Chris Dietzel's Blog - Posts Tagged "goals"
Fighting and Writing
I’ve fought inside a cage, and I’ve written a novel. I’m here to tell you that winning in mixed martial arts (MMA) is easy compared to gaining an audience when you’re an unknown author.
After graduating college in 2000, I immediately started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) with the intent of fighting in sanctioned cage fights. I had always been a goofy kid, the class clown, but as soon as I saw tapes of MMA fights in college, I knew I needed to give it a shot. As someone who never took anything seriously, even the dreams I held most dear, the cage fights were a test of the most basic fight-or-flight variety, a challenge that would teach me what type of person I really was.
The goal became an obsession. I saw the people in my gym who trained more often and more ferociously than everyone else, and I wanted to train even harder than they did. Along the way, the confidence that BJJ gave me in myself, changing me from the court jester to someone who understood the importance of goals and personal victories, allowed me to think about my other dream, even more secretive and dear to me than fighting, as something other than a fool-hardy delusion. I wanted to write the Great American novel.
In college, I had so little confidence in achieving my goals that I didn’t even bother taking a creative writing class. But only a few years later, thanks to BJJ, I began to think of this fantasy as something I could achieve if I truly dedicated myself to it. It was still a secret from my friends and family, something they might think of as an unrealistic pipedream. But to me it was no longer a foolish goal to be laughed away.
Starting in 2004, when I wasn’t working at my 9-5 job or training in BJJ or MMA, I was writing. Instead of going out with friends on Friday and Saturday nights, I wrote. Instead of going to Happy Hour, I went home and wrote. I had two goals: fighting and writing. Absolutely all of my time was devoted toward these two ends.
In 2006, I earned my brown belt in BJJ and had my first MMA fight, which I won. A couple months later, I had my second fight and my record improved to 2-0. What I noticed was that both fights were easier than the training I went through in preparation for them. I practiced with the goal that if I trained harder, trained more often, and trained smarter than my opponent, I would win. The result was completely up to me. And that theory held up.
During this entire time, I was honing my craft as a writer, developing my voice, understanding my strengths and weaknesses, and generally improving my craft.
My original intent was to fight four times. That would give me a big enough taste of MMA to prove to myself that I had achieved my goal. Life has a way, though, of altering your plans. Right before my third fight, I suffered a series of injuries, culminating with a neck injury that would ultimately prevent me from ever fighting again. This was okay because it allowed me to focus my time on writing.
In the years since, every hour I have that’s not spent working at my day job is dedicated to achieving my dream of being a novelist. I come home from work and I write. When my friends go out on the weekends, I stay home and write. This is not meant to sound like a sacrifice; it’s what I enjoy and it comforts me to know I’m working toward a dream that I was once afraid to tell other people I even had.
Over the years, I’ve had a couple short stories published and I’ve been signed to a wonderful literary agency. Little did I know that the most difficult fight was still in front of me, the aspect of writing that makes it so much more challenging than evading kicks and elbows. Both adventures require determination if you want to have any hope of following through with your goal. Both require an endless willingness to learn from your mistakes. But when you fight, the outcome is completely in your own hands. If you have better technique and better conditioning than your opponent, chances are extremely likely that your hand will be raised after the final bell. But in writing, no matter how much you work toward your goal, no matter how focused you are, the result depends on other people. You can become a truly great writer. You can write powerful stories. But in the end, whether or not people want to read what you write is out of your hands. You depend on other people to see value in what you’ve written, and you depend on them to spread the word about it.
That’s the difference between fighting and writing that makes the latter so much more brutal than breaking another man’s spirit inside a cage. A fighter controls his destiny. A writer, no matter how hard he or she works toward their goal, needs good luck and good fortune and support from people all over. For a fighter, for someone who relishes that outcomes are based on tangible things such as hours spent in the gym, this is the most formidable type of battle.
