Tag: Success

For the Busy Writers

jcladyluv

I was so engulfed in trying to be productive and finish my goal list for this week that I almost forgot to do this blog post which is also on my list of goals.  So I thought I would share some time management tips that may help those writers out there are that are trying to figure out how to deal with their everyday busy lives and incorporate writing into that mix.  Hope some of these tips are helpful to you. 

  1. Publicize your writing goals- Tell your friends and family, even your kids, what your goals are that you need to accomplish for the week, or for the month.  Put a list of those goals up on the bulletin board in front of your desk (because all writers should have one) or on a post it note and stick it on your computer.  If you have a blog share some of those goals with your readers.  This will help you to hold yourself accountable to the tasks you set out to achieve because if you don’t, now someone else will.
  2. Do the more time consuming tasks first- You may be tempted to check all the smaller things off your list first but none of those smaller things help you to accomplish the few bigger things on that list then you may still get to the end of the week with those things unfinished and it will feel less gratifying.  If you knock the big things out of the way you will feel more accomplished by the end of the week.
  3. Be flexible- You will probably never complete an entire writing project without having something go wrong along the way, or not necessarily wrong, just not as you originally planned them to go.  Make some back up plans for when things get thrown off track.  This will help you to bounce back quicker than you would if you were just left without some sense of knowing what to do next.
  4. Track where your time goes- Often times we don’t even know where the time goes or what we have done with that time.  If this is the case with you, it may be beneficial to chart out your day and make notes of what you do and when.  See where you can cut some things out that may not be so necessary in order for you to implement for time for writing. 
  5. Just Say No- Distractions are just a part of life and for a writer it is often that people will dismiss your need to actually sit down and write.  They expect you to always be available to talk or go out and it’s hard to say no and justify why you’re not spending time with them so you can write.  If you start telling them NO and letting them know that this is something serious for you and that it matters, they will eventually get the message and respect your craft.  But you have to say No first. 

I hope that some of these tips are helpful to you.  I am still working on practicing some of them myself.  Well I better get back to my craft now.  Until next time…be blessed! 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

The Best You

jcladyluv

“The best way to get approval is not to need it!  Focus on being the best you and the rest will take care of itself.”

~Chris Gardner 

It is natural for people to want to seek approval from others.  More often than not it is of the one’s that are immediately around you, like your friends and family.  We want them to accept us and to be proud of us and to support us in our endeavors and always encourage our ambitions.  When we don’t get that support and that approval, especially from family, we are crushed.  

As hard as we may try to hide it and act as if it doesn’t really matter that they don’t get our goals and that they don’t approve of the path we chose, it matters.  It begins to feel like if the one’s you love and are supposed to be able to look to for support can’t be there for you then everyone must be against you.  However, the problem isn’t them for not approving the goals we put forth; the problem is us for depending on the approval of anyone but ourselves to begin with. 

On the journey towards being successful in our dreams and or passions the focus has to be us; what we think, what we approve of, and what we demand of ourselves.  At some point we are going to have to realize that seeking the approval of anyone else is only going to be our downfall.  People spend so much time trying to do what others expect of them and trying to be perfect in order to fit someone else’s standards.  What they should be focused on is meeting their own standards and not so much on being perfect but on being the best that they can be for themselves.  

Trying to be what everyone else wants you to be can become exhausting and it wastes entirely too much time and energy that can be better spent.  If the people around you are making you feel as if you aren’t meeting their expectations, then you need to reevaluate who it is that you are surrounding yourself with and if they are really what you need to be focused on.  I know, easier said then done.  

It’s hard to let go of that need to be accepted and I know because I’m still working on the letting go part.  But I am starting to realize that all the time that I’ve wasted trying to seek approval and be accepted could’ve been time that went into actually accomplishing the very things that I sought approval for.  So today you should stop and ask yourselves, whose approval is that you really need?  Theirs, or your own.  Until next time…Be the best you that you can possibly be and everyone else will just have to follow suit!  

 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Passionate Writer

jcladyluv

“A strong passion for anything will ensure success, for the desire of the end will point out the means.”
~William Hazlitt 

Very seldom do I ever wish that I could go back in time to when I was younger, perhaps in high school, and just live in that moment for while.  Perhaps I would enjoy and take stock in the moments when I wrote simply because it was all I could do to get my feelings out, or when writing was not so much of a job or chore and more of a past time that I didn’t have to actually think about anything past the point of writing the actual story.  

Now don’t get me wrong, I still absolutely love to write and I could never imagine anything else that I should be doing in this life or the next other than writing.  But before there was the business aspect of writing (the hardest part of being a writer), and the marketing and publicity aspect, and the managing sales figures and making sure you are actually making money off of your passion, there was simply just the passion of it all.  

I remember rushing to get home to just get the words of my characters out on paper (because back then I wrote long-hand), and I remember the feeling of accomplishment when the story was finished and when someone else told me that my words meant something to them.  I didn’t worry so much back then about how to get my words published and how to market and how to make actual profits off of my work.  I just knew that writing was my life’s dream and that was how I wanted to make my living.  I knew that I wanted to make the best seller’s lists and write movies and write for magazines and television shows and that I wanted my living to be made from what I loved to do more than anything in the world.  

Now I am making schedule’s to try and fit what I love into the rest of my life and reading and teaching myself about things pertaining to marketing and publicity, which are things I really don’t care about, but I have to know these things to make what I love to do work for me.  I would just love to get to that point again where all I have to think about is the sheer enjoyment of writing my words down on paper and telling the story of my characters; back to the moment when I first fell in love with writing to begin with.  

However, in reality, I want my words to be seen by the world and that part of my dream takes work and hard labor.  But it is definitely a labor of love and one that I am willing to make many sacrifices for.  So what are you most passionate about and are you willing to put in the hard labor to make it happen?  Until next time…be blessed and make your labor of love count! 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

No More Negative Nancy’s

jcladyluv

“Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power.”

~Shirley MacLaine 

In life you tend to get back what you give out.  At least that is what most people will say about how a person should perceive things.  I was watching the news this morning and they have these motivational minutes where the guy will give a tip for success for the day.  Today’s tip, in so many words, was that in order to have and attract success in your life that you have to wipe out the negativity surrounding you and get rid of those thoughts of what you can’t do and what you don’t have and just focus on what you can do and what you do have.  

This ties into getting back what you give out because I suppose if all you hear is people around you telling you that you can’t do something, or that what you want to happen for yourself can’t happen, you start to believe it then you are putting out that negative energy.  In turn all you are going to get back is negative results.  This struck a nerve with me because it seems that the more positive I try to be about my circumstances, and about my dreams and what I want out of life, the more I get negative backlash from other people, one of whom happens to be my mother, who I should get the most support from.  

When people say that you have to cut out the negativity from your life in order to really make your way towards success you never want that to include family.  I am sadly realizing, or should I say accepting, that my mother is one of those people.  When I make the mistake of sharing my ambitions with her she never fails to tell me that she thinks my dreams are impossible and that I am not living in reality.  But if I only focus on what isn’t going right and what I have not managed to accomplish just yet then I would never move forward and enjoy all that I do have and the things that I have managed to achieve.  

It’s true that lately everything has not fallen in line the way that I wanted them to, especially within this last year.  However, no matter what, I will always keep pushing through and propelling myself towards accomplishing what it is I want.  A person’s dreams are not just going to magically come true overnight but complaining about the bumps along the road is not going to change things one way or the other, so why waste that time that could be better spent.  

There is always going to be that one person around you that will make sure to run down the list of the things that you can’t get done and rub in your face what you don’t have.  But instead of listening to them you have to ask yourself why it is that they feel the need to tear you down and what is it that they don’t have that they are trying so hard to take away from you.  Until the next time…try to enjoy the things that you have accomplished and keep building on those accomplishments!  

