Kyle Collins is an ordinary Midwestern boy with an extraordinary desire to improve lives. He has an undergraduate business degree, a graduate degree as a Doctor of Chiropractic, and a plethora of experience in solar energy, but he truly thrives while studying psychology, sociology, neuroscience, and human behavior.
He is quick to acknowledge that he “married up,” and he aspires to encourage others and change lives along with his family. Kyle, his wife, Ditte, and their daughters currently live in Chicago, attempting to be blessings to all they come across.
Kyle recently wrote, edited, and self-published his first self-help book with selfpublishing.com's Author Accelerator Elite program. We asked if he would share a little behind-the-scenes of his writing process, the inspiration for his book, and what he has planned for his future as a newly-published author.
Book Title: Wherever You Go There You Are: Time-Tested Principles to get Unstuck, Expand Your Influence, and Illuminate Your World
Genre: Self-help, memoir, motivational
LinkedIn Profile: Kyle Collins
Who should read your book?
In a word: everyone.
- The parent trying to be more emotionally calm and resilient.
- The athlete who needs to fall back on a steady foundation after his or her playing career is over.
- The 50-year-old father has never dealt with his horrible upbringing and allowing that to keep him stuck.
- The single mother who cannot seem to forgive herself or her ex.
- The adrenaline junkie who wants to be more grounded.
From age 8 to 108, these are time-tested principles that every generation can benefit from. It’s my hope and firm belief that anyone who comes across this book will be blessed and helped by reading the words on these pages.
What inspired you to write about this topic – and why now?
Why not?
I’ve crammed a ton of life experience into under four decades, and there are nuggets to help others. I’m at a stage of life where I now desire to help others more than help myself. And because the information is powerful and transformative!
I’ve fallen in love with personal development over the past five years, devouring books, seminars, and podcasts like crazy. The information has transformed my mindset and the trajectory of my family and given me a level of confidence that surpasses anything I have ever experienced.
I also have a pretty insane upbringing, surrounded by generational trauma that has been successfully overcome. I believe that, in order to be our best selves, we need to take responsibility for everything in our lives.
Finally, this book is written for our two daughters as a template for living a fulfilled life. It contains knowledge I wanted to pass to them and the rest of the world should I get hit by the proverbial bus.
What are the top 3 things someone will learn from reading your book?
1. If we aren’t worthy in our own eyes, we will never be worthy in anyone’s eyes.
2. That discipline truly is freedom.
3. How to love, forgive, heal, hope, and dream again.
What was your process while working on this book?
At the time of writing this book, we only had one daughter but were pregnant with our second. Needless to say, time was crucial.
I tried not to sacrifice family time, so a majority of my writing was during our daughter's nap time, after everyone went to bed, or in between sales appointments (while my wife was at work and our daughter was in daycare).
Prior to starting the writing process, I had been compiling an Evernote of thoughts, quotes, and topics for the past five years. Once I finalized my book outline and got each bullet point of the topics I wanted to cover into relevant chapters, the writing itself actually went pretty quickly.
What's the hardest part of writing a book?
The hardest part of the entire thing was collecting, organizing, and synthesizing thoughts into coherent chapters.
Once I got writing, the hardest part was then learning how to be more succinct.
I have extensive life experiences in several different industries—as well as a turbulent upbringing with a lot of trauma—so I had plenty of information to share. Organizing it, paring it down, telling a story around each principle I was teaching, and identifying the main takeaways was difficult at times.
What's the best part of writing a book?
Seeing the growth of who I was to where I am now as a human.
I loved reflecting on the stories, identifying the victories, and sharing useful principles that others can adopt and use in their own lives.
Now that I've launched the book, every text, phone call, or social media post of one of these chapters influencing someone else is the best feeling.
What are your plans for the future with this book?
This will be the first of several books I write.
I’ve found this to be my creative outlet, especially because I cannot dance or sing or play an instrument or cook. This is my way of getting the creative juices flowing: through words that (hopefully) inspire and change lives.
I would love to use it as a platform for speaking and engaging different audiences as well. The information in the book is relevant for middle and high schoolers, college students, parents, businesses, non-profits, and church organizations alike. These are life principles that help improve every area of our lives, so the options [for applying them to your life] are limitless!
Perhaps a podcast is in my future as well but, first and foremost, I would love to become a public speaker. Then we can see where the journey takes me.
Finally, I just want to say that I’m grateful for every experience, person, and opportunity I have had in my life. All of them have led me to where I am today. Remember that action is the key! And knowing we are enough just as we are.
Thank you for your time in reading/commenting/sharing my work!
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