I’ve shared some of the systems that have helped me to get clear and stay calm when my book was being released by McGraw Hill.

Many of you let me know that those insights were very helpful so I thought I would share what I discovered about who I need on my team to feel prepared. This is an elaboration on how I was”getting help.”

The Kind of Support You Need to Succeed With Less Stress:

• An Expert Coach: The first time I wrote a book, understanding the big picture of such a multi-faceted book marketing project was difficult for me. I practice what I teach others, and typically can plan out big projects without a problem. But after trying to do this on my own for a month and a half, I discovered, I really needed expert help in this previously unexplored area of business. At first I looked into trainings because I thought I needed more information. But all that left me with was more and more notes and less and less idea of where to focus. Fortunately, I discovered someone who was an expert at coaching people on the book launch process. He helped me come up with plans, timelines, and was able to offer expert answers to questions along the way. This was a HUGE relief.

• A Creator: I put up an initial landing page for my book at TimeInvestmentBook.com, using my own basic WordPress skills. But after talking to my coach, I realized I need to enlist a creator to make the book page all that it should be. I was excited to use the designer who also worked on my site and knew that he would be able to do everything so much faster and better than I ever could.

• An Assistant: I have a client joy director who takes care of day-to-day items. But to really make the most of this opportunity to make a positive impact, and to help all of you to know how to spread the word about this book, I realized I needed another assistant to help me with PR/outreach/follow up etc. It’s hard for me to let go of the process because I know that I’m a good writer and I love developing relationships and communicating with people directly. But realistically, I could just not do everything and everyone justice and complete these tasks on my own.

Depending on your personality, this may seem incredibly basic to you or it may be enlightening. I know that my natural personality is to try to figure out things on my own (I was the student who was happy when projects were individual not as a group.) But I’m finding that when I let go of control and really let other people use their gifts, everyone is so much better off.

I think this fall photo of me best describes how amazingly awesome and freeing it feels to have the support of an expert team:

 

May you open yourself up to receive all the support that you need to be your very best self and do your very best work.

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E® a time coaching and training company that empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished. She is an expert on achieving more success with less stress. Real Life E® also increases employee productivity, satisfaction and work/life balance through coaching and training programs.
McGraw Hill published her first book The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success with Less Stress. Harvard Business Review recently published her second book How to Invest Your Time Like Money. Elizabeth contributes to blogs like Lifehacker, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and the 99U blog on productivity for creative professionals and has appeared on CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox.