The Courage to Take the First – and the Last – Step

As many of you know, my first book, “Is This Seat Taken?” was released this week on 11/1/11. This story book is a collection of highly personal vignettes from my life as a global traveler over the years. My intention in remembering and sharing these stories is simply to highlight the wisdom of the many virtually invisible people who cross our paths each and every day. The only prerequisite to benefit from these individuals is for us to be awake in the present moment to hear and see what is right in front of us. These insights helped me on my own individual road to alignment.

In the spirit of full transparency, it is with a healthy combination of passion, excitement and fear that I welcome 11/1/11. It has been a year+ of hard work, tumultuous learning curves, and – quite frankly – frustration. Writing a book is not for the faint of heart. Simply stated: the publishing industry is changing rapidly yet remains broken.

So what have I learned in this process? Well, I could cathartically write a book on how to write a book from my perspective, as there is so much one does not know until you are knee deep in it and by that time the only option is to keep plugging forward! Yet, what I would like to share in this particular blog is a single keen awareness about myself, which may prove insightful, stimulating or maybe even encouraging to those of you facing similarly challenging entrepreneurial roles, corporate leadership positions, or simply living life in general.

Passion trumps fear.

The fact is that I have always wanted to write, ever since I was a little girl. Thus, I did – starting when I was a child. A book was the dream. I believe in order for dreams to come true we have to put in place a plan fueled by discipline and move stubbornly forward in faith. In my case, the fear of rejection, failure and all the other types of risk associated with this dream fell second to the passion. Sure, I am still greeting 11/1/11 with some trepidation, yet the fact is that I have jumped out of the plane, hoping the parachute opens! Regardless, the experience has been tremendous and I have learned a lot which I will undoubtedly use with my Alignment, Inc. clients and in the writing of my second book.

Net: passion was the key for me. Without that, this book would never have seen the light of day.

Is This Seat Taken? Dallas Book Launch from Kristin Kaufman on Vimeo.