Writing a book is not easy, but this process has made me realize that becoming an author is possible for anyone committed to telling a story. Authors each have a perspective and a way of looking at the world. A book is simply a medium for gathering and sharing information.

My book Sparked is just that; it began with a curiosity about what leads people to become “successful” (but I am careful not to define what it is for you). The conversations I had guided the theme for my book and eventually led me to create a manual for creating your own version of success. I was then able to curate this into a complete body of work that builds upon my outlook on life which centers on the belief that anything is possible for anyone as long as we remain sparked.

In my introduction, I write about just that:

I believe that achieving the level of success many people dream of is much easier than we have all been trained to believe. Not easy as in it will happen overnight, but easy in a sense of once you can identify what your spark is, you can focus your energy and efforts into building that into fruition. There is something out there for all of us; we just need to find it. Pinpoint and identify it. Then we run after it. And don’t stop no matter what anyone says or thinks about it.

Sparked, Fatimah Ibidunni

When I was first presented with the opportunity to write a book I instantly shot the idea down. My immediate reaction was “Me write a book? … you’ve got to be kidding” to the idea. Similar to most people I thought books are meant to be written by older people who’s life’s calling is to write.

As you can imagine, I did not see myself as a writer or an author. I was 21 years old at the time and writing was not my thing. Throughout high school, I went on and on about how I disliked writing so naturally, imagine the disbelief that came when I told my family I would be writing a book — only they knew the true extent of how much I dreaded writing.

So after initially turning down the idea, I finally decided I’d go on the journey to write a book. What I found is that the task was less daunting than I imagined. Sparked started as simply a topic I was interested in. It was the idea of overcoming doubt to reach full potential.

This then turned into a discussion topic with those I interviewed for my book, those interviews then turned into stories, and I then turned those stories into the first draft of a manuscript. After much revising, and some pulling my hair out, I reached the point of having my first book available for the world to read.

I believe the lessons in Sparked can be applied to all areas of life, from growing in a career to developing better self-confidence because everything we do begins and ends with a spark. If you are interested in reading more click here to get your copy! If you want to connect, you can reach me via the Contact Me form or connect with me on social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fatimah-ibidunni-487557120/