Do not interpret this as pessimism sneaking into the cracks of a lifelong dream. Nothing will make me give up my goal of gaining an audience for my novels. If BJJ and MMA have taught me anything, it’s that even if you lose one day, you’re only defeated when you don’t get back in for the next fight. Then, and only then, are you truly beaten. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. No, it’s not pessimism at all that makes me say how much more difficult writing is than fighting. It’s a personal reminder that the eventual victory will be even sweeter in the end. It’s meant to remind any other struggling writers out there that what you’re doing requires more tenacity than dodging punches and escaping chokes. You are only defeated when you stop putting words to paper. To quote the writer J.A. Konrath, “There’s a word for writers who never say die… the word is published.” I will keep up the fight. If writing is your dream, you should keep going too.
And along the way, the next time you read something that you enjoy, no matter what it is, pass it along to someone else who may enjoy it. And when you do, know that you are helping its author do something even more demanding than beating a trained fighter—you are helping them achieve their dream.
originally posted at: http://thenextbestbookblog.blogspot.com/
After graduating college in 2000, I immediately started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) with the intent of fighting in sanctioned cage fights. I had always been a goofy kid, the class clown, but as soon as I saw tapes of MMA fights in college, I knew I needed to give it a shot. As someone who never took anything seriously, even the dreams I held most dear, the cage fights were a test of the most basic fight-or-flight variety, a challenge that would teach me what type of person I really was.
The goal became an obsession. I saw the people in my gym who trained more often and more ferociously than everyone else, and I wanted to train even harder than they did. Along the way, the confidence that BJJ gave me in myself, changing me from the court jester to someone who understood the importance of goals and personal victories, allowed me to think about my other dream, even more secretive and dear to me than fighting, as something other than a fool-hardy delusion. I wanted to write the Great American novel.
In college, I had so little confidence in achieving my goals that I didn’t even bother taking a creative writing class. But only a few years later, thanks to BJJ, I began to think of this fantasy as something I could achieve if I truly dedicated myself to it. It was still a secret from my friends and family, something they might think of as an unrealistic pipedream. But to me it was no longer a foolish goal to be laughed away.
Starting in 2004, when I wasn’t working at my 9-5 job or training in BJJ or MMA, I was writing. Instead of going out with friends on Friday and Saturday nights, I wrote. Instead of going to Happy Hour, I went home and wrote. I had two goals: fighting and writing. Absolutely all of my time was devoted toward these two ends.
In 2006, I earned my brown belt in BJJ and had my first MMA fight, which I won. A couple months later, I had my second fight and my record improved to 2-0. What I noticed was that both fights were easier than the training I went through in preparation for them. I practiced with the goal that if I trained harder, trained more often, and trained smarter than my opponent, I would win. The result was completely up to me. And that theory held up.
During this entire time, I was honing my craft as a writer, developing my voice, understanding my strengths and weaknesses, and generally improving my craft.
My original intent was to fight four times. That would give me a big enough taste of MMA to prove to myself that I had achieved my goal. Life has a way, though, of altering your plans. Right before my third fight, I suffered a series of injuries, culminating with a neck injury that would ultimately prevent me from ever fighting again. This was okay because it allowed me to focus my time on writing.
In the years since, every hour I have that’s not spent working at my day job is dedicated to achieving my dream of being a novelist. I come home from work and I write. When my friends go out on the weekends, I stay home and write. This is not meant to sound like a sacrifice; it’s what I enjoy and it comforts me to know I’m working toward a dream that I was once afraid to tell other people I even had.
Over the years, I’ve had a couple short stories published and I’ve been signed to a wonderful literary agency. Little did I know that the most difficult fight was still in front of me, the aspect of writing that makes it so much more challenging than evading kicks and elbows. Both adventures require determination if you want to have any hope of following through with your goal. Both require an endless willingness to learn from your mistakes. But when you fight, the outcome is completely in your own hands. If you have better technique and better conditioning than your opponent, chances are extremely likely that your hand will be raised after the final bell. But in writing, no matter how much you work toward your goal, no matter how focused you are, the result depends on other people. You can become a truly great writer. You can write powerful stories. But in the end, whether or not people want to read what you write is out of your hands. You depend on other people to see value in what you’ve written, and you depend on them to spread the word about it.
