Freelance web writing services. Articles, blogs, reports and more…
You can’t manage time
But you can use it wisely
Follow heart’s desire
This week has been a busy one for me. I guess that’s why today’s haiku reflects a little on using your time, wisely.
If you liked today’s haiku why not drop by next Friday for another one, or let the RSS feed bring it to you automatically.
Today I’m sharing a post I read that helps you to rescue a piece of writing that seems lost. You’ve surely heard the saying “all writing is rewriting”. I’m not sure if that’s really true, but rewriting certainly takes up far more of my time than writing.
Rewriting usually takes up far more time than I’d like. Even when I plan and outline once I get into drafting the piece often just takes a life of its own. Before I know it I’ve got two or three times as many words as I need, and not always the right ones for the purpose I planned.
That’s why I’m always on the look out for techniques or tools to help make rewriting and editing an easier job. The post How to Rescue a Piece When You Write a Frankenstein recently posted on Write To Done is exactly the kind of help I can use. It starts with some reassuring words that let me know I am not alone:
“Sometimes I write a Frankenstein piece. It looks fine until I notice that arms sprout where the legs should be - and unfortunately I forgot to attach a neck.”
Hey, I can do that, too. But how do I go about rescuing this deformed monster I have created? The solution proposed is…
“… structural editing, or, how to reverse engineer a piece. Structural editing makes sure that all the bones of a piece are in the right place.”
If you want to learn the four steps of structural editing, read the rest of the post over at Write To Done…
I’d love to hear about your rewriting experiences and any good tips you have. Leave a comment below to tell me about them.
Today I’m sharing an approach to goals that can help you to succeed them faster than you might think, even today. Goals are often far away, distant things. This makes them intimidating and seem hard to achieve. But this post will show you how you can change this by bringing your goals closer to you today.
"Become the change you seek" - Ghandi
Here is my program for learning how to become the change you are after.
Read on to learn more about the program…
Get started by putting your goal in the here and now. For a long time one of my goals was "I want to be a writer". But one day a year or so ago I You’re a Writer that made me change this to "I am a writer."
From that day on my outlook was changed and I started writing. Just writing down your goal in this form isn’t always going to transform you, though. That’s what the other steps in this article are for. But you’ll already be a long way down the road to success when you change your mind set from a wanna-be to become someone who can, and is.
So, take step one and write down your goal in the present tense as if you had it already. Dave Navarro also has some good tips in his post about thinking from your goals.
Many people describe their goals in terms of being something or someone. This makes the goal harder to realize and limits your thinking. When you think in terms of being you compare yourself to someone else, someone that you’re not. You set up a negative thought process as you think of all the things this imaginary someone has that you don’t.
Think in terms of doing things, instead, and you open up a whole world of possibilities. You can carry on being you, instead of trying to be this one-dimensional creature of your imagination.
Instead of thinking about what you aren’t, focus on what you can do, right now. Do things you enjoy and start enjoying your goal right from the go. If you focus on "be", you can feel frustrated as long as you have not achieved the state of "being" that you dream of.
Continuing the writing goal example, "I am a writer" can be rewritten, "I write." See how easy that goal is to succeed? Could you achieve a goal like that today? I bet you could, but if you’re a real over-achiever (and you wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t), you’ll want to continue with the next step.
Now you know the power of doing, go ahead and detail what you want to do. Ask yourself what someone who succeeds in your goal does, every day. As Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
Make a list of the habits of someone who succeeds at your goal. I recommend you list no more than seven. That is more than enough to get you started. If you have no idea what doing your goal entails doing, then it’s time for a little research. Use Google, or ask someone who does it already.
It can also help to refine your goal to make it easier to create a short habits list. "I write" could be specialized to "I write stories", or "I write magazine articles", "I write user guide’s for photocopiers", whatever your pleasure.
Now you know what you should be doing just go and get doing it. Put your habits into action every day. It’s fine to do them badly when you start, you’ll get better as you practice. You should also update and refine your list as you learn what works and what doesn’t work for you at the stage you’re at.
I already said that you don’t have to do your habits well right from the start. It might take you some time to get good at doing them. If you just started your first novel, you can’t hope to write as easily as another who has twenty best-sellers under their belt already. There might even be some habits you don’t even think you can do at the moment.
Don’t let this worry you, just get started on what you can do. Remove the others from the list, or replace them with something else. Practice your basic habits and you can always add the others when you are ready.
You can’t escape the fact that you have to be a beginner before you can become an expert. The important point is that you can enjoy doing what you do just as much when you begin, more even, than an expert.
So, do what you can now. Add steps as you go, keep refining your habits list.
Let’s recap the steps for turning your dreams into reality today.
What dream are you going to make into reality today? Share your thing and success habits in the comments.
If you enjoyed this post you might like these additional resources.
Men With Pen’s post Would You Become Someone Else To Achieve Your Dreams?
Dave Navarro’s post The Wrong Way To Think About Your Goals (And How To Fix It)
Wednesday was Blog Action Day and the theme was poverty. Today is also International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. But poverty doesn’t just happen on Wednesday 15th October or Friday 17th October, it’s a daily reality for many millions of people. Hopefully today’s haiku can inspire a kind action to counter poverty.
Gratitude, sharing
Make today a better day
Kind deeds pave the way
You can still learn how you could help at the Blog Action Day’s What One Person Can Do page.
If you liked today’s haiku why not drop by next Friday for another one, or let the RSS feed bring it to you automatically.
“I can change the world
With my own two hands
Make a better place
With my own two hands”
Ben Harper, With My Own Two Hands
Friends, today is Blog Action Day and this year’s theme is poverty. This post is my small contribution and I’d like to share with you the idea that we can all help fight poverty through small and simple efforts. At the end of the post I give you a list of simple actions you could take today.
Poverty, like many other large issues in the world, is often seen as somebody else’s problem. It’s just too big for you and me, right? Wrong. I believe that we can make a difference by each taking a small action, no matter how tiny, to reduce poverty. If you have a hard time believing this, I think that the recent financial crisis is an excellent example that supports this idea.
What is this great financial crisis? Individuals and families, just like you or yours, simply didn’t pay back a loan they’d obtained from a bank. This is a pretty small thing at the individual level. But you have seen just how great an effect that action has when multiplied by many individuals. Many of the world’s mighty financial institutions are brought to their knees.
Do you still think your action is too small to count?
Before I give you some ideas for small actions you could take, I’d like to share one other thought with you. This one is not mine, but was given to us by Deb who eloquently pointed out that poverty is not just about money. Even if you are not in a position to give money you can still act to reduce many other kinds of poverty for free.
Now, here’s a short list of ideas you could implement with minimal time and effort. Feel free to use them or come up with your own. You can also find more suggestions of what one person can do on the Blog Action Day site.
What action are you going to take, today, the next day and the day after that to relieve poverty? Help others relieve poverty by leaving your easy to do poverty fighting ideas in the comments.
