One of the most life changing events that ever happened to me, occurred when I attended a course on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. It was a required course for managers at the company where I worked. It may sound cliché to say that the course changed my life, but it’s true. It was during this training that I had an epiphany. If you’ve never read the book, I highly recommend it. However, there is nothing like attending a course by a Covey trained instructor.
In all honesty, I don’t know if the actual habits, are a big revelation. I suspect that most people would say that the 7 habits aren’t major surprises. In fact, it’s very similar to dieting. When you get down to the nitty gritty, we all know what we need to do to lose weight. Yet the weight loss industry is extremely lucrative, filled with books, tapes, videos and food supplements which all claim to shed pounds or inches. I think the revelation happened for me when I created my personal mission statement. Here’s the basics: On your deathbed, what do you want people to say about you? Rarely will anyone say at the end of their life, they wished they’d worked more hours. Covey asks you to think about, what you were put on this earth to do.
My mission statement was short and simple—only seven words. Enjoy Life. Live Well. Make a Difference. Sounds vague? That was my plan. Each of those things could mean a lot of different things and apply to different areas of my life. For years, I thought/dreamed of one day hitting the lottery so I could afford to quit my job and focus on what I wanted to do—WRITE. Habit #3 in the 7 Habits book is, Put First Things First. For me, that meant, if something is important, you make time for it. I knew if I wanted to be writer, I couldn’t wait around for my ship to come in/the stars to align or to hit the lottery so I could afford to quit my job and write. If writing was important, then I needed to make time for it and just DO IT. Sounds simplistic doesn’t it? At the time, it did to me too. When I took the 7 Habits class, I was working full-time and completing my Master’s Degree in Business. I was also very active in my dog club. I didn’t have a family to care for, but I did have two poodles. Nevertheless, that’s when I started writing seriously. I’m not a morning person, so getting up early to write wasn’t going to happen for me. Instead, I wrote at night. I wrote every night for 1- 2 hours after 10:00 pm (when I put my dogs to bed) to 11:30 -12:00. Some nights I wrote a lot, other nights not so much. The important thing was that I was writing consistently. I wasn’t dreaming about writing. I wasn’t waiting for the fairy dust to settle and change my life so I had time to write. I made time within the 24 hours that exist in every day.
Last November, I realized my dream and became a published writer when my first book, THE PLOT IS MURDER, released. This past week, I released my fifth book, the third book in my Mystery Bookshop Mystery Series, THE NOVEL ART OF MURDER. I have written a total of TEN books (Five are published and five are with my publishers. Traditional publishing is a slow business). People often comment about the speed that I write. They ask, How do you publish so many books? It all boils down to the lessons I learned from 7 Habits and making time for what’s important. Writing is what’s important to me, so I make time to do it every day. Today, I’m blessed to have a chance to live my dream.
MYSTERY BOOKSHOP MYSTERY (KENSINGTON)
RJ FRANKLIN MYSTERY SERIES (CAMEL PRESS)
DOG CLUB MYSTERY SERIES (LYRICAL UNDERGROUND)
