I have been privileged to work with Aaron Wexler on his new book, a fascinating guide for young athletes seeking inspiration and a balanced life. While coaching Aaron, he started a podcast which has had marvelous success. Check it out. And thanks Aaron for the shoutout. The complete interview can be found on Shout Out LA. Here are excerpts.

Within The Game Podcast is all about learning about what tools others use to stay inspired, and how you can best relate the information back to your own life. For me, the work has been 2 fold: researching and learning about my guests to be best prepared for our episodes, as well as implementing what I learn from each guest into my own life. During this process, I have found that I am becoming more inspired in my own life, more creative, more focused, and I flat out am having more fun with my journey as a writer and business owner. Looking back on my journey, I am most proud of the relationships I have created and grown. I love connecting with other people, especially those who’s stories’ really inspire me. I am proud of knowing that I am making a positive impact on my community with the content I am putting out by sharing their stories. I am also proud of the questions my writing coach Brian Gruber and I came up with because they are truly unique & eccentric, especially for athletes, coaches, and entrepreneurs!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

I would like to dedicate my Shoutout to my writing coach, Brian Gruber (grubermedia.com)! I met Brian in Thailand at a yoga ashram, and after taking a creative writing workshop led by him, I signed up for his coaching services. Brian has been with me every step of the way in the writing process of my forthcoming book, as well as in the creation and structure of my podcast. I can’t thank him enough and highly recommend him for anyone looking for help with their own book or idea for a book! I would also like to give a shoutout to my team of editors Olley Thorpe & Garette Shaun of DAF Global (dafglobal.co.uk). Olley has been instrumental in helping me setup a vision for my podcast and coaching me through the nuts and bolts of its operations, and Garette is an absolute pro when it comes to editing.

I had the pleasure to coach Wendy May through her process of writing and publishing her book Regenerative Purpose. She also conducted a highly successful Kickstarter campaign to support key aspects of her product launch. I was privileged to write the book’s Foreword. 

Wendy recently announced the launch of her audio book. You can purchase the audiobook – and all other versions – here. 

She is also leading a workshop that may interest you. This from an email she sent out today:

2020 has certainly tested us… with physical, emotional, financial and egoic death. We’ve had to meet our limits and transcend them. We have been permanently changed. 

Are you clear now on what’s next? How do you want to shape 2021?

For me, so many questions have arisen about…

MY PLACE IN THE WORLD
What is the nature of life and death? What makes a human life worth living?
How do I speak my truth when the word “truth” itself triggers confusion?

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH SELF
How do I measure my value in the world when I’m not actively working? 
What does it feel to take up space when I’m not confident in my direction?

MY LIFE LESSONS TO LEARN
Can I love and give fully and fearlessly, without knowing who will receive it?
Can I boldly walk to the edge of my discomfort and expand from there?

AND, HOW TO KEEP GOING
Can I step forward into what’s next without being able to see the whole path?
What is it to be a leader in the new planetary paradigm? Am I ready for that?

SO MANY QUESTIONS

Maybe you have been considering some of the same questions.

I don’t know any of the answers.

But I do know that when we come together to ask these kinds of questions, magic always happens. I’m inviting a small group of devoted souls to join me in kicking off 2021 with Regenerative Purpose Co-Lab.

Announcing… REGENERATIVE PURPOSE CO-LAB

• It’s an 11-week journey to support the living integration of Regenerative Purpose.
• It’s not coaching. It’s not an online course. It is a group r/evolution co-creation lab. 
• It’s limited to 6 people, to make sure there’s spaciousness for sharing and reflections.

The purpose of the Co-Lab experience is to come together in community and find clarity, while releasing the need for control. We are pointing each other towards that sweet spot of creative contribution that is active (not pushy) and receptive (not passive).

This work helps us get clear on what we want in life, how we want to live and serve, and what choices we’re willing to make to realize that reality. Yet we can relax the normal management and control functions that create stress around striving. We learn the art of reading and responding to life, so we can shape our path with ease.

For experienced coaches and facilitators, there is also the possibility to get trained and licensed to lead Regenerative Purpose Co-Lab circles yourself.

If this sparks something in you, you can read more and apply here.

Thank you to French poet Sophie Foucher for her lovely testimonial. I had the privilege to coach Sophie through the editing, design, and publishing of her poetry anthology Alchemy of Love. Each poem is in both English and her native French and features an original hand-painted illustration  For information on coaching, editing, publishing, and marketing services to take your book from concept to completion, check out my new www.Sandscribes.com partnership with Tom Vater and Henry Roi. 

“Brian has been my Jiminy Cricket to help me finish my first work as an author and artist. He was guiding me the all time, and I could go where I needed to go in the process of this work without any hesitation. 

