A Secret About the Impact You’ll Make With Your Book
Did you know that hummingbirds live year-round in the Pacific Northwest?
Up until recently, I did not. (I promise, this fact relates to you getting a book deal.)
I have the pleasure and privilege to live in Seattle in an apartment with a balcony, and when we moved in I bought a hummingbird feeder. All summer long, I enjoyed watching the birds come and drink sugar water. I remember my mom doing the same thing where I grew up in rural Wisconsin.
But then when I saw a hummingbird come to the feeder in November, I was surprised. Aren’t hummingbirds migratory birds? Shouldn’t they be somewhere warmer? I told a friend who has lived in Seattle for 20 years about my bird. She told me, in a very serious tone, that I should keep feeding my hummers because other people stop when it gets cold outside.
So I did. Pretty soon I noticed five or six “regular” birds coming to drink lots and lots of sugar water. And when it snowed six inches unexpectedly in December . . . even more hummingbirds arrived. The first few fought through the snow covering the feeder and tried to drink from the partially frozen sugar water.
I was aghast.
For a week, every night at dusk I would bring the feeder in so it wouldn’t freeze. I set an alarm every day during my Christmas vacation so I could put the feeder back out right before sunrise so the hummingbirds could eat and survive. I even bought a heated hummingbird feeder so my birds would always have access to fresh food in the future.
One day, I saw a hummingbird sitting on the railing of our balcony. I was afraid it was sick, or worse . . . but then the bird looked directly at me and fluttered its feathers. When I started to be a little obsessed over mothering my hummingbirds, I pulled out a really cool book I bought a few years ago — WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A BIRD. (If you are a bird nerd like me, I highly recommend it.)
That book taught me that hummingbirds survive the winter by lowering their heart rate to almost nothing, allowing them to be very, very still until they are able to warm up. This particular hummingbird was doing exactly that, sitting in the winter sun, waiting to get warm enough so he could flutter and eat.
What I realized in that moment was two things.
First, that hummingbird seemed to trust me enough to allow me to come relatively close to him. Which made me feel really fucking cool.
Second, it mattered that I was showing up for that bird and all the others. By putting out the feeder day after day, I supported that little community of hummingbirds.
Just like YOU do when you show up — in emails like this, on social media platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, and in paid offers that get results for clients.
What I want you to know is that publishing a book is just one tiny slice of your greater impact. Will you change lives with your book? Of course. Definitely. That’s why I do what I do and why most of my clients work so hard to get a book deal with a traditional publisher.
But will you impact even more lives by simply showing up now?
If your audience is like hummingbirds in winter — who need support to thrive — then the answer is yes. Of course. Definitely.
