Kevin Tumlinson's Blog, page 6

How a podcast works (by Ira Glass)

Ira Glass (This American Life) is promoting a new spin-off podcast, "Serial." And he's brought along a friend to help him explain it how it all works!

(HINT: This works for MY podcast too! You can go to www.kevintumlinson.com/podcast to listen online, or search for Wordslinger Podcast in the iTunes store to subscribe).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IPV2oSz8m4

Got a question for the Wordslinger Podcast? Leave a voicemail here!
Be sure to tune in every Friday for another interview with someone more interesting than me!

 

Also ...

Are you a self published author? Or looking to be? You should definitely check out me and Nick Thacker on the Self Publishing Answers Podcast, every Friday, to learn how to write, market, and sell your book!

100 FREE copies of "Shadow Strait" for review!

 

Sawyer Jackson and the Shadow Strait is now available for pre-order on Amazon!

Official release is Friday, November 14, 2014. But for you? I could never make you wait!

New thrills and spills! New adventure! New characters! I think I like this book more than any other I've written, so I'm hoping you dig it too. That's why I'm giving away 100 FREE copies for Kindle (or any other eReader), to anyone willing to chunk a review on Amazon!

You don't HAVE to post a review, but ...

Whether or not you actually review the book is totally up to you—your free copy will be your free copy for life. But it helps me out tremendously if you're willing to post a review on Amazon, to help others find the book. So win an author's love, and post! And be sure to let me know afterward, I'd love to read it.

"But I haven't read the first one" (sad face)

Oh you. Turn that frown upside down! Because you can get Sawyer Jackson and the Long Land for free, too!

It would also warm this Wordslinger's heart if you'd review that book, too! I need all the reviews I can get, so that the book can be discovered and loved by a bigger audience.

I really believe in this series

I love all my books and stories, and all of them mean something special to me. But this series in particular is really coming from a place in my heart. This story is one that has grown with me, from early childhood to today. It continues to grow, with every new story or idea I encounter. When you read Sawyer Jackson, you're reading a lifetime of imagination and adventure, born in the back woods of Wild Peach, Texas, and carried through journeys all over the world. 

So I'm asking you this simple favor: Please review the books and help me get them to more readers who will love them!

Are you in? Good! Go to kevintumlinson.com/sawyer-jackson-review/ and complete the form. Once you've told me which book(s) you'd like to review, I'll send your free copy!

Hurry ... I'm only giving away 100 copies during this free review period, so this is the time to grab 'em!

Get your free books now!

Nick Thacker was so right (advice for focusing on the important)

I have a few flaws. Which, I know, will come as a shocker to all of you. Because, hey ... Kevin. Am I right?

So one of those flaws is an over-inflated sense of self importance. Ironically, that one is contrasted nicely with my tendency toward a feeling of "imposter syndrome," which can be a little crippling and anxiety-inducing. 

But the more notable flaw on my list is the fact that I'm a terrible procrastinator who absolutely hates scheduling and planning. 

I even procrastinated on this article.

But recently I had a conversation with Nick Thacker, from writehacked.com. We co-host the Self Publishing Answers Podcast, and one of our recent topics was "focus."

Nick said, "If it isn't on my calendar, it doesn't get done."

Simple. Elegant. And a proverbial kick to the man bits for this Wordslinger. Because, as I sat in a converted closet, listen to the dulcet tones of my heterosexual friend and co-host, I realized that he was absolutely right.

It ties in with another bit of advice I got from my grandfather—sage of Wild Peach, Texas.

If it's important, it gets done.

That's it. Simple, right? The things the matter most to us get done. And the things that don't ... don't. But in a world where everything feels urgent and important, where schedules become banana-pants-crazy-town, sorting the important from the unimportant doesn't seem so easy.

There are a lot of techniques and tips and tricks out there for organizing your life. I wish I could say I've tried them all and found the one that works best. But I haven't. I keep meaning to ... (badump, bump). 