“He supported not only the flow of my work but also giving very beneficial advice on marketing ideas. He made the connection for me to get a graphic designer and supervised all the work also in this field. He did my proof reading in English and still gave me marketing and strategy advice till now. I’m so grateful I met him for my first project, because he had removed all limitations to realise the finishing product. 

“He is specialised in self-publication so the distribution part is through Amazon (in my case). 

“Brian was also with when I first give a lecture of my book in front of an audience and today I can lecture during book festivals with ease. 

“He is enthusiastic, realistic, find solutions fast, he is reliable, affordable, super communicative, and funny. 

“Beside, the book project, I also met an amazing human being and working together was a source of joy and immense pleasure. That also inspire me a lot to work in this way now. 

“Cannot wait to collaborate again with him from his tropical island Koh Phangan!”

To check out the book, go to https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Love-poems-dreams-about/dp/171109787X

In my coaching experience, while talking to aspiring writers who have a book in them, anxious to find a path forward, I often encounter a mysterious phenomenon. For a period, the idea percolated but there was not the sense of urgent drive that, suddenly, appeared, motiving the writer to act. That drive becomes too fierce to ignore and, though there is some sense of being overwhelmed, mystified at the process of starting the task, there is invariably joy and passion in the pursuit.

And then, there is a choice. To act, or to to wait for some time in the future, when execution of the task might be more convenient. In my experience, if one does not act when that passion is still fresh, it will wane. It might return, but likely will not. Why? I believe we signal something important to our psyche when we act. We tell it this is important, and so one’s inner resources, call them what you will, are activated, allowing a more forceful setting aside of distractions and doubts. We have the enthusiasm and intention to stay on the path. When we choose not to act, we send another message to ourselves, this is not important, and thus other priorities, various mundane activities get in the way. That’s why I like this quote so much.

Here’s another:

When the impetus to write a book or produce a completed creative work arises, act on it or that passion vanishes. It’s sapped of its power, and power is needed to produce something of enduring value. If you have never heard Oliver read, here she is with a favorite of mine, Coleman Barks, famous for his popular and delightful interpretations of the Persian poet Rumi.

I will be on the road for most of October, leaving on the 2nd, returning on the 24th, and look forward to seeing friends and family throughout the visit.  Here’s a look at the itinerary.

I will join Billy Cobham, Randy Brecker, and the Crosswinds tour band for their performances, notably,

Jazz Alley, Seattle, October 3-6

Kuumbwa, Santa Cruz, October 10

Blue Note, Napa, October 11-12

I will be signing copies of “Six Days at Ronnie Scott’s: Billy Cobham on Jazz Fusion and the Act of Creation” after each show. I especially look forward to meeting Randy Brecker, one of the world’s great jazz trumpeters, and a featured interview in the book.  It will be a particular pleasure to have my daughter Andrea join me at one of the Napa shows, her first time meeting Bill and Faina. Then on to Auburn, for a visit with the now one-year-old Silas.

Also scheduled are coaching sessions with U.S. clients and continued work on the Surmountable protest book project. I will be proud to be attending the launch of my coaching client Wendy May’s book, “Regenerative Purpose” at San Francisco’s Dolores Park, noon on the 12th. Wendy credits the workshop I facilitated at Koh Phangan’s Mermaid Villa with inspiring her to write the book, and our coaching sessions for completing it. It is a terrific work, on sale soon. I am privileged to have written the book’s foreword.

A wonderful gift flies through the transom.

Susanne van Lieshout from the global consultancy MLF emails me. A major project on social justice in Myanmar is completing its first phase and the British Council needs a writing coach to help staff write up learning briefs and blogs to memorialize and share their extraordinary work. She googled “writing coach workshop Southeast Asia” and, a day or two of conversation later, I am on my way to Myanmar. I will be posting about the project as I arrive. I fly from Samui to Yangon Tuesday, conduct the workshop Wednesday and Thursday, and back home to Content Castle on Friday.

I’m looking forward to being back to one of my very favorite countries on the world.

It’s a great joy to help aspiring writers advance their projects, whether spoken word presentations, poetry compilations, or full-length books. Every Tuesday night, Writers of Koh Phangan, a group I founded earlier this year, meets on our Thai island, to write, share and connect. I had the particular pleasure of working with local writers on their Phangan Slam spoken word presentations (photos below), and their ongoing writing projects. Here’s what they shared about our work together.

From Romanian poet Andreea Tănăsoaica,

From the UK’s Gemini Adams,

“Brian Gruber is brilliant. So present. Extremely insightful. Wise. He helped me refine a provocative piece I’d penned to share at a conference of world leaders, and gave me powerful tools for bringing out the best of it through my delivery. Including very helpful ways of actually enjoying the experience of standing in stage publicly calling people out!”

Check out the Writing Coaching page for details n how to get your book project to completion.