Why I Believe In Procrastinating

/0 Comments/in , /by

This may make me unpopular, but it has to be said… I believe in procrastinating. I believe in waiting ’til the last minute to do things.

I used to fight it and tell myself that I shouldn’t be that way. I tried to change it. Tried to fix myself and change my ways and do things ahead of time.

In fact, I spent years of my life trying to overcome procrastination. I even had a blog dedicated to it!

But it never really worked for me.

And if I did do things ahead of time, it just made me feel anxious and caused me to be much more of a perfectionist. When I was doing things right on deadline, I felt in flow and like the words and the magic and the ideas were just pouring out of me, like I was channeling something beyond me.

So then I asked myself… what if this is just who I am? What if this is just my process and how I do things? What if I’m trying to fight being me, instead of just owning who I am: a purposeful procrastinator.

I’m a trained journalist and spent many years working on deadline for newspapers, magazines and online publications. I’m programmed to be a badass right at the last minute.

And while I may not always be physically working on the project or whatever I need to do, I’m always working on it in my head and I’m always marinating on it in my subconscious.

If I try to force it out before its ready, it just doesn’t work. Getting things done at the last minute is when I do my most badass work.

Something I’ve really been working on lately is totally trusting in the timing of my life. And rather than thinking I should be further along than I am right now or that I need to make things happen faster or that I shouldn’t procrastinate like I do, I just accept the flow.

What usually happens for me is I have a bit of life chaos or “stuck” moments where things feel like they’re falling apart, and then immediately after I have several breakthroughs and miracles and Divine Downloads happen for me all at once. I kinda like it, even though it’s not what’s considered “normal.”

We’ve been programmed to think that things need to happen faster and now, now, now. But here’s the thing–wanting something to happen FAST or RIGHT NOW is actually a product of several things:

1. Not trusting that what you want will actually happen for you
2. Not believing enough in yourself to know in your heart of hearts you will get there
3. Having a limiting belief that it’s possible to miss your chance

If you don’t trust that you will eventually get what you want, you’ll constantly be trying to force things and make things happen faster, out of fear of never getting there.

If you don’t believe enough in yourself and in your ability to create your reality and live your dream life, you’ll constantly be pushing and grinding and working your ass off, out of fear of never getting there.

And if you actually believe that it’s possible to miss your chance, you will miss it, out of fear of never getting there.

Fear actually holds you back from getting what you want. It stops you from feeling high vibe and from having the kind of energy required to make your dreams happen.

It attracts more things for you to be afraid of.

When you fully believe in yourself and trust in the timing of your life, you don’t have to worry about never getting there and you don’t have to push, push, push ’til you burn out or decide to retire or give up. You can sit back, relax and do your thing, fully knowing that you will get there.

Because you have to get there. It’s inevitable. That’s what happens when you’re consistent and you take daily action from where you want to be.

Giving up is what stops you from getting there. Not doing the work is what stops you. Not believing in yourself or having limiting beliefs that hold you back is what stops you.

YOU are what stops you.

I don’t give myself a hard time about my procrastination anymore because I know now that’s just how I roll. I know that I need to procrastinate to do my best work and not get caught up in perfectionism (and I’m a Virgo–it’s in my nature to be a perfectionist).

And I know it’s not an excuse because I always get things done and I always do what I say I’m going to.

It might take me ’til the absolute last minute available, but it always gets done, and I trust that whatever comes out is exactly what was meant to and that it wouldn’t have come out any better if I’d done it ahead of time.

So if you’re like me and you procrastinate like a mofo but always with purpose and your work, your projects, your daily actions always get done and you always do what you say you’re going to, there’s no reason to give yourself a hard time about your procrastinating behaviors. (If, on the other hand, you procrastinate like a mofo and you never get things done, constantly miss deadlines and never do what you say you’re going to, you’re not procrastinating with purpose, you’re just straight-up sticking your head in the sand in avoidance. BIG difference.)

Procrastination used to stress me out. It used to give me anxiety and I used to worry that I wouldn’t get things done. But after years and years of living with this process and seeing it work over and over again, I no longer worry.

