“When Turtles Fly” Book Review: How This Book Inspired Me To Be a Better Blogger
posted on Feb. 26, 2010
Each and every single time I travel, I always get so excited to head over to Barnes and Noble to pick out a brand new book to pack in my carry-on bag. There is something about sitting on a plane and getting lost in a good book for an hour or two that is just so relaxing to me these days. I’m lucky, because I’ve finally reached that age with my son where he will sit next to me on a flight and look at his own books so that I can steal a few minutes with mine. (Don’t hate me though, because I more than paid my dues as far as air travel goes when he was an infant. I deserve every minute of silence that I get).
Before my trip to Florida last week, I didn’t have to make that Barnes and Noble trip because I was provided with a review copy of a new inspirational book, “When Turtles Fly”, by Olympic athlete Nikki Stone. I honestly don’t think I could’ve been sent a more appropriate book for my first official book review.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with her, Nikki Stone was determined to be an Olympic athlete ever since she was a little girl, and she fulfilled that dream when she became America’s first Olympic champion in the sport of aerial skiing at the winter games in Nagano, Japan. Her success at the Olympics was even more significant because of the fact that less than two years earlier, she endured a chronic spinal injury that prevented her from standing, and she wasn’t sure that she’d ever take to the slopes again.
Her determination to overcome her injury and continue on her journey of being an Olympic champion was inspired by some advice her mother gave her as a little girl. In support of her daughter’s ambitions, Nikki’s mother taught her about a little thing called, “The Turtle Effect.” Basically, if you want to be successful, you have to be soft on the inside, have a hard shell on the outside, and be willing to stick your neck out.
Nikki was committed to her goals no matter what challenges life threw at her, and despite her injury, she went on to win 35 World Cup medals, in addition to several World Titles, and a spot in the Ski Hall of Fame. She never forgot about “The Turtle Effect”, and she applied it to every aspect of her life. Her career is now focused on sharing her secrets to success through this book, and through motivational speaking, in order to inspire others to “stick their necks out” and reach for their dreams.
“When Turtles Fly” is filled with wonderful stories from other athletes, entrepreneurs, and other well known figures who have overcome their adversities and achieved great success in their lives. While I was reading these stories, I started thinking about how these principles applied to my own dreams and goals as a blogger. I thought that a great way to review this book was to examine the key elements of “The Turtle Effect” and to show how I believe they can benefit and improve my writing and my blog on a daily basis. I’m hoping that maybe some of my readers will feel as inspired as I do by what I learned!
1. ”To Be Successful, You Need To Make Sure You are Committed” – Find Your Soft Inside
I cannot tell you how many times I have an idea for a great post, and instead of immediately sitting down at the computer or grabbing a pen and paper to jot down notes, I start going over the usual excuses in my head such as: “I’m too tired right now…”, ”I really need to throw a load of laundry in instead…”, “I’ll just wait and do it tomorrow…”
That last one seems to get me every single time. And you know what the biggest downside of waiting till tomorrow is? Nine times out of ten, by the time tomorrow rolls around I’ve completely forgotten whatever it was that I intended to write about. Who knows how many awesome posts are floating around in the back of my brain somewhere because I didn’t take the time to grab a napkin and a piece of paper while I’m having lunch to jot a few thoughts down so I have those notes for later.
I will admit that I am also guilty of using the “I’ll do it tomorrow” excuse when it comes to returning emails, returning comments, and visiting other blogs on a consistent basis. It is not that I don’t want to return those messages or comments, and it is not that I don’t want to visit other blogs, it’s just that sometimes I find myself feeling guilty about how much time I devote to trying to make my blog successful, and so I choose to do something else instead and I neglect my blog community “until tomorrow.”
You know what? I’m not going to feel guilty anymore. I know that this blog may not be something that I receive an outside paycheck for, but it is my baby. It is my baby, and it is my little dream (though I’m not sure exactly what that dream is yet) and if it is going to be my baby and my dream, then I need to nurture it and be committed to it each and every single day. Something about writing this blog just feels “right” to me, and so I’m going to listen to my “soft inside” and sit down and write and email and comment and visit when I need to. No more guilt, no more waiting. The time is now.
