Was It Chance?

#9 - Xochitl Gonzalez: Olga Dies Dreaming

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Sometimes our dreams take decades to manifest. And while this is completely true, we can also have several different successes on the way to what is most meant for us.

This week's guest, Xochitl Gonzalez, has worn many hats in her professional life but none so rewarding as finally becoming a published author. Her debut novel was a New York Times bestseller months before its release and they also made a pilot for a series on Hulu. While we won’t know if the pilot will be picked up for another few weeks, there’s no doubt that the road ahead for Xochitl’s book, Olga Dies Dreaming, is prosperous. 

Xochitl received her MFA from the University of Iowa’s Writers Workshop and she’s the recipient of the Michener-Copernicus Prize in fiction and the winner of the 2019 Disquiet Literary Prize. She’s been published in Bustle, Vogue, and The Cut and is a contributor for The Atlantic where you can also find her newsletter “Brooklyn Everywhere.” 

Keep up with the going’s on in Xochitl’s exciting work via her website. You can also follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

Get your copy of Olga Dies Dreaming by clicking here.


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    • EPISODE TAKEAWAYS

    • There’s a difference between “paying attention” and understanding what will truly fill you up.
    • Don’t become a slave to your business.
    • You have earned all of your pain points, don’t hate them or discredit them. They are there for you.
    • What happens when you choose, actively, NOT to be defined by something?
    • As a creative, it’s so valuable to own what you know and not hide from it. Don’t reinvent the wheel. 
    • Always find your joy!
    • Perhaps middle age is more of a mid-life catharsis rather than a crisis.
    • Learn to edit the use of your time and you’ll be more successful. 
    • Batch task your time, especially as a writer. Let yourself have “social” days and then deeply “focused” days. 
    • Most success comes after a lot of hard, focused work, and then a waiting period. Lean into the waiting period. Allow it to be ok. 
    • Every moment doesn’t have to be about building your business. It’s important to make yourself the focus some of the time. 
    • Consider manifesting things you’re afraid of because then they become less scary. 
    • If you’re going to “go in” be sure you go “all the way in.”
    • Intentionally stop doing what you don’t want to do in order to focus on what you most desire. Only then will you be able to create it. 
    • You don’t always have to be chasing something new. It’s ok to sit still.

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      Was It Chance?By Alan Seales, Heather Vickery & Broadway Podcast Network