But a good, basic place to start, to get your mind on what's important and focus on getting important stuff done, is to put things on your calendar. 

I like to use digital calendars. For starters, I always have one with me, in the form of my iPhone. In addition, I can set "alerts," to remind me at specific times that something's coming up.

For some events, I might have two or three alerts—sort of a "remember this is coming up," then "remember to round up what you're doing in time for the thing coming up," followed by "that thing starts in 10 minutes." It keeps it top-of-mind. 

And you know what? Nick was so right. Since committing to this system of using my calendar and scheduling things, I'm getting way more done. And I'm forced to focus on what's important. I have to decide—does this go on the calendar or not? That decision means I'm forcing myself to determine what really matters to me, and what deserves my focus (as well as what doesn't).

The digital calendar works really well for the modern Wordslinger. The commitment to put things down and set up alerts, to make sure that the things I want to do become things I've done—that's made a huge difference in my focus and productivity.

It also helps me sort through what's really important to me. Knowing that every block of time on that calendar represents either a 1 or a 0, an on or an off, a Do or Don't Do—that makes it easier, somehow, to decide what to do, when. I know that if I want to succeed, I have to make time for the things that make success possible.

But doing it digital ain't the only way.

Nick likes to write things down on paper.

I know, right? Paper.

But not just any paper. He uses a pretty sophisticated and uber-cool Productivity Planner to plan things in advance.

Nothing makes me feel like a hack more than working closely with a guy who has detailed plans. But anyone would have to admit, Nick gets stuff done. 

He's got this down to such a science that he's releasing his planner for the world to use. Even I plan to get one! It's on my calendar, so you know it's true.

More than just a calendar, though—the Productivity Planner contains articles from a bunch of really sharp, really smart folks, with advice about productivity, focus, and motivation. Joanna Penn, Joel Friedlander, Tim Grahl, and many more have added their own perspective to keeping yourself motivated and on task.

There's even a bit from a certain Wordslinger. 

If you have any aspirations to write—blogs, books, marketing or website copy, or anything regular writing at all—you should get your hands on this planner. You owe it to yourself to create some focus and find a path to getting the important things done. Go check it out, and let me know how it works for you!

Get the 2015 Productivity Planner now!

Are you tuning in to the Wordslinger Podcast?

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a talker. So it shouldn't be any shock to learn that I have a weekly podcast called The Wordslinger Podcast. And I want you to tune in! 

This is a show about story—how it impacts our cultures, our careers, and our lives. Every week I talk to someone from a different slice of life and a different point of view, about all kinds of crazy things. Some recent topics include—

Anime parody dubs with Bobby BeaverBeing a "Free Range Human" with author Marianne Cantwell"Surprise Marketing" with author Andy NulmanHawaiian cooking with JoAnn Takasaki 

And loads more! That's a pretty wide range of topics from a pretty diverse group of people, and I've loved talking to every one of them. I think you'll dig listening in!

And that's just the beginning! Some of my upcoming guests include Joanna Penn from CreativePenn, and Sean Platt from Self Publishing Podcast and Sterling & Stone! 

You never know who'll be showing up.

I love doing this podcast, and I think it's amazing to hear how story influences so many aspects of our lives. So I hope you'll tune in every week!

Subscribe on iTunes—and while you're there, be sure to rate the show. The more stars the better!

And for the authors in the crowd ...

The Wordslinger Podcast is for everybody, but if you're on the hunt for some solid advice for self published authors, and maybe a way to take your work to the next level, you should tune in to hear me and Nick Thacker talk about all things indie publishing on the Self Publishing Answers Podcast!

Every week, Nick Thacker (writehacked.com), does his best to keep the Wordslinger on track to talk about self publishing and the ins and outs of the industry. It's a lot of fun, and it's filled with amazing and useful advice. Don't miss it!

How to get what you want without being punched in the face

I could use your help! Find out how at the end of this post.

I quote my grandfather on this all the time: 

“I never got a thing I didn’t ask for. Even if it was a punch in the mouth.”