2. ”Overcome Your Adversities” – Have a Hard Shell
In a lot of the ventures I’ve taken on in the past, I’ve been so afraid of failure. And not only have I been afraid of failure, I’ve actually been ashamed of failure. There are things in my life that I definitely haven’t “gone for” because I have been too afraid of not succeeding to even give them a chance. The saddest part is what is truthfully behind my fear of failure. My fear of failure is really my fear of what other people will think of me if I do not achieve my goals. I fear the whispering behind my back. I fear the conversations that will be had between people discussing how “lame” they think whatever I’m doing is and how they know I’ll never make it work. I fear how pathetic I will look if I go from being at the top of my game to the bottom.
Nikki Stone’s words encouraged me to ask myself a question presented in her book. “If I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I try?”
I think that the possibilities of answers to that question are endless. I think that there are a lot of things that all of us would try if we were somehow assured beforehand that we had no chance of failure. In thinking about this concept, I realized that facing the possibility of failure is part of what makes achieving our goals so much more meaningful. If we are so passionate about something that we are willing to take risks in order to fulfill whatever dream we have for it, then when we finally do succeed, it will be so much more significant and important to us as individuals. If success were simply handed to us without having to strive for it, then we probably wouldn’t hold it in such high regard.
In thinking more about my blog, I’ve determined that I really can’t fail. That’s right…I CAN’T FAIL. Sure, I may have some setbacks, and I may have some struggles, and I may have writer’s block that makes me want to throw in the towel a time or two, and I may have my share of criticism from people who don’t agree with what I’m doing or saying, but none of that is enough to make me believe that I can fail. I can only fail if I let myself fail. And I’m not going to allow that.
I think I finally have the confidence to PUT ON MY HARD SHELL as far as this blog goes. As I’ve said before, I have no idea what the future holds for The Mommyologist, but to me, I’ve already succeeded. I’ve gotten the chance to use my brain for something other than trying to figure out what sort of species Elmo is. I’ve gotten the chance to express myself and to have an outlet that is solely for ME. I’ve met some of the most amazing people and have made some wonderful friends who I never would’ve known if I hadn’t started my blog. And if nothing else, twenty years from now I will have all of the funny little memories that I’ve shared with my son written down in one place. But something tells me that my journey with this blog is far from over. And that makes me positive that I can’t fail.
3. ”Draw Inspiration From Others and Use Teamwork” – Stick Your Neck Out!
If this principle doesn’t apply to the blogging community, then I don’t know what does! Nikki’s perspective on this concept is that when you are given a piece of wisdom or have learned an important lesson from someone that you respect, then you need to make them proud and live up to their advice and pass it on. Wisdom is a gift and it is meant to be shared with others. I have met so many amazing women (and a man or two!) since I started this blog, and every day I continue to be amazed by the sense of reciprocity that I feel in the blog world. There are quite a few blogs that I have literally salivated over while reading their exceptional posts and thought to myself, “Wow. I’d really like to be like that someday.”
What really amazes me is how these top bloggers, who I consider to be role models, are willing to take time out of their busy days to support me and answer questions that I have as a newer blogger without any hesitation. These people will never know how much I appreciate them or what an impact they’ve had on me. (They know who they are and I won’t single any of them out because I don’t want to look all weird and stalker-ish). I feel that in order to do them proper justice, I need to “Stick My Neck Out” and pass on their knowledge to other new bloggers when they have questions for me. I think it would be pretty cool to feel like I’ve helped someone out! I’m hoping maybe I’ve done that a little bit with this review!
There you have it folks! To conclude my review of “When Turtles Fly”, I truly loved this book. It made me feel inspired. It made me feel empowered. And most of all, it made me want to set goals for myself and commit to achieving them no matter what it takes. I highly recommend this book as a great read for anyone who needs to be reminded of what their dreams are, and how to reach for them.
Disclosure: All opinions expressed in this review of “When Turtles Fly” are solely my own. I was not influenced or compensated in any way by the author or publisher for my review. I was sent a copy of the book to read in order to be able to give an honest opinion of it, and as a thank you for posting this review.
