From time to time in this space, Balboa Press publishes articles written by our authors in which they share some aspect of their self-publishing journeys. These are the words of John Dowd Jr., author of “Heroes, Mentors, and Friends: Learning from Our Spiritual Guides”. You can find out more about John and his book on his website, johndowdjr.com, and Facebook and Twitter. Download the Balboa Press free publishing guide to receive more information on self-publishing your book with Balboa Press. 

 

At 50 years old, I got maybe the best gift anyone could every get. I got fired. Of course, at the moment it didn’t seem like a gift. After a wonderful, 30 year career, I found myself at a new chapter in my life with a burning question: What next?

Should I get a new job and feel like I was a spectator of my life and not living it? Or should I stop and try to finish a book that I had started a few years before, on positive thinking and well-being? How wonderful to think about this project of slowing down and doing something that brought true meaning into my life and the lives of others.

I discovered that I heard two voices speak to me. The voice I call “The Outside Me” kept on pushing me to get another job, keep the money coming in. That voice was the voice of fear, the voice that lives in the external world that measures success by the external things in our life like money, accomplishments and stuff.

That’s the voice in all of us that says things like, “We’re not the kind of people that can feel free and live our dreams.” When that voice spoke, it didn’t feel good.

The other voice that spoke to me made me feel amazing. I call that voice “The Inside Me.” That voice encouraged me to let go of the fear. That voice comes from a higher place and is not concerned with an uncertain future or a regrettable past. That voice is the voice that believes in US. That voice seemed to provide clarity and meaning.

The voice of the “Inside Me” is our soul. It is the higher part of us. It is God speaking through us. We as humans do something strange. We feel 100% comfortable with praying to God and speaking to God and asking God for help. But yet we marginalize it when we think God is actually speaking to US. When we get an intuition, a hunch or an exciting thought that is powerful that is our higher self speaking to us. It is the piece of God that is in all of us. This can be enhanced through meditation.

By listening to the voice of the “Inside Me” – the voice that felt right – it helped me slow down and use two months to decide what I wanted to do. Over that two month period a series of miraculous coincidences or as Carl Jung calls “synchronistic events” began to take place that gave me clear signs that told me to continue writing the book.

Today I’m LIVING my life and no longer living as a spectator of it. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

The “Inside Me” was right. What is your inside voice telling you today?

I will be sharing this story and much, much more during my key note at “FUTURE U.” It’s a one day learning event October 17 in Burlington, Massachusetts. I’d love to see those in the New England area. Find our more at thefutureu.org.

My experience with Balboa was amazing! When I speak I always say that “we need to surround ourselves with people that will champion our cause.”

At Balboa, the book consultants like Heather Carter and marketers like Sandy Powell I feel are champions of my book and my work.

One of the most rewarding experiences for me was writing “Heroes Mentors and Friends.” Writing a book is a very personal experience especially if it’s the first time.

I couldn’t have done it without my champions at Balboa.

Balboa Press authors who’d like to share a 350-600 word experience related to the self-publishing of their books, are invited to do so by sending a message through our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BalboaPress, by tweeting us @BalboaPress, or by emailing dghosh@ balboapress.com. We may not be able to use every story, but we will read and consider them. Balboa Press reserves the right to edit stories for content, grammar and punctuation accuracy; as well as for space.