Clair Brett's Blog, page 6
January 31, 2017
2017 Big Changes!
It is RELEASE DAY!!!!! I can’t believe it is the day! In some ways it has been a very long time in coming, and in other ways, I can’t believe it is already here.I am spending today celebrating! Beginning with breakfast out with some friends who have been on this ride with me, then I am going to do some other things to pamper myself, which will then culminate into a Facebook Launch party. I have been planning this for some time now, and the reality is still better than all those times I visualized my release day!
As I said in my last post, I am determined to make 2017 a banner year for me. Without any effort on my part, the end of 2017 will look very different than it does now, so I might as well try to make it as positive as I can.For the past few years, I have been working on a lot of personal growth an part of that is listening to You Tube videos on my phone while I do housework, take a shower, fold clothes, you name it, if I have some down time that my brain isn’t otherwise occupied, I try to fill it with information. One day it might be a marketing how-to video, another day, it might be a Tony Robins TED Talk, if you haven’t found TED talks yet, you need to google them now, BTW!I believe that part of the reason I am here at my very first release day, is because of those videos. It didn’t cost me anything to download one of the videos and just listen to it while I was doing something else. Many of them spoke of the “law of attraction”, “positive energy”, or “visualization”.Because all of those ideas can be kind of hoakie, and I had the idea that I was nobody, and I might not be good enough, I didn’t share it with anyone. I mean, I live in a house with a husband, and two teenaged daughters, no one was home when I was cleaning, so I could easily keep it a secret.
Another thing I didn’t share was that I began to visualize my life as a published author. I would sit at my desk, before I did any work, and I would close my eyes, and run through what I thought would be a typical, perfect day as a published author, complete with getting my royalty check for that quarter in the mail. I even had a specific amount on that check. (I am the superstitious sort, so I will not be sharing that number, however)Every night when I went to bed I would do the same thing. Tony Robins talks about changing your story. He believes that we all live the story we tell ourselves. So, when you say, “I’ll never be as good as…” or “Things like that don’t happen to me.” You then do what you can to make it correct. In psychology 101 I learned it as “self-fulfilling Prophesy”. So, I set out to rewrite my story, like any good writer can.Fast forward to today, RELEASE DAY! Here I am. I have done things in the last 3 years that I never would have considered before. I am more willing to take chances, and I don’t avoid risks, if I think they will get me to my vision. I can also tell you that, this is only a step on my journey.I realized the other day that the amazing Eloisa James is also debuting a novel today. She is one of those people who inspired me. It is like, as an actor, being in the same production as an actor they are striving to be like. It is amazing that on a small level, I am on the same stage as her, and five years ago, I don’t know that I would have believed anyone had they told me that I would have a release the same day as Eloisa James. Now, she is center stage, her book last week was #3 in the category we share and mine was #1689, but I’m there. It may just be a walk on role with not speaking parts, but it is a start. I’m not saying this to brag, I am pointing out, that my next vision of what my writing day will be like, will probably include being a bit closer to that #3 mark than I was this time.You must be the person you want to be long before you are actually that person, so my call to action for you is to start visualizing your perfect day, start listening to those motivational videos, and begin to act them out, even if it is in secret. If you do it long enough, you will begin to believe it!What have you done to get you where you are right now?
As I said in my last post, I am determined to make 2017 a banner year for me. Without any effort on my part, the end of 2017 will look very different than it does now, so I might as well try to make it as positive as I can.For the past few years, I have been working on a lot of personal growth an part of that is listening to You Tube videos on my phone while I do housework, take a shower, fold clothes, you name it, if I have some down time that my brain isn’t otherwise occupied, I try to fill it with information. One day it might be a marketing how-to video, another day, it might be a Tony Robins TED Talk, if you haven’t found TED talks yet, you need to google them now, BTW!I believe that part of the reason I am here at my very first release day, is because of those videos. It didn’t cost me anything to download one of the videos and just listen to it while I was doing something else. Many of them spoke of the “law of attraction”, “positive energy”, or “visualization”.Because all of those ideas can be kind of hoakie, and I had the idea that I was nobody, and I might not be good enough, I didn’t share it with anyone. I mean, I live in a house with a husband, and two teenaged daughters, no one was home when I was cleaning, so I could easily keep it a secret.Another thing I didn’t share was that I began to visualize my life as a published author. I would sit at my desk, before I did any work, and I would close my eyes, and run through what I thought would be a typical, perfect day as a published author, complete with getting my royalty check for that quarter in the mail. I even had a specific amount on that check. (I am the superstitious sort, so I will not be sharing that number, however)Every night when I went to bed I would do the same thing. Tony Robins talks about changing your story. He believes that we all live the story we tell ourselves. So, when you say, “I’ll never be as good as…” or “Things like that don’t happen to me.” You then do what you can to make it correct. In psychology 101 I learned it as “self-fulfilling Prophesy”. So, I set out to rewrite my story, like any good writer can.Fast forward to today, RELEASE DAY! Here I am. I have done things in the last 3 years that I never would have considered before. I am more willing to take chances, and I don’t avoid risks, if I think they will get me to my vision. I can also tell you that, this is only a step on my journey.I realized the other day that the amazing Eloisa James is also debuting a novel today. She is one of those people who inspired me. It is like, as an actor, being in the same production as an actor they are striving to be like. It is amazing that on a small level, I am on the same stage as her, and five years ago, I don’t know that I would have believed anyone had they told me that I would have a release the same day as Eloisa James. Now, she is center stage, her book last week was #3 in the category we share and mine was #1689, but I’m there. It may just be a walk on role with not speaking parts, but it is a start. I’m not saying this to brag, I am pointing out, that my next vision of what my writing day will be like, will probably include being a bit closer to that #3 mark than I was this time.You must be the person you want to be long before you are actually that person, so my call to action for you is to start visualizing your perfect day, start listening to those motivational videos, and begin to act them out, even if it is in secret. If you do it long enough, you will begin to believe it!What have you done to get you where you are right now?
January 2, 2017
The View from my Office Chair
As I sit at my desk for the first time in 2017 I am struck with everything that is going to be happening in my life this year and honestly, it overwhelms me. Being a human, and a New Englander to boot, I struggle with change, but like most things the more you experience something the better you get at handling it. In the last eight years I have weathered many a storm, and I’m still here.In the fall of 2015 I set into motion a life change that is going to come to fruition in a mere 30 days. My debut novel Dealing with the Viscount will be released to the masses! An over-night success I am not, but after years of hearing how good my story was, but also, how hard it was to break into the Historical romance market, I decided it was time to go rouge. Not a decision I came to lightly, but still here I am. Did I know anything about publishing? No. Marketing? No. Formatting? Hell no! What I did know is that I had a book I was proud of, and I had friends who knew all the things I didn’t. Will my debut novel fail? Possibly. Will I quit? Never, because with every failure I learn something.I am on my way to something big, but I’m not quite there. This year will be the cornerstone of what I do next and that is exciting, scary, and to be honest not like the pragmatic, what is our next step person, that I am.I am also losing my baby this year. My oldest daughter is a senior. She will be graduating high school and going off into the military. Yikes! After 18 years of having her nearby, it will be different not knowing where she is and when she will be safe at home. She is a strong-willed young woman who knows what she wants in life, but it is very scary to let go of the reigns and let them take over. Not because I don’t think she can handle it, but because at 18 she still isn’t looking down the road. She is interested in today, tomorrow, or the weekend and just like anything if you aren’t planning ahead, you will find yourself tripped up. I am excited to watch her in her new chapter, which will not include me as much as it has, and I am sure it will all work out. She has plans and hopefully she will follow through.I heard on the news the other day that less and less people are making New Year’s resolutions, because more often than not they fail. I thought that was very sad. It is like dreaming, or wishing. When we stop doing it where does that leave us?I wouldn’t be where I am today, teetering on possible success, if I had stopped making goals for myself. I have failed so far more than I have succeeded, but really don’t you fail until you succeed? With every attempt you learn something that will help you next time. When you give up, because you “always fail” are you giving up on that goal, or on yourself?I say keep making resolutions! Keep failing at the resolutions, because once you have learned all the lessons you must from your failures the success is going to be sweeter and mean so much more to you. (I hope.)What goals are you setting for yourself right now? Are they New Year’s resolutions or do you have another method?May your day be as sunny as the view from my office chair today,Clair =)
