Last spring, I had a call with a woman who wanted to write a memoir of her career in the military and then in crypto.

It was instantly clear that we are opposites in every way. Her style and background were so vastly different from any project I’d worked on that I didn’t expect us to continue.

I thought I was the wrong person to write her book, and I felt sure that she’d agree.

But she hired me for a coaching session, and I gave it a shot. Then she asked me to ghostwrite one chapter, and I did. And then another.

Gradually we’ve carved out our way of collaborating, and it turns out we work great together.

(I just have to read up on the crypto industry and military life for women in the 70s.)

My takeaways:

– Sometimes people surprise you, and
– There’s a law of being human that says whoever shows up is the right person.¹

Whoever shows up is the right person.

This has a surprising effect on my mindset. One, it casts a certain glow around new people, especially prospective clients. It makes me see the ways we might thrive in working together, not the ways we don’t match up.

Two, it allays my feelings of imposter syndrome. I’m the right person, since I’m the one who’s present for them.

This doesn’t mean every consultation turns into a paid project. I still don’t “click” with every client. They might decide they want to work with a different ghostwriter or book coach, or that they don’t want to write a book at all. Likewise, I won’t move forward with a potential client if I don’t feel that I can do the best possible work for them, whether that means writing the book they want, or helping guide them in their own writing.

But that idea–whoever shows up is the right person–helps me see those non-clients differently. It shifts them just slightly to show me something I can learn from meeting them.

It’s also stopped me from getting annoyed at work colleagues, family members, friends, acquaintances, strangers.

Whoever is present are the correct people, which means that their particular mix of flaws, strengths, and quirks, are somehow needed in this moment.

📚 I’m Kimberly and I’m a ghostwriter and book coach specializing in memoirs with themes of mental health, spirituality, and social justice.

✒️ If you’re thinking of writing a book, but would love some support and guidance, let’s talk. You can schedule a free half-hour call with me by clicking here.

📸 Photo by Prakriti Khajuria on Unsplash. Naples, Italy.

1. I read this in an Anne Lamott book, but it comes from The Four-Fold Way, by the cultural anthropologist Dr. Angeles Arrien. ↩︎