I trust. Fully. In myself and in the Universe. I trust in the timing of my life and in my ability to always get things done and do a damn good job in the process.

‘Cause at the end of the day, you’ve gotta do you.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

 

P.S. Doors to the Bestselling Author Mastermind are re-opening later this week!!! And I just created a brand-new workshop that I’ll be revealing soon, which BAM members get for FREE. So much awesomeness is about to unfold!! I can’t wait to welcome in the new members. Stay tuned…

Are Your Goals Too Big For Your Beliefs?

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

So last night I was checking in on my income for the month and I discovered that I’m only $338 away from my goal of making $10k CASH!!!! And I have ZERO doubt in my mind that I will receive the rest of it. It’s DONE.

This is a goal I’ve had since December 2014, and it took me two-and-a-half YEARS to manifest it.

Why?

Because I had three major problems going on:

1) I wasn’t being consistent with my daily mindset practice at first.

I’d been doing Morning Pages daily since I learned about them in 2007. But at the end of 2014 I started to intentionally focus on doing mindset work.

But I wasn’t consistent with it until February 2016 when I started working with my soulmate mentor, a woman who is me on STEROIDS!!!

And my mindset practice has made ALL the difference for me. So if you look at the achievement of this goal of making $10k CASH in a 30-day period, it really took me one year and four months to achieve it. Inconsistency won’t help you achieve a goal.

But there’s another reason it took that long.

2) I was confusing my mind

I was doing my daily mindset work every single day and writing my reality and doing my journaling. But I was writing that “I make $10k a month” while also writing that “I am a multi-millionaire,” which is my BIG goal.

So my mind was getting confused, because those two phrases kinda negate each other. If I was a multi-millionaire, I would be making a hell of a lot more than $10k a month!!

I asked my mentor about this and she said, never write down an intention that you can’t emotionally connect to.

So I started to write “I make $10k a month” and then changed the other to “I am on my way to becoming a multi-millionaire.” Much more believable for me.

And a few weeks after making that tweak, here I am.

Technically you could say I had a $15k month because I made $10k cash but half of that came from a $10k sale of a writing project where I get half up front and half when it’s done. But I digress…

Anyhoo–the reason it took as long as it did was also about one more thing. And it’s the BIGGEST factor, so it’s important that I mention it.

3) My goal was bigger than my beliefs

In December 2014 I didn’t believe I could make $10k cash in one month. I was only making like $20k-25k a year in my biz back then so it was way too big of a leap for me to think I could make half of that in only 30 days.

But I WANTED to believe it.

And so I kept intending it and staying focused on it as much as I could. Until FINALLY I believed it was possible for ME.

Once that happened it was just tweaking some of the wording in my intentions and BOOM. My first $10k cash month. #ThankYou #MorePlease

Belief is EVERYTHING! Because your beliefs create your thoughts and your thoughts determine the actions you take (or don’t take).

And if your current goals are TOO big for your beliefs, the best thing you can do is scale down the goal so that it still stretches you, but also so that it’s believable to you.

If it’s not believable then you won’t emotionally connect to it. You HAVE TO be emotionally connected to a goal to make it happen.

Your emotions and feelings create your vibration and your vibration determines what you achieve or not.

And what creates your feelings? Your beliefs and thoughts.

Which, as always, means YOU’RE in control.

You can absolutely have ANYTHING you dream of and all on your terms, but you have to do the work to get it.

And by the work, I mostly mean the inner work. The outer work is just an extension of who you are and how you feel inside.

Dream life of bust,

 

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

 

I Live In A Magical Writer World… Care To Join Me?

/0 Comments/in , , /by

There are two main types of writers: the ones who buy into the lack thinking and limitation spewed by the writing industry and many of the writers and authors in it, and the ones who know you create your own reality.

Which one are you?

I admit, there was a point in my life where I did buy into the BS beliefs of the writing industry, like it’s hard to be successful or you can’t make a living from your books unless you’re traditionally published or writers are broke/poor. I used to believe the starving artist mentality.

But then I discovered that’s all it is: a mentality. A mindset. A WAY OF THINKING.

