Last week we discussed jump starting your career as a writer. Hopefully, you connected the battery cables and now have lots of juice flowing through your creative mind. So what’s next? You’re ready to kick things into high gear and pump those fingers toward the finish line. But then you realize how far away the prize actually is and wonder how you’ll be able to run that marathon. The key is to pace yourself. And the only way you will be able to do that is to be honest about your limitations, weaknesses and imperfections. Our minds create all sorts of “necessary” diversions, designed to sabotage our efforts. For example, while writing this article, several things ran through my mind, any one of which could have sidelined my progress. I […]
Read the RestTag Archives | Encourage Me!
Commitment: The Key to a Successful Year Part Two: Give Yourself a Jump Start
I get it. The holidays are history and the now the visions of sugar plums wiggle on our hips. The decorations and trees come down and the excitement of the season waddles to the back of our memory. We’re surrounded by ending and, because of that, many writers pull over and park, not remembering to pick up a pen until the spring thaw. Right now—yes, today—determines how successful you will be at reaching your writing goals in 2012. What you do right after you read this will set in motion the wheels that will lead you either on a journey of success and fulfillment, or on the road to nowhere you’d ever want to be. You’re in the driver’s seat. It’s all up to you. Perhaps you feel sluggish from […]
Read the Rest
Commitment: The Key to a Successful Year Part One: Point Of No Return
If you’re like me, either you have already got a list of goals and a general idea how to reach those goals, or you are ready to set some great goals for 2012. Goal setting is fun. Creative. Futuristic. I’m a firm believer in goal setting. That being said, goals are worthless haunts of what might have been unless you take another step: commit to them. I didn’t totally understand what commitment meant until I studied the B52 Bomber. It’s a remarkable military aircraft, with capabilities that would astound you. But it’s also a very heavy plane, with a cumbersome takeoff weight of 448,000 pounds. That’s a lot to try to get off the ground! As the bomber accelerates down the runway, one of the crewmen in the cockpit must […]
Read the RestMake 2012 Count, Part 3: the Rent’s Due on the First
Let’s face it. There are a few people in the world who internally drive themselves toward their desired goals. The rest of us just aren’t wired that way. If we don’t have a deadline, chances are we won’t finish the project. Repeat after me: Deadlines are my friends. They will keep you with your patooty in the seat and your fingers on the keyboard. You have so many distractions in today’s world, without deadlines, you’ll never get where you want to be. Think about it. Your rent or mortgage payment is due on the 1st. Because you know that, your purchases throughout the month are made with that in mind. You can’t afford to not have a roof over your head so you are diligent with your finances. The same […]
Read the Rest