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Who Needs A Plan B?

jcladyluv

“God gives us dreams a size too big so that we can grow into them.” 

~Author Unknown 

Was it unrealistic for me to think that I could have a successful and fulfilling life as a writer?  Just doing what I love to do full time and not having to make it a side job that I only get to do whenever I am not completely exhausted from working a job that I hate just to pay the bills.  Maybe I was crazy to think that that would be possible in the beginning stages of my writing career and not have a plan B for just in case things went downhill quickly.  

Well the other day I stumbled upon this clip from Youtube of a compilation of comments by actor Will Smith on success and fulfilling your dreams, and his philosophy about different aspects of achieving that success.  One of the most standout statements that he made in the clip was that “the first step, before anybody else in the world believes it, is you have to believe it.  There’s no reason to have a plan B because it just distracts from plan A.” 

When I heard that it made so much sense to me.  Why would I spend all of this time doing something that I hate doing, that keeps me from doing what I really love and really want to be doing, for the sake of just in case.  The time spent on putting together a plan B does two things; it distracts me from the original plan, and it creates doubt as to whether or not plan A was really the right one to begin with.  

Yes it may be unrealistic to bank all of my hopes and dreams and livelihood on plan A without a safety net but why be realistic when it comes to your dreams.  Another thing Will Smith said in this clip was that “being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity”, and I believe that to be true.  I’ve never been one to just settle for only what seems possible and within reach.  I’ve always wanted way more than what was within my grasp and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. 

We should never settle in life.  You have a dream, you make a plan to attain that dream, and you go for it.  You protect that dream at any and all cost.  It’s really just that simple.  Yes there are times where you are going to have to include things in that plan that you are not thrilled about doing, but in the end it has to be included simply to attain that plan A, and not just in case plan A doesn’t work.  

I think that once you set a plan in motion towards what it is you want, and you decide that you are going to stick to it, everything else will fall into place.  I am glad that I stumbled on that clip because it reminded me that I should never lose faith in myself, and what I believe is possible for me, and more importantly, in what I have decided I want for my life.  To, once again, quote Will Smith, “I know who I am, I know what I believe, and that’s all I need to know.”     

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.wordpress.com/

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

 

A Bad Case of How Did I Get Here

jcladyluv

“Many of life’s failures are people who had not realized how close they were to success when they gave up.”

~Thomas Edison 

So I was reading Ms. L’s blog post yesterday, “Bucket List”, and started thinking about all of the things that I might include on my own personal bucket list and if I was so courageous enough to make a list, just how many of those things would I actually be able to cross off.  

For the past few weeks I have been trying to not to be depressed over the state of my current circumstances, and I must say I have been losing that battle because it just seems like things keep getting worse.  I’ve been waking up day after day wondering how I got here at the age of 30 (almost 31) and still so far behind in my list of goals and accomplishments.  It’s like every time something goes right there are three more things that go wrong to completely demolish the one right thing that happened.  

I guess you could say that for a little while I lost my motivation for even trying to make things go my way.  I figured that if it was meant to happen for me it would’ve happened by now, right?  Well I have come back to my senses now and I am ready to get right back in the ring of life and fight for where I want my life to be.  I have had my share of what some might call luck and I have definitely had some miracles along the way and that has to count for something.  

So maybe I wouldn’t be able to check off even half of my list yet.  Maybe I am not quite there yet in succeeding in all of the aspects of life that I want to but I am not at square one either.  Even being in the middle of my journey means that I have accomplished something worth being proud of.  I may have quite a ways to go but stopping now is not an option that I am willing to explore.  

When I stop to think about how I got here, I have to think about where here actually is.  I am relatively healthy, I have a beautiful and healthy vibrant and incredibly smart daughter, I have the talent and ability to write which is what I’ve wanted to do since I was six years old, and I have the drive and determination to make it happen no matter what or how long it takes.  I guess when I sit back and think about it, being “here” isn’t really so bad. 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter