Your book doesn’t need to be limited to just one message. In fact, the more messages the better, because you never know which one will jump out at a reader and become the reason your book changes their life.
As you consider potential messages to include in your book, try out the eight “power messages” below. These are messages so powerful we will spend fortunes, change relationships, move across the world, even sacrifice our lives to have them communicated to us. Skilled advertisers and marketers know these messages by heart. So do successful politicians. You’ll find at least one of these messages in every popular song. Now these messages are yours. Use them wisely.
- YOU CAN DO IT!
Easy or difficult, simple or complex, you’ve got this. - YOU HAVE WORTH
No matter who you are or what you’ve done, you have great potential and something of value to offer. You are good. You are needed. We’re glad you’re here. - YOU’RE PART OF OUR TRIBE
You belong. We want you on our team. We accept you as one of us. - KEEP GOING, IT WILL WORK OUT
It may be difficult right now, but don’t give up, keep at it, and things will improve. - YOU’RE NOT ALONE
Whatever you’re struggling with, you’re not the only one. You are seen and understood. - THERE’S ALWAYS GOOD IN THE BAD
There’s a silver lining. There’s meaning in suffering. Hard times produce powerful people. The more you struggle, the stronger you get. - YOU ARE SEEN
Your efforts aren’t for nothing — you are seen and your work is recognized. - YOU ARE LOVED
No matter what, and forever.
As with all messages, authenticity is key. Include the message only if you can do so honestly, otherwise it’s worse than no message at all.
Pro tip: Print out these power messages on a single page and put it on a wall next to where you work on your book to remind you to incorporate them into your writing.
How do you include these messages in your writing? Take a page from Brené Brown. Notice how when she says, “Be you. Be all in. Fall. Get up. Try again,” these power messages are contained in her words.
Be you = You have worth
Be all in = You can do it
Fall. Get up. Try again. = Keep going, it will work out
Or consider Ryan Holiday‘s books. Although the titles may not explicitly say it, The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, and Stillness is the Key all provide strong messages that you can do it, and if you stumble then keep going and it will work out.
Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning, born in part out of his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during WWII, provides a powerful message about how, even in the worst of circumstances, we can find meaning and purpose, or that good can come out of bad.
The power messages above are broadly applicable across languages, cultures, time, and place.
Which power messages are already contained in your book? Which ones will you add to your writing? What power messages can you think of that aren’t on my list?
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