Keep Going With Nika Maples

You should write before you’re ready. People think that they are “supposed to feel ready” before they begin a challenge.  That is the Readiness Myth. It’s a myth because it is through completing a challenge that you become the person who is ready for it.  It’s crazy but true. The challenge itself makes you into exactly who you thought you were supposed to be before you started. Readiness comes afterward, not before. What am I getting at, here? Well, you’ve been wanting to write a book for a long time. In fact, you have been thinking about it a lot since last year, haven’t you? So why isn’t it finished twelve months later? Because you’ve believed the Readiness Myth. Listen to the full episode to learn more … The post 74: The Myth of Readiness appeared first on Nika Maples.

There is a phrase I hear a lot from my book coaching clients. They say, “I am so confused.” My answer is simple: What if there is no right answer to your question? See, every writer wants to know “this or that.” Should I write this topic or that topic first? Should I use this style or that style? Should I purchase this writing program or that writing program? Should I go to this writing conference or that writing conference? Should I self publish or traditionally publish? Should I approach this literary agent or that agent? No wonder new writers feel so confused! There are so many decisions to make. That is why I always say that writers must learn to be very good decision makers. Here is the VERY BEST advice I can give to any new writer, and this is what I do myself. It is what has taken my career to greater heights and helped me be more productive. Are you ready? Just pick one thing.Make it work.Don’t switch. That’s it. When it comes to writing, the RIGHT ANSWER is

I love my nieces and their friends. I pray for them every day, asking the Lord to make them strong-hearted and devoted to Him, free from the bondage of comparison. Because I know how painful comparison can be. My guess is that you do too. Comparison gets us nowhere fast. Because when we are looking to the right and left, we are not looking straight ahead, and when we aren’t looking straight ahead, we will likely run off the road or crash. So what do we do when we are stuck in comparison? Listen to the full episode to learn more … The post 72: When You Are Stuck appeared first on Nika Maples.

When book coaching clients tell me that they don’t have enough time to write, my answer is simple: What if that is okay? Let’s get real. On the face of things, we all know we are lying to ourselves a little bit when we say we don’t have enough time. Because time is the only thing that is equal for everyone. God decided to give everyone the same amount within every day. We all get 24 hours to work with. They are like Lego building blocks. Anyone can make what they want to with their hours. But I know what my clients are trying to say. They have a lot of things on their to-do list, and once they pencil in the essentials, there isn’t any margin for writing their book. Listen to the full episode to learn more … The post 71: When You Don’t Have Enough Time appeared first on Nika Maples.

Writers, we have to start by asking ourselves whose job it is to love us. It is not your publisher’s job to love you. It is not your literary agent’s job to love you. It is not your reader’s job to love you. It is not your friends’ job to love you. It is not your family’s job to love you. Whaaat? You may have just balked on the last two. I had you nodding and rolling along, but then then you came to a screeching halt. Let’s go over what I mean by “job.” A job is something that, if someone doesn’t do it, it won’t get done. Now look back at the last two items on the list and ask yourself some deep questions. Is it possible that you have given your friends and family a job that is not their job? If they do not love you (in the specific way that you like to experience being loved) is the job not going to be done? Will you not feel loved at all if they don’t do it? I want to suggest to you that it isyourjob to love you. If you love you, then the job will ALWAYS be done. Loving yourself looks like accepting yoursel

Most people struggle with indecision. "Deciding" is the hardest thing about writing a book. That is why I have tried to become good at decision-making. That doesn’t mean that I am a robot, completely controlled by God. But it means that I can be a disciple, who has surrendered control to God. What does that look like in real life? I make one decision and stick to it. I NEVER second-guess. I never second-guess because I trust that God can make any decision a good decision when it has been surrendered to Him. If Romans 8:28 is true, if “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” then there is no such thing as a bad decision. Because if we make our decisions as well as we know how in the moment, we can trust Him to redeem each one of them.  That means, even the “bad” ones become good in the end. Listen to the rest of this episode to learn more.   The post 69: The Hardest Thing About Writing a Book appeared first on

A lot of writers tell me that God has called them to write, but they feel unworthy. The feeling of unworthiness keeps them stuck, never moving forward. Here is a new way to think about it. Maybe God is inviting you to come out and play. It has nothing to do with worthiness and everything to do with Who He is. Listen to the rest of the episode to find out more.   The post 68: What If God Is Inviting You to Play appeared first on Nika Maples.

