5 Days of REST

As authors - and business owners in general - we love our readers and clients. Sometimes to the point where we put them before ourselves. But I'm here to tell you that's the fastest way for you to experience author burnout.

I tell my readers, aka #BossReaders, all the time that they are the boss of me; that they are my literary heartbeat; the wind beneath my literary wings. Hey, we gotta love on our readers. It's reciprocity for the love they show us by investing their time and money into our thoughts, ideas, and creative concepts. But readers do not make up your business; YOU do! So, don't feel the need to have to churn out books like a writing mill, hop on lives to do book discussions and readings every week, or post in your Facebook group every day.

You'll wear yourself thin (and out) trying to be author extraordinaire. Without you, first and foremost, there is no business. So if you don't invest in you and your book business, there will be nothing for the readers to invest in. There will be no business. An investment goes beyond paying to attend a conference, taking a writing course, paying for a professional editor, etc. It's sometimes a matter of investing in time . . . downtime.

A couple weeks ago I dedicated five consecutive days to invest time and money into my mental, physical, spiritual, financial, and creative well-being. Two and a half of those days were spent in a hotel room, surrounded by my journals, planners, calendars, and notebooks I'd been writing in for the past three years. They were filled with business and personal plans, dreams, visions, and goals, and the budgets, resources and provisions needed to make it all happen. Some things I had achieved, some I still need to accomplish, and some no longer lineup with my intentions, mission, and assignment. And of course, I had new benchmarks and milestones I wanted to reach. I merged and purged everything into two planners; one designated for my author and publishing business, the other for my personal endeavors.

Within those five days, and in-between my merging and purging, I treated myself to my favorite caffeine beverage, took a walk, a trip to the salon, got a massage, a mani, a pedi, batched some social media posts and videos to turn over to my social media consultant, meditated, stretched, prayed, cried, and laughed. But the best moment of all throughout those five days was when I sat staring out the window doing and lying on the queen bench at the foot of the bed doing absolutely nothing. I even pressed pause on my creative thoughts, ideas, and juices from flowing.

Those five days allowed me to put into action the word God gave me for 2021, which is REST.

REST – Stop chasing (success, clients, blessings, opportunities, etc.) and stop worrying and concerning myself with issues, and rest in God, knowing He’s in control.

RESeT – Go back to the beginning of what was working in the past and tweak/upgrade as needed.

RESTart - Get back to the core of why I do what I do and do it with that intention.

RESTore - Whatever I (think) I lost while resting, God will restore.

So, yes, even though my readers are my literary heartbeat, I'm the brain when it comes to my business. And let's face it, the brain runs the entire show. It may not perform all the roles, but it's definitely the starring act. So, while making sure you invest in the resources and information your brain needs to map out that blueprint to achieve your measure of both personal and business success, don't forget to invest in the time and space your brain needs to rest so that it can get clarity, focus, recharge, and then execute.

Enjoy your day. And by all means, get some rest.

Joylynn M. Ross is the CEO of Path To Publishing, a literary consultant, publishing coach, and literary educator. You can learn more about her and her company by visiting www.pathtopublishing.com. For your free introductory publishing course, visit www.joylynnMross.com.