And I didn’t like it one bit.

Because deep down I didn’t really believe it. I believed it on a surface level, because that’s what I thought all writers believed.

Until I started to meet authors who were making thousands of dollars a month from their books and authors who make $100k+ a year from their books and writers who got an agent the first time they pitched one and writers who got signed with a NYC publisher their first time around.

And I realized that it really is true: you create your own reality.

YOU get to decide what you achieve, how successful you are and whether or not your writing dreams come to life. YOU. No one else.

There are no limitations except the ones you put on yourself. Period.

I read a survey the other day of authors who make $100k a year from their books, and this was one of my favorite quotes from it:

“Never give up! I was told I could never make it, but I proved everyone wrong. I was rejected by one 300 agents and publishers. And it was a blessing in disguise!!! I now run my own ship and make my own rules. I keep 70% of my earnings! Getting shot down by publishers was the BEST thing to ever happen in my entire life! I wish I could give them a hug! They did me a huge favor and I found indie publishing.”

[The survey was pretty inspiring and had some eye-opening results… check it out here: https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/2017/06/07/100k-author/]

This survey–and all the authors who took it–are living proof that you CAN make a living from your books. There are many, many authors out there doing it.

You can do anything. You can be anything. You can create anything. And it can all be on your terms.

That’s the life I’m committed to living–a life that’s all on my terms. Where I get to decide, I get to choose and I get to say what’s true for me.

I believe that I can have it all and do it all… everything I dream of.

And you can too.

There’s no difference between me and you. I’m just a little further along than you are.

So I invite you to STOP. Stop buying into the BS lack thinking and limitations the writing industry and other writers try to place on you. Stop believing that it has to be hard (yes, you have to work hard, but it doesn’t have to feel hard). Stop getting caught up in other writers and authors limited beliefs around what’s possible (or not) for them.

Here’s the truth… if you want to live an extraordinary life where all of your dreams come true and everything is on your terms, you have to give up the notion that you will ever be able to be “normal” or fit in with most other writers.

You won’t and you can’t.

Because normal writers don’t live extraordinary lives. Normal writers buy into lack thinking and limitation. Normal writers email me to say things like, “who are you to charge $10k to ghostwrite a novel?”

Normal writers DO NOT GET IT.

But writers who think different do. And there are lots of these writers and authors out there.

They’re the ones actually hitting ‘publish’ and actually making money from their books and actually pushing the limits of what they believe is possible.

Big dreamers are not normal. Big dreamers are extraordinary. Big dreamers are willing to do the work and willing to risk it all for what they really want.

Big dreamers go all in on their dreams and they refuse to give up. Ever.

Big dreamers fully live my mantra, Dream Life Or Bust.

I’m damn proud to be a big dreamer, to not be normal and not think like most other people out there. Damn proud. Because I love my life and I love being me.

I live in a magical writer world where I get paid good money for my words and sell lots of books and believe and know that I can achieve everything that I decide I will and then act on.

Want to join me?

It’s all up to you.

You get to decide.

You get to choose which writer world you live in: the one with lack and limitation, or the one with unlimited abundance and possibility. Because whichever you choose is what will be.

I know you’re scared. I know all the BS you’ve heard your whole life about what it means to be creative or to be a writer. I know you worry that you won’t be able to pull it off.

But you will. You just have to choose.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. Are you ready to create YOUR magical writer world? Then be sure to join us for Manifest Your Writing Dreams to Life–30 days that will totally shake up your ways of thinking and being.

This isn’t for the faint of heart, but it is for multi-passionate writers who want more.

Is that you? If it is, you don’t want to miss this!!

>> Details and sign up here: www.jenniferblanchard.net/manifest

How To Become The Next-Level Version Of You

/0 Comments/in , /by

Yesterday morning I woke up to discover that somehow a glass of iced tea had been spilled on the table where my MacBook Pro was and no one thought to look underneath it when they cleaned it up, so my poor MacBook sat in a pool of liquid all night long. Needless to say, when I tried to use it, the screen was black and I couldn’t tell if it was on or off… it just wasn’t working.