That’s the difference between fighting and writing that makes the latter so much more brutal than breaking another man’s spirit inside a cage. A fighter controls his destiny. A writer, no matter how hard he or she works toward their goal, needs good luck and good fortune and support from people all over. For a fighter, for someone who relishes that outcomes are based on tangible things such as hours spent in the gym, this is the most formidable type of battle.
Do not interpret this as pessimism sneaking into the cracks of a lifelong dream. Nothing will make me give up my goal of gaining an audience for my novels. If BJJ and MMA have taught me anything, it’s that even if you lose one day, you’re only defeated when you don’t get back in for the next fight. Then, and only then, are you truly beaten. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. No, it’s not pessimism at all that makes me say how much more difficult writing is than fighting. It’s a personal reminder that the eventual victory will be even sweeter in the end. It’s meant to remind any other struggling writers out there that what you’re doing requires more tenacity than dodging punches and escaping chokes. You are only defeated when you stop putting words to paper. To quote the writer J.A. Konrath, “There’s a word for writers who never say die… the word is published.” I will keep up the fight. If writing is your dream, you should keep going too.
And along the way, the next time you read something that you enjoy, no matter what it is, pass it along to someone else who may enjoy it. And when you do, know that you are helping its author do something even more demanding than beating a trained fighter—you are helping them achieve their dream.
originally posted at: http://thenextbestbookblog.blogspot.com/
Invest In Yourself
Believing in yourself is the single greatest thing you can do to achieve your dreams. But part of believing in yourself is investing in your future. As I work toward making my goals a reality, I’ve discovered that investing in yourself can come in many different forms.
Time – The most precious resource you have is your time. If you want to accomplish something difficult, you must be willing to devote enormous amounts of your life to your goal. For me, this meant spending years learning how to tell a story and honing my voice as a writer. The saying, “If it was easy, everyone would do it” is all about time. Said a different way: if someone told you that you would have to dedicate a minimum of ten or twelve years toward your dream, without any guarantee of success, how many people would volunteer for that possible failure? Most people wouldn’t. That is why time is an investment. There are no short cuts and it takes a large part of your life to achieve something meaningful.
Knowledge – When I was in college, I didn’t believe in myself enough to take writing classes because I thought my dream was hopeless. (Instead, I sat through classes like “Political Thinking” and “Public Speaking”, Ugh.) A couple years after I started writing, though, I had put together a variety of stories but didn’t have anyone to critique them. So I decided to sign up for a pair of online writing workshops. These were vital because they gave me a venue to have other people assess my writing and tell me what they thought I was doing well and what I could improve upon. I left those workshops with a completely different outlook on my writing. Everyone needs the knowledge required to achieve their dream. For me, that came in the form of peer review feedback. For other people, it might mean learning a new skill or taking a new course. Knowledge provides direction. Without it, you are blindly moving toward your goal, with little chance of stumbling upon it.
Covers – Why would anyone invest years in writing a book, only to scrimp on the last step—having a cover designed? The cover is the first impression your book makes on readers—it needs to capture their attention. Pam Stack, producer and host an Authors on the Air, and Indie Author News both just had great write-ups on how critically important good covers are (http://authorsontheair.com/why-i-wont... and http://www.indieauthornews.com/2012/1... respectively). A CEO wouldn’t try to design his own company’s logo, and a writer shouldn’t attempt to create their own cover. If something is important to you, never try to cut corners. Spend the money to make a good first impression. It will be worth it in the end.
These are just a few examples. The important thing to remember is that, as the owner of your respective dream, you need to prepare yourself to achieve it. And that means investing in yourself.
