I found myself in Coca Cola World, Atlanta, yesterday with my two sons. I’m not sure how this happened. I don’t drink Coke, neither do my kids. But we were in Atlanta visiting my husband on the set of the Dynasty and we hadn’t done anything overly touristy. It was late in the day, which ruled out the Georgia Aquarium and the Civil Rights Museum. I knew we would be back and I wanted to take my time in both those places.

One of the first things we saw was a short-film-length Coke ad in a small theater. I cried three times during the film. This company knows how to market a dark sweet syrup mixed with water. The ad made us love that red can everyone was holding while living their best lives — lives we in the theater wished we were living: jumping out of a plane, being proposed to on a hot air balloon, giving a surprise party for our granny, or shooting a basketball from the balcony of an apartment block down to a hoop in the bay below.

As we filed out of the theater I whispered to my boys to think of this experience as a crash course in marketing by the best in the business. I had to keep reminding myself of this when my shoes stuck to the grossly sticky floor in the international soda tasting room, or when water sprayed my face and a sharp prod poked me in the back in the over-acted 4D movie about finding the secret behind Coke’s amazing success.

Checking my emails back at the house we’ve been renting by beautiful Lake Lanier, I received a Mail Chimp newsletter from one of my writers group members introducing me to her very personal, and difficult to write memoir. I knew that she had spent many hours typing every email address she had ever collected into the Mail Chimp list. She had purchased a photograph for her dummied up book cover, and written a great note to her friends, family, and associates inviting us to review the book when it comes out in the next couple of months. I know her book is still in the editing stages receiving its finishing touches, as is my novel, yet I haven’t even thought about marketing yet. It made me very proud of my friend and inspired by her level of courage and action.

Then this morning, I walked in on my husband and son watching a youtube video of Elon Musk talking about his extraordinary accomplishments and his vision for the future.

I realized that I needed to think bigger. I’ve been bogged down with the minutiae of getting each sentence perfect, rehashing small sections of dialogue, and worrying over every tiny part of my novel. I’ve also been listening to too many people when I need to follow my own compass and continue the forward momentum that got me this far, with a completed 99,000 word detective novel sitting on my laptop.

Watching and listening to great minds, finding inspiration in the strangest places, and simply noticing what my friends are quietly doing is already lifting me to the next level after feeling a little stuck for the past few months.

Who knew that Coca Cola and an electric car manufacturer would give me the keys to achieving a goal I’ve had for a long time? Watching the greats talk about their vision helps me realize that what I’m trying to do is a lot easier than saving the environment, or hooking everyone the whole planet on a sweet brown drink that will do them no good whatsoever. They make publishing a novel look easy. I’m excited to get back to work now after a couple of weeks of doing puzzles, swimming and kayaking, making s’mores, and watching baby deer drinking from the lake’s edge. My marketing campaign will be hitting your inbox soon!