Danielle Steel, the little old lady who works harder than Elon Musk

Reading time: 2 minutes

I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I find the design of Danielle Steel’s book covers rather repulsive. Thus, I’ve never read or even opened one of her books.

But my reading and design preferences are irrelevant to today’s article.

In the history of writing, only William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie have sold more books than Steel. This American fiction writer has published over 200 books, which have sold over a billion copies. A billion copies - that’s enough books to give each man, woman, child and baby in America three copies each. The only living author that comes close (but not really) is Harry Potter’s JK Rowling, who has sold 600 million books.

Despite being 76, Steel still churns out seven books a year by working 20-hour days. A few days a month, that goes up to 24 hours a day. She considers 4 hours a great night’s sleep. She doesn’t drink and only takes one week of holiday a year.

If you work like Steel does, family, friends, hobbies - everything else falls by the wayside. She has been divorced five times, and I can’t imagine that she has the closest relationship with her kids. She is married to her work.

"Dead or alive, rain or shine, I get to my desk and I do my work. Sometimes I'll finish a book in the morning, and by the end of the day, I've started another project," Steel said in a 2019 interview.

Imagine finishing a book, then starting the next one the very same day. That’s like finishing a marathon, then turning around to run back to the start.

Here’s her latest Instagram post from a few days ago. Despite a month of straight work, she still cut short her attendance of a friend’s birthday to get back to it. (Remember: She is 76!)

The moral of the story

Steel is an extreme example; her work habits seem pathological. Nonetheless, her story reminded me that life is a game of trade-offs. You can’t have it all. Achieving great things, requires great sacrifice.

---

If you enjoy Building Blocks, please support me by SHARING this article with a friend.