sake and keep my charitable work secret as they suggested.
I had made a post on Facebook after the Surrey trip asking for financial support to order books. The friend who gave me the bundle of advice told me that they thought I didn’t listen to anything they said. I know, again, that I did take a lot away from the conversation, just maybe not what they wanted me to take away. They think me ordering books is a waste and that I should get some bookbinding equipment and instead print at home.
Their conversation’s advice also reminded me that for someone to give money for a book, let alone the time commitment to read it, is a big thing for some. I accept that’s an issue.
From the conversation, in retrospect, I also believe I let another dominate the conversation by not speaking up for what I think. I barely said a word because I wanted to hear what the friend was saying, though maybe I should have let them know more of my own opinions instead of passively taking in everything said.
In a different conversation with the same friend a few days before, they said they think I should post on a blog and monetize by putting ads on the page. I don’t like this idea, though, maybe, I should have been direct with them and said that I didn’t agree with the tactic. Earning pennies on ads, and also having ads on my blog isn’t something I think could be useful; I barely have any followers on my blog. I note I’m a bit stubborn adapting to others input.
There’s the truth that many people may tell us what they think we should do, though we must also keep right to ourselves. Using my blog to share my work in snippets, a two to five minute read compared to an entire book, may be a good idea. If I write often and garner higher viewership, that might help with the books and music. The premise of people passively supporting with a banner ad click or a like or share would expand our reach, though I’m not clear if it’s a compelling idea.
There’s vital worth in hearing other people’s ideas, feedback, and opinions of our work or activities. I now know that some people think I’m sleazy for pushing books and money ideas out there to the world. Maybe I’ve not been faithful enough to myself either.
Maybe I’ve been deluding myself about my believed purpose. I like hearing other people’s input about my process and work as it helps me adjust and restructure what I’m doing, yet it also crucially reminds me how and why I’m doing what I do. I must stay true to my prerogatives and myself.
I’ve not been productive at selling books, and the feedback given on the Surrey trip was that I was preaching what I was doing as having altruistic motives. I’ve been telling people about the Seed Fund, and I also know I had an edgy feeling that I was manipulative by pushing the idea.
I keep my commitments made from my Intents of Income declaration, though I may need to withhold some of my obligations. Maybe it’s true that people accept me pushing for book sales even if I claim the earnings as personal gain. What is done with the money charitably? Is it more palatable to promote for my benefit than to work for a cause? I’m not clear on this.
There also have been some key people and supports that have encouraged me to continue doing what I do. The post that I made asking for support found three people to put $50 each towards ordering copies of the books! This money allowed us to bring 15-17x books into Chilliwack! I have ideas to put some in a local store, to bring Fragments of Intent to Coles for review, and to bring the books further outward by sharing them.
I also wonder if because my intents are different than others that that’s why some people don’t understand what I’m doing and why. Even if we know our own authentic and honest intents, we must also accept that another views us through the lens of their perspective. If readers buy a book and read it, a ridiculous amount of information may more clearly clarify our truths and reasoning.
My audience is a tiny group of people up to now. I believe in the power of a small fee and few to do the great work of many, and if you are reading this book, you’ve given a great deal more than just the purchase of a book. You’ve given us a chance to learn, grow, develop, and share ideas, and you also provide hope with an opportunity to be heard. You’ve done this by letting me write for you.
I’m still not a big fan of push promotion advertising. I don’t know what the tipping point was for you buying this book, though I hope it was because you wanted to and not because you thought you we obliged to.
There are a few people that chip in cash to buy books from me that, then, didn’t read the books. It’s nice to have made a sale, yet there’s the truth sometimes the gain I’m searching for is to be heard, and not only to have received money. The differentiation is how there are some people I want to share the books with, even at my own cost.
Knowing our intents is vital! We need to understand why we’re doing things we do so that we can act ethically and explicitly within our prerogatives. I want to work and share my process, and I also want to develop prosperity and self-sufficiency. Knowing what we want to support and how to gain those things will evolve our actions.
I think the Surrey friend was right in that some of my intents were out of line. I was pushing ideas to generate sales. Maybe the Seed Fund idea should be a byproduct of what I do as I assure myself prosperity. Then, I can share instead of saying I’ll share so that people will buy my books.
Jack Canfield’s idea of E+R=O might want to add the variable of ‘I’ for intent. E+I+R=O. The ‘E’ event and our ‘R’ response (I think) should couple with ‘I’ intent to get the ‘O’ outcome.
