Why I Haven’t Finished My Book—Why Choosing Impact Over Visibility Matters

I started a book about two years ago.

I haven’t finished it—not because I’m lazy, afraid, or worried about what people will think.

I haven’t finished it because I’ve chosen not to prioritize it.

In the process of writing the book proposal, everything was clarified. My message. My voice. My process. What I actually bring.

That clarity didn’t produce a finished book.

What it produced was impact.

My work with other humans became more powerful and more resonant. I became a sought-after speaker. My coaching practice filled. My retreats filled. And the demand has continued to grow.

Finishing that original book would be a beautiful next step. It’s just not my next most authentic, inspired, or impactful step.

Of course, I’d love to be the author of a book—a best-selling one—whatever that means anymore. Every author seems to be a best-selling author these days.

A book opens doors. It lends credibility. It polishes a LinkedIn profile. Most speakers have one.

But books aren’t the only thing that opens doors.

Authenticity opens doors. Creativity opens doors. Real value opens doors.

What matters most to me is living into who I actually am and sharing what only I can share—in ways that make me feel alive.

So for now, I’m choosing to keep showing up as the most vibrant version of myself. I’m choosing to be an inspired creator of safe, brave spaces where physicians can heal, grow, and become more fully themselves.

This is my superpower.

Feeling the energy in a room shift. Seeing shoulders drop. Watching a breath deepen. Witnessing a tear, a laugh, or a truth surface unexpectedly.

That’s what lights me up.

This is the work I’m most proud of.

It’s not polished or packaged. It’s real. And it’s deeply needed.

There are a lot of books out there. Many speakers stand on stages talking about about their book and framework.

Far fewer people facilitate real change in the moment.

Very few authors live their work so fully that people leave the room different than when they arrived.

A client once told me that watching me facilitate is like “watching a master chef in a kitchen.”

At first, I didn’t know what to do with that. I used to brush off comments like that. I felt embarrassed when people asked how I do what I do, or told me they’d never experienced that kind of presence or impact delivered with such kindness.

I couldn’t own it then.

Now I can. And I do. Because when I do, the impact is greater.

It reminds me to keep choosing this path. To stop getting distracted by the “shoulds” and the pressure to do what everyone else is doing.

I’m not on pause.

I’m in motion.

I’m moving with the current of what’s alive and true. I trust that the time to finish that book—or write a different one—will come.

Not because I pushed. Not because it was strategic. Not because it was the “right” thing to do.

It will happen when I can’t not write it. When writing lights me up.

Until then, I’ll keep working with incredible humans in transformative spaces—remembering that the most powerful kind of marketing is real impact on real people.

The most potent kind of success is living in integrity with what you know actually matters.