Change

My whole artistic life has always been about change, change, change, move on, move.  It's the only thing I find interesting ~ Paul Simon

Change is the only constant in the world.  No matter what your dream goal, the guidelines will probably be changed along the way.  You have to be ready for technical change in the midst of achieving your goal.

But another change that you might not even notice for a while is the change in yourself.  Once I started achieving milestone goals, my confidence level increased.  I was so worried that I couldn't even finish one novel that once I did, I kept going and wrote a second in one tenth of the time.  If you're a new writer, that's a confidence boost to have two novels written and one ready for presentation.

What changes have you experienced in your dream journey or in yourself lately?  I'd love to hear!

More Important Than Fear

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear ~ Ambrose Redmoon

I used to be a bit of a wallflower at social functions, I still tend to be.  But when I was selling Tupperware and I needed to ask people to date a party or if they wanted to sell Tupperware, my goal of building a business superseded that fear of talking to strangers.

When I was writing my first novel, my fear of failure was superseded by my determination to finish the project.  Now that the novel is written, my fear of rejection and ridicule is being superseded by my goal to get published.

If you are committed to your goals and vision, your need to accomplish those goals should always feed your courage to work through the rough patches and difficult tasks (the nightmares I talked about on Tuesday).

How have you been courageous lately?

NIghtmares

I've had dreams and I've had nightmares.  I overcame the nightmares because of the dreams ~ Jonas Salk

If you haven't already experienced some accomplishments to help you through the nightmares of reaching your goal, hold on, I'm sure one is coming.  In the meantime, focus on visualizing your success to get you through.

But once you reach a milestone goal, everything is going to be fine.  One of my big milestone goals was just finishing a manuscript I had started four years ago.  I did that earlier this year.  Four months later, I finished a second manuscript.  Recently I finished a good rewrite/edit of the first manuscript and now I'm back to submissions. Once that is over, I am onto editing the second manuscript.

Your dreams help you through the tough times.  Once you start reaching milestone goals, you understand that your dream is a reality and those feelings get you through the tough times.

What milestone goals have you reached lately?  I'd love to hear!

Things That You Really Care About

...You must have a reason to be in the places which you go, and you must do only things that you really care about ~ Yo-Yo Ma

It's all right to say "no" when you're trying to accomplish a goal.  It's even better if you can say "no" right now, because at some point in the future you will have more time and will be able to say "yes."

When you're working on your dream goal, you've got to focus on the simple steps it takes to reach your goal.  Especially in the beginning, until you get your routines down and understand how you work and what motivates you to keep going.  Once you get your routines and boundaries set, it's easier to say "yes" to  more things.

Sinking Into Your Pillow

Here's the feel of your head sinking into your pillow after a long, tiring day ~ Jill Badonsky

Don't you just love productive days when you are a "good" tired after completing a chore or project? That's how it should feel while you accomplish your dream goal, or even the the little milestone goals in between.

That's how I'm feeling right now.  I just got done with another edit of A Place to Call Their Own and I'm ready to start editing Disappear With Me.  All that with balancing writing in the third novel everyday, deciding which agents to submit the manuscript, and continuing to build my platform through social media.

But that's the beauty of pursuing a passion, working yourself until your tired, so you can get up the next day and do it all over again!

What's your favorite task on your dream journey that tuckers you out?  I'd love to hear!

What's Necessary

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible ~ St. Francis of Assisi

When you look at any dream goal, this quote is so true!  Take my writing for example, there were days I struggled to write just 250 words.  There were months I struggled to make blog posts.  But I knew I needed to do both of these tasks daily to become a successful author.

When I figured out a blog post schedule and outlined the rest of my first novel, I moved into the realm of doing what's possible.  Not only have I consistently made four blog posts a week, I finished writing my first novel after four years.  I went from barely writing 250 words per week to writing 5000 words per week and finished the novel within four weeks of completing the outline that was desperately needed.

After I finished my first novel, I immediately started on the second novel and finished the initial draft in four months.  I never would have thought I would have been able to do that.  To me that is the impossible.  Now I am entering writing contests, getting ready to submit queries to agents and publishing companies.  Although it is my goal, it's still surreal to me that I am at this point with my writing.

What step are you at in your dream goal:  necessary, possible, or impossible? 

The Inner Voice

Everyone who wills can hear the inner voice.  It is written in everyone ~ Mahatma Ghandi

Yesterday started the fourth quarter of 2012.  How are you doing on your New Year's resolutions?  I've been blogging all year long that we make resolutions for year, not just the first two weeks of January. 

The fourth quarter can be an exciting time to achieve goals.  If you are in sales, fourth quarter is usually your biggest quarter of the year.  If education is your goal, to finish something by December means, in most cases, you're halfway through your normal school year.  If you're dream is artistic, the cooler weather in the fall, winter, and early spring might make it easier to concentrate on indoor projects.

No matter what your goal is, listen to your inner voice.  It is written in everyone.  If you haven't found your calling, find it.  If you aren't working towards your calling, listen to your inner voice and figure out why.

What has your inner voice told you lately?