2019 was the year following the launch of our first book, The Butterfly Trap. It was tricky to stay energized in the wake of this. We used all of our resources, time and money to launch this project and were blown away by the support and love we received. It felt like we had made it to the top of the mountain and the next logical step was to descend. Pair this with the fact that we have full time jobs, aging parents, pets and domestic responsibilities like everyone else. So, being creative and engaging our followers, making time to continue to market the book, do readings, write songs and perform was a feat (to say the least).
Last night we sat down and did a year end review. We started with a column that read “Wins”. I am aware of the importance of counting wins and I strongly encourage this practice. In fact, you should do this now if you haven’t already. Take a paper, make a column that says “wins” and go!
We started strong, quickly documenting our wins. We were encouraged by the success of the readings and numerous opportunities to share our story and music. We wrote new songs and blogs and vlogs and did a pretty decent job of keeping the momentum going.
Soon we started slowing down, it was time to evaluate from the perspective of what needed improvement. This came much more easily and soon the list had grown longer than the first one and that’s when I abruptly suggested we move on to other considerations because the negatives can easily outweigh the positives.
You may be curious about some of these shortcomings. Well, the list is long but here are a few. We could have worked harder, used our time more effectively, reached more kids, used social media more strategically, vlogged better, blogged more, volunteered more, researched and read and listened and hustled more etc.
It’s great to be honest about what needs improvement but even more important to count your wins. I believe that this will lead to greater success than lamenting the losses.
Let me be honest, it’s hard to stay perky and positive and enthusiastic….
It’s hard to dream big. It’s harder for some people than others. We are people who have had to work very hard for everything we have. We are student loan people. We are not property owners, we have no wealth to speak of. We don’t come from families who have wealth either. Our parents had to work very hard to provide for us. There were no lavish vacations. Money wasn’t flowing.
Self publishing, marketing and launching The Butterfly Trap was a big investment for us. It was scary to take this level of risk. In fact, It was uncharacteristic of us. But we did it and we’re doing it again. This time a little wiser, more shrewd and focused.
Will this mean that we are successful?
Will this mean that we have “made it”???
We have already made lots of mistakes we can say that for sure.
I am not sure what would make me feel that we have achieved success. I can say that there was something very satisfying about the process of creating and publishing our first book. But did we achieve the success that I hope for? And what does that success look like?
I have often joked that I will feel successful when Disney buys the rights to our story and makes a feature film from it. But the truth is, there is nothing quite as satisfying as reading our book to a group of children who are attentive and laughing and engaged with the narrative. That is truly the definition of success.
More of that please….
Love, Dragon + Bunny
(written by Bunny)