Think you don't have time to write a killer ebook?
Check out how our amazing client Ann-Louise Lockhart fit it in amidst her busy pediatric psychology practice, parenting, holidays and a million other things.
Listen in and let me know what your biggest takeaway is.
If this is the year you finally take the first steps to leveraging your work online, book a call with my team to get clarity on the next steps to make that happen: SylvieMcCracken.com/Call
PREFER TO READ? HERE’S THE TRANSCRIPT OF MY INTERVIEW WITH ANN-LOUISE LOCKHART
Sylvie: Welcome everybody, it's Sylvie McCracken from sylviemccracken.com and today I have one of my incredible clients, Ann-Louise Lockhart, from anewdaypediatricpsychology.com. Ann-Louise thanks so much for joining me.
Ann Louise: Thank you Sylvie, thanks for asking.
Sylvie: Yeah, so I brought on Ann-Louise today to talk us a little bit about to her experience in our program Ebook Engines for the last 8 weeks we've had together, and also just a little bit about why she decided to join the program and what her situation was. Because I think it's gonna be pretty eye-opening and inspiring for those of you that are thinking about possibly creating an eBook in the future. So Ann-Louise, why don't you first kind of tell everyone what your situation was work-wise and family-wise before you joined the program.
Ann Louise: So I am, gosh where do I start, so I'm a wife and a mom. I have two kids, a 5-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter, and I'm also the President and Owner of A New Day Pediatric Psychology, as a Pediatric Psychologist, so in San Antonio, Texas. So I started the business in January of 2016, so it's been two years now and I primarily see kids, adolescents, and young adults with medical issues but also with psychological issues like ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, anxiety, and depression. And so I'm pretty busy in terms of seeing patients and managing my household along with my husband, and also on the side I do speaking. I travel around the country and I present workshops for several organizations and I present on autism, play therapy, ADHD, all kinds of different stuff. So I'm pretty busy.
Sylvie: I would say, yeah, no doubt, that is incredible. And so what is that made you kind of come across our program and think this is something that you wanted to do, why did you decide to do this right now?
Ann Louise: So my husband is incredibly supportive and the only reason, well not the only reason, but the major reason why I'm a psychologist is because of him. He really encouraged me to go forward because I was considering and I kept thinking well, man it's five years to get your doctorate, and he's like, “well five years are gonna pass anyway and so why not do it”. And so that great advice, so I did it. But the other part is he's always helping me look for other types of income revenue, things where I can contribute, things that I can keep things fresh, because I never liked just seeing patients all day long. I love seeing patients, I love helping people, but I know that leads to a lot of provider burn out, and so I wanted to keep it mixed up. So seeing patients as well as presenting workshops, doing coaching, consulting, I really enjoy doing that. But I really felt like I wanted to do something where it didn't require me always working all the time, always doing things all the time. So when I was scrolling through Facebook, I saw your ad in terms of EBook Engines, and I'm like, “what the heck is an eBook?” Like what the heck is that? So when I attended your webinar I was like, oh that's really cool, because my husband always joked about, “hey you should write a book on the side.”
Sylvie: You know in your spare time.
Ann Louise: Right, exactly when am I gonna have the time to do that and so when I met with you and kind of did the initial screening call, “I was like, yeah I do have time to do this, I just gotta make the time.”
Sylvie: Right, right and I'm glad you brought that up because I'm sure people listening are like, well that just sounds insane, because you've got a busy practice, it's not like you've got one or two clients but you actually have a busy practice, and you've got two kids that are fairly young as well, which I totally understand, totally know, I've got the 8 and 7 so not far off of you, and you're also traveling to speak and everything else. And so yeah one would think, well not now right? But I remember that initial call and the very clear distinction with you is that that you're very decisive when it comes to something that you wanna do and taking that leap, but then also making it happen, right? Because one thing is that initial decision which you were 100% on board but then also at every stage of the game in the process, I like to say it's not always rainbows and unicorns, all 8 weeks long, and nothing comes up, and we just pick a title, and then we go on to this, and that, and the other. Things come up, challenges come up, and how you respond to that has been really exemplary in that no matter what, you were like, “well I guess I'm gonna find the time over here, if that time didn't work out, let me do this over here”, and so you really showed up really resourceful at every step of the way. So I don't know if you wanna share with people just kind of your experience during the 8-week process or what was kind of your biggest challenge during the 8-week process, and then also what was your favorite thing during our 8-week process?
Ann Louise: Yeah, definitely, I think that always helps and I'm pretty transparent when it comes to even working with my patients and when I speak because I think that it's important for people to know that I'm not doing this cos I have it altogether. That the reason why I know what I'm talking about is cos I've gone through many of the same things. So, one of the major, I think, gosh I think it was 3 weeks, I have scoliosis and I have lordosis and so my spine is all jacked up. So I usually do pretty well but everyone in a while it will flare up in terms of having more pain. So I slept weird one night and then my shoulder started to hurt and it was significant pain, it was more pain than I had experienced in a very long time. And so sitting all day, seeing patients, and then having to write while sitting was extremely excruciating and I kept feeling like, I don't know how I'm supposed to do this, but I decided I need to do this, kind of pushing through, doing a lot of my hypnosis strategies that I teach other people, mind over matter and just did it. And then of course when I went to the chiropractor and he helped and adjust me and cracked me back into place, so that helped a lot too. But you know that was one of things that came up. Another thing was I had gotten a really bad review from someone who had inquired for services and someone who we had actually called back, but wrote a really bad review online about my practice, that we never call people back. So that was really hurtful to me because I really do take great pride in making sure that I offer good customer service. And so that oversight on our part, as well as the review, just kind of stung really hard. So things like that came up as well as then some doubts that I had about, well what do I have to contribute, how do I know that what I have to say is something people actually wanna hear and who am I compared to all these other people who write about the same topics that I think I would like to write about, so that kind of stuff came up, even though I've been told many times over the years, especially at workshops, “hey, like dude when are you gonna write a book? Like when are you gonna contribute to us the things that you are teaching us”, I think more people need to hear this message. So I would say those were some of the things within the 8 week program that really popped up for me, that I'm like, I would start, and I'm like well.
Sylvie: I love that you brought that up in particular, like first of all some challenges that are sort of out of your control, so like this back pain, or things that just happen, external inputs. Like a negative a review, which by the way let me just highlight, of someone that's never worked with you, but okay, that's just a little side note. But you know these couple of things that come up, but then also you know the really critical and very common which not a lot of people like to talk about, but it really is that self-doubt and I would say 97, 98% of people that write a book, write an eBook, that put themselves out there to this degree definitely go through this, right. If not 100% and the only reason I don't say 100% is cos there's a couple people that still wanna argue that they have no self-doubt, but in general this is so common and I think that that really at the end of the day, if there's one thing that can hold people back it's that mindset piece. Of you either conquer that and move forward or you quit, quite frankly you don't have to put yourself out there. You can go ahead and let everybody else write their version of whatever and you can just stay safe, and small, and in your little cubby. And so I really love that you brought that up and ask you what did you use to kind of move forward in that particular case?
Ann Louise: Well one of the things I know that helped in the group coaching calls every week with you and the rest of the people who were writing was the mindset minute, and really doing the mindset work, because that's something that I'm always teaching all the time, that's something that I do even in therapy, I always have people say, let's start with what's been new and good, let's start with the praises, let's start with the things that you've overcome this last week or since we last saw each other. I don't want them to start with a list of the crap that happened because your mindset then gets focused on that, and so when you really focused on that, like, what are your wins, what are things you've overcame, and those kinds of things, that really made a big difference, that really helped me to get my mindset in the right way. That, yeah you're gonna have haters, you're gonna have people that question what you're doing, you're gonna question yourself but that's really important to know that if I do it someone else will anyway and I do have a voice I do have something to contribute, and I just need to do it, and so I think that was really helpful for me in terms of overcoming that, to really take the time to say that I do have something to say and I need to just do it.
Sylvie: I mean you heard it from the shrink y'all. You gotta work on your mindset, but it's true, it's so true and I love the way you really like, I remember you showing up and you're the one that's always front and center, first one there, at every single call, celebrating your wins in the group, so you know you've really literally and figuratively done the work, which is fantastic. So is there a particular framework, you know other than the group coaching calls, is there a particular module or framework that you found the most helpful in the program?
Ann Louise: I think, I really liked the mind-mapping one because that really helped me not just with figuring out how I wanna go with a topic, but it just helped me with just my daily life in general, because I realize about myself that I multi-task really, really well, but I'm also very detail-oriented. So if I have too much going, I can get overwhelmed because I see all the details. So doing the mind map really helped me to tease it out; rather than having it linear it was very spacial. And so I love that, so I think to me that was one of the most helpful because every time I started going off-track when I was writing my eBook I would go back to the mind map, no what am I supposed to focus on, because if I'm writing so much about this topic, that's a whole another book, so you know, bring it in, because my challenge is that I always wanna give people more than they're asking for, I wanna make sure that they're leaving a session, a workshop, whatever, getting the information that they want and then some, and so I really found that I had to really learn reign that, so I think the mind map was one of the most helpful, because everything I did I always went back to that. So even when it came to the title, going back to what's the purpose of the book, or the sales, going back to the purpose, or getting an editor, then going back to the purpose of the book, or even designing the cover, so for me I think the mind map was the best kind of foundation for me when it came to that.
Sylvie: That's perfect, yeah it sort of like untangled all your great ideas, I like to say, those gold necklaces that you've got in your brain they're just all tangled. Super valuable but we can't figure out where one starts and where one ends. So that's fantastic, that is awesome. Is there anywhere other than in your business, I mean your eBook is almost done if I remember correctly, you just graduated like minutes ago and it's at the designer basically, it's on the designer's desk?
Ann Louise: Yes so it is done and I officially gave it to my editor, yesterday, so she's editing and proofreading it all this week to get it back to me by Friday. I already have a designer who already finished the cover and she I just have to get her the finished, final, edited, part of the book so that she can design the interior.
Sylvie: Amazing, so really, really great progress. That is incredible and that's fantastic, and you know you showed up, you did the work, you rolled up your sleeves you got it done. So that's amazing. Sometimes people ask me, well you know, it'll take me a whole year to write an eBook, well it can if you want it to, or you can do it a little quicker. So that's fantastic, is there anywhere other than your business, anywhere in your life, with your kids, with your spouse, or anything like that where you've applied some of the stuff that we've learned in terms of in our group coaching and our mindset minutes, and all of that, has it shown up anywhere else in your life?
Ann Louise: Yeah definitely, I mean every time I would have a coaching call my husband would ask me what I learned about and I would tell him little snippets.
Sylvie: I like this guy!
Ann Louise: Yeah, he's awesome. But you know even throughout graduate school he always asked me about things and that kind of really helped solidify the information that I would learn. But I recent things, I think it was in the last call that I was at, where you said you only fail if you give up. Am I saying that right?
Sylvie: Yeah, the only way you can fail is you quit, really.
Ann Louise: Yeah exactly and he really liked that, he's like, “send that to me in a text”. I really like that because that kind of summarizes the whole process, because in the midst of doing this whole thing with my kids and the back stuff, and then the haters, and the vacation; I mean Thanksgiving break was during this time frame, Christmas break was during this time frame, my kids got sick during this time frame, I mean there were a lot of things going on. And so I think for me, really knowing that, I mean especially when I would get a break, I was like, “okay I'll take a few days off for Thanksgiving”, and then I was “oh, how do I start back up again”, But I'm like “no, I need to finish”, I told myself I was gonna finish by Christmas or somewhere around there and I did it. And so I know when I felt like, “well maybe I should just put it off for another month. I'm like, no, I need to finish”. So I think the whole kind of concept of not quitting, that's the only way you fail, that really stuck with me.
Sylvie: That's an awesome one, I'm definitely gonna keep that, keep those mindset minutes going, sometimes I'm like so eager to get into the Q & A that I love to do every single week, I'm like, but you know what, mindsets, that exactly what everyone needs a little bit more of, so that's fantastic, that is awesome. Well is there anything else you wanna share with anyone listening today?
Ann Louise: I think the major thing that I want to share is I know that there's a lot of women out there, a lot of men out there, a lot of people who are busy parents and they feel like I don't have the time to do things for myself, or to contribute to society, or to the world, or that I don't have a voice, and I think that that's not true. I think that we make time for the things that are important to us and even if we chunk it, just like you encourage us to do, that was the other thing that was helpful for me, is just, even if you have two hours within a day, you chunk and you say this is what I'm gonna do to take care of myself or to move towards my goal. So we really do make time for the things that are important to us and so with the book that I've written, it's on ADHD, and helping parents of children who have ADHD and helping them thrive in that process, and I've written not just stuff about the diagnosis and the techniques but also helping parents get into the right mindset about it, because if we think differently about the diagnosis, if we think differently about our kids' behaviors, we will interact with them differently, and we'll be more gentle on ourselves. So I really integrated that a lot because I think that that's so important because I see so many people, especially entrepreneurs who are in business, and parents, they don't take care of themselves. They're so busy giving and giving they deplete themselves and they don't think that they have anything left. And there's always a little bit left and we need to make ourselves a priority.
Sylvie: Yeah, no doubt, that is a great message. Thank you so much Ann-Louise and thank you so much for taking the time to share this with everybody. I think people will find your story inspiring and also find a little bit of themselves in it. Whether it's the busy mom piece of it, or the busy practitioner piece of it, or heck the back pain and sick kids part of it, but I feel like everybody thinks their situation is so unique and a lot of the times it really is, we have a lot more in common than we think and the truth is we've always got a millions things going on and it's a matter of “is this a priority for you? Is this something that you wanna do?” So thank you so much for coming on today and sharing that with everybody.
Ann Louise: Yeah, thanks for asking I really appreciate it. Thanks for all the coaching and the help in the process.
Sylvie: Yeah you got it girl, so for anyone else listening, if you think this is the right year for you to just start creating a passive income stream in your business to create an eBook that is an awesome product that you can build an entire business on, as a foundation of your business, book a call with our team the url for that is: sylviemccracken.com/call, and we'll get on a call with you and figure out if it's the right time, if this is something that you can do, if this is something that we can help you with or not. Either, regardless if you decide to create an eBook if decide to do it with our help or not, it will be the best hour you've spent on your business in a long while. So I'm gonna put the link below, go ahead and book a call with our team today. In the meantime, I'll talk to you soon.