— James "PaPa" Mansel

Hidden in that phrase is a secret formula for success (and avoiding getting punched in the mouth). I use it all the time. It's such an ingrained part of my life that I do it on reflex. And the best opportunities, experiences, and relationships in my life have all come to me because of what I learned from my PaPa. 

If you want something, ask for it.

True (very true), you won't always get for what you ask for. Every time I'm checking out at a register, I ask if I can pay for everything with five American dollars. "That's American dollars, by the way." I get smiles and laughs and eye rolls (those are from my wife), but so far no one's taken me up on the deal. American dollars just don't hold as much sway as they used to, I guess.

But that's ok. Because there's always that chance that it will work, someday. That alone is enough to keep me asking!

Most people tend to be afraid to ask, out of fear that they're breaking some sort of social taboo.

"I can't ask for a raise or a promotion—I've only been with the company for six months." 

"I can't ask her out. She's a ten! At best, I'm a five."

"I can't ask strangers to fund my project. It might not be interesting to them."

So they don't ask, and they don't get the raise, the girl, or the funding. How'd that work out? 

People are surprisingly approachable

The reality is, we tend not to ask for what we want because we're afraid. We worry that the person we're asking is going to flat out reject us. But not just reject us—obliterate us somehow, with a sharp, scoffing retort. 

That could happen. Some people don't like being approached. They want to control their interactions. Nod, smile, and move on—let them live whatever life they're wanting to live. The odds are you can find what you want or need elsewhere, without their help.

But more often, in my experience and in the experience of many of my friends and clients, people turn out to be surprisingly approachable. Most people will help, if they can. It depends largely on what you're asking, and how you ask it. Technique and substance are important, as is context.

I have made it a long-standing habit to approach people I find influential and inspiring, and try to engage them in conversation. This has worked out really well for me—it's led me to opportunities I never would have gotten otherwise. I've built relationships with people who are, frankly, just amazing. I've experienced kindness and guidance in a grand scale.

I'm particularly fond of approaching authors. 

I read a lot, as any author should. And when I find that a book is really hitting home with me, I feel the overwhelming compulsion to reach out to the person who created it. 

Writing is such an intimate communication, if you think about it. As you read, you're giving someone else direct access to your brain—a sort of telepathy that spans time and space. An author in Australia can bring you to tears as you sit in a Starbucks in Houston. It's amazing.

When things like that happen, I immediately get online and start looking for ways to connect. I try to make this a two-way conversation—one that benefits both me and the writer. And there, my friends, is the secret.

Focus on the benefit you offer

When I approach a writer (or anyone else), and attempt to build a relationship (or ask for anything else I want), my goal is to make some sort of offer to them. I aim to create a benefit. What can I give them or do for them that will encourage them to connect with me?

In the past, the benefit I offered was mostly encouragement. I'd aim to make them laugh, bring a little light to their day. That's good enough, in most cases. It may not land you a spot in their Favorite Five, but it can sometimes be enough to spark a continuing conversation for a time.

These days, I have a bit more to offer. When I talk to an author, I often ask if they want to appear on my podcast. The Wordslinger Podcast is all about story—how it impacts our culture, our careers, and our lives. As you might imagine, authors dig that.

Being on the podcast has some benefits. It helps promote their work. It gives them a platform for engaging with their audience, or a whole new audience. It's one more channel they can use to communicate whatever's inside of them. 

Some people see that as a huge benefit, and others don't. Your offer, whatever it is—a podcast, a blog, a book, or just a series of social media posts—may not be of any value to them. When that happens, take a breath and move on. Don't push it. Maybe later you'll come up with an offer that's a bit more appealing.

It's not all about you

One of the hangups we have (I've had it, too), when it comes to asking for what we want, is the idea that because we want it, then it should happen. That attitude comes from the simple fact that everyone is the hero of their own story. 

As the hero, we feel like we should always be the one who, in the end, emerges victorious! We should win friends and influence people with ease. We should have others folding themselves like origami to give us whatever will make us happy! 

