Carrie Cox's The Self-Care Dare Turned Eight Years of Gym Texts Into the Book Her Members Asked For
“I just value books. I wanted to hold it. I wanted it to be a book.”
Carrie Cox, author of The Self-Care Dare
Carrie Cox is a former schoolteacher who owns Crew Fitness, with one gym in Mobile and another in Houston, Texas. For eight years she has run a member challenge called The Self-Care Dare, and it kept outgrowing every format she put it in. Her members asked her to turn it into a book, and she found Scribe through a book that was already sitting on her shelf.
From a 5 a.m. text to the book her members asked for
The first year, each dare was a text message Carrie scheduled to go out at 5 a.m. to the people taking the challenge. One of the first was to drink mostly only water. The next year the dares would not fit in a text, so they became emails, then blog posts, organized around five factors of wellness: mindset, nutrition, fitness, sleep and connection. Then the challenge took off, and her members started asking for something they could hold.
Clip · Carrie Cox on the book her members asked for · 24s
“The idea for a book actually wasn’t mine. It was last year we had such great success on this challenge that people kept asking, you know, can I get a copy? I’ve got all of your blog posts and I can pull them up and your emails are great. But can we print it out? I want to share it with my mom or whoever. And really, they said, put this in a book.”
Carrie Cox
Her first plan was modest: print the 25 dares and have FedEx put a spiral binding on them. The more she talked it over, the more she wanted a real, bound book with her name on it.
Finding Scribe on her own bookshelf
When her members said to make it a book, Carrie thought of a gym owner she already followed: Ben Bergeron, who coached the CrossFit champions in 2015. His book was on her shelf, and the publisher’s name was inside the cover.
Clip · Carrie Cox on finding Scribe on her shelf · 25s
“[Scribe] published Bergeron’s book, which I loved and I’ve given to a few people. And so when someone said, write this, make this a book, I pulled that book out. I think it’s called Chasing Excellence. It’s a fantastic book. [Scribe] published Chasing Excellence and I opened it up. I had it sitting on my shelf and saw Houndstooth Publishing and that’s what brought me to [Scribe].”
Carrie Cox
It was a good fit for another reason, too. Bergeron, she points out, talks about the same five factors she does.
Writing part one last
The 25 dares were already written. They became part two of the book. When Carrie came to Scribe, the advice was to add a part one that explains the why: how mindset, nutrition, fitness, sleep and connection work together. That turned into a real research project, especially on sleep and connection.
Clip · Carrie Cox on writing part one last · 9s
“So really part two was written before part one. And part one was a challenge. But I really enjoyed it. I really did.”
Carrie Cox
She also kept the book in her own voice. The editor advised against her habit of writing “we” throughout. Carrie took some suggestions and pushed back on others, and the first person plural stayed, because she wants groups of friends, gyms and small groups to work through the book together.
“And I want the reader to feel like I’m in it with them because I am. I am in it with you. It is a collective effort.”
Carrie Cox
Advance praise from her own gym floor
Carrie wrote the book for regular people who care about their health but have never been controlled by it: the members she sees every day, from her oldest member, who is 73, to her youngest, who is 16. Some of those members are on the book itself.
Clip · Carrie Cox on advance praise from her gym members · 31s
“[T]wo of the quotes, the advanced praise quotes are from gym members in my gym who really credit this challenge and these ideas with transforming their life.”
Carrie Cox
What comes next: the dare, in gyms across the country
Alongside the book, Carrie built a habit-tracking app, also called The Self-Care Dare, with a team feature so a group can do the challenge together. Her goal is to take the challenge well beyond her own two gyms.
Clip · Carrie Cox on taking the dare to gyms across the country · 15s
“I would love to bring the challenge of the self-care dare to gyms across the country and say, here’s a book. In fact, here’s an app. Let’s track our habits. Let’s check this out. And let’s grow together.”
Carrie Cox
Her advice: just start
Clip · Carrie Cox on why you should just start · 18s
Asked what she would tell someone with a book inside them, Carrie did not hesitate.
“Oh, yeah, just start. Just start. I mean, you can’t finish it until you just start. And so what if it takes years? And no, you don’t have time right now. No one has time. Just put some words on a page.”
Carrie Cox
It is the same idea that runs through every dare in the book, and the one line she most wants readers to remember: “we are the sum of all of our small actions.” Her book started as one small action, a single text message at 5 a.m.
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