I am thrilled and incredibly proud to be sharing the news that my second children’s book has been officially published. Creating this book has been a journey of love for my kids, and a challenging creative process that I have experienced so far. It pushed me into creating something long before it was tangible. It started out as a blank piece of paper sat on the counter as I knew I could create a poem.I just didn’t know what the poem was going to be. It has certainly managed to test my patience and expectation management,especially regarding the official publishing date. Like all meaningful creations though, it started as a fun project that grew into something far bigger than I ever imagined.
Disappointed-Elaine-C-Betts: Amazon.com: Books
The journey began with hiccups
From the very first moment this book entered my mind just, as an idea,it has managed to live up to its name of ‘Disappointed’. Right at the very beginning when I was due to fly to Los Angeles to record the song, which transformed the poem I had written into lyrics, my flight was cancelled. It was an exciting milestone for me, I had lined up the producer and booked time with them and their studio, only to be let down by something out of my control.
This cancellation meant I lost my window at the recording studio and time with the producer, I really was feeling very disappointed.Months of anticipation took the wind out right out of my sails for a moment.
Be Determined
I remember feeling that this outcome wasn’t what I wanted and that I was determined to have a more positive result. I did a live post for social media in the car park, while I was still at the airport to let everyone know what had happened and that the rest of the day had to be a great day to make up for the disappointment. This wasn’t just a rant, it was to hold myself accountable for the outcome, be strong and determined to make it a great day no matter what.
That sinking feeling of disappointment is something that many entrepreneurs can feel as their day unravels in ways that they didn’t expect, along with the overwhelming feeling that it’s out of their control. I made a conscious choice not to let this setback define the outcome.
Ideas Evolve
This evolvement of an idea is what naturally happens in business if we let it. Mine was an idea, that then became a poem, which developed into the lyrics of a song, which then evolved into a book. Maybe a TV series is next, who knows, I’ve learned to never rule anything out, just keep open minded and let the idea develop without any knowledge of what the outcome might be. Creations rarely happen where you know the outcome, you can have a vision though of what you think it might be.
In Your Own Sweet Special Way – Album by Elaine Betts – Apple Music
What started as an idea became a song. That creative spark expanded into an album of 12 songs called “In Your Own Sweet Special Way” This is now sold worldwide and on many different platforms including Spotify, iTunes, Amazon and Apple Music. I get tremendous joy out of seeing which song is most popular and in which country. We all have plenty of ideas constantly.Very few actually find their way into fruition and grow into a life of its own to find a way into this world. If you have an idea, let it unravel step by step, just take action, and see where it goes. There’s something crazy about knowing that what was once in my head only exists because I took action. That, people read my books and listen to the music that I will never meet, and in live in places that it is unlikely I shall ever visit. Yet I have influenced others and made a difference, it’s just amazing to think about. Action is the bridge, the line between imagination and reality. The place where something develops into reality and is tangible.
Be in Action
It also made me think of how important it is to bounce back and be resilient.Keep trying no matter what gets in the way. Entrepreneurs often deal with disappointment every day, whether it is because some deals fall through, or someone lets them down. Their expectations aren’t met. There are plenty of reasons why we experience disappointment. From the simple things we expect to have,such as a cup of coffee in the morning that suddenly doesn’t happen,to something much bigger and more dramatic with some kind of consequence attached to it. Maybe someone doesn’t show up for an event, or like me, your flight was cancelled which meant I couldn’t make the appointment I was looking forward to. It was out of my control and yet I found another solution. There’s no point in waiting for the perfect time, there will very rarely be the perfect time. Time to not sit around, if you have an idea, go with it and take hold of that idea, make it happen. To be in action does not mean everything will go as expected, quite the opposite. There could be mistakes, obstacles along the way, for certain some challenges and delays. Many inventions that we have today developed because of mistakes. Post-it notes, penicillin, Play-Doh and Velcro would never exist if it wasn’t for mistakes that people discovered then repurposed their idea.
Be Persistent
How do we stay motivated and stick to our desires in adversity or in challenging situations? Determination comes from having a strong belief that what we are working on is important enough to us to keep going. Disappointment is inevitable on our creative journey as well as excitement, frustration and joy. There are four principles that I noticed from my experience.
4 Principles:
- Understand that not everything is in our control. Flights get cancelled, people change their minds, circumstances and priorities change. No amount of planning can determine what happens in these situations, only your determination for a positive outcome.
- Give yourself a moment to take in the situation-Take stock of the situation, pause for a moment, think and create another outcome. Use your initiative, think about what you really want the result to be and not suffer being the victim of circumstances.
- Look for what can be done– make this a positive proud experience. What can be done differently to have the same or better outcome. I wouldn’t be writing about this experience if the flight hadn’t been cancelled, the song and book would probably have been very different.
- Be determined and hopeful to move forward– Despite the hiccup, I made a conscious choice. Progress doesn’t require there to be perfect conditions, it just requires shear determination.
Why this book matters
This book represents more than its existence of sitting on a shelf. We all go though disappointment at some time. This is a channel for children to express their feelings and process what is going on. For children and parents to understand that disappointment doesn’t define them or cause sulky moods or mean failure. It’s a moment to share the experience, to move towards togetherness and build stronger understanding, love and connection. Disappointment may be part of the journey but it’s never the destination.