I know I feel that way.

But that's a trick, and you're playing it on yourself. You're building yourself up for a punchline that you won't like. Stop it. Bad human! Smack yourself on the nose with a rolled up newspaper and learn a lesson.

And that lesson: It's not all about you.

No one owes you anything. If you want something, it's just that—a want. It might feel like a need, at the time. But let's face it ... all your actual needs are probably being met.

If you've never heard of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, you should check it out. Everything starts with your basic physiological needs—food, water, rest, etc. Even as you go up the scale (or the pyramid), you find that most of your actual needs are pretty much within your reach at all times, here in the modern world.

Everything outside of that spectrum is a want. And "wants" are optional.

That's yet another key to success—realizing that your wants are optional, and that it's not all about you. It's part of the thought process for creating benefit for the other person. Stop thinking in terms of "I want," and start thinking in terms of "what can I do for them?"

My favorite quote, and the one that guides me in everything I do, is from Zig Ziglar:

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

— Zig Ziglar

That's a pretty significant statement, in the end. If the aim of every interaction and conversation you have with another human being is: "How can I help this person?" Wow. Think of the kind of impact that story can have.

What it all means

So here are the big lessons, learned from my PaPa and from Zig Ziglar—

If you got a result, you asked for it.If you don't like the result, figure out how to ask better next time.Have the courage to ask for what you want, because that improves your odds of getting it.Ask yourself what benefit you can offer to the other person, in exchange for what you want.Ask yourself how you can help the other person get what they want.

Follow those five steps, and you're going to see amazing things start to happen. 

Develop friendships with famous people—from authors to politicians to movie stars.

Get more of what you want from life—from raises and promotions to free trips and fun experiences.

Make more friends, who genuinely care for your welfare (because you genuinely care for theirs).

That's it. That's the secret. Now go put it to work, and have fun! That's what I want. I'm askin' ya.

 

One more thing

Here's something I really want, and I think you can help with it! 

I recently released a new book—Citadel: Omnibus. 

This is the collected Citadel trilogy, together in one place for the very first time! It's about 655 pages of non-stop science fiction action and adventure, and I loved writing every word of it!

I would be very, very grateful if you would pick up a copy of this book, and review it on Amazon. Right now it's set at a very low introductory price of just $4.99—that's about half the price of buying all three ebooks! 

I'd also love it if you'd spread the word! Pass this post along to a friend (I'm hoping you found it inspiring and helpful), and encourage them to pick up one of my books and give it a review. They can even get a book for FREE when they sign up for my mailing list! 

And THANK YOU!

I love connecting with you, providing content like this, and writing books that (I hope) you love. I want to keep doing that, again and again. Your help in promoting this work will make it possible for me to keep doing it. So thank you!

Philadelphia, Shadow Strait, and Lucid

Updates galore!

Sawyer Jackson

I'm trying. I'm really trying. My hope is to knock out the edits for "Sawyer Jackson and the Shadow Strait" by my birthday, 12 October, so that you, dear reader, are the one getting the gift! It's not going quite as quickly as I'd hoped, but there's still a chance!

The Lucid

In other news, Nick Thacker and I continue to plug away on "The Lucid," and it should be ready for it's November release. Why wait? Pre-order it now for only $2.99!

This is going to be a fantastic series of books, and I think you'll love 'em! Think "Dan Brown meets Revolutions, with a dash of The Walking Dead for color." Just a dash, mind you. No zombies, per se. Or ... are ... there?

No. But plenty of zombie-like behavior and a non-stop thrill ride laced with mystery and intrigue, so tune in!

The Wordslinger Podcast

If you haven't checked it out already, go listen in on the Wordslinger Podcast, where I talk to a new guest every week about the influence of story on our culture, our careers, and our lives. There have been some fantastic guests lately, including Marianne Cantwell, author of "Be a Free Range Human." 

I absolutely love doing this podcast, so I hope you dig it. Subscribe on iTunes and listen in every week!

