Dr Bradley Nelson of Discover Healing On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer
An Interview With Kristin Marquet
Remember that “Perfection is the enemy of done.” No book is perfect. Sometimes perfectionism prevents us getting our book out to the public. Don’t let that happen to you. Don’t keep going through revision after revision, finding little errors and doing lots of rewriting. Just get it off your hands and get it out to the world!
Some writers and authors have a knack for using language that can really move people. Some writers and authors have been able to influence millions with their words alone. What does it take to become an effective and successful author or writer?
In this interview series, called “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer” we are talking to successful authors and writers who can share lessons from their experience.
As part of this series I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Bradley Nelson.
Veteran holistic physician Dr. Bradley Nelson (D.C., ret.) is one of the world’s foremost experts on natural methods of achieving wellness. He is the creator of The Emotion Code and The Body Code system, and is the CEO of Discover Healing, a holistic education platform that provides training and certifies practitioners worldwide. His best-selling book “The Emotion Code” provides step-by-step instructions for working with the body’s energy healing power. A newly revised and expanded edition of “The Emotion Code” is now available (May 2019, St. Martin’s Press). For more information and a free Emotion Code Starter Kit, visit EmotionCodeGift.com.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I practiced as a holistic chiropractic physician for 20 years and gradually became a specialist in energy medicine, working with the emotional and energetic imbalances that my patients were suffering from, things they all had in common. I’ve taught seminars all over the world and trained and certified thousands of practitioners, but I never really had any intention of becoming a writer. However, the discoveries that I made during my years in practice needed to come to the knowledge of the world, and that need forced my hand.
Can you share the most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career?
The most interesting thing that has happened to me in my career has actually been the continuing success of The Emotion Code around the world. My wife Jean and I self-published our book in the beginning because we were told by mainstream publishers that it would take about 18 months for our book to come to press; we were not willing to wait that long, because we felt the urgency of getting this message out to the world. We were told by the same publishers, however, that if we did self-publish, everyone would know it. They said that if we did our own book cover, it would be amateurish and awful. My answer to this was to teach myself Adobe InDesign and do the book layout myself. I also copied the cover layout of a very successful existing paperback book down to the millimeter — the result being a very good-looking book cover that lasted us for 12 years and hundreds of thousands of copies.
What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey to becoming a writer? How did you overcome it? Can you share a story about that that other aspiring writers can learn from?
Like many writers, I had something of an inferiority complex about writing. In fact, my doubts about my own abilities to write resulted in my hiring a ghostwriter to do it for me. But after months of trying to help my ghostwriter get inside my head to see things the way I saw them and understand things the way I understood them, I finally realized that I had to write the book. It wasn’t something I could hand off to someone else, although I did find that hiring a ghostwriter was helpful as far as creating the outline and getting things organized.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I used to use dictation software to help me in my writing, and found it to be quite useful, although it would sometimes make rather bizarre mistakes. I was using this software once to respond to a woman who had emailed me, asking for my help and advice for a difficult situation she was faced with. I ended my dictated reply by recommending that she seek the help of the Higher Power. Just before hitting the send button, I decided to read my response. It was a good thing I did, because the dictation software had me recommending her to get help from the “Supreme Cat Being,” which I thought was quite profound.
In your opinion, were you a “natural born writer” or did you develop that aptitude later on? Can you explain what you mean?
I’ve never taken any formal education in writing, but I had some wonderful classes in college that introduced me to great literature. If anything, my own natural writing abilities have been positively affected by that exposure and by my love of reading.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
We will be launching two more levels of training and certification this year, a method called “The Belief Code,” a remarkably powerful method of finding and removing the deep subconscious beliefs that prevent us from living life to the fullest, and another course called “Healing Mastery,” where I will be teaching our students the deepest secrets of healing that I have learned over my lifetime. Fun stuff!
Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience, what are the “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer”? Please share a story or example for each.
1. Never give up. I learned that no matter how big the task may seem, simply persevere and eventually your book will be finished.
2. Just tell the story. Your book is about a story you want to tell, right? Imagine you are telling your story to a friend you haven’t seen for a long time. Imagine you are writing a long letter, and perhaps each letter will become a chapter in the book.
3. Trust yourself. This story that is inside of you can best be told by you, yourself. You have everything you need to be able to tell this story, so start now, don’t wait.
4. If you’re stuck, just start writing something — anything. Sit down and start writing, even if what you are writing doesn’t have anything to do with your book. The act of writing engages the mind’s writing machinery, and like priming a pump, it gets you into the flow. It’s a great way to get started if you’re stuck.
5. Remember that “Perfection is the enemy of done.” No book is perfect. Sometimes perfectionism prevents us getting our book out to the public. Don’t let that happen to you. Don’t keep going through revision after revision, finding little errors and doing lots of rewriting. Just get it off your hands and get it out to the world!
What is the one habit you believe contributed the most to you becoming a great writer? (i.e. perseverance, discipline, play, craft study). Can you share a story or example?
I am a great believer in persistence, and learned the value of it when I was writing “The Emotion Code.” I have always loved this quote:
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” — Calvin Coolidge
Which literature do you draw inspiration from? Why?
I draw a lot of inspiration from master storytellers, especially writers of historical novels such as Patrick O’Brian and Jane Austen. As an author, I am a storyteller, and I have the greatest respect for those who, with their words, can create a credible alternative world that I can become completely lost in.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
My work is all about giving back to people the healing birthright that belongs to them. This is the movement that has already begun, and it’s an incredible thing to watch and feel at least partly responsible for. There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t receive testimonials from different parts of the world — stories of how people are healing themselves, their loved ones, and their animals by releasing their emotional baggage. The cat is out of the bag, and there is no going back now!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Our main website is DiscoverHealing.com, and my blog is DrBradleyNelson.com. Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram as well!
Thank you so much for this. This was very inspiring!
