The Authors Mindset: Build Winning Habits and Succeed

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Transcription

Welcome to the authors mindset Podcast. I’m Dan Padavona, your partner on this amazing journey to become a successful author. If you haven’t already, please click the subscribe button so you will receive all my tips and motivation. And while you’re at it, head over to my website at danpadavona.com. That’s danpadavona.com, and sign up for my free email for my latest tips and tricks and new techniques I’m using to advertise my author brand and generate higher earnings in my writing career. Once again that’s danpadavona.com.

Today we’re discussing habits. The habit of writing is the most important habit that you can form if you want to move ahead as a writer. I think that makes all the sense in the world. Habit Reversal Training, however, is something that therapists use to replace a destructive habit with a positive habit. For instance, if dealing with somebody who’s overweight or has high blood pressure, that therapist may replace standard hamburger meats with turkey burgers or veggie burgers. How does this apply to you? For instance, you come home after a busy day of work, and it’s time to write. However, you instead get on Netflix and start binge watching shows or you jump on YouTube and watch videos for the next hour or two.

This is a chance for you to replace a bad habit, coming home and feeding your brain with mindless entertainment, with writing, which will move your career forward. It uses the exact same amount of time. And all you need to do is exercise Habit Reversal training. Replace the destructive habit with a positive habit.

Another example – coming home and cruising through social media, swiping through videos on TikTok or Instagram for hours on end, versus working on an advertising plan or putting new ads into motion. You are not required to come up with more time during the day. We are simply replacing a destructive habit or a wasteful habit with a positive habit, one which will again move your career forward.

Maybe you complain that you just don’t have enough time to educate yourself. So while you’re driving to work each day, and maybe you have a 30 minute commute each way, you’re listening to news, you’re listening to your favorite musical artists, when you could be listening to self development podcasts, or listening to audiobooks which deal with the tasks that you have at hand. For instance, you could be listening to an audiobook on how to construct better prose. And instead you’re listening to newscasts, which are probably just polluting your mind with a lot of negativity anyway.

Here’s another example – you need to get in shape. Why spend more time during the day going to the gym, when a simple change might be skipping the elevator and taking the stairs? So the work crew usually goes out for lunch at noon. And instead, you choose a healthy meal from home. So now you’re partaking in a meal, which is probably going to be a lot healthier than anything you’re going to get at a diner or a restaurant, you’re saving a ton of money, which is awfully nice, and you are getting in shape by putting good calories into your body rather than have harmful calories into your body. In the same time that you might have spent commuting to your lunch stop destination, you could take a short walk. So there is another way in which you can better use the time which you already have at your disposal.

Instead of taking short drives to the store, why not walk there or ride your bike?

Now that we’re setting habits, let’s delve into the subconscious mind. Did you know scientists have proven that the subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies?

And why is this important? If you can train your subconscious mind to believe the things that you want it to believe – things that will benefit you- you can train that subconscious mind to aid you in the future by giving you opportunities that you would have missed otherwise. I believe this is the reason that people who regularly meditate have more success than people who don’t.

You may believe that something is going on in the universe, perhaps it is God listening to you. If you don’t believe in a god, maybe it’s the universal energy. But what you should believe in is that your subconscious mind can be trained to give you the information that you need, and to recognize opportunities which you would have missed.

If you see yourself making $100,000 in Amazon sales a year from now, make that part of your meditation, or speak it as an affirmation. The more times you prime your subconscious mind with this information, the more times it will believe that it is simply the truth. This activates something called the RAS which stands for the Reticular Activating System. Now what is that? That sounds like a mouthful. Well, here’s a for instance.

In 2014, I purchased a blue Toyota Prius. After purchasing this blue Toyota Prius and going out to drive on the roads, wow, did I see a ton of blue Toyota Priuses on the road. Now, were there actually more Toyota Priuses on the road at that time? No, there weren’t. It’s just that my Reticular Activating System was fired up to find these cars because I had just purchased one myself. In the same way, your subconscious mind will help you recognize opportunities to build your career and move forward.

None of this, however, matters without action. You have to do the work.

I recommend a multi-pronged approach to successful writing. Begin your writing journey here. Work on your physical and mental health every single day; the health of your mind and body feed off of each other. With this in mind, stay positive. Never let negative thoughts control your mind for more than one minute. This is a trick which I stole from Tony Robbins. Whenever something upsets you, think to yourself, should this really be upsetting me this much? How much time and energy should I expend dealing with this negativity?

You’re allowing your mind to stay creative and efficient. And that is so key to writing fiction.

The third prong which you must include in your approach is determining your why.

Well, I’ll give you an example. I am in the process of having a house built in the city of Ithaca, New York, which is probably my favorite city on the planet. I absolutely love the people there. I love the culture. I love the Finger Lakes and everything about it except for the long winters. In 15 months, I’ll need to pay out of pocket for this house, or I’ll have to take on a loan. This is my why.

My why also is making sure that my wife and my children are always taken care of and that they do not need to worry or want. There will be times when all your best laid plans fall apart. If you have a why which is pulling you forward all the time, you won’t give up. You will write every day that you intend to write, you will knock out those novels at a pace which you set for yourself, and you will hit your financial goals.

Now you’re ready to write. You formed your habit. And every day you’re going to work on your word count. And you’re going to work on your word count per time period. Are you ready? Now that you have your habits in hands, and that you know what your why is and you have a positive mindset, it’s time to get a little bit deeper into the nitty gritty of writing itself and advertising. So we’re really going to get our hands dirty in the forthcoming episodes.

If you enjoy today’s episode, please, please do me a favor and go to iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listened to this podcast and give us a rating and a review. Positive reviews help other authors or anyone who’s interested in self development to find our podcast.

Remember to head over to danpadavona.com. That’s danpadavona.com, and sign up for my mailing list. It is absolutely free, and you can see what I’m working on now, and what techniques I’m employing to grow my author business. If you like those tips, you can apply them to your own career.

And remember, the seeds of happiness flourish when you shine a positive light. Make someone smile today, and remember to stay amazing.

For the Author’s Mindset, this is Dan Padavona.