This is when most people would FREAK the fuck out. And I even did for a minute too. My first thought was, “Great, I now own a $2,000 brick.”

But then I realized this was just a test from the Universe.

Which meant my next choices and actions were super important. I could either react and make choices based on who I used to be or am currently… meaning freak out, worry, yell, get mad, lose my cool and turn the whole situation into something bigger than it really was.

Or I could act like the 2.0 (aka: next-level) version of myself–the author and business owner I want to be–and I could stay cool and realize that it was time to put my actions where my belief is.

Because I’m always talking about acting as if what you want is already yours. And this was a test from the Universe, challenging me to step into the identity of the 2.0 me.

The business owner and author I want to be makes $50,000+ a month and doesn’t worry about money. Ever.

So if I want to be that person and not keep being the 1.0 version of me, I had to make decisions about what actions to take AS THAT PERSON and not as who I am right now.

The normal, 1.0 action would’ve been to take the computer to a repair place and then wait it out, using my old-ass Dell laptop until I heard back from the shop (that’s exactly what I did last time liquid got spilled on my MacBook Pro). But I realized taking those actions would just continue to hold me in lack thinking and keep me stuck as the 1.0 version of me.

So I asked myself, “what would the $50k a month version of me do?”

My first instinct was to find a computer repair place to take my MacBook Pro, and then go to the Apple store to buy a new MacBook. Because that’s what the $50k a month version of me would do.

Someone who makes $50k a month, every month, doesn’t worry or stress out about money. And they sure as hell don’t drop their computer off at the repair shop and then wait around to see if it’s OK.

They drop it off and go buy a new one. And if the old one gets fixed–great! Now they’ll have two.

I knew that’s exactly what I had to do if I wanted to act as if and show the Universe that I truly am ready to up-level my thinking and my income. It was the only option.

So I dropped my MacBook Pro off at the repair shop. Then I put on my ‘Pump Me Up’ playlist of songs that make me feel super high vibe and drove to the Apple Store to buy a MacBook Air. Paid in full, with cash.

Yes, it was scary to do this. Acting as if sometimes is (OK, a lot of the time it is). Because it requires you to have faith in the unknown and to trust fully that if you take the actions that the up-leveled 2.0 version of you would take that it will come back to you.

And I don’t know about you, but I’m beyond ready to be the 2.0 version of me and along with it, make the income and impact that I dream of making. I’m beyond fed up with lack mentality and am fully ready to bust through to the other side. My actions support that desire.

Here’s the problem that most people have: they think it works the other way around.

Most people think that in order to be the 2.0 version of themselves, they have to sit around waiting for the money and opportunities and success to show up first, so then they can step into the next-level version of themselves.

But it doesn’t work like that.

From my experience and everything I know and have learned about creating your dream life and having everything you want, it requires you to leap… before the net appears. If you keep waiting for the net, you’ll stand on the cliff forever.

It’s in taking the actions in faith that causes the net to appear.

Most people don’t operate that way. And that’s why most people don’t have and won’t ever have all that they want and dream of.

Dreams and achievements require risk. They require pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. They require you to commit to being the 2.0 version of yourself–in whatever way you can–right now.

Otherwise the things you dream of and want for your life will always be “one day” or in the future, but they will never be here and now. They can’t be, because that’s not how it works.

Most people have to see it to believe it, but really you must believe it before you will ever see it. Period. Belief comes first.

And this is why most people live mediocre lives that don’t at all fulfill them or make them happy. Because they’re always waiting.

Until they win the lotto. Until they save up the cash. Until they get all their ducks in a row. Until they feel ready. Until, until, until…

It’s fine if that’s how you want to live your life, waiting “until.” Just know that you’ll be waiting for a long time. Maybe even forever.

But if you want to create your dream life right now and achieve your writing goals and whatever else you want, you can’t wait until. You must take action, every single day, as the 2.0 version of you.

Sometimes that means sitting your ass in a chair every day and doing the writing. Sometimes it means pushing ‘publish’ on that book you’ve been revising forever. Sometimes it means making an investment in something, even when you have no idea how you’ll pay for it.

