Meet Katherine Cerulean

We were lucky to catch up with Katherine Cerulean recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katherine, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Many wonderful self development books have helped me including The Obstacle is the Way, the Success Principles, The Art of Not Giving a Fuck and more.

But it’s not so much the books, though they are wonderful, but more so seeing even confidence and self-esteem from a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset. As in, something you can get better at.

Your personality is not somehow a combination of your weaknesses — anything you want different or to improve about yourself is yours for the learning. Start reading books that help you become the person you want to be.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I grew up in the countryside near Athens, GA, home schooled on a farm with dogs, cats, a horse, a pony, peacocks, rabbits, sheep, and many others.

I has been writing seriously for twenty-seven years, starting with screenwriting, moving into novels, and now returning to my first love of writing for the screen with both film scripts and teleplays.

I was the founder of the Athens Writers Association, which had over 200 hundred members, held 200 Meetup.com events and published three story collections.

With my sister, I have visited eighteen National Parks and are making plans for more.

I am a lifelong students of self improvement, and have given away over 90% of my possessions, cycled 60 miles in a day, lost over 50 pounds, and continue to transform my life and circumstance in service of my goals. I have also been on many adventures and have way too much fun.

I have written six novels (and self published two), several feature-length screenplays, and numerous TV specs and pilots. I also self-published a self improvement book called How To Come Alive.

My life’s purpose is to share the beauty, magic, joy, fun, and fantasticalness of life with others through works of genius and living a life of bliss.

I was recently quoted in the local paper, The Oglethorpe Echo, as saying “If something is going to blow up in our face or succeed spectacularly, that’s the event I want to do.” That’s a very me quote.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Resilience
Hard Work
Understanding People

Resilience is key, as well as just being able to control your emotions in general — I highly suggest The Obstacle is the Way book. Also — Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy that helps people change their thinking and behaviors to manage problems — it’s been shown to have greater effectiveness than drugs in many cases. Basically, you want to find answers that help you grow stronger.

Like the quote says, “Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men,” which is attributed to John F. Kennedy, quoting Reverend Phillips Brooks.

For hard work, it’s just the keys to the kingdom. The extra mile is never crowded. Just hone yourself into someone who is always happy to work harder, get things just right, and to the dirty job. Every good thing you want in life, be it work or home, comes from hard work. Bosses will love you and everyone will just be awed at what you can accomplish.

I learned to understand people by spending 20 years in retail but great books like Plays Well With Others can help you get there sooner. And the golden rule really is to treat others as you would want to be treated — see them as a ‘second self’ — Have you ever been cranky after a bad day? Been scared? Been wrong about something? Give other people that grace. And always be kind, for you may not pass this way again.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

The book Now Discover Your Strengths had a HUGE impact on me in my 20s — it helps you identify your top five talents. And that book really preached focusing on your strengths.

Now, if you have a big weakness, you do want to bring that up to average — anger issues or fear of speaking to strangers might be good things to work on.

But to my mind, all the gold, all the value is in the craziness and strengths that you possess. No one sees the world like you. And your strengths are things that come easily and naturally to you — your way of seeing the world.

And they are also the things that you’ll work longer and harder on than anyone else will.

I’ve always loved this quote — “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive” ~ Howard Thurman

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