Written on December 8, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Working To Live
Winston Churchill gave what is quite possibly one of the shortest, but yet most famous commencement speeches at a graduation ceremony. It consisted of only five words…”Never, never, never give up”. The point of the brief speech is that you have dreams, and to let them fall by the wayside is foolish and unfair to yourself. I have become discouraged a lot recently because some of my writing efforts have not met the success I had hoped for them. Being a writer and an author is something that has always been a dream of mine…I just need to take all the right steps to reach out and grab it.
Know Your Goal
Before you can reach a goal, you need to have a goal. It is similar to getting in your car and driving, and not having any idea what your destination is. Being a writer and a published author have been dreams of mine for a long time. However, the dream was not well-defined until very recently. I now realize that I want to be a successful, oft-read writer, and an author whose books sell enough for a small amount of renown (and a decent living to boot).
Have A Plan
A goal without a plan is just a dream. I believe I wrote an article on the subject not too long ago. Just like when you are driving in your car, once you have a destination in mind, you have to map out the route to get there. At first, it doesn’t have to be the best route, as long as it gets you to your destination. Over time, you will hone your plan so that it works better, costs less of your time, makes you more money, and allows you more freedom to enjoy life.
Write It All Down
I am writing this as I say to myself…”Self, why are you writing this paragraph, all the while knowing that you have not followed the advice contained herein?”. Yes, I sometimes refer to myself as “Self” (not really, but I digress). I am going to write it down after I finish this article. It could happen. Seriously, that is the next task I will complete, before starting on another article. Write down your goal and your plan. Be as specific as you like, and be honest. My goal may sound self-serving, but guess what…it is. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be successful and well-known. This may or may not be something that is part of your personal goal, but if it is, be honest about it. If that’s what you require to be happy, then that’s what you must have to be happy. The point is that if it is written down where you can see it, every day, you will be reminded of what it is your working for.
We all have goals and dreams. Why should we be deprived of them? You only get one shot at this life, so you may as well make the most of it. Know your goal, and have a plan to get there. Otherwise, you are just treading water and wasting time. Write it all down so you will be reminded daily of your goal. Your dreams are out there. You just have to make the right turns to get to them.
Never, never, never give up.
Written on December 7, 2009 by Will Irvin
Filed Under: Working To Live
As I continue to get used to my new home, and attempt to finish unpacking (shouldn’t take more than another month or two), I continue to struggle with the motivation to sit down and write like I should. I can’t even seem to force myself to do the “15-minute writing challenge” because I know that I won’t just sit down and write for fifteen minutes. I guess it sounds like I’m afraid of getting a little work done, and in a manner of speaking it is. I know that a writing binge is set off each time I sit down at the keyboard, and the thoughts keep flowing, and before I know it, two hours have gone by, and none of the things I intended to do on a particular day, got done on that day. So, I guess I’m not afraid of getting a little work done…I’m afraid of getting a LOT of work done, just not the work I intended to do that day. So today, I decided to reset my priorities a bit, and just sit down and write a bit. The moral of the story is that sometimes you just have to make yourself do the things that you’d rather not do, whether your reasons for doing so are good or bad.
They Aren’t Just Going Away
The funny thing about doing things that need to be done is that they don’t cease needing to be done just because you don’t feel like doing them. They are still staring you in your face at the end of the day, not done, and just waiting to be a distraction for you until tomorrow. I am a writer by trade, and even the “greenest” writers know that you have to work on your craft every day. So, in order to take my writing career to the next level, I have to work at it daily, and not let other things distract me from it. That was kinda the entire motivation behind moving, wasn’t it? Yes, I believe it was.
Set Up a Schedule
In order to get myself back on track, I self-imposed deadlines on myself to force myself to create so much new content by certain dates. More experienced writers will likely read that and wonder to themselves why I didn’t figure this out long ago, but nevertheless, I am just now seeing the importance of this. My deadlines are Mondays and Thursdays. I have until Monday to get X number of articles written, and I have until Thursday to get X number more written. Once I get back on schedule, I may reduce my deadlines to once a week, but that remains to be seen. I certainly did not want to give myself a daily deadline, so that I can play catch up before a deadline if the need arises. It’s also a bit less distracting having fewer deadlines during the week.
Set Reasonable Goals
Don’t set yourself up for failure. It’s not doing anyone any good, least of all yourself, if you set deadlines that you are unlikely to be able to meet. Start out slow. Assign yourself slightly less work that you think you should be doing, and slowly build up over time. Increase your workload in small increments, but do it frequently, and before you know it, you will be comfortably producing more work than you think you should.
Not Just For Writers
This isn’t just something that works for writing, or other creative type of work. Regardless of your discipline, and especially if you are working from home or freelancing, you have to hone your craft and discpline yourself to keep working at it. I’m not saying at all that you should work 18 hours a day to hone your skills (see previous section), but it can be a valuable tool in helping you develop a rhythm to your work day.
It’s so easy to find distractions from doing the things you should be doing. However, they are not going away. They still need to be done, whether you want to or not. Set up a schedule, with reasonable goals to be met by clearly defined deadlines, and you will develop a rhythm of working that will allow you to get the best, most work done each day and still have plenty of time to enjoy your life.