And sometimes it means ponying up $1,027 cash to buy a new MacBook Air.

The cool part of all of this is, the more you do this, the more you take action and make decisions as the 2.0 version of you, the more money, opportunities and success will show up for you. And it will happen faster and faster the more you do.

Your results will always be in direct proportion to your faith in the unknown and your willingness to jump off the cliff before you can see the net.

When I quit my $70k a year day job in 2012, I had NO CLUE what I’d do or how I’d make money. But I jumped anyhow.

When my husband and I needed to take an unexpected trip from New York to Texas for his grandpa’s funeral, we had no idea how we’d pay for it, but we packed up our stuff, fixed our car and drove to Texas anyhow.

And it’s in doing actions like this and taking risks and having faith that the most magical things that have ever happened to me showed up.

I put in my two-weeks notice at my day job and a few days later I discovered I had $12k built up in my 401(k) that I could take a lump sum of to help me survive until I found a way to make money again. Two weeks later, I got a $1,200 a month freelance project and it grew from there to where I am now.

My husband and I made the decision that we were going to Texas for the funeral, so we packed our bags, fixed our car and canceled all our appointments for the week. A few hours later $2,500 cash showed up unexpectedly in my PayPal account from someone who decided to get off the fence and jump into working with me on their novel.

And I fully 100% believe that NONE of that would’ve happened if I hadn’t first made the decision to act as if I was already the 2.0 version of me and trust that by doing so, it would all work out.

Isn’t it time you started to BE the 2.0 version of you?

Before you’re ready. Before you can afford to. Before it’s convenient.

BEFORE.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

 

The Journaling Tweak That Helped Me Manifest A $10K Writing Project

/0 Comments/in , , /by

So I’m always telling you guys about my daily mindset practice that I do, which includes freestyle writing and then doing a journaling exercise called “write your reality” where you write intentional statements using “I” and written in the present or past tense. (The final part of the practice includes visualizing what you want as if it’s already done.)

For a while now I’ve been writing down that “I make $10k a month,” because that is my next big income goal. But I was also writing that “I am a multi-millionaire,” because that is my overall income goal for my writing business.

And nothing was happening.

So I asked my mentor if I was confusing my mind by writing that I make $10k while also saying I’m a multi-millionaire, because the two statements kind of negate each other.

Her response was spot-on and also the thing that pushed me through feeling ‘stuck’ with my manifesting.

She said…

You should never write down an intention unless you have an emotional connection to it, or you should change the wording until you feel an emotional connection to it.

BOOM!!

Not only was I negating myself by saying I make $10k a month but also that I’m a multi-millionaire (because, duh! The numbers do not add up!). But I also had no emotional connection to being a multi-millionaire because I’ve never done it or even come close. It’s too big for me to believe right now.

So I kept my “I make $10k a month” intention and started writing “I am on my way to becoming a multi-millionaire” instead. And not even three weeks later… my very first $10k writing project landed in my lap.

I’ll be ghostwriting a novel for one of my clients, something I hadn’t ever really considered doing and yet ever since I said yes the signs of alignment are EVERYWHERE! Including the invoice number I sent for the first payment, which was #00111!!

It’s amazing how such a simple tweak can change everything.

It blows my mind, really. But that’s the power of words and of choosing the right words, the words that have an emotional connection for you.

Now, of course, you have to believe what you’re intending. Which is why you’ve gotta mess with the wording until it feels believable for you and you can feel it in your soul… even if it hasn’t physically manifested yet.

So don’t start yourself out writing things that are so totally unbelievable for you that you’ll never be able to accept them as true. Start with something that’s slightly outside your comfort zone but that you still believe is possible for you.

A year ago I couldn’t have manifested a writing project that paid $10k because I didn’t have the capacity to receive it. It was too much money for me to believe it was possible for me.

But a year later, I’ve done enough journaling and mindset work and manifesting to finally believe that, of course, it’s not only possible to make $10k a month, but that it’s possible for me.

