It's wild to think it's been that long since I hit publish, as my hands were shaking and stomach stirring. I had no idea what was on the other side of that decision.

I've always been someone who pursues the things that call them without thinking about what the whole journey might entail.

Instead of thinking too far into the future and worrying about what it might demand of me, I do my best to focus on the next step I need to take and nothing more. Otherwise, make up stories of why I'm not good enough to pursue what calls me.

When I published the book, I knew my next step was to share about it online to help spread the word. What I didn't know was that it would change the course of my life forever.

I can remember during my morning meditations, around the time I published my book, I had visions of Earth floating in space, wrapped in thousands of copies of my book, covering every inch of it.

But then I'd come out of my meditation and feel the undeniable self-doubt. I'd tell myself that type of success wouldn't happen to me, and I figured only my friends and family would support the book.

In the midst of the self-doubt that clouded my head, I did my best to hang on to the vision from my meditation. It motivated me to share my book online and see what happened.

When I first published my book, I didn't have a huge audience or anything really going for me yet in the world of self-development. I had 8,000 followers on Instagram and no TikTok account. Plus, I was posting only travel photography at the time.

The odds weren't in my favor, but I figured I had to start from somewhere.

In the beginning, I was maybe sharing about my book two or three times per week. I was still attached to my dream of becoming a photojournalist for National Geographic, so it was hard for me to let go of travel photography.

But as I saw nothing really coming from sharing about both, I knew I needed to pick a direction. With a new book in my hands, which I had just spent over two years creating, the choice was obvious.

It was time to answer the call to go all in on You Deserve This Sh!t.

I started sharing only about self-improvement topics, posting about my book more often, and, most importantly, started a TikTok account because that's what all the kids were saying to do.

While I was excited to be pursuing my newest dream of becoming a full-time author, it was a dogfight.

For the first seven months of sharing about my book, it was crickets. I was maybe selling five to 10 copies per month. Not enough to be a full-time author.

But then on December 26, 2021, I had a video about my book go viral on TikTok. I wasn't sure what that meant until the sales were reported three days later.

152 copies sold in one day. I was losing my shit.

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My self-doubt told me it was a flash in the pan, but the vision from my meditation reminded me it was just the beginning.

Fast forward to today, through many moments of being scared that it was all going to be taken away anytime my sales dipped, I'm looking at a journey that's beyond my wildest imagination.

96,302 books sold to date in dozens of countries around the world.

That's 96,302 people who have chosen to use their hard-earned dollars to support something I created, and I don't take that lightly.

The two reasons I do this work are to make a difference in the world and make money to support my family. As a self-published, independent author and artist, every book purchased allows me to create more value in the world and provide for the people in my life.

For that, I want to take a moment to say thank you, genuinely, from the bottom of my heart.

But the thing I want you to know most is that I'm no more special than you are. I'm just a normal guy, sitting over here writing this email, wondering if I'm doing it well enough. I share many of the same doubts and fears as you.

If I can pursue the scary shit that calls me, so can you. I'm certain of it.

I didn't know the significance June 9, 2021 would hold in my life. For all I knew, it could've been a day that forever reminded me of being a failure.

But because you showed up and supported my work, you've helped me remember it as a day that changed the course of my life forever.

You are the true hero in my story.

P.S. If you've made it this far, you're one of the few people to know that I have something new and exciting coming very soon. I'm finishing it up now with my designer and should be able to share it in the coming weeks. Hint: It has pages, but it's not necessarily brand new.