Creating Something Bigger than Yourself Ties You in Knots
There are times in life when you feel a knot in your stomach and you realize you’ve bitten off far more than you can chew. One of those times is when you try to create something bigger than yourself.
It took me eight months to write my first book, How Cohesive is Your Company? When I finished, the manuscript exceeded 100,000 words. I had no formal writing training. Yet, when I read through it, I thought it was a great book.
I was proud of the work I’d done and pleased that I’d finished it. I knew I needed an editor to clean up the manuscript and catch typos, so I handed it to a friend who agreed to help.
After two weeks without hearing from her, I was a little concerned and called to ask what she thought. Instead of answering, she said, “Well, the book is a novel.” I replied, “Yes, I know it’s a novel. It says it’s a novel on the cover, and I told you it’s a novel.” She became quiet.
Then she asked, “Have you written a novel before?” I said, “No, I’ve never written a novel before. This is my first book.” There was a long, uncomfortable silence. I wondered what was wrong. Then she asked, “Have you read a novel before?”
I had hoped she would love it. Instead, she didn’t think I’d even read a novel before—which, embarrassingly, was true. I felt a terrible knot in my stomach. The knot was justified because the next 16 months of my life were excruciatingly difficult.
Creating Something Bigger Than Yourself is a Process
That manuscript of 100,000 words had to be cut down to 66,000 words to make it clearer and more readable. It wasn’t simply a matter of chopping off the last three chapters—I had to manually and painstakingly edit out every one of those 34,000 words.
In addition, the book had to become more conversational, the characters needed greater depth, and the scenes had to be described with vivid detail.
It was the most difficult thing I’d ever done, and it left me exhausted and drained. Many times, I was downright overwhelmed. Editing your own book is one of the toughest tasks imaginable. Writing is a joy, but editing can be pure pain. Yet, you must push through relentlessly, day after day.
Everyone Will Probably Have Something to Say
There was another challenge—the feedback I received. Because of my consulting and coaching work, I knew a lot of CEOs and top executives. I shared the book with them. Their feedback spanned the spectrum.
Some executives loved the story. They said they related to the protagonist, a CEO leading business transformation while undergoing personal transformation. They found the characters realistic and even joked that it felt like I’d put cameras in their offices. That made me happy.
Others had the opposite reaction. They felt the narrative got in the way of the core management framework and wanted the story removed.
Reconciling these opposing views was a challenge. I had no experience writing a novel, and I was attempting something ambitious—presenting a comprehensive management method through a story. It would have been far easier to write a straightforward theory book. It took a lot of work to figure out how to blend the two.
After 24 months, I was completely spent and didn’t know when this book revision would end—or if I’d ever finish. It was harrowing.
The Wisdom Required to Finally Create Something Bigger Than Yourself Can Come From Anywhere
Then one day, my seven-year-old son burst into my home office and, without warning, said, “Be done with it! Not everyone has to like the book.” And then ran out. To this day, I don’t know what prompted him or what he was thinking.
Exactly one month later, I finished the book. I decided it was good enough. I published it—and thankfully, the final version received great reviews.
That experience reminded me: resilience means sticking with what you’re doing even when it feels impossible.
We may not see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we must keep pushing forward—especially when our minds whisper that we’re not good enough or that we shouldn’t have started. Perseverance is sticking with it, no matter what.
At the same time, we must also recognize when good enough is good enough—the essence of the 80/20 rule. While perfection may be desirable, the last 20 percent often consumes a disproportionate amount of time and energy. We must value our time and know that chasing perfection can sometimes jeopardize the entire project.
It’s crucial to recognize when it’s time to wrap things up. Sometimes that realization comes from within, and sometimes from a seven-year-old bursting into your room. Either way, you must know when the time has come to bring your project to a close.
Again Creating Something Bigger Than Yourself is a Process…
My second book presented a completely different challenge. In writing it, I was exploring concepts I was still piecing together.
At one point, I realized that the ideas I had pondered for 30 years didn’t fit together easily. It all felt too vast to fully comprehend in my mind. That was frightening—if I couldn’t grasp it, how could I possibly capture it coherently into words?
Feeling that way two years into writing Happy Soul. Hungry Mind. was daunting. This was the most important work of my life. The concepts were complex, and I had to push myself and test my limits to simplify them. I was stuck and had no choice but to slow down. Then, one morning about a month later, the puzzle magically put itself together. The universe had delivered.
It was a beautiful feeling to finally see how every piece fit. This book was special because, while writing it, I discovered concepts I hadn’t known existed within me—concepts that I had never heard anyone else discuss.
I realized these were groundbreaking concepts, and now they had all exquisitely aligned. I was humbled and in complete awe—as though I were piecing together the equation of life. It was exhilarating.
This experience reminded me that while resilience means persevering, sometimes stepping back to allow your mind to process things is important. Then, when everything clicks, you come back and finish the project. I’m thankful the universe allowed me to complete it.
I believe Happy Soul. Hungry Mind. will change the world. We must all persevere because sometimes what we create becomes much bigger than us.
Now, I’m on a new journey: to create a song inspired by Happy Soul. Hungry Mind. I know nothing about music. I’ve never sung or composed before. I met a young man studying music and asked if he would put music to the lyrics.
We met, and he asked me to sing it. I did—and I was proud of myself. I loved it. After listening, he looked at me and said, “Can I be brutally honest?” The knot in my stomach has returned.
Ravi Kathuria’s mission is to awaken the world by sharing these Truths: Spirituality is stunningly simple and practical, non-religious, and available universally. Spirituality is in our DNA and is the Universe’s ultimate gift! A vibrant speaker and business thought-leader, Kathuria is cited in national publications such as Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. He’s the founder of the Houston Strategy Forum and the executive coaching firm Cohegic. His new book, a modern-day parable, Happy Soul. Hungry Mind, follows his acclaimed leadership book, How Cohesive is Your Company?.
Let us know in the comments below if you have felt a similar way when trying to create something bigger than yourself.