Incremental up-levels. Baby steps. That’s how you get your mind to believe bigger and better things. And as soon as you believe it, the physical manifestation of it won’t be far behind.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. There’s still time to join us for the Writing Habit Revamp: 21 Days of Discipline, Habit-Building, Support and Accountability to Get Your Butt In A Chair and Words On the Page. We start Monday June 12!

And because writing habits are a foundational part of being a successful writer and author, I’m PAYING YOU to join us… with $394 worth of Bonuses, including my 7-part story planning and development eCourse, Novel University (a $297 value) AND the How To Write A Story Synopsis Training (a $97 value).

>> Details and sign up here: www.jenniferblanchard.net/writinghabitrevamp

This Is Why You Need Like-Minded Friends That You Connect With Regularly

/0 Comments/in /by

Several months ago, my good friend, Mary DeRosa Hughes, and I decided to be each other’s accountability buddies. It totally made sense–we’re both writers and authors, we both have big dreams that we’re taking action on daily, and we both think very similarly.

Most importantly, she gets me. She gets the way I think and she gets the whole law of attraction thing. She’s one of the few people in my life I can go to and say the most outrageous things, like, “I’m gonna get my novel turned into a movie on the big-screen and famous actors will play my characters and I’ll make a cameo” and she won’t even blink an eye. She’ll just say, “Of course you will! You always do what you say you will.”

She agrees with me. She believes with me. And she pushes me to go bigger and think differently. She’s by far the best accountability buddy I’ve ever had.

And one thing we’ve recently started to do together is co-create our realities.

You probably know that you create your own reality, but did you know that you can also co-create a reality with someone else? You totally can!

You just have to be on the same page and you have to think the same.

Something that Mary and I co-created–unintentionally at first, but over time we began to intentionally reinforce it–is that our conversations make us money. Any time we have a phone call or text each other, one of us gets a Divine Download or inspired action that ends up resulting in money for one or both of us.

The more we say this to each other, the more we continue to reinforce it. Our conversations make us money.

This became a belief that we now both share, so when it happens, it doesn’t at all surprise us. In fact, it’s now totally normal for us to get inspired during our conversations and have that turn into $$$.

It happened again the other day, with something I’d been thinking about, but hadn’t acted on yet.

Mary and I were doing our Monday check in call where we share how things were going and what we’re currently working on that we need support with. And as she shared what’s been going on for her, it hit me: I need to do a workshop for writers on how to manifest.

And as we talked back and forth about it and swapped stories of times when we’d experienced similar things in our lives, I literally had the entire outline for the workshop come to me. So I wrote it all down as we were talking.

At the end of our call, I said to her, “it really is true that our conversations make us money. I just came up with a killer outline for a manifestation workshop I’ve been wanting to do.”

She laughed and said, of course! Because that is a belief that the two of us co-created. So of course that’s what is now true for us.

Belief is EVERYTHING when it comes to creating your reality and manifesting whatever it is you want in your life. And while it does take time to reprogram your beliefs and create new ones that support you in what you want to achieve in your life, if you just keep repeating the new belief(s) over and over again, eventually it will become true and you will see evidence of it in your reality.

Because a belief is just a thought you keep thinking.

So over the last few months as Mary and I have done our weekly check in calls and/or email check ins and texting each other throughout the day, we’ve managed to co-create a belief that our conversations make us money. And now it’s true.

I’m gonna be launching a manifestation workshop for writers very, very soon (hint: it’s launching later this week!!). And that workshop came directly from my conversation with Mary.

If you don’t already have a like-minded accountability buddy who you check in with on a regular basis, I highly recommend you get one. You don’t have to co-create beliefs like, our conversations make us money, but you could.

I mean, why the hell not, right?! But regardless of what you decide to create, I hope you’ll take on the challenge of finding yourself an accountability buddy, one who gets you and who wants similar things to you and who thinks like you do.

