We were lucky to catch up with AUTHORJON aka Jonathan Harris recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi AUTHORJON aka Jonathan, so great to have you on the platform. There’s so much we want to ask you, but let’s start with the topic of self-care. Do you do anything for self-care and if so, do you think it’s had a meaningful impact on your effectiveness?
Self-care is truly the best investment I have ever made in my life. In fact, I am on a self-love date night at a restaurant as I write this while I wait for this 20-piece wing and french fries combo. I have been on an intentional self-care journey since 2019 when I began my goal of losing 100 pounds. Originally it was a goal that I was going to give myself one year to complete (July 4, 2019 to July 4, 2020) but I actually lost 100 pounds in 295 days (finished April 23, 2020). As I fell in love with self-care more, it felt like a privilege and not a chore. Although It was something I did not take seriously until my late 20s but now that I regularly practice self-care, I could not imagine my life without it.
I define self-care as any uplifting activity that you do for yourself. You can do it to unwind after a long day. You can also use it as a time to reflect on the future. The best part about it is that you can craft it however you want it to be and you do not have to check in with anybody first. The first time I traveled out of town by myself was amazing. No one telling you what time to get up, where to eat, or what to do. If you want to go to the same pasta restaurant everyday during your trip, you absolutely can. If you want to spend $1,000 on a show, you do not have to be conscious of someone else’s budget.
I have a few favorite self-care activities. My top activity is definitely going to the movies; more specifically movies with a few people in there. Several times I have been the only person in the theater. Throw in a bucket of popcorn and some water and it is a great time. I also love going out to eat. In full transparency, I need to do better with my restaurant selection and stop always going to the same places. The self-care activity I do the most is walking. I walk five miles almost every day. Although many times I catch up with a friend while I walk, I always walk the first and last miles not talking to anyone on the phone and just using that time to reflect. Although I only do this once a year, I love solo trips. A few places I have traveled to alone include Texas, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Michigan.
The biggest reason I am a strong advocate for self-care and self-love is because out of everyone in your life, you will spend the most time with yourself. Out of everyone in this world, it is important you have a good relationship with yourself. People come and go but you will always be there for yourself.
From a business standpoint, I saw more opportunities come my way when I worked on my inner happiness. Humans are more attracted to positive energy than negative energy. I have noticed that after losing 100 pounds and regularly doing self-care, the quality of the interactions I have with people I know as well as new connections I am making are way better. The conversation is more abundant. In the past, conversations always focused on what we did for a living and now a whole new world of topics have come up. In fact, I am seeing more people I meet at business events inquire about my health/self-care journey just as much as how we can collaborate on a business front.
If I could give you some advice, I challenge you to give to yourself first and let the world have your overflow. Ask yourself when was the last time you had fun doing something alone? No friends, family, coworkers.. just you! The reason many of us are unhappy is because we don’t find joy in being alone. We always have to be with somebody or texting somebody. The pure thought of being alone literally scares people and it should not. Many of us give all of our effort/time to everyone else and live off of the scraps for ourselves. I was no different in my past and that led me to be 340 pounds. My health, my happiness, and my schedule were always prioritized around others first. There were days in my past when my first meal was dinner at 10 pm because I was helping everyone else. That was not okay but it used to be my normal. Your happiness, peace of mind, and self-care are your responsibility, not the world’s. If you can’t find joy in being alone, no one will ever be able to bring you that. Take that solo trip, go see that movie by yourself, and sit at that restaurant as a proud party of one. Praying this helps at least one person. Remember it’s okay to do things by yourself.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I always love the title “Success Coach” because at the end of the day, I want you to be successful. I also love being a success coach because it gives me the flexibility to assist you in many areas of your life. On the literary side, I have helped people write books because I am an award-winning published author. As a vending machine business owner myself, I have helped people launch their vending machine business in under 30 days. On a personal note, I have assisted with confidence building during very turbulent seasons of someone’s life including trying to lose weight, leave toxic relationships, and overcome addiction.
When I am not doing coaching, I love speaking. Give me a microphone and I am truly happy. Although I have been doing speaking engagements since I was a kid, I have also recently started hosting events. I will be honest, hosting was not on my bingo card but I am a true believer that God will not introduce something to you that He does not think you are capable of. As a speaker, I like motivating others but my true joy is transforming them. I do not want you to just sit through my talk, I want you to leave the space better.