Philadelphia

If you happen to be in Philly, or parts nearby, I'm going to be in the area for the week of 13 October. Feel free to email me, and I'd be happy to hook up and chat! Bring a copy of one of my books and I'll even sign it, if ya like. I'll be all bashful and modest, but inside I'll be a writing mass of gooey excitement.

 

That's it for the updates! Lots going on, and more on the horizon. I have a new project that I think will be exciting for those of you who have always wanted to be an author, but couldn't figure out where to start. Look for updates on that in the near future! 

 

 

 

[SNEAK PEEK] "Sawyer Jackson and the Shadow Strait" — "Two Wolves at War"

The second Sawyer Jackson book is done and in edit! I'm looking at a mid- to late-October release. Ideally, I'd love to release it on my birthday, October 12. So I'm diligently working on the edit now, and "Sawyer Jackson and the Shadow Strait" will soon be ready for your perusal and review.

In the meantime, I thought you might appreciate a quick sneak peek. The following scene happens early in the book, and becomes pivotal to the development of Sawyer as a character. It's one of my favorite scenes, and I think you'll love it. No serious spoilers here, but if you're squeamish about that sort of thing this is your chance to ditch out!

For the rest of you, I give you "Two Wolves at War."

—

“And what did you see?”

I hesitated, but then took a deep breath and slowly started to tell Gramps about the history I’d picked up on Aeodymus. In particular, I pointed out the similarities between his past, his abilities, even his childhood, and my own. “I didn’t even want to learn about him. I wanted to learn more about my parents. But there he was. And the more I looked, the more I felt afraid.”

“Why?” Gramps asked.

I shook my head, kicked at the dirt a bit. “What if I turn out just like him? What if I end up being … being evil.”

Gramps chuckled, and put his arm around my shoulders. “Never going to happen, kid,” he said.

“I bet someone told that to Aeodymus once.”

“Or they didn’t, and that could be the problem. But I can tell you why it won’t happen to you, if you want me to. I’ll tell you a story.”

“What story?” I asked.

“A story about two wolves at war.”

He shifted and settled on the log, getting comfortable, and then started talking. His voice was low and rhythmic and comforting. He had told me stories like this my whole life, and I found myself falling right back into being a little kid—no knotwork, no Inks or Quills chasing me, no Aeodymus to worry about. Just me and Gramps, sitting on a log, looking out at the moon reflecting from the water. I could almost fool myself into thinking we were back at the fish camp, on the Brazos River. There would be s’mores back at the fire. There would be hot chocolate and an old harmonica that Gramps couldn’t really play. It was right there, just a few billion universes away.

“An old Indian chief sat with a young member of the tribe,” Gramps said, his voice steady and strong, but quiet. Almost a stage whisper. “The young man was angry, because he had just gotten into a fight with another young man. The fight was over girl who had chosen the boy’s friend instead of him. The boy had thrown the first punch, and the fight had tumbled around the village, causing all kinds of chaos and grief. 

“The old Chief looked at the young man and asked, ‘Why did you fight? This girl chose him, not you. Did you think you could win her by beating him?’ And the young man, still angry but feeling more ashamed than anything, said, ‘I don’t know why. I was angry, and I wanted to hurt him, or show her that he was weak.’

“The Chief thought about this for a moment, and then nodded and said, ‘You let the bad wolf have his feast.’ The young man didn’t understand, and asked what the Chief meant by the ‘bad wolf.’ 

“The Chief said, ‘Since the creation of the world, there have been two wolves inside of every man. One good wolf, one bad wolf. The good wolf stands over all the light of the world, nurturing it, defending it from predators who would destroy it. The bad wolf is one of those predators, who stands within the darkness, and wants to consume the light.

“These wolves have growled and fought since the beginning of time—they battle in every moment of the day, playing out their war in the hearts of men. One of them will win, some day, and he will mate and create more of his kind.  That is the way of wolves.