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Have you ever seen those t-shirts that use a bold font to list four ubiquitous names that are instantly recognizable when they are listed together? Like John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Or Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer. Or Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Well, I was thinking about those shirts the other day. I was on a group coaching call, and one of my clients asked to be coached on the feeling of frustration she was experiencing as she worked on her manuscript. Ok, I was you, just for a moment, to step into her situation. I am going to give a little summary of our conversation, here. Have you ever felt something similar to this? Let’s call her Anne. Anne had been working on her project, making great progress, feeling confident. She had collected piles and piles of notes over the years because she was already teaching and working one on one with people who needed her expertise and services. But there were only so many people she could reach by sharing in small settings like that. She had come to me because

The post 63: Don’t Leave Without Jesus appeared first on Nika Maples.

When it comes to your writing, just because you have never been able to fish your book before, doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to finish it. Don’t look to your past to predict your future. Just because your work has been rejected in the past doesn’t mean you always will be. Don’t look to the old days for evidence of the new days. Jesus would like to do something that’s never been done before. He’s running to you right now. “How’s it going to happen?” He’s saying. He’s asking but He’s only testing you. He already knows what He’s going to do. It’s something to think about. If He knew what He was going to do, why would He even ask? When Jesus turns to His disciples, He’s never asking for our ideas. He’s asking for our cooperation. It took the disciples cooperation to pass around all of the baskets to feed the people. They were just the food servers. That’s all. Jesus made the miraculous main course.  Our job? Just servers. Let Jesus have a chance to cook it up, first. The post 62

Do you think you are behind? It could be that you have forgotten to multiply the miraculous work of Jesus on your behalf. No wonder you think you’re behind. You’ve found the formula of failure, and for some reason you continue to calculate yourself as the most significant factor. But arriving at the answer that it’s too late means your formula is fatally flawed. There’s nothing after too late. And anytime there’s no life left it means you made a mistake somewhere. Go back and check your work ... you are not behind. The post 61: You Are Not Behind appeared first on Nika Maples.

In this episode, Nika shares about her trip to the hospital and how her friends saved her life. After fighting COVID for 22 days, she recovered beautifully. And learned some key lessons about what to embrace and what to give up. The post 60: COVID Lessons, Pt. 2 appeared first on Nika Maples.

In this episode, Nika shares about her recent experience with COVID, during which she learned how important it is to let true friends into our lives, even when there is more chaos than we'd like for anyone to see. When people offer to help or give, they can be trusted to make their own decisions. It is not up to us to "make their decisions for them" in an effort to hide the parts of ourselves we think they would reject. The post 59: COVID Lessons, Pt. 1 appeared first on Nika Maples.

(Part 5 of 5) Have you ever made a long list of New Year’s goals that were never really met? In this series, Nika shares a five-step process that she has followed for the last twenty-six years to set and meet spirit-led goals with a God-confident mindset. In the final episode of this series, you will learn how to set goals that are actually achievable, and you’ll discover how to break the vicious cycle of setting many goals, but meeting none of them. These teachings will be invaluable tools in your New Year’s tool belt to help you cooperate with the Holy Spirit to step into and accomplish what He has for you in the coming year. Click here to learn more about The Keep Going Workshop! The post [Archive] 58: How to Make Five Goals and Take Action appeared first on Nika Maples.

(Part 4 of 5) Have you ever made a long list of New Year’s goals that were never really met? In this series, Nika shares a five-step process that she has followed for the last twenty-six years to set and meet spirit-led goals with a God-confident mindset. In this episode, you will learn practical steps to make the unruly thoughts in your head be quiet and still, and how to give “airtime” to good and healthy thoughts. God shows us in His Word that we have authority over our thought life. With these keys, you can bring every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and saturate yourself with truth so that you align yourself with what God says about you! Click here to find out more about The Keep Going Workshop! The post [Archive] 57: How to Declare Truth Over Your Life appeared first on Nika Maples.

(Part 3 of 5) Have you ever made a long list of New Year’s goals that were never really met? In this series, Nika shares a five-step process that she has followed for the last twenty-six years to set and meet spirit-led goals with a God-confident mindset. In this episode, you will learn to recognize the ways that God uniquely speaks to you. You will discover the things that may be blocking you from hearing God’s voice, and keys to changing your mindset to be more open to hear from Him. He wants you to hear Him! Click here to learn more about The Keep Going Workshop! The post [Archive] 56: How to Be Still and Listen to the Lord appeared first on Nika Maples.

(Part 2 of 5) Have you ever made a long list of New Year’s goals that were never really met? In this series, Nika shares a five-step process that she has followed for the last twenty-six years to set and meet spirit-led goals with a God-confident mindset. In this episode, you will learn how to take a personal inventory in five key areas to “count the cost” before setting your goals. You will be encouraged to not look to the past with regret, but to look to the future with hope knowing that God works all things together for your good! Click here to learn more about the Keep Going Workshop! The post [Archive] 55: How to Take a Personal Inventory appeared first on Nika Maples.