We may have the right intent, though if our response is off, it doesn’t guarantee the desired result. If our Intent is off, then we can do the right things, not achieve the outcomes we want, and need to shift. We need to be aligned with our values and act in the ways that are right for us to find the personal results (outcomes) that we want. The right things, at the right time, for the right reasons!
The part about the right people is also crucial. When I have doubts about people and their real intents, I can be put off by welcoming them into my life. If I know that someone is working with correct and proper action, I also note I’ll give more grace and want to help them, even if there are other issues. As a note, for right now, I’m not clear about knowing what the Surrey friend’s intent was. I should give them a call.
I called them. The friend thinks that ordering books is a waste of money and that if I’m running a marathon that I’m shooting myself in the foot before I run. I’ll come back to this tomorrow…
(April 3rd, 2017 @ 11:54 PM)
Italian lessons not done yet, though an hour of reading, and a play of Eric Thomas on Lewis’ podcast, are complete. I focus on and develop my craft.
Some people believe entirely in waking up early and getting to work right away. Waking up early in the morning is a great way to live, though I’m not one of those people. I’m a person that extends and pushes myself to the boundaries of wakefulness. I think that I’ve not been accomplishing much recently, though the night fuels me to stay up late and work. I’d prefer to keep at the plow and work to earn our future, tap myself out, and then recover.
This ‘tapping out’ is a Magic: The Gathering term of when a player is out of available mana. One can only do a few things in the game without mana. Mana is used to fuel spells and abilities though I use Magic as a metaphor for how I’ve tapped out often with my finances.
I’ve often overextended myself and then hope to recover later in the future. I don’t always like this feast and famine attitude. It’s more of a behaviour, not an attitude, though it does cross over to how I work. Going to bed early, to me, is sometimes like quitting. I’d prefer to tap out and use all my energy, and then miss parts of the next day. Some Magic players would also note though that I don’t want to pass my turn.
I have a strange and weird belief that if I keep pushing my process and myself, there can and will be beneficial results. I know I’m productive at night and that fact has been with me for many years. It’s not healthy to stay up late every night, though I also want to get my work done. I don’t know the answer to the dilemma, though is it not a great idea to dig into my work and form such when intuitively inspired? Is it better to cultivate at night instead of passively doing what the world thinks I should do?
I’ve been digging into Jack Canfield’s book The Success Principles again. The principles he teaches are crunching into my own belief, heart, and intent. The Surrey friend’s opinion is that it’s asking too much from people to buy a book and read it. Couple Jack’s advice from the principles of “Ask! Ask! Ask!” and “Reject Rejection.”
The advice fuels me and reminds me that there are billions of people on this planet, and that means many people are out there to purchase books. It may be amazingly useful to be open to criticism and guidance, though I also know not to give up. I’m willing to pay the price.
I know that I want to get to the point I’ve told to some; to reach my Freedom Solution. I’ve gotten so little advice up to now from direct friends, and because of that, I’d like to give some others feedback. I’d like to add some valuable advice and information that people can use to improve their lives.
Going back to how some people don’t think I should be pushing my work and books at people, I also know that the books develop and progress. They help purge many of the bits that are still twinged in my being, though I must get to the point of giving back.
For your life, the advice I’ve heard and read is that we need to get ourselves sorted out first before we can help others. I know my first few books may not generate lots of money and there are so few that have read what I’ve written. I’ve only been writing for a short few years, and there’s still so much to write and form. I know and accept I’ve not yet earned my audience. However, the Fountains books continue to shape and evolve.
Many online people have made a wish; that we become highly self-aware. This wish is apparent to me. I’m at the point now where I know a lot about myself and why I do what I do. I’ve clarified my intent, and though it took forming five books to get to the point of actually finding my knowledge, clarity, and faith, I have some ideas and care to help others. I’m also a bit impatient about developing my work.
This book is meant to direct secret guidance through a sense of knowing the muddle. I’ve sometimes been too accepting to form a rebuttal, and I’m honestly so clearly lost about the cost bossed around in the heart. I again impart that we’re always before the next inevitable start. Though the curtains may cart the second act away, it’s on the third part of the play that we find how you too learn, love, live, thrive, create, play and pray.
Maybe it’s my fault for not thoroughly caring enough about others. My intents and declarations give me something to work for, though there’s the fact that some want to close the door on me for what I’ve committed. It also reminds me of something. It reminds me that some people do assure we help other people live lives. We can, do, and shall love that that allows us to be free.
You may not believe I heard or listened, Diamond, yet perchance too you seem not to know that my heart soaked in more than you intended me to identify. The facts of my pacts, though, may blend in some of your ideas into how we know the fields grow.
A Node in the Contialis 