Tag: success

2013 End-of-Year Goals Check In

~ K ~ Leave a comment

2013

1. Schedule a blog post for each month
FAIL. I didn’t post much in the summer and through the latter part of the year.

2. Go to the gym once a week
FAIL. I quit the gym because I got an elliptical trainer at home.

3. Strength train on Mondays
FAIL. I have not strength trained on Mondays. I will wait until the baby’s born before tackling this again.

4. Read 80 books this year
FAIL. I haven’t been in much of a reading mood. I’ve only read 35 books this year.

5. Craft a new novel from an original idea (not something that I’ve recycled)
SUCCESS! I started writing an original novel for NaNoWriMo. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’d like to.

6. Write a new novel from start to finish in 30 days
FAIL. I had a lot of health setbacks in November that prevented me from completing a novel in 30 days.

7. Write 300 words a day whether it’s a combination of blogging, journaling, article writing, or noveling
FAIL. I haven’t written much this year.

8. Attend the Writer’s Digest conference
SUCCESS! I attended the conference, pitched some agents, and had a mighty good time.

9. Submit query letters to literary agents
SUCCESS! I’ve gotten nothing but rejections, but I’ve submitted query letters.

10. Complete synopsis of Getting Right with God
SUCCESS! In fact, I received a synopsis from an editor that’s even better than the one I wrote.

11. Watch a movie on Saturday evenings with Jason
FAIL. I’ve been bad about doing this. I just haven’t been in a movie-watching mood. 😦

12. Submit a query letter for an article
SUCCESS! I submitted a query letter for Relevant magazine. Never heard anything back, but I did submit something.

13. Develop a routine in the morning
FAIL. I have no routine except to get the heck up.

14. Develop a routine before bed at night
FAIL. I have no routine except to fall into bed.

15. (And oh, why not?) Become a mother
SUCCESS! Fertility treatments have helped me to realize this 2013 goal. I’m due in late February 2014. Exciting!

Changes

~ K ~ Leave a comment

When it comes to change in my life, I try to be an incremental person, incorporating it gradually. For example, when it comes to getting to the gym, I’ve decided that I will go on weekends when I have no interruptions. I’m not the type to vow to go to the gym every day (anymore) because it’s something I know I would fail at. So my minimum to go to the gym is once a week. And I try to exercise for 45-60 minutes while I’m there.

I used to be an all-at-once person when I was younger, thinking I could take on the world on a whim. But I’m a little wiser now. There was a time when I would have vowed to exercise 5 days a week and completed that feat for… a week. Now, with my goal to get to the gym once a week, it sets me up for success. I’ve found that it’s doable, I’m consistent, and much more likely to go.

—

I’m also having change in another form. There’s the possibility that I might score another client for my fledgling editorial business, which is exciting. I try not to worry too much about my grammar and spelling on this website since I have to worry about it in every other aspect of my life.

2012 End-of-Year Goals Check In

~ K ~ 1 Comment

1. Schedule a blog post for each week Schedule a blog post for each month.
FAIL. I totally blew off November.

2. Go to the gym on Tuesdays for at least 15 minutes Go to the gym on Sundays for at least 15 minutes
FAIL. I have simply been too lazy and too tired to make it to the gym on Sundays.

3. Strength train Mondays and Thursdays a week for at least 15 minutes Strength train on Mondays
FAIL. I have not strength trained at all in the past 2 or 3 months.

4. Put aside $25 per paycheck ($50/month) for website redesign in March 2012 (before website expiration in April)
SUCCESS! My website has been redesigned.

5. Combat discontent by listing 3 things every day that I’m grateful for I will list 3 things every night in my journal
FAIL. I’ve failed to do this regularly.

6. Relax 2 times a month on the Sabbath (a day off, not necessarily Sunday) by reading, listening to music, dancing, napping, meditating, watching a movie (something fun) for most of the day
SUCCESS! I’ve been relaxing more.

7. Read a book for at least 15 minutes 3 times a week
SUCCESS! I am ahead of my reading.

8. Read 36 books (3 books a month) by December 31
SUCCESS! I have surpassed this goal.

9. Complete half of manuscript rewrite by June 2012 (Work on 10 pages once a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Saturdays for 2 hours)
SUCCESS! My manuscript is complete.

10. Complete rewrite of manuscript by December 2012
SUCCESS! See previous point.

11. Edit for 1 new client this year
SUCCESS! I scored a new client this year.

Success: What Does It Mean?

~ K ~ Leave a comment

What does success mean to you?

—

I look at others and often think, I’m not as successful as so-and-so who has a moderately trafficked blog (or writes for Reuters or appears on television). There are so many people I can compare myself to, and yes, it’s a bad habit, I know— comparing myself to others.

But I overlook the fact that I’m successful in my own way. I am juggling three clients for my editing business and have a fourth (a company that I’ve had to turn down repeatedly) knocking at my door. I should feel as though I’ve attained some level of achievement seeing as I’m actually pulling in enough hours to constitute a part-time job. But I don’t. I’m never happy with what I’ve done or achieved. Once I’ve hit a goal, I almost never pat myself on the back for a job well done; I’m setting a new goal that’s even harder to obtain and often dismiss the goal that I’ve attained as merely being too easy.

Am I being too vague? Perhaps. I just know that I need to bask in the momentary glow of my success a little bit more rather than brushing it aside as a speck of dust.

—

How do you handle success or successful moments?

The Story I’m Telling Myself vs. The True Story

~ K ~ 5 Comments
Image from barbarahaleannex.com

Inspired by Michael Hyatt’s post:  http://michaelhyatt.com/change-your-story-change-your-life.html

The Story I’m Telling Myself
  • I’m too young.
  • I’ve failed before. I’ll fail again.
  • I’ll never be as successful as other people.
  • I am not a business person.
  • I don’t have a business mindset.
  • Getting these clients is a fluke; I won’t get any more.
  • I don’t have enough experience against other people who have been doing this for decades.
  • I’m a newbie; no one will want to use my services.
The True Story
  • I am young and new at this, and I may stumble along the way, but I can view my failures as a learning experience and overcome them.
  • I can think of new ways to market myself and focus on professional customer service.
  • God has given me two clients to show me that He trusts me with this work.
  • I cannot measure my success as competing with other people but by gaining steady work.
  • I have one fully edited book behind me which shows I can get work done. I can finish what I start.
  • I will read and learn how to conduct a business and charge competitive rates to lure new clients.
Now, I just have to believe what’s true. Believing it is more difficult than writing it.

Personal Failure and a Gospel Living Mindset

~ K ~ 2 Comments

I suffered a personal failure recently and found God challenging me on how I would respond to it. To be honest, my first instinct was to check out on life. But through the failure, I learned that I do not know how to handle failure. As a child, I was never taught how to handle failure. I was always taught that if at first you don’t succeed, you don’t accept failure as an option, you try harder.

I recently learned that’s not the way to handle things. The chart below is helping me to accept that failure is

  • a part of life
  • okay
  • a way to learn grace
  • a learning experience
  • something that reminds me I won’t be kicked out of God’s kingdom

Remembering my identity, who I am in Christ, will help me to navigate the ups and frequent downs of life as I should. Thereby assisting in me in trying to take the easy way out of life.

It’s Your Time Book Review: Dump this book, Discard much of what you learn, Desist reading

~ K ~ 6 Comments

Inspired by this post from Matthew Paul Turner, basically making fun of Pastor Joel Osteen’s (NOT OLsteen, maybe LOLsteen) new book, It’s Your Time and a one-star review on Amazon in which the “reviewer” essentially wrote that Osteen was a fraud, he hadn’t read the book, and never intended to read the book (the review’s since been taken down), I felt prompted to go where most Biblical evangelical Christians choose not to go.

I decided to read Joel Osteen’s latest book to see if dollar signs would really begin flashing right before my eyes. However, I need to add a disclaimer of a sort:

Last page with text in "It's Your Time"I am a little sensitive to Joel Osteen and his ministry and likely not as hard as I should be. Thank my mother. I believe that God used Pastor Osteen’s ministry to bring my mother to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. She was hesitant for many, many years but after watching Pastor Osteen regularly, softened up, accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior, and now regularly attends a local Bible-believing church. I have seen Osteen’s telecast and at the end, he does give an invitation (though many Biblical evangelicals would consider it a weak one) to accept Jesus. Although the criticism is that Jesus is secondary to his preaching of the “health and wealth” gospel,” which we’ll get to later on in the review. (Click on the photo on the left to enlarge it and essentially read the “invitation” Joel Osteen provides.)

I wrote an unfinished review of It’s Your Time and was probably more favorable to it than most Biblical Christians would have been. So now that I’ve completed this book, how would I rate it overall?

Two stars.

What were the issues then that led me to give this book a rating comparable to “poor”? Quite a bit. Sit back and have a nice cup of coffee or tea as you review this list with sometimes lengthy explanations. Continue reading “It’s Your Time Book Review: Dump this book, Discard much of what you learn, Desist reading” →

Still searching for an identity… part 2

~ K ~ Leave a comment

Guilt.

I suffer from the guilt of existence. I’d feel guilty if I had a child before some of my friends I know who have desired children for years. Especially since I also know they desire children so much more than me.

And the ability to stay home and live primarily off my husband’s income so I can devote my time and attention to my novel (which I have no idea whether it will be any good or be able to earn any money). I have so many friends and family members who do not have this opportunity. I feel bad. Something tells me I must work full-time like them to make life fair even though I don’t have to.

It’s not fair that people who want to live must die when there’s someone like me who thinks so little of herself that she would trade places with someone who was dying.

I wait every night, you know, to die.

I’ve given up on suicide because I’ve tried numerous times and I can’t succeed. People tell me it’s because God says it’s not my time to go.

So every night, I wait for God. I wait for Him to take me. I anticipate “my time to go.” That final breath, that final gasp of air that God won’t let me recover from. I wait for it nightly.

But then I wake up each morning, somewhat stupefied as to why I’m still alive. What’s God’ s purpose for me? Am I meant to accomplish something monumentally great or simply exist to bring a smile to my husband’s face each day for the next 60 years?

And what’s wrong with that? Why can’t I be content simply to exist only to make other people happy?

“I tend to be of the mindset that in order to be pleasing to God, I have to do something big, something that leaves an evident footprint in the world. I think deep down I know this isn’t a true philosophy, but when I just live everyday life, I feel useless.” –Sizzledowski, “Sometimes I talk to myself… a lot“

No, I’m not content because I’ve been taught that “bigger is better.” (Well, except when it comes to weight.)

Servant leadership.

My father used to work in the maintenance department of a large ad agency and sometimes he’d get whatever leftovers were no longer wanted. One time, the agency developed (or recycled, I’m not sure) a slogan and printed up more T-shirts than they could use so my dad brought a bunch of them home. The slogan has stayed with me to this day:

“Good enough is not enough.”

So I’ll always feel like a failure. Because once I achieve that one “great” thing, I’ll always be looking for the next great thing. It’s a vicious cycle–always looking to outdo myself. This was also part of Michael Jackson’s downfall. As a perfectionist, he was always trying to “top” himself. The “Thriller” album sold 26 million copies worldwide back in the 80s, immediately becoming the best-selling album of all time. In fact, it is STILL the best-selling album of all time with more than 100 million copies sold worldwide. (The next album that comes even close is AC/DC’s “Back in Black” with 49 million copies.)

“Good enough is not enough.”

Jackson wanted to continue to break records and continue to top the charts even after “Thriller” but was never able to relieve that kind of success again in his lifetime.

So where does it stop? A person can’t always be number one.

Jesus said the first shall be last and the last shall be first. (Mk. 10:31, Matt. 20:16) As a Christian, what does this mean to me?

It means the only way to truly lead is by serving. That is what Jesus did. And not to minimize my Lord in any way but that is also the example all the great human heroes followed: Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa. Not self-serving but serving others. Who will have had more of an impact 100 years from now: Madonna or Martin Luther King, Jr.? God bless Madonna if history textbooks mention her musical impact from the 1980s but MLK, Jr. has changed the lives of many people in this country. From the White House down to little ol’ me, he continues to have a lasting impact beyond his death. As a result of MLK, Jr.’s tireless work, I can write a blog post with fairly good grammar and spelling that reaches a multicultural audience because I had the opportunity to receive a stellar education from Kindergarten through college. (Let’s just conveniently ignore the fact that the last sentence was atrociously written, though.)

The world says to be number one and never settle for last place. My Lord says the first shall be last and the last shall be first. The world says take the lead; be a leader. Jesus says, “Follow me” (Matt 4:19); be a servant (Jn. 13:12-17).

With things like pride and self-sufficiency (really a subset of pride), being a true, consistent servant is difficult:

  • Never seeking glory for yourself.
  • Always doing things for the benefit of others.
  • Constantly knowing your limitation so you can ask for help for the sake of others.

Not easy.

Prayer for the Overachieving Christian

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“Father, I know I have looked to things like status and success for a sense of well-being. I’ve grown depressed when I couldn’t achieve them. I have minimized your immense love for me in Christ. For that, I deserve your condemnation. But because of what Christ has done for me, I am accepted by you — not just tolerated, but wonderfully embraced by you. As I take each step today, help me to know that you are for me and with me. While I may struggle with depression, I am first and foremost your beloved child. Let these truths and your personal presence give me courage to move into my life and my relationship with [my spouse.]”

— Prayer adapted from p. 160 of Relationships
by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp