Tag: success

Failure is not the end of your story, its just a chapter in your book

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Dear Readers,
I come to you today to talk about the journey, not the destination. I think its super easy to say, hey, I did it.. or we did it.. and bask in the glow of success never giving a though to the sacrifices and setbacks you experience among the way. For my purposes, I am going to tell you about a setback we are having right now in our journey to debt freedom.
We had projected by the end of November which is exciting and then Tuesday we found out that the car we are paying off (Murphys Law has a sense of humor) needs some repairs so the money we have been using to pay off the debt at an accelerated rate now gets to go to car repairs so its disappointing. In fact, I was trying really hard to not get excited about the debt free date at the end of November because I kept waiting for something to screw us up. Guess what, I was right. I HATE that I was right. Its certainly not the end of the world, but its worth mentioning because it is part of the journey. . (looking forward to that post when we ARE DEBT FREE) because its still coming, just slightly delayed.
In my career as an actress, I have failed many more times than I have succeeded.
I have auditioned many more times than I have “gotten the part”. As the speaker and writer Jon Acuff says, “Its about making reps”- or repetitions
Showing up to do the work, over and over, makes you READY for when they (the people casting) say YES. At the end of the day, when you get that goal, you don’t focus so much on what rejection has come before, you are so excited that you have won.
I also hurt my back in May and have not been able to keep training for the half marathon I wanted to do in January 2016, but I am focusing on the fact that I am now working my way back up to a 10K. Recently I slow jogged a 5K so 10K can’t be far behind. I am looking forward to the chapter (many months away) that I get to write about that success. Stay tuned, for more on that.
So put another way, if you fail, its not the end, its just a chapter in your book.
I love this quote from Michael Jordan who is undeniably a success story. MichaelJordan
Think about it…..

IF you have never failed, you have never tried

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Famous Failures- It’s easy to say, wow, look at Michael Jordan he is very famous.. but what was he before he was famous? A failure, so is everyone else who is in this video. Viewed in that light, I can’t wait for my next failure, know why? It’s getting me closer to my next success!

Make a difference. Right where you are…

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Friends, I have to tell you I am extremely passionate about making a difference and helping others realize their dreams and if you are reading this, chances are you are one of three types of people.

1. Friend of mine who reads my blog because you have been asked to. (thanks!)

2. Someone who I gave a card to and you are checking out the blog address on the back (thanks)

3. Someone who is searching for “motivation and advice” and so my blog comes up in your search as something you should read (thanks!)

For whatever reason, you have been directed to my blog, my podium and soapbox for all things I am passionate about and the list is legion.

However, back to you, my gentle reader who is the reason I write. I was recently lucky enough to be exposed to a wonderful podcast all about making a difference right where you are which I think is a wonderful notion. I can’t speak for anyone else but I can tell you I often say to myself, “well, when I am (speaking professionally) (have more experience) (have my masters) (have my new position) (FILL IN THE BLANK with your perfect state of being) I will have such wonderful things to say on that topic and I can’t wait to help people” well the truth is I have everything I need to help people (if they need it) right now. All I have to do is listen and make myself available to be there for someone who needs help. It sounds simple because it is.

The truth is, that you have opportunities every day to help people. I am not talking about money, but occasionally 20.00 can make a real difference to someone struggling. You can offer to spend time reading to someone who can’t read, you can listen to someone who desperately needs to talk, you can just sit there silently and smile as they vent because that might be what they need.

You can be there in many ways for other people, all you have to do is look around. I have recently started asking successful people their best practices for how they got there and the thing that continues to come up is a generous spirit and a loving heart.

Here is the podcast from my friend, Tammy Helfrich who has inspired many people and continues to do so daily. She has interviews with people like Jon Acuff and many others.

http://www.tammyhelfrich.com/2013/07/01/right-where-you-are-introduction-podcast-episode-01/

I leave you with this question. Are you waiting to help people? Why?

Rewriting is the best Writing

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I don’t claim to be a professional writer, but I do enjoy it and I often turn my blogs into speeches which have been very successful. As an actor, I am always looking for wonderful dialogue to say on stage. I am deeply enamored with people who write well and one such writer is Aaron Sorkin. You may know him from a series called, “The West Wing” or “Sports Night” or more recently “Newsroom”. I love the way he writes. It is evocative of the 1940s which is a favourite era of mine characterized by “fast pace” and “rat a tat” ala “His Girl Friday” and “The Philadephia Story”. I love it so much that I was working on a monologue for an audition and in working on it, I wanted to be sure I had all the words right so I went hunting online for the script of the piece I was looking for in “Sports Night” (admittedly being lazy because I didn’t want to have to listen, pause and type) but I found the original uncut script, and while its not bad writing, it has a lot of extraneous words and character choices that serve to diminish the strong character profile as built by Felicity Huffman as Dana Whittaker.. but I digress. The point of this, is that may have been a first draft or a second, but the words that ended up on screen as said by the actor were so strong and concise and I think that is a missed lesson by writers because their “baby” is perfect and they toiled over it, and sweated over it and shed blood to create those stories and characters, but often it takes an outside influence or some distance to see how much better it can be by tweaking the original brilliant concept.

So what’s my takeaway from this? If a wonderful writer, like Aaron Sorkin, has less than majestic phraseology and he has issues getting it “right” the first time, what are you so worried about? If you want to write, get started today! If its bad, it will get better. If you are already a writer, great, keep writing!

This book that I have linked to below is all about abandoning your fear and “STARTING” to go after your dreams. Check it out!

http://www.thestartbook.com/?ectid=ja.lt.jm8

What are you waiting for?

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What are you waiting for?

Hello dear readers!

I want to tell you today that it’s never too late.

Colonel Sanders fried his first chicken at 67.

Leonardo Da Vinci painted a masterpiece at 78.

Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman nominee for president at 31.

Elizabeth Blackwell started a hospital for Women and Children when she was 53.

Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses sold her first painting when she was 78.

Keep in mind, you don’t hear stories about all the failures and false starts, all you know about is the finish line. The road there is largely winding and full of pitfalls, mistakes, and extremely hard work, but you never get the end result of Awesome if you never started at all, right?

It’s time to START. This link is for a website all about being Awesome and the road map to get there. It’s written by a guy who is married and has two kids and had a dream to help other people.

My dream is to help him help other people so I am linking this to my blog to get the word out about his book to help as many people as possible access their inner Awesome.

I don’t know about you, but I think the world could stand to be just a little more awesome!

What are you waiting for?

You are everything you need to be.

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I heard someone say recently, “I will be so much better when I have been in school longer, and know more and have read more” and it really made me stop and think. How many of us have stopped ourselves doing something because we are “not an expert”? I read recently it takes 10,000 hours to get to be an expert at something. That’s a really big number, and not a little overwhelming. Not being a math major, I decided to break it down- For instance, it would take 10 years of practicing 3 hours a day to become a master in your subject. It would take approximately 5 years of full-time employment to become proficient in your field. Simply work out how many hours you have already achieved and calculate how many more you need to clock up before you reach 10000.

But what if its not your job you want to have mastery at? Maybe you want to learn to cook, or change a tire or just become more proficient in something you are already well schooled in.

Don’t despair, you don’t have to spend 10,000 hours to be Awesome. What you need to do is decide right now to do your absolute best at whatever you decide to do and commit to learning along the way, be open to the mistakes you are going to make. Read that again, I said the mistakes you are going to make. You have permission to fail. It’s a natural progression to greatness to fail. Or to put it another way, “Failure is the Grandfather of Success”

Once your mindset changes, everything on
the outside will change along with it.
―Steve Maraboli

 

You are all you need to be right now. Don’t wish to be something you are not. Strive to be all you can be and more, but don’t compare Your apple to someone else’s orange or your beginning to someone else’s middle.

The next time you are inclined to say I can’t or I don’t know how, think about a time when you didn’t know how to ride a bicycle, or how to change a tire, or how to cook a chicken. I got in touch with people who knew how to do it, and asked for help, or watched them do it, and then figured out the best way for me to do it. Maybe not the fastest, maybe not the “expert” way but how I felt comfortable. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to try new things, some of the most important learning experiences I have had come from someone saying, “Do this” and not giving instruction but trusting I knew how to do it.

I use these examples because for me there was a time, I didn’t know how to do all of those things, but now through the help of my husband and my friends, now I know. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or admit that there is something you do not know, for there is power in not knowing that allows for knowledge to come to you.

What can you learn today?