Sunday, May 23, 2010

Vision Boards and Goal Setting

I attended a motivational seminar a few weeks ago and the presenter discussed a number of different things that we can do to help us reach our goals. One big thing he emphasized is that we should leave notes for ourselves in plain view to serve as constant reminders of those goals we want to meet. These reminders can consist of frequently viewing note cards we create, sticking post-it notes on our mirrors, or mounting a big collage that shows visual representations of our goals. He stressed the importance of creating these vision boards so that we can see what our dreams look like, imprint those images in our subconscious, and work - both consciously and subconsciously - toward our goals. In his words, once we know where we want to go we can work on the 'how' part of getting there. The vision board puts the 'where' where we can see it.

I am in the process of pulling together the images for my own vision board (the one here is a cool example I found on the Internet) and I can't wait to start putting it all together. Do you guys do vision boards? What kinds of things do you include on them? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Practicing Persistence

I didn't want to let too much more time pass during posts, so I thought I'd check in with an update. I'm practicing the persistence thing right now -- I'm on the third draft of my YA novel, trying to get it poised and ready for a June class I'm taking on revision. One of my goals for 2010 is to develop habits that will help me write leaner and faster, and this revision class is one of the action steps I am taking en route to that goal. Then, of course, I'll be headed to the RWA national conference at the end of July, where I hope to cross paths with a few agents on my wish list. Hence the need to increase my level of practice with persistence - to keep going and keep working even when the outcome is uncertain. I found this great quotation from Calvin Coolidge, and I am psyched to share it here with you. I hope it helps motivate you as much as it has me!

How do you "press on" when you encounter obstacles? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex