The Daily Writer

One of the themes of this podcast is “courage.” I want you to consistently do things that scare you.

Why? Because when you do things that feel intimidating, you accomplish greater things and you increase your capacity to impact others. After all, you can only make a bigger impact when do things that are uncomfortable and you take a risk.

That’s why I’m excited to feature this interview with my friend Jeffrey Shaw. He is a leading voice for self-employed business owners, and his top-rated podcast, The Self-Employed Life, is heard in 200 countries by 30,000 or so listeners a month.

Jeffrey is the author of the bestselling book, LINGO and the much-anticipated book, The Self-Employed Life: Business and Personal Development Strategies That Create Sustainable Success, as well as being a TEDx speaker.

You might think, “What does all this have to do with writing?” It’s directly related because we talk a lot on this podcast about the business side of writing. If you want to think more like a business owner, you’re going to love this conversation.

Jeffrey shares his Self-Employed Ecosystem of personal development, business strategies, and daily habits. He has been doing this a long time, and has had lots of success as a self-employed business owner. I have been listening to his show for a number of years, and it’s been so much fun to see his growth and impact over time.

I encourage you to pre-order Jeffrey’s book, The Self-Employed Life, as well as grab his free download on how to be an awesome podcast guest. You connect with Jeffrey at his website, where you’ll find all his social media links as well.

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Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous writers to help you build better habits and grow your writing business? Check out our Daily Writer Community.  

Check out our Daily Writing Prompts, which will help you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow. Writing prompts Writing prompts are a fantastic creative tool for creative writing, journaling, teaching, social media posts, podcasting, and more!  

Connect with Kent: 

https://DailyWriterLife.com 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kent-sanders 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ken

There are certain qualities we prize in the writing world.

One of them is knowledge. It seems like we should know what we are getting ourselves into, right? Who respects a writer who seems to be aloof and doesn’t know what’s going on?

Another quality we prize is humility. Surely we don’t want to become one of those writers who has a pretty high opinion of themselves, right?

There is some truth in that. But there is also something to be said for going ahead and doing the work even though we don’t have it all figured out. There is something to be said for having a pretty good amount of confidence in who we are and what we have to say.

On this episode, Kent shares the surprising truth about the value of ignorance and a bit of arrogance.

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Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous writers to help you build better habits and grow your writing business? Check out our Daily Writer Community.  

Check out our Daily Writing Prompts, which will help you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow. Writing prompts Writing prompts are a fantastic creative tool for creative writing, journaling, teaching, social media posts, podcasting, and more!  

Connect with Kent: 

https://DailyWriterLife.com 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kent-sanders 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentsanders  

One of the most popular episodes of the original Twilight Zone series is “Time Enough at Last.” Burgess Meredith plays Henry Bemis, a bank teller with thick glasses who is obsessed with reading.

One day, during his lunch break, he goes to the bank vault to read. Suddenly, there is a violent explosion, which knocks him out. He later wakes up to find that an atomic bomb has destroyed the world. He was protected from the blast by the bank vault, and now he is the only person left on earth.

Henry wanders the ruined city in despair and comes to the town library where he finds all the books still intact. He suddenly realizes that he has all the time in the world to read and no one to bother him. In one of the greatest plot twists in television history, he reaches down for a book and drops his glasses, shattering the lenses.

Henry Bemis had all the time in the world, but lost the one tool he needed to make use of it.

On today’s episode, Kent encourages us to try a piece of productivity advice from the creator of The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling.

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Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous writers to help you build better habits and grow your writing business?

Check out our Daily Writer Community.  

Check out our Daily Writing Prompts, which will help you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow. Writing prompts Writing prompts are a fantastic creative tool for creative writing, journaling, teaching, social media posts, podcasting, and more!  

Connect with Kent: 

https://DailyWriterLife.com 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kent-sanders 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentsanders  

My guest today is Karen Anderson, and she is imminently qualified to talk about what it means to be successful as an author. She is a Strategic Book Coach and Associate Publisher for Morgan James Publishing (full disclosure: I am a proud literary scout for Morgan James!). 

Karen is also a nationally published author, a co-author on numerous books, a self-published author, a ghostwriter, and an editor. She recently co-authored with her husband, Steve, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon, which has now been translated into 18 languages.  

Karen’s newest project is called Unleash the Power of Your Book. She and her business partner, Marji Ross, help already-published authors re-launch and leverage their books to increase sales and maximize revenue, no matter when the book came out. 

On this episode, Karen talks about various ways to define success, the biggest mistakes authors make, and the ways successful authors think differently. 

You can connect with Karen on LinkedIn and Facebook. 

***  

Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous writers to help you build better habits and grow your writing business? Check out our Daily Writer Community.  

