When I first released Listening to Yourself: How to Hear Your Own Wisdom, I thought I was done, like it was mission accomplished. But finishing the book wasn’t the end. It was the beginning of a process I’ve grown to love: learning, revising, and growing as a writer.

A few weeks after publishing, I read through my book again and saw things I wanted to change—sentences that rambled, transitions that could flow better, and sections that needed clarity. My first reaction was embarrassment. But soon, I felt something else: gratitude. I realized this wasn’t failure, but it was progress. I was seeing my work with new eyes, which meant I was growing.

So I got to work. I cut repetition, refined ideas, and made the book breathe a little more. Revision, I discovered, isn’t about fixing mistakes, but it’s about caring for your message and your readers. It’s about caring enough about what you write to continue working on it.

Writing has taught me humility. It reminds me that growth comes from openness, listening to feedback, and the desire to keep learning. It’s the same lesson I see in counseling: awareness is the first step toward transformation. The moment you stop pretending you’ve “arrived,” you create space to become something new.

And something new is what I'm doing. Revisions have been made to my first book, and I am already headlong into my next book. My next book won't have me "arriving" as a writer either, but it will be another step toward improvement.

And that process of progress as a writer (I'm discovering) gives me great meaning and joy.