“The wolves run across the earth, and create good or evil in every living thing. There is not doubt of this. Every heart contains this battle, between the good wolf and the bad wolf. You must always choose which wolf will win.’ The Chief stopped talking then, and let the young man think about what he had said.

“But the young man was still confused. He thought and thought about the story, but only became more angry, because he didn’t know how to help the good wolf win, and how to defeat the bad wolf. ‘Your story is terrible,’ the young warrior said. ‘It makes no sense! How can I help the good wolf to win? How do I defeat the bad wolf? If they are in my heart, not beasts I can see, how can I help one or fight the other? If I could see the bad wolf, I would shoot him with an arrow or stab him with a knife. I would skin him, and wear that skin to show my strength to the others. How can I fight a wolf I cannot see?’

“The Chief nodded as the young man spoke, because he agreed that this was very difficult. ‘You are right,’ he said to the young man. ‘You cannot defeat a wolf you cannot see. The wolves are in your heart, and their battle will unfold there until you help one of them win.’

“Disgusted, the young man asked, ‘How? What can I do? Which wolf will win?’

“And the old Chief replied, ‘The one that you feed.’”

Gramps sat on the tree for a while, letting the story soak into the silence, like water soaking into a concrete sidewalk. I could feel it seeping in—the meaning of it was clicking all the right tumblers in my brain. “I get it,” I said.

“You do? Because I think I read that story in an internet meme, and you know you can never really trust those things.”

“You’re saying that the only way I could become like Aeodymus is if I choose to. And the little choices, every day, add up to one big choice.”

“That’s very profound,” Gramps said, nodding. “I wish I could have summed it up like that. I was gong to say, ‘Don’t be an idiot. You’re nothing like Aeodymus.’ But your way sounds wise.”

startitude

Some days are easier than others. And some days, it's like trying to drag a toddler out of a toy store. You still feel the love, but you'd rather be anywhere else. 

Days like that, it would be easy to roll your shoulders and say, "That's OK. I give it a good effort every other day. I can slack off this time." Maybe you're blocked. Maybe you're tired. Maybe you just have  nothing to offer.

Days like that come around more often than I'd like. This is one of them—a day when I've started this post three times, and even with a pretty good chunk of stuff written I've scrapped it because it wasn't honest or it wasn't my best work or it wasn't moving me forward. But then I think about why I do it, and that does tend to push me forward. 

My first and highest rule is to do what I do to glorify God. That ain't easy, especially in an age where friends and family may roll their eyes or condescend or flat out tell you that you're a nut for believing in this "God stuff." 

My second rule is to do what I do to help you. Yeah, you specifically. I pray about you, did you know that? I pray, before starting every one of these posts, that God will give me the words to glorify Him and to reach you. I want you to get something meaningful out of these posts, to take something away with you that makes your life better (even if just a smidge) and that you can spread around to the people you love, to help make their lives better, too. 

So if what I'm writing doesn't do both of those things, in my estimate, I scrap it and start over. And if I can't think of something that will meet both of those criteria, it can put me at a stand still. 

What I've discovered, though, is that if I start the work in honesty and earnestness and with those goals in mind, it tends to form itself despite me. Yeah, I may scrap the work a few times. I may have to shift and go in a different direction. But the work is still there. It still makes its entrance.

One of the most important things you can do to be successful and accomplish your goals is to start. To try, to push through when it's hard. This isn't new advice, right? You've heard this before. I have, God knows. Every day, practically. Start. Try. Push. 

You have to actually have a goal, of course. You have to have a direction. But if you don't take a step, even if it's the wrong step in the wrong direction, goals tend to be dreams more than reality. Moving from dream to reality takes action.

You may go backwards for a while. That happens, and it can be frustrating. But when you know where you're trying to go you can more easily judge whether an action is a step in the right direction or just a wrong turn. You can correct course easier and faster. And sometimes, going in the wrong direction for a bit gives you a chance to see things from a new perspective, to appreciate the journey more, to learn something knew you can bring to the game.