Have a great week.
Time – The most precious resource you have is your time. If you want to accomplish something difficult, you must be willing to devote enormous amounts of your life to your goal. For me, this meant spending years learning how to tell a story and honing my voice as a writer. The saying, “If it was easy, everyone would do it” is all about time. Said a different way: if someone told you that you would have to dedicate a minimum of ten or twelve years toward your dream, without any guarantee of success, how many people would volunteer for that possible failure? Most people wouldn’t. That is why time is an investment. There are no short cuts and it takes a large part of your life to achieve something meaningful.
Knowledge – When I was in college, I didn’t believe in myself enough to take writing classes because I thought my dream was hopeless. (Instead, I sat through classes like “Political Thinking” and “Public Speaking”, Ugh.) A couple years after I started writing, though, I had put together a variety of stories but didn’t have anyone to critique them. So I decided to sign up for a pair of online writing workshops. These were vital because they gave me a venue to have other people assess my writing and tell me what they thought I was doing well and what I could improve upon. I left those workshops with a completely different outlook on my writing. Everyone needs the knowledge required to achieve their dream. For me, that came in the form of peer review feedback. For other people, it might mean learning a new skill or taking a new course. Knowledge provides direction. Without it, you are blindly moving toward your goal, with little chance of stumbling upon it.
Covers – Why would anyone invest years in writing a book, only to scrimp on the last step—having a cover designed? The cover is the first impression your book makes on readers—it needs to capture their attention. Pam Stack, producer and host an Authors on the Air, and Indie Author News both just had great write-ups on how critically important good covers are (http://authorsontheair.com/why-i-wont... and http://www.indieauthornews.com/2012/1... respectively). A CEO wouldn’t try to design his own company’s logo, and a writer shouldn’t attempt to create their own cover. If something is important to you, never try to cut corners. Spend the money to make a good first impression. It will be worth it in the end.
These are just a few examples. The important thing to remember is that, as the owner of your respective dream, you need to prepare yourself to achieve it. And that means investing in yourself.
Have a great week.
Learning and Perservering
Everything that happens to you is, depending on your mindset, either an opportunity to give up or a chance to learn and get better. Nine years ago, I decided I would try to achieve my dream of being a writer. Last year, I published my debut novel, The Man Who Watched The World End. It was a very long road to get to that point. As I prepare for the release of my next novel, A Different Alchemy, I find myself reflecting over all the things I’ve learned.
I started out creating short stories. After revising each one a couple times, I would send them off to see if a magazine or literary journal would accept them for publication. But no matter how many times I revised them, the rejections kept pouring in. My short stories were turned down an astounding 190 times before the first one was accepted for publication. Yes, 190 times. But the important thing is that instead of giving up, I finally achieved my goal and a story was published. And I was only rejected sixteen more times before my second short story was published. For my third story, only five times. A lot of revising and learning occurred during that time. Lesson Learned #1: It takes a long time to become a good writer. A lot of the rejections could have been prevented if I had slowed down and focused on the writing instead of trying to get my stories published.
Only a fool would think the rejections would end there, though. Because while I was creating short stories, I was also looking for an agent to represent a book I was writing. I wrote a query letter and began to send it out. Most agents rejected it without comment. Every couple weeks I would notice some changes I could make to the query letter to make it better. No matter how many times I revised it, when I revisited it a couple weeks later, I would always find a few more things to tweak. Finally, with a finished query letter, I found an agent! Lesson Learned #2: No matter how many times you revise something, you need to put it aside and come back to it with fresh eyes. Only then will you see if it could be edited, and it shouldn’t be sent out until it’s absolutely perfect.
From the beginning, my agent was very straightforward: it was going to be difficult to find a publisher that would take a chance on an extremely bleak novel written by an unknown author. Although I was prepared for the day when each publisher passed on it, it was still a low point in my journey. The only option was to publish it myself. But I didn’t know anything about self-publishing, and I wasn’t good at selling myself. What was I going to do, though, give up on my dream? So I began to learn everything I could about Indie publishing. Lesson Learned #3: It’s not the amount of rejection you face or the amount of success you garner that matters, it’s your response to it that defines you.
It wasn’t easy getting my debut novel out to potential readers. In fact, it was pretty brutal at times. But instead of giving up, I did my best and kept learning from my mistakes. Along the way, my book garnered some incredible reviews. I can’t believe some of the things people have said about it on Amazon and GoodReads. It was even featured on The Science Fiction Spotlight and voted as one of GoodReads Top 10 ‘Most Interesting Books of 2013.’
And that brings me to today, getting ready to publish my second novel. After everything I learned during the publishing of The Man Who Watched The World End, I have no doubt that A Different Alchemy will be an even greater success. How could it not? After all, I’m still here, I’m still working toward my dream, and I’m still choosing to learn from adversity rather than letting it deter me from my goals.
I started out creating short stories. After revising each one a couple times, I would send them off to see if a magazine or literary journal would accept them for publication. But no matter how many times I revised them, the rejections kept pouring in. My short stories were turned down an astounding 190 times before the first one was accepted for publication. Yes, 190 times. But the important thing is that instead of giving up, I finally achieved my goal and a story was published. And I was only rejected sixteen more times before my second short story was published. For my third story, only five times. A lot of revising and learning occurred during that time. Lesson Learned #1: It takes a long time to become a good writer. A lot of the rejections could have been prevented if I had slowed down and focused on the writing instead of trying to get my stories published.
Only a fool would think the rejections would end there, though. Because while I was creating short stories, I was also looking for an agent to represent a book I was writing. I wrote a query letter and began to send it out. Most agents rejected it without comment. Every couple weeks I would notice some changes I could make to the query letter to make it better. No matter how many times I revised it, when I revisited it a couple weeks later, I would always find a few more things to tweak. Finally, with a finished query letter, I found an agent! Lesson Learned #2: No matter how many times you revise something, you need to put it aside and come back to it with fresh eyes. Only then will you see if it could be edited, and it shouldn’t be sent out until it’s absolutely perfect.
From the beginning, my agent was very straightforward: it was going to be difficult to find a publisher that would take a chance on an extremely bleak novel written by an unknown author. Although I was prepared for the day when each publisher passed on it, it was still a low point in my journey. The only option was to publish it myself. But I didn’t know anything about self-publishing, and I wasn’t good at selling myself. What was I going to do, though, give up on my dream? So I began to learn everything I could about Indie publishing. Lesson Learned #3: It’s not the amount of rejection you face or the amount of success you garner that matters, it’s your response to it that defines you.
It wasn’t easy getting my debut novel out to potential readers. In fact, it was pretty brutal at times. But instead of giving up, I did my best and kept learning from my mistakes. Along the way, my book garnered some incredible reviews. I can’t believe some of the things people have said about it on Amazon and GoodReads. It was even featured on The Science Fiction Spotlight and voted as one of GoodReads Top 10 ‘Most Interesting Books of 2013.’
And that brings me to today, getting ready to publish my second novel. After everything I learned during the publishing of The Man Who Watched The World End, I have no doubt that A Different Alchemy will be an even greater success. How could it not? After all, I’m still here, I’m still working toward my dream, and I’m still choosing to learn from adversity rather than letting it deter me from my goals.
Surround Yourself With Positive People
In college, I thought my dreams were silly. So much so that I didn’t even bother to take Creative Writing classes. But now I’m working toward my goal of writing and publishing novels. What changed between college and nine years ago when I started writing? I surrounded myself with extremely driven and optimistic people.
Following college, I started learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Each evening, I trained with people from all walks of life, all with varying dreams, but all of whom shared one common trait: they set goals for themselves, they worked with all of their energy to achieve those goals, and they encouraged everyone else to do the same.
Mindsets are infectious. I found myself changing from being the type of person who thought dreams were a waste of time, to being a person who thought I could achieve anything I wanted if I was willing to put in the time and effort to make it happen. I went from being a person who thought it was easier to criticize others than it was to support them, to being someone who wanted to help everyone else work toward their goals as well.
But it’s not only positive mindsets that are infectious. So are negative ones. Which is why it’s critical not to give any time or energy to anyone who would make you doubt your dreams or attempt to bring you down rather than build you up. When you are trying to believe in yourself for the first time, it doesn’t take much from friends or family--a snide remark, a veiled putdown—to keep you feeling like your goals might be a waste of time.
Today, I’m happier and feel more fulfilled than ever before. And it’s all because I’ve surrounded myself with driven and optimistic people, and I stay away from anyone with a negative, nay-saying attitude. To all the people who have encouraged me: thank you. And to everyone who needs a little positive support: no matter what your dream is, the sooner you begin working toward it the happier you’ll be.
Following college, I started learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Each evening, I trained with people from all walks of life, all with varying dreams, but all of whom shared one common trait: they set goals for themselves, they worked with all of their energy to achieve those goals, and they encouraged everyone else to do the same.
Mindsets are infectious. I found myself changing from being the type of person who thought dreams were a waste of time, to being a person who thought I could achieve anything I wanted if I was willing to put in the time and effort to make it happen. I went from being a person who thought it was easier to criticize others than it was to support them, to being someone who wanted to help everyone else work toward their goals as well.
But it’s not only positive mindsets that are infectious. So are negative ones. Which is why it’s critical not to give any time or energy to anyone who would make you doubt your dreams or attempt to bring you down rather than build you up. When you are trying to believe in yourself for the first time, it doesn’t take much from friends or family--a snide remark, a veiled putdown—to keep you feeling like your goals might be a waste of time.
Today, I’m happier and feel more fulfilled than ever before. And it’s all because I’ve surrounded myself with driven and optimistic people, and I stay away from anyone with a negative, nay-saying attitude. To all the people who have encouraged me: thank you. And to everyone who needs a little positive support: no matter what your dream is, the sooner you begin working toward it the happier you’ll be.
Believe In Yourself
A friend of mine reminded me of this blog post. You can never have too many positive affirmations so I'm re-posting it.
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For a long time I thought my dream of being a writer was pointless. Only one thing was standing in my way: I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t think I would actually be able to write a book that anyone would want to read, so I didn’t bother trying.
Shortly after college, though, I met a group of highly determined and motivated people and I realized the only difference between them and myself was that they believed they could do whatever they set their minds to while I believed the exact opposite. Over the course of time, their optimism and persistence changed my outlook. This led me to understand a few insights that have molded who I am today:
- Your mindset is contagious. If you don’t believe in yourself, you are guaranteeing no one else will either. Successful people don’t surround themselves with pessimists and cynics, they surround themselves with positive thinkers and optimists. Do not give your time to anyone who would belittle your goals or make a joke out of your aspirations. These people infect your outlook.
- People who believe in themselves don’t keep going only because they are determined—when you truly believe in yourself, you know it’s a matter of time until you achieve your goal. Maybe it will take ten years. Maybe it will take twenty. But it will happen eventually if you keep working toward it.
- Dreams aren’t easy to achieve, but when you struggle toward something that truly makes you happy, the necessary hard work doesn’t feel like work at all. I look forward to the time I get to sit in front of my computer and edit an awful first draft or some poorly written dialogue. If achieving your dream was easy and didn’t require daily pain, it wouldn’t be worthy of being called a dream in the first place.
----------------------
For a long time I thought my dream of being a writer was pointless. Only one thing was standing in my way: I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t think I would actually be able to write a book that anyone would want to read, so I didn’t bother trying.
