Please help me welcome an author I met at the Amelia Island Book Fair in February of this year.
Like many of us, Andrea Patten
has been writing books — at least imaginary ones — since she could first hold a
crayon. A favorite place to play was her grandmother's desk with its endless
supply of scrap paper from Gram's classroom projects. “I’d spend hours on my
stories, adding colorful covers and carefully stapling each masterpiece
together. I loved writing “by Andrea Patten” in my best version of fancy
handwriting on those covers.”
One of the places
her writer’s journey frequently took her was to ghostwriting. So much for the
byline, huh?
“I worked for several people
whose vision was far more inspiring than their ability to share it. I’m not
sure how it happened the first time, but it was never uncommon for my immediate
supervisor or her boss to stop by my desk and ask me to "have a look"
at a speech, an article, a letter, or a memo before sharing with a wider
audience."
But those experiences helped her
learn to write in different styles and voices: a CEO’s speech to motivate the
staff required different writing chops than persuading legislators to provide
funds for homeless teens.
"I wrote curricula and
reports, financial disclosures and direct mail pieces... Brochures, classified
ads, grant applications, staff bios, and company histories. It was excellent
training and helped me appreciate the impact good writing can have," says
Patten.
Eventually, Andrea started to
discover her voice as a writer. It’s honest, straightforward, and often funny.
"I worked in human services
for a long time and wanted to continue to help people. I realized that part of
that might come from sharing some of the fascinating ideas I’d picked up along
the way. What Kids Need to Succeed is a book I wrote for parents, but it
includes wisdom from the business world: when setting goals and making plans,
start with the desired outcome in mind. Part of that book's purpose was to help
parents stop getting discouraged with day-to-day challenges and think about the
bigger picture: raising future adults."
Her latest release has similar
roots. “Everybody talks about the Inner Critic, but most of the available
advice doesn't work. You can try to ignore “that voice” until you’re blue in
the face but that's not enough: the name of the game is to get it on your side…
to make it an ally. You can learn to use its energy to your advantage.”
And, to anyone who has struggled
with an Inner Critic (or Inner Editor or Inner Bully) this is very good news,
indeed.
Here's an excerpt from The Inner
Critic Advantage: Making Peace With the Noise in Your Head by Andrea Patten
A few million years ago, when
the inner alarm bell sounded, all stress was short-lived: prehistoric primates
either responded and escaped or became part of the predator’s buffet. Period.
Either way, intense stress did not last long.
Modern stress is different. It’s
cumulative — and from the lizard brain’s point of view — relentless. From the
jarring sound of the alarm to the gloom and doom news report that accompanies
morning coffee, there’s no break. Commuting. Car horns. Caffeine. Kardashians.
And that’s even before you get to work.
Most of us don’t pay attention
to regular, vanilla stress. It gets stuffed because we think we should be able
to handle it. We tamp it down or ignore it and assume we should be able to just
power through.
Can you imagine the impact this
has on the primitive part of the brain? From that perspective, we’re ignoring
death threats which tends to make it cranky. Louder. More insistent. No wonder
it wants to take over — you’re not paying attention and giving it relief.
Remember, the survival center’s
job is to alert us to potential threats: it is NOT for deep thinking, nuance,
delicate wording or high-level negotiation.
Continuing to ignore the needs
of our primitive brains can lead to chronic stress, making us unreasonable and
sometimes causing arguments. I don’t think that’s what it intends to do — it’s
really just the old brain’s way of trying to get your attention.
To help you. When trying to get
along with people at work or seeking compromise with a loved one, we need to
get that thing tucked in.
Despite the problems it has
caused for you, there’s much to respect and appreciate about that old brain.
It:
• loves you and wants to keep
you safe,
• is part of your hardwired
survival mechanism,
• constantly scans your
environment for threats, and
• will not back down until it has been heard.
It takes hard work and a special
sort of mindfulness to turn an Inner Critic into an ally, but do you have what
it takes to turn it into an advantage?
I don't know about you, but I'm going to take time to answer Andrea's question. I need to turn my Inner Critic into an ally! Thanks Andrea for sharing with us today.
Please check out her books at: https://goo.gl/NhjDBF
Website: http://www.andreapatten.com/
Blessings!
Janetta
No comments:
Post a Comment