Like other introverts, I feel worn down by interacting with people. I love people. I truly do (well, most of them!). But we introverts are wired to get our energy from being alone.

As a result, all the conversations that happen during the week leave me pretty mentally depleted by the time Friday rolls around. So, for the last year or so, I have kept a strict rule: I don’t do any calls or meetings on Fridays.

It has been a massive help knowing that I can do work on Fridays and don’t need to expend emotional energy on conversations. This is my mental “safe zone.”

I used to feel guilty about this, as if being an introvert was a weakness. But I have come to not just accept, but CELEBRATE, the way I’m wired.

It’s important for you to put guard rails around your emotional wiring. If you don’t protect your gift, you will burn out and kill the very thing that makes you so valuable.

I admit that once in a great while, I will do a call on a Friday if it’s absolutely necessary. But I make sure Friday is blocked off on my Calendly calendar. In addition, I always steer clients toward meetings on Mondays or Thursdays if possible.

Even if I’m feeling depleted during the week, I can relax knowing that Friday is a day when I can be my introverted self and can reserve all my energy for writing and other work.

Today’s Challenge: If you’re feeling burned out or mentally depleted, take a look at your schedule. You might need to build a mental safe zone into your week.

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Why? Because I knew it was a lot of work to put together a great live event. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to invest the time or energy to host a retreat when I felt there were so many other important things to do. Client work, my podcast, my own writing, and the endless administrative details necessary to run a business all require my attention. Hosting a retreat for a select few people was pretty far down that list.

However, I’ve been to a lot of retreats and other small events in the last couple of years. I knew the incredible power a retreat or live event can have to impact people’s lives. There is magic when people come together in person—a magic that you simply can’t duplicate online.

Despite my best intentions to put off a retreat until next year or beyond, I decided to go ahead and give it a shot. Several of our Daily Writer Club members had been asking about a retreat, so I knew it was something they wanted to do.

We made plans to have a smaller retreat of ten people. I had a lot of help planning the event, and we decided on the following schedule:

On Tuesday evening, we met at a great BBQ restaurant for dinner.

On Wednesday, I kicked off the day by having everyone share what a successful retreat looked like for them. In other words, what did they most want to get out of our time together? This was helpful for me to know so I could adjust as needed in order for everyone to get the most value out of it. We spent the rest of the day in two small groups, helping everyone get clear on their business goals.

On Thursday, we had a similar schedule, except that we focused on how to write a short book. I’m a big proponent of crafting short books, especially if you’re a first-time author. I did a teaching session on three ways to organize a short book, then we spent the rest of the day in two small groups working on their book concepts, outline, and their next steps for writing and publishing.

Now that you have a basic idea of how we structured this retreat, I’ll share the ten most important lessons I’m taking away from this experience.

1. People are hungry for live events.

After two years of dealing with COVID, people have been ready to get back to live events. Not everyone, of course—some people are still cautious, and everyone has to choose for themselves whether they want to attend live events.

Personally, I never stopped going to events. But it’s clear that people simply want to be together. This retreat showed me the power of getting together in person, particularly for writers who are often isolated.

2. Food and location make a big difference.

I splurged on a nice, large, historic home in St. Charles, Missouri. We were only a couple of blocks away from the historic Main Street, where there are dozens of quaint little shops and many coffee shops and restaurants. It’s also right next to the Missouri River.

Catering was provided by my friend Stephanie Hill, who owns the catering company Nibble & Nosh. The food and the home were a little more upscale, which set a tone that I wasn’t trying to get away with a budget retreat.

3. Introverted writers need a different type of retreat.

I designed this 2-day retreat as sort of a “retreat for introverted writers.” I’ve been to retreats before where people are going from the early morning until late at night, and it’s exhausting for introverts who need personal space and downtime.

So, we went into this retreat with the plan of having a long lunch break, and being finished around 3:00pm both days, with an afternoon break so people could take a walk or get coffee.