Check out our Daily Writing Prompts, which will help you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow. Writing prompts Writing prompts are a fantastic creative tool for creative writing, journaling, teaching, social media posts, podcasting, and more!  

Connect with Kent: 

https://DailyWriterLife.com 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kent-sanders 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentsanders  

It can be hard to stay creative when you’re busy. Today, I’m revisiting an episode from 2019 where I answer a question sent in by Brian Mays about prioritizing your creative work:

“Priority is a challenge for me. I am creative in my day job, but I'd love to shift what I'm doing as a professional creative to something a bit more niche. It's tough finding time to roll with that and do the "regular things" as a professional day in and day out. I can't remember doing much portrait drawing in the past year, and I miss it. It just never feels as important.”

***  

Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous writers to help you build better habits and grow your writing business? Check out our Daily Writer Community.  

Check out our Daily Writing Prompts, which will help you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow. Writing prompts Writing prompts are a fantastic creative tool for creative writing, journaling, teaching, social media posts, podcasting, and more!  

Connect with Kent: 

https://DailyWriterLife.com 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kent-sanders 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentsanders  

Are you having trouble writing? Do you feel like you can’t regain your focus? Do you feel short-tempered and irritable?

When we feel this way, the first conclusion we jump to is that we have writer’s block or that we’re just not creative. But the problem could be much simpler than that.

Maybe you need the same thing that preschoolers need whenever they get cranky. It’s probably time for a nap.

On today's episode, you'll learn about the restorative power of intentional rest.

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Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous writers to help you build better habits and grow your writing business? Check out our Daily Writer Community.  

Check out our Daily Writing Prompts, which will help you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow. Writing prompts are a fantastic creative tool for creative writing, journaling, teaching, social media posts, podcasting, and more! 

Connect with Kent: 

https://DailyWriterLife.com 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders

On this episode, we're going old-school and talking about analog tools for writing. It may seem out of touch to be talking about pens, pencils, and notebooks when we have so many great digital tools... but that's the point. Perhaps those digital tools are sometimes more of a distraction than a help.

I've asked Dr. Don Sanders to share his passion and knowledge for analog writing tools. He is the Director of the Merold Institute of Ministry at Harvester Christian Church in St. Charles, Missouri. He is also a college adjunct professor, an avid U2 fan, and happens to be my older brother.

You can connect with Don at The Merold Institute of Ministry, on Facebook, or on LinkedIn.

***  

Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous writers to help you build better habits and grow your writing business? Check out our Daily Writer Community.   

Check out our Daily Writing Prompts, which will help you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow. Writing prompts are a fantastic creative tool for creative writing, journaling, teaching, social media posts, podcasting, and more!  

Connect with Kent:  

https://DailyWriterLife.com  

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders  

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders  

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kent-sanders  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentsanders  

As writers, we are constantly dreaming about what’s next. The next book. The next conference. The next interview. The next connection. The next source of income. The next five years.

All you have is today, this moment, right here and now. Don’t keep your head so far in the clouds that you forget to keep your feet planted on the ground.

On this episode, you’ll be inspired to be grateful for this present moment.

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Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous writers to help you build better habits and grow your writing business? Check out our Daily Writer Community.     

Check out our Daily Writing Prompts, which will help you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow. Writing prompts are a fantastic creative tool for creative writing, journaling, teaching, social media posts, podcasting, and more!    

Connect with Kent:    

https://DailyWriterLife.com    

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders    

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders    

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kent-sanders    

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentsanders    

On this brief episode, Kent shares an important update about the next few weeks’ worth of episodes. We will return with new episodes on Monday, January 3rd!

***  

Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous writers to help you build better habits and grow your writing business? Check out our Daily Writer Community.  

Check out our Daily Writing Prompts, which will help you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow. Writing prompts Writing prompts are a fantastic creative tool for creative writing, journaling, teaching, social media posts, podcasting, and more!  

Connect with Kent: 

https://DailyWriterLife.com 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders 

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kent-sanders 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentsanders  

Have you ever held up an hourglass and looked it closely? From a distance, the sand looks as though it was one single element that can snake through the bottleneck between the top and bottom of the hourglass. But upon closer inspection, you can see that it’s just thousands and thousands of tiny grains.

On this episode, you’ll be reminded that every day is a precious commodity that you can use to achieve your writing dreams.

***

Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous writers to help you build better habits and grow your writing business? Check out our Daily Writer Community.     

Check out our Daily Writing Prompts, which will help you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow. Writing prompts are a fantastic creative tool for creative writing, journaling, teaching, social media posts, podcasting, and more!    

Connect with Kent:    

https://DailyWriterLife.com    

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders    

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders    

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kent-sanders    

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentsanders