How much time do you really have?

I’ve never been a numbers person. I hated math. Still do. I just don’t have the patience (it’s an ADHD thing). I’m all about words and language.

But there’s one statistic I want to share with you. It may be familiar. It gets kicked around a lot on the interweb:

85-ish% of people say they want to write a book. Only 3-ish% ever actually do. I'm adding the -ish because I've seen the statistic range of 80-85%, and 1-3% respectively. The numbers suggest that something is getting in the way. The top three roadblocks for all genders, all people, everywhere are lack of time, lack of topic, and lack of confidence.

Time is one that I encourage you to think about a little differently today. Not having enough time in your day is a roadblock, for sure. But have you ever thought about running out of time? I know, I know, nobody wants to think about it. But we all know it is a reality. My friend Nancy's story is a great example of running out of time in a different way.

Nancy had anchored the evening news for over thirty-five years and was thrilled to announce her retirement. Still very fit, active and healthy, her multitude of retirement plans included writing her book. One frosty New England winter morning, she stepped out to walk her dog and slipped on a patch of ice. Both feet went out from under her, and she landed hard. The resulting brain injury is taking years for recovery, and she now struggles to recall past events.

Nancy and I keep in touch, and she still hopes to write her book someday. To be honest, neither of us knows if that will be a reality for her. And that is my point - we don’t know what tomorrow holds for us. What will our reality be?

Seems like these days more people are using LinkedIn to share deeply personal posts about life-changing illness and death. I am moved and in awe of their vulnerability, not to mention their bravery in enduring the inevitable onslaught of negative comments. There appear to be two distinct points of view on this trend. One POV believes this type of post does not belong on a professional platform. The other POV believes these posts reveal the whole person, not just the professional persona. I think there's a messy middle somewhere, where most of us are swimming. And it feels like upstream both ways some days, don't ya think?

Anyway, it's clear that whoever said this first was right: life is what happens while you're busy making plans. So if you’re thinking about putting off your book writing (again)...

PLEASE DON’T WAIT!

Please keep going. You can do this.

Remember: you will only regret not writing your book.