This morning started off as a tough one for me, just because I didn't know what I should actually write about. But once I started, and restarted, I found that I had a message after all. I had part of the story to tell. I could move forward.

Know where you want to go. Know when you need to be there. Know why you want to make the journey. Map out a route. And then take a step. Start moving, and even if your destination changes along the way you'll have a whole lot of new experiences and accomplishments under your belt, teaching you new ways of thinking and giving you new tools for dealing with the next challenge you encounter.

Like "What should I blog about today?"

dream jobification

Sometimes my day job can be such a day job. Meetings and deadlines and demands and fielding some weird combination of professional concern and personal anxiety from all corners and from everyone in the office (including me). There are days when I wake up thinking, "Wow, I used to love this job. Right now I feel like I could be happier working on a pig farm." 

Except I wouldn't. I know I wouldn't. Because frankly, there are aspects of my job that make it the best job I've ever had. I'm respected by the people I work with. I'm known to be a contributor, a hustler, an asset to the company. I'm an influence on company culture here, and I've been told I'm a good one. I feel vital to the company's goals and mission, and that's an amazing feeling.

Of course there are days when it's hard to face the work. Any time you're doing something worthwhile, something that builds and grows and makes the world better even in a slight way, eventually the adversary of us all will take notice and try to flick you off track. But let's say you don't "buy in" to Kevin's "wacky Christian philosophy"—in that case we'll just say that sometimes even the best job has challenges we don't really want to face, and that makes it tough to get out of bed.

It's especially tough when your job, even if it's a great job, isn't really your dream job. If you have a dream that doesn't involve working for someone else, or involves working in a different industry or doing a specific kind of work, and your current gig doesn't seem to support that, all of the challenges start to feel pretty heavy. 

In his book Quitter, Jon Acuff writes about the concept of thinking of your day job as an opportunity to practice for your dream job. I had never quite put it into those words, but that's a great way of thinking about my "recent" (as in, over the past four years or so) approach to my career.

I'm a writer. When I was a kid I wrote a book on both sides of about five pieces of lined notebook paper (top that, other second graders!). I used to dictate Encyclopedia Brown-esque short stories into a tape recorder and play them back for the amusement of my mom as she washed dishes. I wrote short stories that my step-dad actually found moving enough to include in our family Bible study. Some of my stories and papers got kudos and approval from my teachers, and I actually won a scholarship for something I wrote off the cuff in less than 10 minutes (because I had forgotten to do the assignment during the week prior). So you could say that my whole life I wanted to be a writer, wanted to tell a story, wanted to move people, and I've done that.

But I never wanted to be a Copywriter. I never wanted to be a Creative Director. I never wanted to work in advertising or work for a software company. These weren't on the list. And for a while there, some of these realities seemed to work against my dream. I became bitter and resentful and flat-out angry because "All of you are dream killers!"

Except they weren't. And the dream wasn't dead. I kept at it, in fact, in my spare time. And over time, it sort of ... changed. Most of that change was due to the fact that what I thought was my dream was really just that ... a dream. It couldn't be real, because it wasn't realistic. I had dreamt of essentially waking up to find whole manuscripts sitting there waiting for me to fire off to a publisher, who would gleefully print them without any further work needed on my part, and then send me gobs and gobs of money that I'd use to buy my exact working replica of the Starship Enterprise, so I could sail into the far reaches of space with Spider-man and Alyssa Milano as my companions in adventure. I love my dream.

What my dream became, though, as I learned more about the work, about the world, and about myself was the realistic version. I could write books, and I could sell them. That's real. But I'd have to work at them. I'd have to craft them. I'd have to work hard and learn and apply what I'd learned, and be prepared for my attempts to meet with failure. Failure has always been a possibility. It just doesn't have to be an end.

And my day jobs? I hadn't realized it before, but every day job I've had, every dream-killing block of work I had to endure, has actually been practice for my dream job. I've learned how to have a work ethic, how to manage time and resources, how to do research, how to build and lead a team that can support me. I've learned how to overcome my own laziness and do the work I have to do, to meet deadlines, to get along with co-workers, and to be honorable in what I do.

