Wading Through Life...
As the song says, life can be hard sometimes. Doing things is hard sometimes. Believe it or not, even words are hard sometimes. Many of us start out the new year wanting (sometimes desperately) to make changes in our lives. Myself included! But change is hard. This past November, I found a key that helped me accomplish a goal. It still wasn’t easy, but it was easier. I went from not writing at all to getting in several writing sprints per day. The key? Accountability. I asked a few fellow authors who were participating in the same monthly challenge as me if they wanted to start a small accountability group. Just post your goals and chick in daily. That’s all. We would hold each other accountable to work towards our goals, offer encouragement, celebrate our wins, and help find solutions to struggles.
Guess what? It worked! And so did I!!
After all, I’d be horribly embarrassed if I failed completely. That got me through the first few days. Then I was encouraged by the response and progress of my fellow authors. The writing got easier (most days), and I found myself looking forward to posting my progress each day.
I mean, I wasn’t perfect. I didn’t write every single day, because…life. Right? But in just 30 days, I got a hell of a lot more done than in the previous 6 months.
December came. The challenge ended. I stopped posting and—bam! No more words.
Suddenly all the other stuff on my plate became more important, more urgent, more—well—noticeable if it wasn’t done. More noticeable than the writing.
But I have a book I want to finish. Editing to accomplish. I have a series I want to publish this year.
I could struggle alone, or ask for some accountability!
So a small group of authors are joining me this year to Get Some Shit Done!
I believe this is part of creating good goals that can actually come to fruition. Most people have this idea that they have to do it all themselves. I don’t know why we feel this way. All work is easier if you have a helping hand.
Look at the obstacles and put a system in place that will help you take the steps. It will be so much easier! Whether its an exercise partner, or an in-person class to learn the thing you’ve been trying alone for the longest time, or a weekly meeting to give your family a time and place to decide on meals for the week.
What are your goals for this year? Do you have a plan to accomplish them?
I'd love to hear from you!
Dani
It Caught My Eye...
I've had stairs on my mind lately. A stairwell plays a prominent place in my current work-in-progress (WIP) as the location of a very tragic event, an event that the heroine is reminded of every time she has to pass or use this staircase in the house. It makes the home a very emotional place for her. What should be a beautiful centerpiece as you enter a home is transformed into a reminder of grief and tragedy.
I have a confession to make: I’m not a reader.
Let me clarify: I used to be a reader. But between the day job, struggling to get words, and overwhelming stress, I lost my love of it somewhere. Every time I thought about picking up a book, I just turned away.
Then I took a class called Write Better Faster by Becca Syme in an attempt to break through my writer’s block. There I learned about my top 5 Strengths (Clifton Strengths testing). Lo and behold—all of them had to do with INPUT. Basically, my brain runs off of learning things. I have a craving for knowledge and am rejuvenated by the learning process.
Except I’d stopped that process in its tracks by not reading much at all. The occasional non-fiction book or magazine was the only exception. No wonder my brain has basically stopped working!
After taking Becca’s class, I started making an effort to read more, but it was haphazard. I would start fiction books, but not be able to finish them, no matter how interesting they were. I had better luck with non-fiction, which I could let sit for a few days, then come back to them and eventually finish. I’m not entirely sure why this was so hard, but I have a few suspicions.
I’ve started my non-fiction goal with Paused to Prolific by K Webster. This is a new release that dovetails nicely with my own focus issues. It is designed to help you “write faster, stay focused, and avoid burnout”. I found it very easy to digest because the chapters are short and tightly focused, with a “coffee break” at the end to help brainstorm ideas for taking the information and putting it into practice. Webster has a conversational, humorous style that helped me relate well to the information, and I’ll never look at a squirrel the same again!
What kind of reading goals do you set for yourself? Are they formal goals, or just lists of books you’d like to read?
Dani
Then I took a class called Write Better Faster by Becca Syme in an attempt to break through my writer’s block. There I learned about my top 5 Strengths (Clifton Strengths testing). Lo and behold—all of them had to do with INPUT. Basically, my brain runs off of learning things. I have a craving for knowledge and am rejuvenated by the learning process.
Except I’d stopped that process in its tracks by not reading much at all. The occasional non-fiction book or magazine was the only exception. No wonder my brain has basically stopped working!
After taking Becca’s class, I started making an effort to read more, but it was haphazard. I would start fiction books, but not be able to finish them, no matter how interesting they were. I had better luck with non-fiction, which I could let sit for a few days, then come back to them and eventually finish. I’m not entirely sure why this was so hard, but I have a few suspicions.
- The issues going on in my brain related to the writer’s block made it extremely difficult to focus. What little “focus power” I had went to my day job and writing tasks, so there wasn’t much left for something I viewed as less important: the reading (boy, did I have that backwards).
- There is an idea I’ve been dedicated to for years: refilling the well. But until this very stressful time, I didn’t put it into practice with as much dedication as I should have. Then again, I didn’t know that part of what I needed to fill that well was knowledge! We often think of refilling our wells, or “self-care”, as things like taking baths and having our nails done. But our strengths give us certain needs that, when fulfilled, renew our energy and our enthusiasm far faster than anything else could. I’ve experienced this first hand!
I’ve started my non-fiction goal with Paused to Prolific by K Webster. This is a new release that dovetails nicely with my own focus issues. It is designed to help you “write faster, stay focused, and avoid burnout”. I found it very easy to digest because the chapters are short and tightly focused, with a “coffee break” at the end to help brainstorm ideas for taking the information and putting it into practice. Webster has a conversational, humorous style that helped me relate well to the information, and I’ll never look at a squirrel the same again!
What kind of reading goals do you set for yourself? Are they formal goals, or just lists of books you’d like to read?
Dani