I referenced being an author and I truly enjoy writing. I have always said that writing was a form of uninterrupted expression. I have three books with two more on the way this year. My first book “Master of Ceremonies: A Male’s Guide for a Successful Life” teaches teenage males about self-love, inner healing, and next-level growth. Whether they need to learn about fixing their necktie, creating a budget, or working on their mental health, “Master of Ceremonies” will help you. My 2nd and 3rd books are children’s books with a self-help twist. “Growing Gents” which was made for little boys and “Girls with Pearls” which was made for little girls truly help kids understand the importance of kindness, manners, sharing, helpfulness, and more. Each page is based on an animal character and teaches life lessons such as “A gentleman says please and thank you” or “A lady is a leader.” I want kids from the very beginning of their life to feel empowered that they have what it takes to grow up strong, smart, and successful.
As a proud member of the 100 Black Men of Prince George’s County, Inc., I love mentoring the community to be the next class of emerging leaders.
My next book coming soon will be entitled “Journey to 100” and it will follow the story of how I lost over 100 pounds. Weight loss is something many of us struggle with and I am confident this book will help people see that is possible. While many books strictly focus on the diet and exercise aspects, “Journey to 100” also shines a light on how to overcome the mental hurdles that prevent a healthy lifestyle as well as ways to address your environment (i.e. friends and family) while trying to live better. Although I am proud of every project created to date, I know that “Journey to 100” will be my best book yet.
Also for the kings out there, join me every Wednesday at 8 pm (EST) for “Fellaship”, which is a virtual men’s circle. You can talk about what’s on your heart or just be around other brothers in a safe space. The best part of all, you as the audience can pick the topics. Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/3017261002?omn=92701305102
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I love this question so much because I always say success is simply small steps done right over and over again. With that being said, I believe the most important quality for success is consistency (trait #1). Life, business, love, etc. all come with moments of turbulence, but you will notice the most successful people in life have been consistently committed to their goals. Most singers that you may hear on the radio or see on television have been working at this for years, taking whatever small opportunity they can get to get their foot in the door. Consistency is interesting because if you only did work when you felt like it, a lot of things may not happen. Today, I had no desire to exercise but I still got in 7.5 miles. You have to still show up for yourself even when you do not feel like it.
Articulation (tip #2) has done me a whole lot of good. I was blessed with the gift of gab from an early age. Unfortunately, I did not always see it that way. Growing up, I was made fun of a lot for talking so I used to see it as a curse. As I have gotten older, I quickly learned having the ability to speak clearly about yourself, your goals, or any product/service is a major benefit. In fact, I have witnessed many people sell themselves short at the wrong time. It is always a humbling moment when people come up to me and share how they wish that they could express themselves more clearly. Although you never want to believe your own hype, you also do not want to discredit all the work you do that justifies your being at the table. Look at it like this, although someone’s resume may only be one page in length, that page is filled with 50+ years of experience for some. Any skill that you listed, any job you worked, any schooling you did took years of commitment and investment. You deserve the right to speak about it proudly because you did the work. Remember you are always your biggest brand ambassador.
This gets overlooked quite a bit but being genuine (tip #3) is extremely important for success. Sometimes people do things for the wrong reasons and the truth will always surface. One reason I truly believe the Lord has blessed me with the opportunities that He has is because, at the foundation of anything I am involved with, my heart is in the right place. Not money, not spotlight, not awards, not social media likes, but genuinely helping people should be your priority. I have some posts on Instagram that have almost 1,000 likes and some posts that have less than 10 likes but if just one person left inspired, then I did my job. Also with being genuine, it makes it easier to focus on your goals and not someone else’s. A lot of time with success, people see what works for someone else and begin to try to mirror their approach. I have never desired someone else’s lifestyle so that truly helped me stay rooted in my calling. What God gave to them is theirs and what God wants for you is yours.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I absolutely love intentional partnerships. I want to grow and want to help others grow too. My ideal collaboration would be working with Quaker Oats. I tell anyone who asks and even those who do not that I would not have lost over 100 pounds without eating as much oatmeal as I did. Ideally, I would love to do a nationwide and then global tour talking with people (especially the youth) about self-care and healthy living and how oatmeal contributed to that. Unfortunately, many people feel losing weight is difficult when they do not have a lot of free time to do so. The beautiful part about oatmeal is that the preparation time is under ten minutes and it has so many nutritional benefits. As a black man, I also want to make sure there is representation when it comes to healthy living. It is easier to achieve something when someone who looks like you has done it already. Working with Quaker Oats would be a dream come true.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.authorjon.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/authorjon
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorjon
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jonathancharris/
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/authorjon
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MisterJonathanHarris
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorjon
Image Credits
Kenya Harley, Monica Reid, Dr. Sharon Porter, James Baskerville, Dashon Mockabee, Zayquan Brown
