Ten Years Ago Today

Ten years ago today I ended my first long-term career to take a giant bold and blind leap into this, my second career, my dream life.

And I am so very glad I did.

I say "blind" as in my foot wasn't even in the door yet. I had no contacts in this new field. Thankfully my skills transferred over well from my previous career to my newest one, and, by the grace of God, my very first freelance copyediting gig (working for a traditional publishing house) landed me instant credibility.

For that I am eternally grateful, even though now I work directly and exclusively for Indie authors. To these prolific and professional creative individuals, I send out a heartfelt thank-you. You very special people know who you are.

I hate to even think of how today would look like had I not made that defining change.

Taking risks is a scary thing. Plus my road was not smooth. For instance, I took two different day jobs to make ends meet. The first one was early on in my new career and only for nine months, yet the second one lasted two full years but ended almost six years ago.

Looking back over this last decade (the Great Experiment of All Experiments, if you will), I may have worried at times, but I never questioned moving forward to this goal of self-employment, working as both a freelance editor and as an Indie author myself. Granted, I've never been as broke as I've been in my second career. However, I've never been as happy as I've been in my second career.

This year may see me as both happier and richer (in comparison to the other nine years). A milestone worth celebrating in itself.

So, for those of you on the fence for way-too-many years regarding that major career decision, I say, "Go for it!" and "Do you really want to continue on as you have and be there still in ten years?"

Many times in life you should draw lines in the sand.

Sometimes in life you should burn bridges, propelling you forward into the scary unknown where your dreams lay hidden.

It's your decision.

It's your life.

You choose.

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)

amazon.com/author/denisebarker

My Perfect Day: Can You Imagine a Life Without a To Do List?

It is amazing what works in one area of your life, like your career, works in another, like organizing/decluttering your home.

I've been reading craft books on writing. One author proposes fifteen-minute increments for just about anything creative.

Funny, so does FLYLady.net about getting your house company-ready.

I love it when I find those universal applications for all of life.

So, what would my perfect day look like? It is pretty much what I've already noted over the years. The core remains the same: writing, reading, researching, creating, with a loving supportive family unit, in an efficient and pleasing environment.

But I'm enlarging that to include that the house is fully decluttered and organized. Maybe not worthy of a magazine shoot, but an author's haven of peace and beauty and inspiration. Plus my yard is groomed, no tree limbs scratching off my roof shingles, no weeds taking over the yard or leaves preventing the grass from popping through. No dead bushes due to a two-year-long Texas drought.

As much as I enjoy working in the yard, I see delegating that at some future time. But who knows? Once I no longer need day jobs, I may enjoy a relaxed morning of mowing, edging, trimming, raking, without deadlines looming or incoming dark clouds to rush me. We'll see.

Of course, in my dream life, maybe my house mortgage is paid off early (wow!), but definitely I earn more than enough money to pay my monthly bills from my royalties. So each twenty-four-hour period is my own to determine how I spend my time each day.

I so look forward to doing what Nora Roberts has the freedom to do 24/7/365: write, read, research, create. In the meantime, I treat myself to a portion of that life daily, as much as my current schedule can accommodate.

Can you imagine a life without a To Do list? I can. And it makes me very happy to plod along, fifteen minutes at a time, possibly twice a day, to clear my list of entries. Eventually I'll get there.

What does your perfect day look like?

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

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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 . . . .

Wealth

What an emotional word.  And that's where I want your focus for a moment.  On nebulous emotions, thoughts.  I read a lot in the self-improvement literature and find confirmation of my own beliefs.  Since I believe everything is created twice--first in the mind, second in the physical world--it would seem that we create wealth the same way.  First in the mind.

So, your initial thought would be to DECIDE to be wealthy, whatever your definition of the word may be.  Whether $10,000 a month or a year, or some figure higher or lower, go for it.  Truly, finally, irrevocably take a stand.  It surprises me the number of people who seem reluctant to choose.  Simply pick one, if both ways seem equal.  You can always go back and select the other if you don't like the results of the first. 

No Godmother of Wealth is going to give you permission to seek after your desires, your goals, your dream life.  You must do so.  It takes some guts, maybe some life experience, to push us to do so.  Maybe someone telling us we cannot possibly do that.  In the absence of your own declaration, let me do it here for you.  I give you permission to have the wonderful life you were created for.

The next step is to PROCLAIM that you are in charge of your life.  After all, you would need to be in order to manifest the perfect life for you, right?  Again, no one else is going to hand it to you.  Even if you marry a monied person, would that individual share the funds with you or would that person support you emotionally, be able to read your mind on what you really want and need?  A soul mate is still a separate entity and to expect one-hundred-percent compatibility is a fantasy ready to be refuted in reality, plus having a yes-man around all the time would be really boring in my opinion.

However, you can do all those things for yourself, without fear of voicing your dreams to a naysayer or faulty communication getting in the way of sharing those needs and wants to another.  You must declare yourself President of your perfect life, Emperor of your empire, Excellency of your enterprise. 

Then once you have comfortably settled into those two standards--with no negativity rebounding from your own internal editor--set about planning actions that lead directly to your dreams.  Do them.  Each day.  Even small tasks lead to great victories.  Keep at it.  Persistence is part of reaching goals. 

Don't discount the little steps on the way to greatness.

Courage Entails Taking Just ONE Step

We have all heard “take it one step at a time” or some variation, like “inch by inch, life’s a cinch.”  Yet I don’t believe that picture is clear enough when you first hike up your foot to enter the unknown, effectively transforming your routine life into your dream life.  For you may see only one step.  One.  That’s it.  You are standing on the only patch of earth and surrounded by air.  Bottomless air.  For those of you who are acrophobic, like I am, it can be terrifying.  Yet, you know what?  My fear of heights is lessening.  Just another proof that we should face those fears and prove them false.

So how do you plan your dream life, set into action all those goal-setting articles and self-help DVDs you’ve read and listened to?  You already know the basic steps to becoming what you know you were born to do—which is anything that lights you up, that has you animated, that you could talk about nonstop, whatever “that” is should be what you do for a career.

For someone wanting to teach at the university level, you know you will need a Master’s degree.  To get that you need a Bachelor’s first, and for that you will probably need to graduate high school (or get a GED or credit through home schooling, etc.).  For that example, I worked backward and found three milestones.  You plan with what you know.  You revise as needed, as you go along.

For me, being an author, I can tell you a little more about that career as I am living it.   I needed to write at least one book.  I needed to sell some of them.  But the overall reality is the same.  You ask yourself, What should I do now?  What one step would get me nearer to living my ultimate career? 

If you step out in faith, taking the one and only forward-moving action that you see at that nanosecond, I believe another step will be revealed to you.  I love that quote that says, paraphrased here, the teacher/mentor appears when the student is ready.  Meaning you made the decision.  You WILL go after that dream career.  Or the quote that reminds us that the Universe will supply us with all manner of goodies once our foot lands in the unknown.  I trust in a God that rewards people who follow their heart's desire, make a decision and forge ahead to make a better world one person at a time, starting with themselves.

So step out there.  It is not so scary after all.  And the benefits . . . well, they will have you smiling.  All day long.