A year of Ageing Upwards
A year has flown by since I published my book Ageing Upwards and it is time for some reflections.
First a recap of the year:
Let me start by saying how happy I am that I choose to publish with Alison Jones and her brilliant team at Practical Inspiration Publishing. They helped me turn a first shitty draft into a book, I am proud of, and get it out to the world to read – they are continuing to help me with the last bit. 🙏
I was humble to recieve some fantastic endorsements before the launch from some very smart people. Thank you to Thank you to Frank Schalkwijk, Jacqui Fairbrass, Anwen Edwards, Julia Heidstra, Brenda Childers, Paul Long, Catherine Garrod, Krista Powell Edwards, and Micaela Bartels
I got to enjoy 4 launches!! First I enjoyed working with Rest Less on an online Book Launch Q & A Event hosted by Aideen Clarke. Secondly, I did a launch talk where the research behind the book took place, at Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing. Thirdly I did a local launch for the community of Wassenaar and finally my fellow pro-ageing activist Micaela Bartels very kindly hosted a launch for family and friends at her beautiful estate.
The book had a brilliant start, reciveing Amazon 1st Hot New Releases Bestseller flag in the category of Business Life. Thanks to the help of the Street Team.
Ageing Upwards continues to receive great reviews on Amazon. Thank you to those who took the time to write one (it is not too late for those of you who just haven´t gotten around to it yet :-))
Fun fact: Popular Highlights (on Kindle): 89 passages, highlighted 1509 times.
I received some great invitations to speak and write about the subject of the book. Some of the highlights included being invited to moderate a panel on the Ageing Fit event about behavioural change. I was a guest on the London Aging2.0 bookclub and Healthy Ageing CoP hosted by Julian Harcourt, Eric Kihlstrom, Karen Wilkinson and supported by UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge. I was invited to write the article “Rather than fearing getting old, here’s how to embrace it” for psyche.com which had over 27,000 views during the first couple of days. And coming up, I am excited to be speaking and guiding a meditation at the Radical Health Festival in Helsinki in a few weeks.
So what have I learned?
Promoting and generating business from a book is more like a (slow-paced) marathon than a sprint. Interest was hectic in the beginning, then slowed down and now it seems to pick up again as I seeing a positive increased focus on making companies longevity-ready and find ways to ensure well-being for all ages. Thank you to everybody who invited me on their podcast or published articles by or about me and the book (they are all collected here https://thrivinglife.eu/press/). I am still more than happy to come to you and speak :-)
It is, however, a marathon that doesn´t have a finishing line. I found that the process of writing the book gave me clearity but funnily enough it continues to do so after publication. I thought that I would be repeating my writing from the book alone, but my own insights continue to develop as I talk to people about the book and hear their feedback.
And the journey of the book is far from over. Ageing Upwards Ageing Upwards has been nominated in the Business Book Awards 2024 and is currently in the process of being translated into Taiwanese!!
Being active on LinkedIn and Substack has been a positive surprise for me. I am naturally a bit of an introvert and to be honest, I am not all that comfortable in selling myself, my skills and my book. However instead of finding a place to sell, I found a commmunity. I did not expect to meet so many passionate, kind, smart and supportive pro-ageing people from around the world. What a blessing!
Would I do it again?
Publishing a business books isn´t a goldmine. It is a lot of hard work and can be emotionally challenging – both during the writing process and after. So would I do it again? Definitely! Writing it has changed me, and my business in a lot of ways. I have found my voice to speak about my passion and I have found a way to merge all my backgrounds in communication, psychology, mindfulness and ageing. Would I recommend others to write a book? Yes, for sure, if you like writing. Just don´t do it for the money :-)
It has been a year for me to personally Age Upwards. I can happily report on this side of 50 that life is the very opposite of decline so far. My daily mindfulness practice has helped me deal with the unpredictable journey, overcome the stress of being outside of my comfort zone, my inner critical voices and my tendency to be impatient. It has also reminded me to stop and smell the tulips along the way (I am living in the Netherlands after all). I am happy to say that I am continuing to learn every day how to Age Upwards.
Dear subscribers, thanks for being part of this journey!