You’ve put it off long enough. You know it’s what you need to build your credentials to pitch to media. You know it’s a great tool to reach a bigger audience and save time. But what you feel is more than just procrastination. It’s more than just avoidance. It’s flat out resistance.

You don’t want to write it. You don’t want to talk about it. Maybe you want to have one. But right now, you keep saying it’s not a priority.

Let’s look at what’s going on.

Dig a little, and look at what is really happening. Write down some of the things you’ve been telling yourself to avoid writing. Does any of this sound familiar?

• It’s too expensive.
• It’s time consuming.
• It’s a waste of time.
• I wouldn’t know what to write about anyway.
• I’d have to sell a million copies to make back my investment.
• I’d have to buy a million copies to be able to self-publish.
• Only the big names can write books.

Now, examine what’s at the root of each of these statements. Chances are, most of these things are simply not true, but you’ve been using them as an excuse to mask the fact that you don’t understand the process and can’t see the value of what you need to do.

If you have other ideas in your head (you know, the go-to-statements you use whenever someone suggests a book or you see one of my videos pop up in your feed), write those down, too. Are they true? Are they serving a purpose? Can you find evidence to the contrary?

Time and money are often the first things that we go to as an excuse, so let’s think about those.

1. As far as time goes, you can spend 30 minutes every day working on your book for 3 months and get pretty far into the draft, if not finished. I guarantee that you waste 30 minutes every day on Facebook or watching a show that you’re half interested in. Take that time to write.
2. The investment can be fairly minimal if you’re willing to write and design the cover on your own. Then, your only costs would be in editing and marketing. If you self-publish through a print-on-demand service like KDP.com (owned by Amazon), there is no upload fee, and you can easily use their cover design tool. Plus, let me just bust this myth, you don’t have to buy ANY copies. Not one. But, you can purchase copies for a minimal fee if you buy in bulk (think $5 apiece for 10 or more copies) and have them shipped to your house. It’s way easier and cheaper than you think.

Moving on, let me assure you that you don’t have to be famous to publish. It helps to have an audience and a marketing plan if you want to go through a traditional publisher, but all you need is the marketing plan for self-publishing. No need to go Kim Kardashian and try everything you can to get attention so you can publish a book for your business (if fact, please no). I do recommend working with a professional for the marketing portion.

And finally, the value. You can do so much with your book. It’s a giveaway, it’s a marketing tool, it’s an intro to your programs, it’s that thing you hold up to show that you’re an expert, and it’s great for having something tangible on your table at speaking events for people to buy and get started on your funnel. You can tell anyone who is vaguely interested in your programs to pick up your $5, $10, or even $20 book and get started. It builds the know, like, and trust factor, and it costs less than a new pair of jeans. Maybe even less than a glass of wine, depending on where you are. And you made it once. Then all you have to do is offer it. If that doesn’t help you break through all the resistance, then take a harder look at it. Are you thinking about writing a book that you really shouldn’t be writing? Does the niche feel off? Does the message feel off? Are you saying something you don’t fully believe in or that you haven’t experienced on your own? There may be a very good reason why you are procrastinating. Adjust the aim for your book and maybe that will be enough to motivate you!