I went to Hell and back yesterday.  Literally.

There wasn’t any fire.  No devils or anything like that.

There were chickens, coconuts, t-shirts, postcards and jagged sharp rocks.

Not what you’d expect to see in Hell… but that’s what was there.

This visit to Hell reminded me of a very important lesson…

A lesson that helped me write a dozen books, serve tens of thousands of people, and kept me going through some very challenging times.

I’m excited to share it with you, especially since the lesson was driven home by a wild chicken!

Now before you think I’ve lost my mind about going to Hell and back, and the chickens that were there…

Let me explain.

As you may know, I’m on a planning and productivity retreat for two weeks with Carrie, my Operations Director.

This is our second annual planning retreat on a cruise in the Caribbean.   It’s been fantastic!  We’ve got so much done since we boarded the ship.

We’re the only ones with our computers in the spa, but it’s been worth it.  Long overdue projects are getting completed – some that I’ve had on the back burner for a few years.

Plus, we’re having fun too!!

Anyway, yesterday we were on the beautiful island of Grand Cayman.

We found a local company to give us a tour of the island highlights and our guide Henry brought us to a bunch of places, including Hell.

Yep… we paid $25 to go to Hell.

You see, Hell is the name of a small town on the island.   It was named after some very jagged and sharp rock formations that the first settlers thought looked like what “hell." might look like.  Thus, the name.

While we were in Hell, I was fascinated not only by the jagged rocks that gave Hell its name (you can see them behind me in the pic to the left), but also the wild chickens!

Protect What’s Important to You

This lesson comes from the chicken you see here with the red face.   The chicken was hanging out by the man selling fresh coconuts.  (Who knew chickens like coconut?  But they do!)   Anyway, the coconut vendor had split open a coconut and put it on the ground for the chickens to eat.

When I got close to the chickens, I noticed only the red-faced chicken was eating the coconut.   Other chickens were around him trying to get a bite, but he stared them down, pecked at them and even made a chicken hissing sound to get them to go away.

I was fascinated as I watched the chicken protect his coconut with a ferocity that was admirable.

There was no way he was going to let another chicken intrude on his feast.  He was going to enjoy ever bit of that coconut and do whatever it took to make sure no other chicken got it.

As I watched him, I couldn’t help but see the lesson about how important it is for us human beings to protect what’s important to us, too!

Of course that means family, friends and loved ones.  But it also means our TIME!

And being protective of our highest priorities.

Like Carrie and I for example.   We’re on  this two-week planning and productivity retreat because we have some important priority work we need to get done.

When we’re in the office doing the everyday stuff of running a business and serving our customers and clients, thise priority work sometimes falls to the way side.

We’re here because we made our priorities a priority and we’re getting things done.   I’ve already finished two eBooks and a ton of other stuff as well.  It’s such a relief to have this time and space to do those things we’ve been “talking." about doing for years.

How about you?

Do you say your health is a priority but then don’t protect your time to exercise and cook healthy meals?

Do you say you want to grow your business, but then don’t prioritize the activities you know will help you grow?

What about the book you want to write?

Do you protect your writing time as seriously as the chicken did its coconut?

Many authors don’t.  And that’s why so many never get their books written.

As a result, they never get thank you emails and reviews from people raving about their book.  They never get that speaking gig or interview because they didn’t have a book to open those doors.  They didn’t attract those clients who they knew they could help.  The bottom line is they didn’t make the difference they knew they could’ve made if they had only written their book.

They let life get in the way and forget about protecting their “coconut." – their book.

Let this chicken from Hell be a reminder that if something is important to you, it’s worth protecting.

But you’ve got to be willing to do more than just “say." it’s a priority.  You need to follow that up with commitment and action!

Some of those actions will be uncomfortable… and that’s okay.  Staying in your comfort zone never got you anywhere fabulous anyway.

You can’t get where you want to go with your book, your business or your life unless you name and claim your priorities and protect them no matter what it takes.

So what priority are you willing to protect?

Comment below and let me know.  I love hearing from you!

Love,

Christine

P.S. – You don’t need to go to Hell – and back – like many authors do when it comes to writing and publishing your book.  It can be a heavenly experience.  Learn more here.