Shortly after college, though, I met a group of highly determined and motivated people and I realized the only difference between them and myself was that they believed they could do whatever they set their minds to while I believed the exact opposite. Over the course of time, their optimism and persistence changed my outlook. This led me to understand a few insights that have molded who I am today:
- Your mindset is contagious. If you don’t believe in yourself, you are guaranteeing no one else will either. Successful people don’t surround themselves with pessimists and cynics, they surround themselves with positive thinkers and optimists. Do not give your time to anyone who would belittle your goals or make a joke out of your aspirations. These people infect your outlook.
- People who believe in themselves don’t keep going only because they are determined—when you truly believe in yourself, you know it’s a matter of time until you achieve your goal. Maybe it will take ten years. Maybe it will take twenty. But it will happen eventually if you keep working toward it.
- Dreams aren’t easy to achieve, but when you struggle toward something that truly makes you happy, the necessary hard work doesn’t feel like work at all. I look forward to the time I get to sit in front of my computer and edit an awful first draft or some poorly written dialogue. If achieving your dream was easy and didn’t require daily pain, it wouldn’t be worthy of being called a dream in the first place.
Happy Holidays! And wishing you a great New Year
I wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. No matter what you’re doing for your celebrations, I hope it’s what makes you most at peace. But as the New Year approaches, I also want to share a personal story with you all in hopes that it might inspire someone else.
About ten years ago, I decided to begin putting all of my time and energy into working toward my dream of being a writer. Rather than simply fantasizing about writing novels, I would start doing it. It was the best decision I’ve ever made. There have been a lot of ups and downs over the past decade, but every day I know I’m doing what I enjoy the most. And at the end of each day, I feel fulfilled and content.
So my message for everyone: Are you doing what makes you happy? Are you pursuing your dreams even if they seem foolhardy and unrealistic like mine did to me? I hope you are. But if you aren’t, trust me when I say that the people I know in life who are working toward their dreams, even if they are in the beginning stages and don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel, are the happiest people I know. As a New Year approaches, consider putting time aside to begin working toward whatever fantastic goal you’ve always kept secret. Life is much too short to spend your days doing things you think you should be doing rather than the things that make you most fulfilled.
Have a great holiday season, everyone. And a happy New Year.
About ten years ago, I decided to begin putting all of my time and energy into working toward my dream of being a writer. Rather than simply fantasizing about writing novels, I would start doing it. It was the best decision I’ve ever made. There have been a lot of ups and downs over the past decade, but every day I know I’m doing what I enjoy the most. And at the end of each day, I feel fulfilled and content.
So my message for everyone: Are you doing what makes you happy? Are you pursuing your dreams even if they seem foolhardy and unrealistic like mine did to me? I hope you are. But if you aren’t, trust me when I say that the people I know in life who are working toward their dreams, even if they are in the beginning stages and don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel, are the happiest people I know. As a New Year approaches, consider putting time aside to begin working toward whatever fantastic goal you’ve always kept secret. Life is much too short to spend your days doing things you think you should be doing rather than the things that make you most fulfilled.
Have a great holiday season, everyone. And a happy New Year.
Writing Milestones Achieved
The past two weeks have been hectic but also noteworthy in terms of achieving many of my goals as a writer. Here are some of the things that happened in the last 14 days:
- My Space Lore Boxed Set became an Amazon Bestseller and was also featured on iBooks (Apple), Barnes & Noble, and Kobo (Sony) as a must-read.
- Book 4 in my Space Lore series was published and immediately became an Amazon ‘Hot New Release’ and best seller in multiple science fiction sub genres.
- My Amazon author rank got all of the way up to #16, surpassing many of my favorite authors. At one point I was right in between Timothy Zahn, who wrote some of my favorite stories when I was a kid and whose latest book just became an New York Times Bestseller, and George Orwell, who is a true writing idol of mine.
- The audiobook version of the ‘Bridge Across the Stars’ anthology was released by Tantor. This is noteworthy because Tantor is one of the three biggest names in audiobooks and this marked the first time that any major audiobook producer took a chance on creating and distributing the audiobook version of an anthology that was entirely made up of independent authors.
While I didn’t achieve every goal I had hoped for, it was still quite a two weeks and brought me many steps closer to fulfilling my dream.
- My Space Lore Boxed Set became an Amazon Bestseller and was also featured on iBooks (Apple), Barnes & Noble, and Kobo (Sony) as a must-read.
- Book 4 in my Space Lore series was published and immediately became an Amazon ‘Hot New Release’ and best seller in multiple science fiction sub genres.
- My Amazon author rank got all of the way up to #16, surpassing many of my favorite authors. At one point I was right in between Timothy Zahn, who wrote some of my favorite stories when I was a kid and whose latest book just became an New York Times Bestseller, and George Orwell, who is a true writing idol of mine.
- The audiobook version of the ‘Bridge Across the Stars’ anthology was released by Tantor. This is noteworthy because Tantor is one of the three biggest names in audiobooks and this marked the first time that any major audiobook producer took a chance on creating and distributing the audiobook version of an anthology that was entirely made up of independent authors.
While I didn’t achieve every goal I had hoped for, it was still quite a two weeks and brought me many steps closer to fulfilling my dream.
Believe in yourself
This entry was published on my blog almost a decade ago but it’s as true today as it was then. Never give up on your dream.
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For a long time, I thought my dream of being a writer was pointless. Only one thing was standing in my way: I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t think I would actually be able to write a book that anyone would want to read, so I didn’t bother to try.
Shortly after college, though, I met a group of highly determined people and I realized the only difference between us was that they believed they could do whatever they set their minds to while I believed the exact opposite. Over the course of time, their optimism and persistence changed my outlook. This led me to understand a few insights that have molded who I am today:
* Your mindset is contagious. If you don’t believe in yourself, you are guaranteeing no one else will either. Successful people don’t surround themselves with pessimists and cynics, they surround themselves with positive thinkers and optimists. Do not give your time to anyone who would belittle your goals or make a joke out of your aspirations because doing so infects your outlook.
* People who believe in themselves don’t keep going only because they are determined—when you truly believe in yourself, you know it’s a matter of time until you achieve your goal. Maybe it will take ten years. Maybe it will take twenty. But it will happen eventually.
* Dreams aren’t easy to achieve, but when you struggle toward something that truly makes you happy, the necessary hard work doesn’t feel like work at all. I look forward to the time I get to sit in front of my computer and edit one of my awful first drafts. If achieving your dream was easy and didn’t require daily pain, it wouldn’t be worthy of being called a dream in the first place.
—————————————————————————–
For a long time, I thought my dream of being a writer was pointless. Only one thing was standing in my way: I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t think I would actually be able to write a book that anyone would want to read, so I didn’t bother to try.
Shortly after college, though, I met a group of highly determined people and I realized the only difference between us was that they believed they could do whatever they set their minds to while I believed the exact opposite. Over the course of time, their optimism and persistence changed my outlook. This led me to understand a few insights that have molded who I am today:
* Your mindset is contagious. If you don’t believe in yourself, you are guaranteeing no one else will either. Successful people don’t surround themselves with pessimists and cynics, they surround themselves with positive thinkers and optimists. Do not give your time to anyone who would belittle your goals or make a joke out of your aspirations because doing so infects your outlook.
* People who believe in themselves don’t keep going only because they are determined—when you truly believe in yourself, you know it’s a matter of time until you achieve your goal. Maybe it will take ten years. Maybe it will take twenty. But it will happen eventually.
* Dreams aren’t easy to achieve, but when you struggle toward something that truly makes you happy, the necessary hard work doesn’t feel like work at all. I look forward to the time I get to sit in front of my computer and edit one of my awful first drafts. If achieving your dream was easy and didn’t require daily pain, it wouldn’t be worthy of being called a dream in the first place.
