Tuesday, January 28, 2014

How do you know what's best for you?

In life there any many decisions we have to make. Some on a daily basis. Some are real easy. There's a clear cut best option. But what about the harder things in life? How do you choose?

In my line of work, there are many options for success, but no clear cut perfect way. Which I guess is a good thing. Years ago, the only way to get published was to grab an agent's attention and then have them sell your work to a publisher. In the last decade, since I started my writing journey, things have changed so much. There is no one and only way anymore. So it makes it tougher to know what the right way for you is.

We're all looking for success and happiness. I think we can all get there. It's okay to take different roads. But it sure is hard as hell when you're staring down a path that branches off in about ten different directions. It's real hard to know which one is right for you when you can't see how any of them twist and turn along the way.

No matter what road you take, you have to just jump in, do your best, and go back to the beginning if you need to.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Museful Monday!

Today I'm guest blogging over at Sandra Sookoo's blog!! Come on over! Today I'm talking about giving up perfection!

Click here to check it out!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Reaching your New Year's Goals!

January is the month of setting goals. Everyone makes promises to themselves, or to others, for how they will change their lives in the new year. But so often those goals get pushed aside by the end of February. Why? It could be laziness or lack of time. Lack of motivation, support, money.... There are lots of reasons why people fail to carry out their goals.

Here are my list of Dos and Don'ts for keeping your New Year's goals!

DON'T make unrealistic goals. If you aim to get to the gym 7 days a week and lose 5 pounds a week, well, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. It's good to aim high, but in order to keep yourself from getting disappointed, start small. If you're joining a gym for the first time, aim for 3 days a week. And 1 pound a week is a healthy weight loss goal. You'll find it easier to reach goals if you start small and adjust your goals as you go along. And the small accomplishments will energize and motivate you.

DO adjust your priorities. If your goal is to write more in 2014, well, that takes time. And as everyone knows, time is precious. There's only 24 hours in a day, and that time has to be divided between jobs, kids, spouses, chores, eating, and of course, sleeping. How great would it be if we could sleep 1 hour and be completely rested?? But until science invents some kind of magic pill, we all need a good 7-8 hours a night. So the only option for eeking out more time is to give up some of the other ways we spend it. Do you really need to watch that TV show? Is it all that important to sit on Pinterest for an hour? An hour to write, or work out, or do whatever other goal you have, can be a very successful hour.

DON'T let others discourage you. It happens. People try to pull you from your goals for whatever reason. I think family is the biggest culprit for this....and the guilt we feel. The kids want to play, the spouse wants to snuggle. Stay strong! Talk with your family and make them understand your goals and how important they are to you.

DO let yourself off the hook once in a while. Life can throw all kinds of things at us. It's okay to step back and take a break, rejuvenate yourself. Pushing on when you're clearly tired, burned out, under the weather, stressed, etc... is asking for disaster. Step back, fix whatever is going on, then get back to your goals. And it's okay to play with the kids and snuggle with the spouse. Enjoy your life too. It's all about finding the right balance.

DO find a support system. Having friends to reach goals with is a great way to keep yourself on track. Not only is it good to have someone to celebrate the highs with and commiserate the lows with, having someone to keep tabs on you will help keep you motivated. It's easy to fail when there's no one to hold you accountable but yourself. But if you have to check in with a friend, you will be more motivated to do something. Find friends in real life, or friends online. Support is so so important

So there it is! Good luck in 2014! And if you want to chat about goals and making the happen, tune in tonight at 8 EST on Twitter for #ChickLitChat!