Last night I sat down on a zoom with my virtual bookclub and we got to meet author Emma Grey. She recently released the book Start at the End, which I highly recommend! It’s a deeper, sliding doors style story where something happens which changes the trajectory of the characters’ lives forever. She tells the story from two points of view- what if this were to happen. While I admired her writing and storytelling, what I took away from her chat were really key points in business and life.
- The Future version of you doesn’t exist yet. It’s a reminder that hard seasons are not the end of our story. There are still so many parts of us just waiting to emerge! Future you, may even do things that current you can’t even imagine yet. I find this relevant as I reflect on my own life. I went to a state college in NY, got my undergraduate degree. I got a job right out of college, worked as a middle school English teacher for 8 years while getting my Masters degree. I then walked away, became a stay at home mom and helped out with our rentals…which then allowed Joe to walk away from his job and we became full time real estate investors, coaches and homeschool our own kids. We moved from NY to FL 4 years ago. Give yourself permission to evolve, change and explore different avenues that were not part of your norm once before.
2. Writing (or any pursuit) doesn’t require perfect conditions. Emma literally spoke on the exact thing we teach inside of our coaching community! Women especially often get things done in the “cracks of the day.” It’s how how we built our real estate investing business to a T!
Not:
- perfect routines
- aesthetic offices
- uninterrupted mornings
- flawless schedules
But:
- tiny pockets of time
- late nights
- parked cars
- cafes
- phone notes
This is how some authors are becoming best selling authors and it is also how real estate empires are built. You do not need a perfect operational structure before you create meaningful work. Messy bun, get it done!
3. Binge work is valid! She shared that at the end of the year, you have a book. It doesn’t matter how you got there. This applies beyond writing. Life is happening and you just fit in the work when you can…if she has a creative burst some nights she is up until 2am writing. I felt this as we were taking real estate more seriously, we became obsessed and there were seasons we went all in. Not everyone thrives in structured 9-12 deep work blocks, OR has that luxury! Make it work when it works for you. (like one author friend she mentioned goes through McDonald’s drive thru and grabs a coffee at 6am. She then works from her car in the parking lot so she can have some quiet time from her kids.).
4. First drafts are supposed to be messy. She shared a sandbox metaphor that I had never heard before!! “You shovel sand in the sandbox first. Then you make the castles later.” How brilliant? We sometimes stop ourselves before we even get started by trying to make it all perfect and beautiful when really we just need to start. Messy massive action comes before refinement.
5. Don’t wait for the “right season”…oof this one hit me as I needed this reminder.
She said:
- don’t wait until the kids are older
- don’t wait until life calms down
- don’t wait until everything is organized
Some of the most meaningful things you’ll build may happen simultaneously with the chaos. I could not resonate more. I cannot tell you how many rent to own tenant showings or seller conversations happened while we were driving in the car. I used to put the kids, 2 and 4 years old, in the car and we’d go to the library which was not even 5 minutes from our house. They would watch a bit of a DVD movie while parked in the lot, while I responded to messages or took a brief phone call. They’d go inside and play with the toys and I’d be messaging people back. We’d pile into the car on Joe’s days off and visit our properties…we’ve always included the kids! In 2021 part of our homeschool was for them to pick out books and play while I sat there and updated the bookkeeping on my laptop. You just make the time. Now the kids come to some of the best masterminds in the country.
I am so grateful I had this opportunity to meet Emma last night…and I just wanted to share some of these beautiful life nuggets she left me with… I will admit for a small season of hustle, I abandoned my love of fiction books for strictly non fiction business books. And while I still love those, don’t get me wrong business books have helped us grow in so many ways…but the fiction, the stories of characters whose lives are messy and sad and beautiful…we need those stories. We need to remember why we are all here to begin with. We have purposes to help one another, care for our families, become the best humans we can be. It’s not linear, it’s not always sensical but it is lovely. So here’s our reminder to pick up the books, slow down when you need to but when the inspiration to sprint happens? Listen to that voice of yours and go after it. Life is meant to be lived and if we are lucky, even on the worst of days, we get to start at the end.