There’s nothing better in the world than to be supported by someone who gets it.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. YES! It’s true! I actually am doing a manifestation workshop specifically for writers. I’ve thought about this for a loooonnnngggg time now. Probably longer than I should have. And now I’m gonna act on it. If you’re interested in learning how to manifest your writing goals and dreams and whatever the fuck else you want, stay tuned…

This Is What Discipline Looks Like

/0 Comments/in , /by

You want to achieve something; to write a first draft; to publish your novel; to put words on the page every day. You know what you want. It’s clear in your mind and has been for some time now.

You figure out what actions it will take to start making some progress on said achievement. You write them down and make a to-do list.

You commit to doing the work.

Then you sit down in front of your computer, open a blank document or Scrivener file and get started. You may have to start from scratch, building something brand new that’s still living in your head. Or you may be able to rework something you wrote previously.

You work for about 20 minutes and then go take a quick break before coming back for another session.

The next day, you do the exact same thing.

The day after, the same.

And the day after…

And the day after…

And the day after…

Then you might have some Resistance pop up and try to pull you away from the page. But you fight it and get there anyhow.

Same thing happens the next day, and words still get on the page.

Then you have a really, really rough morning. You’re not feeling great, and your dog is driving you nuts and you’re kind of tired. All you want to do is curl back up in bed.

But instead you write your daily word count.

The next day you’re feeling like your old self again and you bang out an hour’s worth of words without even realizing it.

The next few days are tougher, because you have family in town visiting and they’re pulling your attention away. The Resistance is strong. Stronger than ever maybe. And you’ve done so well the last couple weeks, there’s no reason you can’t give yourself a break.

But just for today.

Except now the words pull at you, beckoning you to the page with their magnetism. You can’t not write. So you get some words down on the page before heading to lunch with the family.

After they’re gone, it becomes harder to get back on track because you’ve let yourself be looser with your daily writing while they were in town.

But you still sit down at the page anyhow.

You have no idea what you’re going to write. The words won’t come. But you continue to sit there. You read something inspirational or you do a writing prompt, just to jump-start your creative juices.

And then the words bubble up and spill out. Maybe faster than they ever have before… like they’ve been built up and held back by a dam that is now gone.

And you feel good. Better than ever, maybe.

You feel like a real writer.

You smile as you step away from your laptop, closing the lid. This was a good day.

And tomorrow, the battle starts again…

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. Have you ever heard of the Law of Attraction? The idea that you can attract into your life whatever you think about and take action on? What if you really can have whatever you dream of having? What if you believed it was all within reach?

What if I told you that you can use this same law to get whatever you want in your writing life? (Hint: you can.) Stay tuned…

The Truth About Being A Pro Writer

/0 Comments/in , /by

I almost didn’t write this post today. ‘Cause I didn’t feel like it. I had no idea what to write. I didn’t want to be sitting here in front of my computer staring at a blank page.

So I procrastinated. I made breakfast and took a shower. Two things I rarely do until I’ve already finished my writing for the day.

Then I played with the dog, hoping that an idea would hit me and I’d be off and writing. Nope.

Then I read through a few posts from the most inspiring people I follow. Still, nothing.

Then I sat here, again, in front of a blank page, still not knowing what to write. And nothing came.

Until I realized, sometimes, that’s just how it is.

Sometimes, you don’t have anything to say. Sometimes you’re not inspired. Sometimes you don’t feel like doing or don’t want to do it.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t show up. Because it’s in the showing up that the words finally come.

Maybe not right away. Maybe not when you want them to. Maybe not even during the time you’ve specifically set aside to do your writing.

But if you just show up and keep showing up, they will come. It’s inevitable. At some point, words just come through.

Because that’s how it works.

Showing up is the prerequisite for inspiration. Showing up over and over and over again.

And if you show up and it doesn’t come out right away, that doesn’t mean you call it a day. It might mean you need to do something else for a little while or you need to read something inspiring or take a walk around the block.

But that doesn’t mean you stop trying.

That’s a problem a lot of writers have. They get started on something–a blog, a short story, a novel–and then when they get stuck, they just stop showing up. They start making a million excuses for why they can’t write right now or are too busy or don’t have any ideas or aren’t inspired.

And then they buy into those excuses, call them “reasons” and live their life avoiding the one thing they truly want to be doing.

