A New Look

For some time now, I have been wanting to brighten up my blog, but because of my technical abilities, I have put it off until tonight.

Some changes have been made and I hope they are to the good. I welcome your comments. I am making changes in my writing business as well. It is time to get it off the ground and move forward.

I look forward to getting back into the swing of things by Wednesday. Here are a couple of topics I am considering:

When Your In laws Have Keys to Your House

Lucky Juror Number 7

I received my juror pay today. The check was for $96. I must admit it was more than I had expected.

Write it down,

Carma

Priority Is A Noun

How did your Priority 3 Challenge go? Have you completed it yet or do you have some tasks that cannot be accomplished in one day as Bes Zain over at The Reasoner did? Which, by the way is a more levelheaded way of facing tasks. Put a time limit on it and it will get done.

Priority is a noun. A noun is a person, place or thing. Priority is a Thang! That thang we must do in order to be successful, organized and at peace with ourselves. If you don’t give yourself enough time to complete a project then you set yourself up for failure.

What about substitutions? Are they justifiable? For instance, my top 3 priorities for Saturday were 1) go to gym, 2) file papers and 3) do book research. Those tasks vaporized the minute I wrote them on paper.

In place of going to the gym:

I took both dogs to the park.

Instead of filing papers in my office, I paid some bills.

As an alternative to doing research on my book, I worked on an assignment for a writing course I signed up for.

This is how I see it. I got some exercise, I worked in my office and I worked on a writing assignment. Can you see a paradox in this? I know I’m stretching it but hey, what’s a girl to do?

Even though the tasks that I did complete were not on my top 3 list for Saturday, they are on my master list. It’s ok to switch around isn’t it? I can answer that. The point about setting priorities is that they do change just as goals change. What should NOT change is our Plan. To help yourself become successful, set your plan in concrete and your goals in sand. One major part of your plan should be to talk to other bloggers for support and information.

The blogosphere is full of helpful friends who give advice on how to be successful. Here are just a few: Carolyn Manning, Liz Strauss, Lisa Gates, Anne Wayman, Leon Ho, Rick Cockrum, Phil Gerbyshak, Roger von Oech, Suzanne Lieurance, Lori Widner, Tom Chandler, and many more.

So do that THANG that you’re gonna do.
Write it down,

Carma

Take the Priority 3 Challenge

Carolyn Manning hosted a fantastic international virtual conference today. If you would like to read what everyone had to say, go on over to Thoughts and Philosophies and browse through all the comments.

I was very honored to have hosted the 5 pm EST hour. My topic was Prioritizing Before You Go Crazy. I almost did go crazy today but it wasn’t for lack of prioritizing. For some reason I was challenged with technical difficulties that kept preventing me from commenting. I think I stomped in on Jessica Doyle and Bes Zain , The Reasoner, with my technical woes. Thank you for your understanding.

I was having a great deal of difficulty in trying to get a hold of Carolyn so I used the back door by going over to Rick Cockrum’s blog, Shards of Consciousness, and asked him to post a message for me. Thank You Rick!

To make a long story short, I was finally able to get into Carolyn’s comment section and as long as I didn’t touch any buttons and stayed put, I was able to submit my comments. Whew!

Now the Challenge

If you’re like me you may have about 20 things on your list and can’t seem to get many of them done because you try to do them all at once. I have the misconception that all my tasks deserve to be listed as #1. (Doesn’t this sound like the inability to say no?) Since that is impossible, I would like to put out a Prioritize 3 Challenge. Here is how it works:

Pick 3 tasks from your list and prioritize them in order of importance to you. Your challenge, if you choose to accept, will be to complete the top 3 tasks in the order you listed. Let me know how it works for you. This is totally on the honor system.

I’ll start it off. Three of the things I need to do or want to do or must do are; Go to the gym (exercise is very important), File the mail (I have 3 days worth on my desk, what’s another day?), Continue research for my book (this is time consuming). I placed them in this order: 1) gym, 2) filing, 3) research. I will report tomorrow night to let you know how well or how badly I did.

Write it down,

Carma

The Three P's of Prioritizing

Procrastination, Perfectionism, Prevention

I am inviting you to come by Friday May 11 at 5 p.m. EST for a stimulating conversation. I will be hosting one hour of Carolyn Manning's virtual conference Getting it Together. Carolyn explains on her Productivity Goal blog why this Friday was chosen on the same weekend as the SOBCon conference will be going on in Chicago.

Not everyone is able to attend SOBCon, unfortunately, so Carolyn is helping us to experience the Conference Inclusion.

My subject will be Prioritizing Before You Go Crazy. This is a great topic and Carolyn has a great line up. I feel very honored to have been asked to participate. What a fitting topic for writers. My problem is that all my "To do's" are number one and that is why I cannot prioritize. Acckk! Oh my, my, isn't that the silliest exucse you have ever heard?

It has worked for me in more ways than one. :)

1. I never have to reach a goal because I can't choose what to do first.
2. I have a valid reason to procrastinate. (See how these two relate?)
3. Without a priority list, I don't have to worry about succeeding or failing.

