Pitching From the Stage, Then Rewarding Myself
100 Days to 10,000 Copies
Today is day 8 of 100 Days to 10,000 Copies, my project to launch my new book - Easy Discipline (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible).
THE WALL
One week in, I’m 7% into my 100 days. I now have 222 preorders, that’s 2.2% of the goal. I’m very behind. Am I concerned? On the surface, I’m a cool cucumber planted in zen soil, raised on Stoic philosophy and trained in the temple of Rejection Therapy.
But inside, I’m tearing up my emotional intestines.
Also, two supporters threw down 180 books for their organizations, which is saving my butt. I’m extremely grateful, but that’s not a long-term strategy.
Well, anxiety is not going to sell book #223. It’s time for work.
What I Did
Week 2 is here. This week, I’m doing a speaking tour, flying to Tampa, Charlotte, Houston and Philadelphia to pitch my book to live audiences on stage.
Now, I do speaking for a living, and these events were all pre-planned corporate audiences. For speaking, I’d rather just tell my story, get the love and bask in the applause. Asking them to buy my next book? That’s awkward. I don’t want to feel like a sleazy salesperson.
But here comes the Easy Discipline principle:
EASY DISCIPLINE PRINCIPLE – Reward Yourself for the Action, Not the Result
To get over the discomfort, I told myself, “Dude, just focus on the action and don’t worry about the result. Just ask. If they boo, they boo. You live with it. And if you make the ask, I’ll take you to the world-famous Clearwater beach tonight.”
(I talk to myself like this all the time. Is it weird? Just ask Tracy. She went from getting freaked out to expecting it. It’s like she married two Jias, and one is always coaching the other.)
So I got on stage and gave my now-famous “What I Learned From 100 Days of Rejection Therapy” talk. It was a great crowd — people were laughing, applauding and cheering. It gave me tons of confidence, because if I had given them that much fun, I had earned some credibility for a (very) soft pitch.
When I was close to the end of my talk, I added: “I’m writing my second book. It comes out in July, it’s called Easy Discipline. I want to teach people how to have better discipline. Lots of people work hard and feel hard. What I found is people can work hard and feel easy. You can use easy feeling to fuel yourself long-term. I’m hoping all of you can buy my book.”
That’s it. Not a hard sell. Video below:
I did it! Was it smooth? Nah. But I did it. And that’s the first step. Let me show you my reward — a sunset at Clearwater Beach, followed by a huge meal at the oldest Spanish restaurant in America: The Columbia Restaurant.
Whatever you’ve been avoiding — do it today. Then give yourself a ridiculous reward tonight.