It's true, the day jobs aren't always ideal, or fun. But that's mostly because I'm the one making them torturous. If instead of ticking off each day on a mental calendar of anguish, counting down to the weekend, what if I spent those days thinking in terms of "How can I use this as practice for my dream job?" What if I looked at tiffs and dust-ups with my team as practice for dealing with clients or publishers or agents or readers? What if I looked at each day as an opportunity to get my "brand" in order, to establish how people think of me and what they come to me for? What if I used each day as a way to define myself to myself? 

I do this now, and have for a while, so I can cheat and give you the results up front: This friggin' works. 

Seriously, it works. It works so well you'll start wondering why you were dumb enough to do it another way all along. You can use your day job to fine tune your life and prepare for and build to your dream job. You can turn something that seems hard and useless into a challenge with great worth. 

So what's the trick? 

Caring. Loving. Looking. Listening. Paying attention and giving focus. Pausing before speaking, responding from a place of love and understanding. 

Easy? Nope. Hard. Really hard. That's why we're calling it "practice."

You will likely mess up from time to time or all the time. But when you do, you can take a few minutes to analyze that mess up and learn from it. You can try again the next day. If your screw up causes you to lose your day job, you can learn from that too, and take that knowledge into your next job.

I'm not just blowing smoke here, I've done this. I was let go from a couple of jobs because of my attitude. I was, at times, lazy and angry and rude and egotistical. I regret it all. But beyond regret, I learned from it all. And now I'm much better. And getting better all the time. Because I've had practice.

And when it's time for my dream job to become my day job, I'll be ready for it, because I didn't let the dream die while I learned how to live it. 

Now it's your turn.

focusitivity

One of the recurring bits of wisdom I keep reading about is focus. The quickest and easiest analogy is always a laser—a highly focused beam of ... wait, you know this, right? You've heard of a laser? Why does everyone always feel the need to define what a laser is when they use it in an analogy? Hasn't the laser been around since the 1960s? We know what this is now.

I digress.

That's easy to do, actually. Digress. Get distracted. Get off point. We live in a world of instant facts and information. The answer to any question (such as "when was the laser invented?") is just a few key taps away. So is our ability to get buried in so much detail we lose track of what we were looking for. We keep losing the needle of our attention in haystack of data we pull onto ourselves.

Most of the authors I admire are big advocates of focus. If you can focus your energy and effort on something, and give it enough intensity, you can accomplish things you might have thought were impossible before. Writing a book, for example. Rebuilding a car engine. Walking a tight rope. Focus and intensity for the win.

God is always talking about attention in the Bible. There are ten instances of the phrase "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" In Luke 22:46 Jesus reprimanded the disciples for sleeping instead of remaining alert. All throughout the New Testament Christ informed the disciples that the message was hidden in plain sight, and that it takes focused attention to receive it. Check out Matthew 13:18, where Christ says, "So listen to what the story means, about the man who sowed the seed." He was about to lay down some sweet God wisdom on these fellas, and he wanted to make sure they were paying attention. 

I have a tendency to tune people out, especially if they aren't saying something I find interesting. The problem is, they may be saying something they believe to be vital. It's improtant to them, and by being dismissive or inattentive I'm essentially saying that they aren't important enough to me, and I don't care what they think is "vital." 

I'm working on being more focused when I listen. I'm starting by asking, "What is this person really trying to say, and what is their motive for saying it?" Knowing the "why" of things, or at least being interested in learning the why, helps you to be more focused and attentive. It's a step toward caring for others. 

I have this belief that the Word of God is all around us, in everything we encounter in our day, and wisdom is the tool we use and the treasure we gain when we start focusing on finding God's Word in our daily life. So let's focus and concentrate on being attentive, on listening, on learning. Let's focus on being faithful and compassionate and caring and wise. Let's be lasers.