What I didn’t take into account, though, was that writers love to talk and talk when they’re around other writers. Even introverts open up a lot when they’re surrounded by others who “get them” and have similar goals and interests. We ended up not having much downtime because people wanted to talk!

4. The main value of a retreat is not information, it’s relationships.

As a result of being together, everyone there made new connections, expanded their goals, made a lot of progress on their book outline or project, or had some other type of breakthrough (myself included).

Everything is SO MUCH EASIER (and more fun) when you surround yourself with great people. A retreat is a great setting to build those relationships and collaborate with people.

5. You need help planning a great retreat.

I had a lot of help planning and running the Daily Writer retreat. My wife, Melanie, helped choose the venue and prep some of the food. Two of our Daily Writer Club members, M.J. James and Lynn Smargis, were a big help in planning the retreat and leading groups.

It’s not just about “having help” and offloading things you could do yourself. Having other people’s help and input actually multiplies the impact of the event. They bring ideas and energy you can’t bring yourself. I’m so grateful to these people for making it so much better than I could have done on my own.

6. A retreat or live event can have a powerful impact on someone’s business or life direction.

One of the people who came had been trying to build their ghostwriting business, but they have been stalled out for a while. However, in one of our group sessions, he discovered he had a real gift and love for editing. Now he is working with another editor in the group to build his editing business, which will be a quicker way to gain some income than ghostwriting.

This insight and a new direction for his business only happened because he attended the retreat. Being in a live setting with people who want to assist you can help you make radical progress in a short time.

In fact, it was a Total Life Freedom retreat where I was challenged to start the Daily Writer Club! I didn’t feel ready, yet I made the decision to do it two years ago in the context of a retreat.

7. A retreat is a great setting for people to look at the big picture.

At this retreat, we did a lot of book planning, but the most powerful question we talked about was “What do you really want from all this?”

We writers love books, but the book needs to be connected to your bigger goals. A lot of writers get stuck—not because they don’t have ideas, but because they’re not sure which idea to pursue. When you get clear about your goals and what you want, everything is a lot easier.

A retreat gives you the time and space to get away from the details of your business and life, and instead focus on the bigger picture.

8. People love swag!

We have all been to events where the organizers gave you merchandise that wasn’t high quality. I didn’t want to give away cheap pens or other items that weren’t first-class.

I went through VistaPrint and had high-quality tumblers, pens, notebooks, and stickers designed. They were not cheap, but they made a great impression. We put all of these items in gift bags for attendees.

Just a side note: when you are designing merchandise for your business, make sure it’s items people will actually use. Nobody wants another coffee mug. High-quality tumblers are a great option. I chose one with a white background so the green Daily Writer logo really stands out… especially when you’re using it on Zoom calls.

9. You’re never too old to chase your writing dreams.

We had several people in their 60’s or 70’s at the retreat. It was so fun and inspiring to see them taking action and making progress! Don’t ever think you’re too old (or too young) to try something new or take the next step.

10. The role of a retreat leader is not to be the guru, but a catalyst.

People in your group or community come to your retreat because they respect you and you have a certain breadth of knowledge they want to learn from. However, I don’t believe a retreat is the time to focus on the knowledge you have as a leader.

A retreat is not about gaining information. It’s about life change. And the best way life change happens is through conversations, application of knowledge, good questions, and discussion… all in a safe and welcoming environment.

The leader’s job is to be a catalyst and to make sure everyone is supported and included. This means having a high degree of emotional intelligence and social awareness. You need to be able to see when others aren’t participating and take steps to draw the best out of them.

Bonus lesson: Focus on adding value at a retreat, not making it highly profitable.

For this first retreat, my goal was not to make money. In fact, I planned on losing money. I wanted to get a good group together and have an awesome event. Therefore, I priced it really low and did everything I could to make it worthwhile.

I ended up losing money, but it wasn’t really a “loss.” I considered this an investment into my training as a retreat host. Events can be expensive, and my goal will never be to make this the most profitable part of my Daily Writer business. But it’s an important part because nothing can match the energy and relational value of a live event. You can’t replicate it any other way.

Those are my major takeaways from this retreat. I learned a lot and saw this as an opportunity for me to get my feet wet as a retreat leader. I suspect this will become a bigger part of my Daily Writer business as time goes on.

If you have ever considered leading a retreat for writers, I hope you’ll take these lessons to heart. And I certainly want to invite you to participate in our next Daily Writer Retreat, which is coming up at the end of February! More details to come…

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One of the difficulties of working on this book was that we had far more material than we could fit into it. Billy had so many stories and insights about Elvis and his faith that it could have been twice as long.

One of those items we couldn’t into the book was what Elvis called “the universal law of insanity.” When Billy was a teenager, Elvis once explained this principle to him. He was trying to help Billy see that life gets much easier when you understand that everyone is a little bit crazy, including YOU.

Elvis had the wonderful gift of being able to relate to anyone, whether it was the person digging ditches or the President of the United States. We could use some of this insight today, when people seem so divided and we need to find common ground with people who don’t see the world the way we do.

In your dealings with your family, business partners, editors, designers, publishers, agents, readers, and lots of others who are part of your life as a writer, it’s wise to remember that everybody sees the world a little differently.

We’re all just a little bit crazy. Understanding this can help you relate to people who don’t see things quite the way you do.

Question: Think of a few people in your everyday life. How could the “universal law of insanity” help you get along with them better?

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Whenever you hear the term “social media,” what’s your response? Many writers reel back a little at the idea of getting more involved on social media because they don’t know how to be effective using it, or because they feel it will take away from their writing time.

I understand. I’ve been there. I have struggled to know the best ways to use social media. And as an introvert, sometimes it’s hard to summon the energy to engage with more people.

That’s why I’ve asked my good friend John Schuchman to help us with this important topic today. John is a successful real estate agent in Pennsylvania and has been very successful in using social media to increase his business and connect with people. He’s also a social media coach for real estate agents.

John gives us some great tips on using social media as a writer and leader, which platforms to focus on, how to connect and serve, and some things to avoid.

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We all want to have successful books. As artists and storytellers, we want to write a great American novel that is a New York Times bestseller. We want to build a successful business. Or we have some other kind of dream that’s important to us.

That work is important, yes. But it’s not the most important work that you do. Not even close. The most important work you do is on yourself. The best energy you can put into your writing is not the energy that goes into your book, but the energy that goes into your mental and emotional health.

Are you taking care of yourself physically? Are you exercising and eating a decent diet? Do you have friends you can call in times of trouble? Are you involved in some kind of community where you live?

Do you read every day and take a few moments for gratitude or meditation? Are you getting enough rest and hydration? Do you have a hobby or take some time to relax so you don’t spend all your time working?

Those are pretty fundamental questions, but they are important. If you focus on your creative work all the time but neglect working on yourself, you will crash and burn.

I want you to be successful and healthy over the long-haul, not just for the immediate term when you’re working on something that you perceive to be so important.

That work is important, yes. But the most important thing you will ever work on is yourself.

Question: Are you spending time each day working on yourself? In what ways specifically?

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Kent talks to speaker, author, and ideapreneur Terry Weaver about the awesome power of collaboration and how to bring people together to create something magical. We also chat about the origin and creative thinking behind his amazing conference called “The Thing.” Make sure to grab your tickets for the next The Thing event in Orlando in November.

Terry Weaver is passionate about seeing others live life alive—whether through helping others see their dreams become reality, traveling around the world challenging students to change the world, leading teams of people to do more together than they could alone, or hanging out with Mickey Mouse. He is also author of the book Making Elephants Fly and host of the “Making Elephants Fly” podcast.

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Now we’ve come to the final milestone in The Writer’s Path, which is simply this: Practice key habits for wellness, productivity, and success.

Why it’s important: Without key habits, you will burn out or have some sort of a train wreck. I have seen it too many times in my life. I have even seen it the last few years with some writers and entrepreneurs I know who got very successful, then they crashed and burned in their personal lives.

We all intuitively know that good habits are important—habits related to our health, sleep, productivity, mindset, and so much more. But they are also easy to ignore, aren’t they?

In a way, this is similar to Stephen Covey’s seventh habit from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People—that habit is “sharpen the saw.” It’s tempting to cut and cut and cut… and then never sharpen the saw. When we try to cut down a tree without sharpening the blade, it’s much harder.

And that’s the big challenge of maintaining good life habits. They are easy to ignore. It’s easy to focus on creating, writing, and building a business, only to find yourself alienated from the people you love or in the hospital with a heart attack.

This is not really the 7^th milestone in the sense that it’s sequential related to the other milestones. These are all just keys that need to be part of your writing business and life. Good habits are a key part of life no matter what stage of building your business you are in.

Daily Question: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate yourself on having good habits? Be honest.

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We’ve talked about several steps in the Writer’s Path, and today we’ll focus on Milestone #5: Expanding your networking of friends, fans, and connections.

Why it’s important: One of the biggest things that holds back great writers is not knowing how to network and build relationships. I have learned a lot from Vincent Pugliese in this regard. He leads the Total Life Freedom community and mastermind, and he’s recently released a fantastic book called The Wealth of Connection, which I highly recommend. It will help you develop a mindset of networking and building relationships.

A network is critical because these are the people who will support your work, share your work, refer others to you and vice-versa. Whether it’s friends, fans, readers, collaborators, or connections, you need other people in your life and business to do anything significant.

The challenge here is that it’s hard for many introverted writers to do networking. We’ll have a lot more to say about this later on, but for now, I want to challenge you to simply reach out to three people a day just to say hello and see how they’re doing. People love it when others check up on them.

Remember, our greatest emotional need as human beings is for others to affirm and acknowledge us. When you can get past your introverted nature and begin to strategically reach out to people and build your connections, amazing things can happen.

This is one of the main things that holds writers back. You can be the greatest writer in the world, but if you don’t have connections and a network, you’re basically dead in the water. Your relationships are the difference-maker.

The big challenge here, especially for introverted writers, is that we mistakenly believe that writing success is all about being a good writer, about creating the most innovative or well-written content or books. Not true. We have to get out of our comfort zones and take initiative to build and nurture those relationships.

Daily Question: Who are three people you can check in on today?

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Writing business: This is a business based not just on selling the writing itself, but also on products and services based around the writing. In other words, writing is the hub of what you do.

It is also important that we emphasize the word BUSINESS. Coming from the ministry and academic worlds, the idea of making more money was frowned upon to a big degree in my experience. However, money allows you to do good in the world. It’s not something to fear, just a tool for good.

Sequential process: It’s step-by-step, and these steps should be taken more or less in this order. Now, I also want to emphasize that most people don’t necessarily do these steps in a set order, but for the most part, you will find that it’s easier when you do so.

Achievable process: You can do it! If you are motivated and committed, that is. You don’t have to be incredibly talented or work yourself to death.

Multi-faceted, robust writing business: This means your business is not just book sales, but also consists of other streams and possibly with client work as well.

Growing network: This is the big thing I see many writers missing—they don’t network and many have no desire to do so. This is a primary way your business will grow. I want to help writers network and build key relationships in natural ways, based on generosity and adding value to others.

Multiple streams of income: I do client work, as do many of you, and a lot of writers focus just on this. I believe everyone doing client work should have streams of income that don’t rely on clients—streams like courses, membership communities, their own books, podcast sponsorships, etc. I want you to have more security in your finances and also enjoy the benefits of income that comes from your own IP.

Daily Question: Do you believe you can achieve success in your writing business? If so, what does that look like specifically?

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