Knowing Your Worth & Taking the First Step
Athena Lumsden is a fountain of supportive energy and good advice. Through her experiences with trauma, grief, starting a small business, and now as a published author, she knows what it’s like to feel frozen by anxiety and feeling lost when starting something new. She’s learned to know her worth and she isn’t shy to proudly share what she’s accomplished. But that doesn’t come naturally.
Athena has a way with words, taking big thoughts and concepts and distilling them down into something that’s easy to understand.
Over the past several years, she has written and self-published two books. The first about her experience with cannabis and the second about damaging beliefs.
Self-publishing two books didn’t happen overnight. As you can imagine, there’s a lot that can get in the way, like writer’s block, motivation, self confidence, and more. But for Athena, she looked at it another way.
“You cannot edit a blank page. So, write something down. And then change it into something that’s closer to what you want it to be. You gotta have something to work with,” she explains.
Her first book – Practical Cannabis – was inspired by personal experiences. Athena received her cannabis subscription in 2017 but was completely lost about which strains to use and how. Through an abundance of research, she came to find what worked best for her. She describes it as a guidebook that gives practical information and helps anyone who was in her position to do their own research and find out what works best for them.
Overcoming Challenges
Throughout her experience as a published author with her first book, Athena found it difficult to put herself out there when it came to sales.
“I was invited to all kinds of things over and over again and I would sabotage myself. Because on a fundamental level, I didn’t believe that I deserved success,’“ she says.
Once she realized that not going to events was hurting her chances at success, she decided to change her mindset. Part of putting herself out there was attending networking events, even though she wasn’t fully confident in herself yet.
“I have zero problems with walking up to a stranger at a networking event. That definitely takes some confidence. But in that moment, the confidence doesn’t necessarily come from myself. It’s in the support of the social structure that’s around me,” she explains.
Because the whole point of a networking event is to meet others and learn about what they do, she says it would be weird if she approached someone and they responded with avoidance or rudeness. And if they do, that’s an experience you can learn from.
Her advice to anyone who wants to start putting themselves out there is to recognize the environments you’re in and realize that certain situations are meant for putting yourself out there. That thought alone can help ease some anxiety.
“It’s not that I’m super confident in what I do. It’s that I’m confident that I will survive and that I’ll do a good job at whatever I’m doing,” she says.
That belief comes from all her past interactions and the lessons she’s learned from them.
Something else she learned was to know your worth and place value on your work and yourself.
“Every time someone asked how much my book cost, I would get squirmy. And then they would get squirmy. My first book is big, it has full colour graphics and photos, and I published it myself. So I had to teach myself to value the work I put into it and that if it costs that much, it costs that much. Now, when people ask the price, I say it confidently and they have no problem with it. Not one person has told me that my work isn’t worth it. This experience is something I’ve shared in my second book,” she explains.
This experience was one of the inspirations for Damaging Beliefs & How to Change Them: A Trauma Survivors Guide, which she has priced confidently at $26.97.
The book is about recognizing the damaging beliefs you may have (like not believing in yourself or thinking your prices are too high) and working through them in a self-guided way.
From the book’s description:
Through relatable quips and quick glimpses into her life, Athena helps her readers break down life’s obstacles by cutting them down into manageable chunks that help get to the real emotional and personal root. Built on fifteen questions that help readers ‘get things done’ and connect with their unmet emotional needs, Damaging Beliefs & How to Change Them: A Trauma Survivors Guide allows people to dissect their needs and wants just as they would with a friend.
“You need to understand that your dreams deserve to be achieved. Sometimes we have damaging thoughts or beliefs like ‘I don’t deserve that’ or ‘I didn’t earn that’ or ‘no one is going to care’. My book helps you discover that those things aren’t true,” she says.
“The first time you do something, it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be difficult, and frustrating. The more you try, the less stressful it becomes, and therefore easier to do and move forward,” she says.
Knowing how much work is ahead can help you prepare.
“Going in with a plan when you’re about to write a book is great but it takes a lot of pain and effort to do. It’s a lot more work than it seems. Once you understand and respect that those challenges will be there, it’s a lot easier to get through”
Athena is working on her third book which has a working title of Grieving for a Lifetime. While just a few paragraphs in, she says it’s based on her own personal experiences with grief.
“I’m a widow and have been for 22 years. My husband passed away when I was 21-years-old while pregnant with our third child. I’ve spent nearly half of my life being a bereaved adult. I’ve learn a lot along the way about the world and myself and I want to share those lessons with others,” she says.
Find both of Athena’s books on her LUVLOCAL Store.
