Three-Hundred-Five Days and Counting

It has been 305 days since I uploaded my first e-book on Amazon, the one that started this Indie-publishing dream for me.  And it has been forty days since I launched my sixth e-book (with way more coming) to Amazon.  I am happy with my progress so far, during this initial year, placing half a dozen e-books into the ether known as Amazon.  Five of them within B&N's PubIt! system.  My debut novel, Good Ole Boys, remains exclusive to Amazon until mid-March, which accounts for the difference in my offerings between the two sites.

Because this is fun, those 305 days do not seem that long.  Yet it has been in a way when you consider it is just sixty days shy of one year.  I feel sorry for those unhappy people tied to a job they absolutely hate, where they are unappreciated and locked into a seemingly never-ending cycle of dread and drudgery.  It takes some confidence and a truly inspiring dream to break out of those chains but, oh, how it is worth it when you find where you truly belong. 

Doing without a steady paycheck--expecting one every first and fifteenth of the month--still takes some imaginative solutions at times.  One month I may juggle bills.  In the longer term, I may seek a McJob.  Currently I am between those "day job" happenings or even having that monthly shuffle technique.  This is my "sweet spot."

And I wouldn't change my new career and the new life that came with it.  I don't know if I can count it toward growing up or older or just being wiser or, my personal favorite, being where I am meant to be, but I worry so much less now than when I made a consistent salary three times that which I presently live on.  Not to mention how utterly, joyfully, happily ecstatic I am operating in total freedom to do what I love and get paid for it.  After all, I spent all those early years enjoying my writing attempts without being paid one shiny new penny.

Until mid-2011, as I became a paid author.  Or back in mid-2008, when I became a paid freelance copy editor.  Both I count as miraculous dreams-come-true for me.

Reminding myself I have enough money for today is truly comforting and puts me in the present with the right mind-set.  Plus, I know for each day I stand firm, I am one day closer to that elusive "overnight success."

FYI:  Avoid those living-in-the-past moments as it is usually accompanied with regret or only-if thinking or otherwise somewhat hopeless in that things today cannot be as great as the "good old days."  Stop that negative thinking now!  And if you are just wishing, daydreaming about your future, and not putting some action behind it, well, you might as well be watching TV or a movie and enjoying someone else's life for an hour or two.  For you are seeking a temporary escape not a life-altering change.

Among the otherwise sage nuggets Daddy often shares, one thing he told me that I found to be particularly wrong for me was, "Don't burn your bridges."  The opposite is my truth.  When you are driven, really consumed by an idyllic life-in-the-making, no matter how irrational or long-term, burn those bridges.  Step out, take some calculated risks--and your responsibility for their resulting consequences--daily accruing whatever actions, both small and larger, toward that ultimate goal.  It shows your faith.  It confirms your forward momentum.  It speaks to the Universe (my God) and sets those unseen forces in motion with us.  

Don't discount what you cannot see . . . .

Your 2012 Mission Statement--And a Free Fun Generator to Use

I subscribe to the Nightingale-Conant AdvantEdge Newsletter and the recent one had a fun link to a Goals/Mission Statement generator.  Here it is:  http://www.nightingale.com/mission_select.aspx?promo=INLACx394v2.  You'll need to copy and paste that link into your browser.

The program walks you through short little lists such as your greatest strengths and some associated actions plus your personal and/or business goals.  Then you narrow it down by choosing the top three of two categories.  The system then makes it into a paragraph which flows nicely (or at least mine did).

The Bible talks about writing it (your goals, your desires) plainly so that he who reads it may "run"--accomplish same.  See Habakkak 2:2.  I'm not sure "he" here, the one who reads it, means allowing just anyone to take a potshot at your dreams, but is more about writing it down, clearly, so clearly and plainly that a stranger could understand what you meant.  It is important however to put it in front of YOUR eyes, for sure. 

There is the Old Testament story (see Gen. 30:25-43) of the black-and-white reeds placed in the watering trough for sheep, where they also mated, that produced, yep, you guessed it, black-and-white offspring.  Note that sheep are supposed to be the one of the stupidest animals on the planet.  So I doubt they were doing one hundred affirmations throughout their day about the black-and-white babies they were supposed to give birth to.

Those sheep probably saw the reeds as they drank, maybe three times, maybe eight times, however many times daily.  Who knows.  And they probably just glanced as them.  I don't know if they had the brain cells to even question, Why?  Why are those reeds here?  So believe me, we are giving our Mission Statement more notice than those sheep, and we should be getting better results than them.

There is also the parable of the sower and the seed, where we plant, then go about other chores--which proves we have our part and God has His.  That we don't need to be fixated on watching our seeds grow.  Sure, we protect them from floods and ice and fire, and later from scavenging wildlife or just plain poachers.  That may be the "watering" element, above and beyond the actual watering plants need.

One scripture (of others) in the Bible that always confused me dealt with planting your field before building your house.  Maybe pitching a tent or building a lean-to is not what is prohibited here as our first duty.  But in this context, I think it means to take care of our external long-term goals (growing food here, maybe growing future earnings/retirement in our world) and then to focus on our comfort, our permanent home, our internal thoughts.  So that we nurture those seeds in the field by thinking we will reap a bountiful crop--not negating our physical actions with such negative thoughts like "we are dismal failures as farmers."

Just my opinion here.  Take what you need and discard the rest.

The Bible contains admonitions such as this:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  Phil. 4:8 ASV.

Guard your hearts and minds.  Be careful what you consistently do.  For there are consequences.

I said all that to say this:  Use the fun generator and print out your one-paragraph Mission Statement.  Gag your internal critic while you are creating this, each time you read it, and in between readings.  Post a copy of it on the fridge.  Near your coffeepot.  On the bathroom mirror (maybe in a plastic sleeve--ha!).  Read it as you contemplate what to have for dinner, as you await your morning caffeine buzz and as you brush your teeth.  You don't need to worry about your conscious brain memorizing it.  Your subconscious takes over.  If you repeat those good efforts daily--or almost daily--your mission statement will take mental roots.

And the collective mind of God that we share (you may call it the collective mind or intuition or other terms) will guide your daily actions respectively.

Keep busy.  Write one book; immediately start another.  For you nonauthors, do what you love.  And keep doing more of it.  As long as you are not hurting others to accomplish it.

Then, come New Year's Day 2013, read your 2012 Mission Statement and compare it to what you accomplished this year.  You will be surprised by your results.