These People Are Watching to See if You’ll Win at Writing
Five ways your writing business can teach success, persistence, and purpose right from home.
What I love about Cindy’s piece below is that it’s a clock-over-the-head reminder that we’re being watched.
Always.
By the kids in our lives, the partners, the friends, the neighbors…
Because when you firmly grasp your goal to get paid to write for a living, you step outside the norm. You become someone who’s doing something brave and scary and potentially rewarding.
For the most part, it’s altogether different from what the rest of the world grows up to do.
Is it terrifying? Yes—until you find a community of writers focused on the same goal.
Will people tell you you’ll fail? I hope not, but you might encounter non-supporters. A lot of us do. It helps to know they don’t really want you to fail… but if you succeed, it puts pressure on them to follow their own dreams.
Are there going to be cheerleaders to encourage you forward? Definitely! But only if you voice your desire for a paid writing career. (And tell the right people. The people who get it and share your enthusiasm. Barefoot Writer people.)
Could you be the shining light of motivation for others to succeed at their goals? Yes again! Cindy explains how, below.
To your paid writing success,
Mindy
A Powerful Source of Motivation that’s Right at Your Fingertips
By Cindy Cyr
Zig Ziglar says that what you need to know to be successful in life isn’t taught in schools.
That’s why one of the advantages of following your dream to be a paid writer is the opportunity to teach your family successful business and life skills that they may not learn any other way.
Today, I’d like to share five ways you can positively influence your family through your writing business. This will not only help you set a great example but also inspire you to work harder and get more out of your freelance business…
1. Persistence
The way you persevere in the face of your own challenges is a powerful model for your family.
This will have the most profound impact when you are trying to make the leap to a full-time freelancer. There may be times when you feel discouraged. Perhaps you hit a snag, and it takes you a bit longer to quit your full-time job to become a full-time freelancer.
Think what an inspiration you’ll be when you persist and succeed! They’ll know how to push through any obstacle they face.
2. How you handle failure
You don’t want your family to give up when they fail. You want them to have hope and be optimistic about the future.
Knowing that your family is watching you, especially if you currently have children living at home, the question is … what attitude do you want them to have in response to failure?
Do you want them to just give up or follow your example?
If you miss an important goal, don’t fall apart. Simply put together a more effective plan to achieve it. Handle all setbacks with grace.
And the next time they miss a goal, they’ll do the same thing.
3. Realistic expectations
I remember when my son, Dalton, was 10 and was just starting to learn how to solo. He was trying to learn a difficult John Mayer guitar solo and had been working on this particular song for about a week.
When Dalton got into his lesson, he didn’t play it perfectly. So he got upset.
After his lesson, I asked him, “How many times do you think Michael Jordan has practiced making baskets?”
D: “About a zillion, million, trillion times.”
Me: “And what percentage do you think he makes in games?”
D: “I read that he tries to make 50% of his shots.”
Me: “What about John Mayer? How much do you think he’s practiced?”
D: “A lot.”
Me: “Do you think he ever messes up in a performance or when he’s in a recording session?”
D: “Yes.”
Me: “So is it possible you’ve set your expectations a little too high by expecting to play this guitar solo perfectly after just a week of practice?”
Dalton could see my point. And it’s a lesson we can all learn about our own expectations and what we role model in our own writing businesses…
Setting realistic expectations, based on the effort you’re putting in and the level of experience you have, helps keep you from getting frustrated. And when you talk to your family about how you set your expectations so you won’t experience frustration, you teach them to do the same.
4. The importance of ongoing education
If you aren’t writing consistently, you can’t expect to get better.
If you aren’t reading to learn new things about your craft, then you can’t expect to become more knowledgeable and move towards a higher income.
When you write and learn something new to apply to your business every day, your income will go up. And when your family sees you succeed as a result of these activities, you promote the importance of learning and continuing education.
5. How to set goals and make a plan to achieve them
Each New Year’s Day, my whole family sits down and sets goals for the year. I share my goals with them. And they share the goals they’ve set for different areas of their lives.
Several times during the year, we revisit our goals together as a family. I let them know if I met my goals or not, what I’m doing to readjust when I don’t meet them, and why a goal is changing if I decide to shift gears.
When you include your family, you get better at setting and making a plan to reach your goals. And you’ll also be more accountable. And being accountable to your family means you are more likely to achieve your goals.
Remain conscious of your actions while demonstrating how to be persistent, handle failure, make a plan to set goals, set realistic expectations, and achieve more through continuing education, and you’ll get better results from your efforts.
At the same time, you’ll teach your family how to avoid frustration, remain hopeful, and achieve more throughout their own lives.
So if you need a shot of motivation, think about the example you’re setting to those around you during your writing journey. On a “challenging” day, you’ll be motivated to dig in and work harder. On a good day, you’ll be inspired to do even better.
What reaction have the people in your life had to your writing aspirations?