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- This Book Will Make You Look at Life Differently - August 26, 2019
- What it Felt Like When I Finally Told People I Wrote a Book - July 3, 2019
“How often do we let our negative self-talk get in the way of us going after our dreams, or doing the things we’d most love to do?”
-Paul Kotter, Co-Author, Gifted
That’s the reason I wrote my novel, Gifted, with my co-author Kim Griffith.
Kim and I have both spent a considerable amount of time learning to get past negative thought patterns and finding out what it takes to pursue our biggest dreams in life. We wrote the novel Gifted to inspire adults (and kids) to think powerful thoughts, dream big dreams, and avoid the traps of negative thinking – all lessons that we’ve implemented in our own lives.
We hope the Gifted story leads you to look at your own life differently – with eyes full of possibility.
Take Charge of Your Own Thinking
As we grow into adulthood, many of us get bumped around by life. We may settle into a life that feels a little unfulfilling. Or we may tell ourselves that we’re not meant to pursue our biggest hopes and dreams.
It’s normal to learn negative thinking as we grow older and experience hardships and disappointments.
This attitude often starts when we’re still quite young. Well-meaning adults in our lives want to protect us from being unrealistic with our dreams and goals.
But what if we didn’t develop all those limiting thoughts? What would we be capable of? This is what we explore in the story of Gifted.
Stop Your Negative Thinking Patterns
Several years ago, as I began to examine my thinking, I identified ways we permit circumstances to control our thoughts. How many times have you heard someone say the following:
“I’ll travel and see the world…when I retire.”
“I’ll buy my dream car…when the kids are in college.”
“I’ll save for retirement…when the house is paid off.”
“I’ll start my own business…when I have enough money.”
Can you recognize some form of these statements in your own thinking? If so, it’s okay, I’ve used them too. In fact, I’ve said that I always thought I would write a book…when I was older…and when I was wiser. Unfortunately, it’s normal behavior to postpone our dreams, and our justifications are widely accepted and commonplace.
Unfortunately, it’s normal behavior to postpone our dreams.
Another example of allowing our circumstances to control us shows up when we use phrases like, “it’s a slow time of year,” a “slow season,” or a “bad economy.” I experienced this type of thinking regularly when I managed a sales team at a car dealership. Every month the store operated like clockwork based on the preconceived thoughts of when consumers buy.
I remember vividly a time when my top salesperson approached me in complete and utter frustration after only the first weekend of the month. He told me he needed to reduce his sales goal. I was surprised and asked for an explanation. He shared that he didn’t have the sales he expected the first week, and because of this circumstance, the rest of the month was ruined.
As silly as this seems, my salesperson was convinced his month was over. But it wasn’t just him, everyone at the dealership bought into the notion that car sales only happen on certain days of the month. In all honesty, the sales team had control over plenty of factors that could influence their whole month – but they chose to believe that they had no choice. This is a classic example of how we allow circumstances to control our thinking, actions, and our lives.
Discover A New Way of Thinking
It’s one thing to understand this – but actually changing the way we think is hard! I was fortunate to have mentors to help me learn and implement this new way of thinking, and I’m extremely grateful. The road to personal development can be intense, and sometimes it seriously hurts my brain. But as I traveled further down this path, I wondered how I could help others become aware of this life-changing gem, in a non-brain-hurting, fun, and enjoyable way? And that’s where the idea of Gifted came from.
Kim and I wrote Gifted to illustrate the power our thoughts have in a fun and entertaining way. Gifted is a book of fiction, but if I had to place it in a category, I would invent one called Self-Help Fantasy. You’ll soon see that our characters are normal people who like me, were introduced to a better way of thinking. And that’s where this great adventure begins.
Meet the characters that bring Gifted to life. Follow us on Instagram for previews, join our Facebook Group, or sign up now for email updates. You’ll get the inside scoop and be the first to know when we launch the book.
Although we may not face the outrageous and fictitious circumstances we created for our characters in this fun story, we do share the daily battle against an army of negative thoughts.
If you read Gifted and enjoy it, I’m a very happy author. However, if you use one of its magical lessons to make any aspect of your life better, then my mission as an author has been accomplished.
Visit ReadGifted.com now to Join the Gifted Universe and learn more about the power of your thoughts. In what ways do you allow your circumstances to control you? We’d love to hear your experiences, please share in the comments!