Drop by and talk with the likes of Bes Zain, The Reasoner; Rick Cockrum, Shards of Consciousness; Jessica Doyle, Jessicadoyle.ca; Leah Maclean, Working Solo; TechZ, TechZ Online; Klearchos Kapoutsis, Klearchos Guide to the Galaxy; Nneka, Balanced Life Center; Lyman Reed, Creating a Better Life.

Look forward to talking with you then.

Write it down,

Carma

What Do Clients Want?

The only two words that clients “want” are in the next few paragraphs. As you read, I want your mind to figure out what they are before you read them. When you see them, I earnestly hope you say, “I KNEW IT!” and ultimately that will be your invitation to go do something about it.

This may be a bitter pill for some but many clients/customers have a PERCEPTION that writers don’t deserve much pay, writers don’t work hard, and writers are a dime a dozen. This is very deceptive and NOT MY PERCEPTION at all. In fact it is a myth.

Writers are the hardest working people on the face of the earth and we should be able to beat the living tar out of that perception.

What do Clients want? They want someone to Exceed Expectations. That’s it. How do we do that? Over at Every Dot Connects, Connie Reece says it’s about Starting the Conversation.

Connie says: “My dad was a gifted salesman, I never once heard my dad use what could be called a sales pitch. Instead, he just talked to people. Struck up conversations.”

Think about it. Nothing happens until you talk to someone.

Writers are also sales people. Yes, we are. We sell our work and ourselves every day.

Drew McLellan gives some sage advice Your job as a marketer is not to sell. Your job is to help the customer want to buy. A distinct difference.

What better way than to talk to people. Have a conversation. Find out what they really want. Do they want you to be the myth-buster?

Write it down,

Carma

Forgive and Forget

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Emerson’s quote captures an essential activity. Forgiveness of the past. What is missing from Emerson’s quote, of course, is any hint of how does one ever manage successfully to do that?

The words are easy to say but what if you can’t forget them in any amount of time? Or, worse, what if “forgetting” means simply shoving them down into some dark space in your subconscious where they will fester for years... or even decades and eventually erupt in some outpouring of incomprehensible babble?

How can one finish each day with no resentment and forgiveness unless they have the necessary qualities of mercy and forgiveness already present within to make the act of getting rid of “my old nonsense” effective or possible? Learning to honestly admit failures, inadequacies and resentments, first to yourself then before the universe, seeking the sense of forgiveness and release that will make it possible to “forget them” as Emerson says you must.

It is possible, perhaps even necessary, to engage in forgiveness as a fundamentally selfish act—forgiving people or more importantly, forgiving yourself because you desperately need to become free from the acids of resentment that will otherwise burn into your soul. Resentment and bitterness will kill your creativity as quickly as a fire doused in water.

However, the process of forgiveness can empower you to deny permission to your old habits that keep pulling you down. Also this act empowers you to not keep repeating day-after-day tiresome and depressing patterns of personal failure and resentment.

Do Not give permission to your old habits and depressing patterns of personal failure to drag you down. Let each day of your life become an upward spiral. Repeat this mantra every day:

“I ain’t what I ought to be and I ain’t what I’m going to be, but at least I ain’t what I was.” (unknown)

Write it down,

Carma

Mind, Body and Spirit is Ki

As my friend and I walked past the Jungshim Ki Health Energy booth, a Master teacher smiled and asked if we wanted a demonstration of the special massage. My energy blockage must have manifested it self to him very strongly because Master Cha grabbed my hand to pull me over to him. Placing his hands on my shoulders, he began pressing very hard into my muscles. It almost hurt. Immediately I felt something release, then he took his hands away. Of course that was the teaser so I decided to go for the full thing.

Master Cha motioned me to lie on my back on the cot where I was in full view of every passer-by. The Jungshim Ki Treatment began and throaty sounds began to emanate from Master Cha as his physically powerful hands maneuvered their way over every key point of my body. I was very nervous but decided that since we were in a public place and he was a professional, that I could rest easy and enjoy this Ki Treatment.

As each of his hands engulfed both my ears and turning my neck side to side, his loud breathing, almost panting, shooossssh, shooosssh, then, a human sonic boom escaped from his mouth in short bursts, sounding like it was in excess of 10 decibels,. This was repeated many times during the treatment. The noise seemed to intensify when his hands were around my neck.

The Ki Treatment is a unique acupressure and energy treatment. When the Ki Treatment was over, Master Cha, smiled pleasantly asking how I felt. I felt very calm and light. Ki Masters believe that Ki Energy revitalizes body, mind and spirit and restores our connection with Nature.

This Ki Energy experience took place at the New Living Expo, this past Friday, where my friend and I were greeted with familiar sights and smells from the 60’s. The focus of this expo was on connecting mind, body and spirit and a renewal of commitment to the betterment of the environment. Natural herbs, crystals, natural foods were on hand. Each booth was connected to mind, body and spirit or environment. Also, free physic readings were available.

We all could use a little more postive emotions in our life. Cultivating a beautiful and positive mind is essential to maintain a healthy body and a stable flow of energy.

Write it down,

Carma