#35: What can you commit to for 10 years?
#35: What can you commit to for 10 years?
🎄 Special: Announcing my very first book!
Dear Santa,
I am sorry that I made an old, obese, white man like you run up and down rooftops and asbestos-led chimneys to fulfill my materialistic wet dreams.
This year, I want to give you a break and all I wish for, is that people find my digitally produced books as I release them over the next 10 years. You can do this from the comfort of your own home.
Much love,
Omar
What is something that you are doing today, and imagine yourself still excited to do 10 years from now? Let me know in the comments.
I’ll be launching my first book “Ode to Heartbreak” next Sunday. You can now upgrade your free subscription to get access to the book, and support the podcast production. Thank you so much for considering to support our work.
Poll of The Week 🙋
I can’t see your answers. Gimme your truth.
💬 To elaborate please leave a comment, or simply reply to this email.
#35 : What can you commit to for 10 years?
The industry of publishing has changed dramatically since I started this blog in Feb 2021. When I posted the pilot of my novel in Feb 2021, I imagined that I just needed an audience so that I can attract a publisher.
Reading about the industry, and following the incredible technology that is being pushed out in this space (NFTs, Chat GPT, AI audio narrators, self-publishing platforms like Substack and Ghost, growth of direct book sales, etc.). I realize that the goal is no longer to attract some abstract publisher.
Today, I realize that you are all I need. I commit myself to you for 10 years.
My only real goal is to satisfy you!
Yes just you.
Together, we are an industry. In this context, I can create things that I hope you enjoy and lift up your spirit, and in return you can support me throughout this lonely process.
This Christmas… I am alone but do not feel lonely. I am sad, but I do not feel empty. I am exhausted, but I feel like I am recovering. I am confused, but I feel grounded. I am a nobody, but you are reading my words. I am not popular, but you and I have a connection.
My purpose is to express my deepest truth with various forms of art, that both entertain, inspire, and raise your spirit!
One thing that kept me going this year despite the turbulence of 4 relocations across two continents, a divorce, a podcast team restructuring, various financial stressors, and a loss of subscriber momentum, is that I find it easy to imagine myself committed to my writing and craft for at least 10 years, if not the rest of my life. (I’ll let you know if I am still into this, come 2030).
My ultimate goal is to publish my novel, and get 10,000 people to read it various forms over the next 10 years.
I don’t know where I will be with my writing 10 years from now, but I do know exactly what I want to accomplish at least 3 years from today.
Here is how I see it:
2020: Started writing the novel.
2021: Started this blog in Feb, published pilot chapters, and Gumpcast Season 1: Knowing Ourselves.
2022: Launched the weekly newsletter, completed draft 1 of novel, and wrote my first collection of poems. I also travelled to Lamu, Kenya where my protagonist is from and lived there for 6 weeks.
👉 2023: (Aka next week!) Launch my first poetry collection “Ode to Heartbreak”, finish draft 2&3 of my novel, and launch Gumpcast Season 2 : Relationships.
2024: (next year) Launch the finished novel, along with travelogue collection of short stories titled ‘The Lamu Diaries” and Gumpcast Season 3: The Toolkit to promote the novel.
2025: Start writing my second novel, and publish my second collection of poems about traveling and being on the road, my working title is “Over Across America, Europe and Back.” I already have a draft for this one inspired by my recent travels.
I’ll be launching my first book “An Ode to Heartbreak” next week. You can now upgrade your free subscription to get access to the book, support the podcast production, and connect with other gumptioneers.
Thank you so much for considering to support our work. 🙏
Sunday Gratitude 🙏
This one goes out to Chat GPT. You may hate AI all you want but with these sales blurbs it is creating for my books and the Gumpcast…I see us working together for a very and happy long time.
Just to give you a feel of what technology can do these days, here is something that a robot wrote for me based on my prompt: “please write a short paragraph for me about committing to my writing for 10 years and how having vision that way is critical to me continuing to find gumption in my work”.
Committing to writing for 10 years requires dedication, discipline, and a long-term vision. This type of vision is critical to finding gumption in our work because it helps us to set clear goals, develop a sense of identity as writers, and build a body of work that we can be proud of. Having a long-term vision allows us to push through any setbacks or challenges that may arise and stay motivated to continue working towards our goals. So if you're considering committing to writing for 10 years, it's a decision that can pay off in the long run.
An AI bot wrote this in 3 seconds 🤭
🤖Assistant, if you're reading this, thank you ❤️
I promise I will never take you for granted.
I would wish you a merry Christmas but I know that you don't need such frivolities.
You're awesome.
Thank you Open.Ai
This Week on Gumpchat 🎙️
This week I shared potential cover designs for the book I will release and your votes really helped shaped this decision. Excited to share the final produce with you next week.
Special thanks to
The Gumpchat is a feature available for those who have the mobile Substack app.
Stayin’ Alive…Stayin’ Alive 🫀
Uh-uh-uh-uh…
This segment will replace the previous Artist’s Way section.
My habits of gumption this week are:
Morning Pages: On and off, I do them when I really need to dump. I still feel waves of pain from the divorce, and this is my best tool to deal with them.
Artist’s Date: I had a solo dinner in a Chinese spot, and tried to imagine who the other solo diners are. I came up with stories about them. It was excellent fun.
Food: Back to intermitted fasting after a month of European and Egyptian indulgences. Fasting really helps me offload a lot of decisions (and kilos/pounds). I went to the farmers market and started learning about where my food comes from.
Qigong: My practice got shook a bit this week but looking to bring it back. I enjoy it so much.
Exercise: I have prioritized that this week and it really helps my writing when I am on my game. I did a mix of 20 min HIIT, Strength, Yoga sessions and two moderate-level hikes in nature.
Belly Breathing & Mindfulness: Since I am focused on exercise, I let this slide this week, but I have been doing Yoga Nidra meditations for sleep, and that really works for me. I usually drift into sleep by min 3 :D Check below.
Craft: Finished the Opening sequence and about 25% of Draft 2 of the novel. Exciting Times for Maskat and Jay! 🙌 Gumpcast Episodes 1 and 2 are almost on deck! Coming to you in January, 2023.
Gumption Booster 🚀
If you’re having trouble sleeping off the end of the year, try this. If you are on insight timer, add me: Omar Shaker and we can share meditations there.
https://insighttimer.com/jenniferpiercy/guided-meditations/yoga-nidra-for-sleep
Next Sunday is the first day of the year, and is also my birthday. I will be launching my first book so stay tuned!
Omar