Are you playing to win? Plus, how to find your story and tips for story selling
My teenage son calls them “Try Hards.” I call it playing to win.
But I get it—when I was his age, I sat at the back of the class too. Too cool for school. Too cool to care, too cool to try. The less effort I put toward anything, the better—especially if I still managed to pull off the grades.
It followed me all the way into my career as a journalist and magazine editor—where I’d get my thrills by secretly sabotaging myself and seeing how far I could get anyway. Turned out, it was pretty far.
That all stopped when I started supporting my friends and friends of friends as a book coach. All of a sudden, I loved the people I served too much to not give them EVERYTHING I’VE GOT.
But on a personal level? I was still playing not to lose. Holding back. Keeping small. Afraid of failure. Afraid of success. Even when it came to my own book.
A few weeks ago, I caught myself saying “I don’t care about selling lots of books.”
I mean, WHAT?
I was telling myself that I was being humble and modest about the kind of impact I was hoping to make, like that was a good thing.
Are you freaking kidding me?
My bruised ego had already made a pact with itself, that we were going to try JUST ENOUGH to make my publisher happy BUT NOT TOO MUCH that we could actually risk failing to achieve a bigger vision—or, worse, succeeding at it. Because fear of success is a very real thing too.
Fortunately, I stopped myself right then and there: YOU WANT TO DO SO-SO? OKAY? YOU JUST WANT TO SELL “A FEW BOOKS”? F*** THAT!
That’s when I decided.
I’m going to win this thing.
Play to win.
If you played to win, what would that look like today?
Cat xo
PS: If you want to explore what playing to win in your content strategy and book would look like, DM to schedule a discovery call with me.
Story Selling
In this age of content marketing, we are all story sellers. But how do you know which stories to use to sell and share?
In our interview for my Power of Story series, former advertising executive Park Howell shared his tricks for finding your story and crafting a tale that helps you and your business excel.
Listen to our chat to hear Park share his storytelling hacks for business and how to become a more confident, compelling and persuasive communicator.
Watch here:
Write-in with us!
My first author-member write-in is happening this Thursday and there’s still time to join to be part of it!
Join now for the chance to be part of:
-Weekly “Write-in” sessions, to spark ideas for your writing and for additional support and accountability
-Monthly Mastermind with me :) for guidance and support on writing your first draft, moving through edits and revisions, querying agents and publishers, and planning your book launch
-Plus, get access to my Kickstart Your Book book planning modules
-Be part of our Slack community to connect with other authors in the program, share your weekly wins and writing prompt submissions
Click here to sign up to enjoy these member benefits and more!
“After just one meeting with Cat I am fully inspired to keep moving forward with my writing project. She helped me to see things on a bigger picture level and recognize my strengths and existing assets.I found her to be very pleasant and encouraging and trust that she is guiding me in the right direction.”
—Janet Pearson
Pictured above:
Olympic track champion Sifan Hassan wins her first marathon in London last April (2023), despite training for the race during Ramadan, a month of fasting that left her unable to complete long runs because she could not eat or drink during the day.
She said after:
“I learned to be patient and just to run your own race…Just keep going as much as possible and maybe you will surprise yourself.”