define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true); define('DISALLOW_FILE_MODS', true); Encourage Me Archives » Page 5 of 21 » My Book Therapy

Tag Archives | Encourage Me

Five Reasons Why You Quit

I’ve done it. I’m sure you have too. You get a great idea and dive right in. Somewhere along the way, you chip away at your enthusiasm until one day you suddenly realize you haven’t pursued that thing in quite a while. You quit.

That’s fine if you started watching season one of Castle or took belly dancing lessons. There comes a time when those things naturally come to an end. But when it comes to quitting your writing dream, it will leave you empty and utterly unhappy.

There are any number of reasons why individuals throw in the towel on their pursuits, but here are ones I have found to be the top five:

Read the Rest
Continue Reading Comments { 0 }

The Enemy in the Mirror

I talk to people wherever I am. I’ve met no strangers and don’t have any problem at all striking up a conversation with someone I’ve only known for three seconds. No matter where I travel I find people with big dreams. They want to be wealthy entrepreneurs or award winning authors. And yet they’re not… yet. Exploring the cause—the real root of their challenge—most often does not reveal obstacles that sidelines them. No, when it comes right down to it, their lack of success is at the hands of the enemy in the mirror. We are the ones who sabotage our efforts more than any outside force ever could. It begins innocently enough but then it builds into a unstoppable force that will topple even the best laid plans. It […]

Read the Rest
Continue Reading Comments { 0 }

Dream the Impossible Dream

You just thought of Man From LaMancha, didn’t you? What a beautiful message. Did you know that song was recorded by artists that ran the span of genres. Jim Nabors, Elvis, Andy Williams and Frank Sinatra just to name a few.

Why? Because it is powerful. It speaks to going for it, no matter how the odds may be stacked against you. It instills the courage to face whatever challenge that stands between you and reaching your goal.

We’ve seen a lot of changes in the publishing industry this year. It’s enough to make a writer think they’ll never be a published author. It makes you want to sing, “Gloom, despair and agony on me…”

Your dream of being a writer is too important to remain unlived. You’ll face challenges, market nightmares and critics who would rather write bad reviews about your book than to go through the time and trouble to write their own.

You’ll have moments when you feel you’re attempting the impossible. Here’s the truth. You have the absolute right to and should dream the impossible dream. Besides, it’s just a word: I (a)m Possible.

Lots of people have lived impossible dreams. You can, too. Hard is hard and impossible is not as difficult as the world makes it out to be.

Read the Rest
Continue Reading Comments { 0 }

What Are You Harvesting?

Right now all over America, farmers are hard at work bringing in the harvest a year’s crops have yielded.

If they planned well, did their diligence and were fortunately enough to avoid severe storms, they most likely have a bumper crop.

Just like Farmer Brown in Iowa, you are harvesting as well. Maybe you’re not picking the last of the tomatoes but you are reaping the writing seeds you sowed way back when you began your year.

Hopefully, you decided on what you wanted to harvest right about now and planted the right seeds. You worked on that craft and made sure you got in your weekly word count.

Things come up just like on the farm. Perhaps you’ve dodged more than your share of early spring snows and late summer tornadoes. But what did you do after the storm? Did you care for your writing crop or did you throw in the towel?

The answer to that question determines what you’re reaping at this moment. If you are a farmer, you always farm. When things get rough and don’t go your way, you farm. When storms come across your crops, you still farm. When the tornado leaves, you pick up the pieces and, well, farm.

Writers—true honest to goodness committed wordsmiths—write. When things are good, they write. When things are bad, they still hammer out word counts. When the storms of life cause waves of despair to crash over them, they still write.

Why? The farmer can answer that better than I can. Right now—today—he’s very glad he kept farming because his silos are being filled, his cupboards are being stocked with food for the winter and his bank account is busting at the seams. He’s reaping what he sowed.

Read the Rest
Continue Reading Comments { 0 }
MBT Menu