BEHIND THE BOOK: PRE-LAUNCH ROLLERCOASTER CLIMB

A week after I returned home from the safari, I fell into a bit of a bliss crash (as my dad would call it). The trip was so exciting and rejuvenating, and on my way home I realized: my book is launching in TWO MONTHS. Two months!

I know how exciting this is. I’m so proud of it. I can’t wait for all of you to read it. And yet, at the same time, nerves sidled right up next to that excitement. I have always promised to give you the low-down on what happens behind-the-scenes, so in this week’s podcast episode I share insights on my experience in the weeks leading up to a big launch.

ASCENDING THE GRIZZLY

I wasn’t expecting to feel such a vague nervousness.

I have since worked through these feelings (meditation and exercise are life-savers!!), but when I first returned, the anticipation of waiting for this massive creative project to launch felt like a giant roller coaster ticking up, up, up.

In high school I used to ride rollercoasters at a theme park called Great America. There was one in particular called The Grizzly (watch the ascent here). It is made out of wood, and everything creaked as you climbed. You couldn’t see over the peak at the top. The vintage-seeming construction made it even more terrifying.

And then, as the cars nudge their way over the peak at the top, DESCENT. Straight down, you see just how far and steep you’ll go.

It’s exhilarating! It’s so much fun. It’s the ride of a lifetime, let’s do it again! But holy hell does that ascent still cause butterflies—and the descent a massive tummy flip—every time.

Sure, you start to anticipate what’s coming (this is my second book launch) but it doesn’t take away the feeling of building toward something for so long—in the case of PIVOT, three years—and not having any clue what will happen on the other side of the fast-approaching launch.

What if nothing changes? What if everything does?

There is no way to know.

That’s what makes the ride so fun. We can’t know. All we can do is try our best and get on the ride, even if it means we need to white-knuckle-grip the edges on the way up. Then at some point, we throw our arms up and love the feeling of flying through the air.

Here's another front row seat view of the bumpy yet fun, " The Grizzly". As I said, it's extremely bumpy, so it might be pretty hard to see.

PODCAST: BEHIND THE BOOK: PRE-LAUNCH ROLLERCOASTER

Listen below or on iTunes, SoundCloud, Overcast, Stitcher, or Google Play Music.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE