We’re all pretty good at articulating the “what” of our life stories. It’s the “how” and “why” that are often out of focus.

I ran into this in the writing of my own memoir The Power of the Curve, when I realized that I’ve effectively lived 9 different lives, and needed my trusty ghostwriter to help uncover the thread that ties them all together. She also guided me to the “why” – the lessons yielded from all that life lived (and boy did we find some doozies!).

I had a similar conversation with a client recently, a legendary drummer who was in town performing. Over coffee in the hotel lobby before his show, we discussed how important it is to show your “fans” (whether you’re a rock star, author, and/or personal brand) the process behind your life and reveal the lessons you’ve learned that have made you who you are today.

Once I encouraged him to start shooting daily videos with these sort of “deep thoughts” about how he has achieved (monumental) success in his life and career, his already hot social media network essentially exploded with excitement. His music fans LOVED his life insights and, based on the comments, seemed to adopt him as their new “guru,” “life coach” and all-purpose source of inspiration. People immediately and from the heart started telling them how very much they needed to hear his words of wisdom!

Authors – THIS is it! This is the good stuff. This is what happens when you find the courage to dig deep and share freely of yourself.

And PS, you don’t have to be an actual “rockstar” to have life lessons and insights that can massively impact another person. If you’re here, if you’re living the best life you can muster, if you’re in the game – then your thoughts qualify to be shared with others. It’s that simple.

Try This: Keep a journal or document on your computer or phone of thoughts as you have them. Then, schedule a window of time every week to turn those thoughts into videos and other social media content. No matter how modest your social media following, how can you be sure that there’s not someone in your network who absolutely NEEDS to hear your insights today?

Do this consistently and you will build your personal brand foundation that your book(s) will eventually land on. Don’t worry about that for now though. For now just take note of all those thoughts in your head every day – capture, curate, and post them. See which ones create the most sparks and when you’re ready, use that as a starting point for crafting your (next) book.

PS: Need help fine tuning this “thought leadership” editorial strategy? Contact me for your free consultation!