One of my favourite events of 2016 was attending the Author’s Coffee Meet Up hosted by Sheena Blake, Founder and CEO of Discovering Diversity Publishing. I shamelessly attended the event even though I haven’t written a book……(yet), but jumped at the chance to interact with other writers.

 

During the course of the night, I listened to their writing journeys, and we instantly bonded as we discussed the highs and lows of #thewritinglife.

 

I decided that night that I would like to show my fellow writers some love, and create a series on Words With Michelle, where I can feature their work (book reviews, writing events etc.) from time to time.

 

My first entry in this series is: Fighting Fear & Doing Discipline, written by Keith Hill Jr.

 

 

It’s the beginning of the year, which is typically the best time for me to reflect on what has and hasn’t worked in the past, and see how I can make positive changes for the new year. That’s probably why I chose to kick off the Writer’s series by reading Keith Hill’s Fighting Fear & Doing Discipline.

 

Fighting Fear & Doing Discipline is essentially a self-help book, but it’s way more than that (read: it’s not sappy or overly emotional). Keith motivates the reader by providing easy-to-understand steps and tips on how to achieve success by conquering fear and becoming self-disciplined.

 

The book is divided into 2 parts – the first focuses on fear and the second on discipline.

 

The first 50 pages speak about fear – what it is, how we deal with it and how to overcome it. Keith provides tons of examples on the steps you can take to free yourself from the paralyzing shackles holding you back. He even reveals his own past fears and recounts the effect that it had on his life.

 

Not being the biggest risk taker, the most meaningful takeaway for me was when Keith said our fears are mostly what we think will happen – it’s not necessarily what will happen. Most of our fears are built up in our heads, that we are completely afraid to address them. I can definitely identify with this.

 

The second part of the book is focused on discipline. Keith explains how being disciplined and being self-motivated (instead of needing to be motivated – big difference) contributes to you attaining your goals. In other words, it’s essential to have the big picture in mind when working towards your goal.

 

My “a-ha” moment was when Keith wrote that being self-disciplined is not punishment. He assures the reader that being disciplined is a means to an end for self-improvement. In other words, stay focused and stay the course. I love that! I never thought of it that way. It definitely makes me think of every decision I make when it comes to my goals.

 

As stated earlier, Keith sprinkles tons of examples throughout the book, but it was his story about stopping for lunch with his daughters – one of which had just finished a track and field meet – and the conversation they had about what to eat for lunch that stayed with me. I can’t tell you anymore about what transpired – you NEED to read this story, but it really emphasized that discipline is the key to success! (psst…it’s on page 54)

 

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was an easy, quick read and I found new tools to help me become mindful when working towards my goals.

 

*Note to the author: since your book takes on a very friendly tone, I think it would be perfect in an audio format. Just putting it out there!

 

 

For more information on the Keith Hill Jr., please see below.

 

Hometown: Toronto

Astrological Sign: Aquarius

Fave book: Think And Grow Rich

 

 

Why did you decide to write this book?

I was just doing some soul searching on ways that I could better myself – while I was coming up with answers to my questions and solutions to my problem, I realized that it was worthy of being packaged in a book.

 

Why did you choose self-publishing?

Over the years, in the many businesses I’ve either done or tried to do, I became disenchanted with having a gate-keeper telling me if I could pursue my dreams or not – the worst thing you can do is tell an entrepreneur “no.” So I started finding opportunities to pursue my goals and ambitions without putting my destiny in someone else’s hands; self-publishing make perfect sense to me because of this.

 

Working on any other books?

I’m serializing the release of my first novel now on Wattpad.com. It’s called “Rule 72”. Each week I put out additional chapters as the story unfolds. I also have other things in the works. My goal, as a writer is to always have something “in the pipeline” so my answer for the question will forever be “yes”. 

 

 

URL: www.keithhilljr.com

Twitter: @realkeithhill

Instagram: @real.keithhill