I admit, it’s not at all easy to have discipline and force yourself to sit your ass in a chair and do the writing. It’s hard. And some days it’s really, really, REALLY hard.

But a pro writer just keeps showing up.

That’s one of the biggest differences between a pro writer and a wannabe. A pro knows that showing up is the most important thing. A pro will show up, even when they’re not inspired. Even when they don’t feel like it. Even when they have nothing to say and all the words they’re writing are coming out like garbage.

A wannabe writer will let lack of inspiration or not feeling like it stop them. A pro never will.

If you wanna be a pro writer and eventually a pro author, the first thing you must commit to is showing up every single day. Sitting at your computer in front of a blank page with a blinking cursor and just getting down to work.

Over and over and over again.

Many days will be great. Sometimes the words will flow. Sometimes you’ll be so inspired the words literally shoot out of you like you’re having target practice.

Bullseye.

Other days will SUCK. Sometimes the words will be so stuck it’s like you have to pull them out one-by-one, a little at a time, and blood really will appear on your forehead.

Sometimes they won’t come out at all and you’ll stare at a blank screen before taking a break and then coming back for more.

But you always have to come back for more.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. Have you heard that I’m PAYING YOU to join my upcoming Writing Habits Revamp workshop? That’s right! Because writing habits are the FOUNDATION of creating success, I want as many writers as possible in on this thing.

So I’m giving you $394 worth of Bonuses when you join us. Doors close on Sunday June 11 at 11:59 p.m. CDT.

>> Details and sign up here: www.jenniferblanchard.net/landing/writinghabitrevamp

Figure Out Where You Are Disciplined And Use That In Your Writing Life

/0 Comments/in , /by

When it comes to being successful as a writer and author, it all really comes down to three things:

1. Habits
2. Discipline
3. Consistency

That’s the secret. That’s what every successful writer and author out there has mastered. They’ve made writing a daily habit, they’ve become disciplined about it and they’ve done it consistently enough to have made major progress.

Success is really simple when you break it all down. And while each author’s success will have been achieved through different actions and activities, the core of their success always comes down to habits, discipline and consistency.

The problem is most writers aren’t very habitual or consistent and they often lack discpline for doing what really matters and what will really move them forward on their projects. Maybe you can relate?

I used to relate to that. Back years ago, I had zero discpline or habit when it came to my writing. And don’t even get me started on being consistent. Back then, the only consistency I had was my inconsistency.

But then I started to think about the things that I do have habit, discpline and consistency around. ‘Cause the truth is, we all have habits, discpline and consistency with some stuff.

Just not always the thing we want to have it around.

For example, when I was younger, I used to get tons and tons of cavities. I’m talking 5-7 every time I went to the dentist. And what came with those cavities were painful trips to get them filled. (So NOT fun!!)

I brushed my teeth every day, twice a day. It was a habit my mom instilled in me from a young age. But I still got cavities.

When I asked my dentist why, he said I needed to start flossing every night before bed, and if I did, that would reduce the number of cavities I was getting.

I didn’t listen. I had already built a habit around brushing my teeth twice a day, every day, and I thought that should be enough. But it wasn’t.

When I was 22 years old, I went to a dentist appointment and was told I had 8 cavities–all in teeth that I’d already had filled before. The dentist was adament that I get them taken care of right away, before they became root canals or worse.

So I went and saw a specialized dentist who was recommended to me. When I saw that dentist, her recommendation was two-fold: she said I needed to have inlays done, where they basically hollow out the inside of your tooth and then create a custom-made filling to replace what they removed; and I had to start flossing every night.

The process cost around $7,000 and it took three visits to the dentist–two to drill and hollow out the teeth and then take the impressions to send to the lab that would create the fillings, and then one to actually put the inlays in when they were ready.

I probably don’t even have to tell you how painful the hollowing out process was. Let’s just say I needed to have 7 shots of novicaine on one side of my mouth and I still felt everything, because some of the cavities were so deep they touched the nerve of my tooth. And on top of that, I had the worst headache of my life the next day after the novicaine wore off. At one point, I actually thought my head was going to explode.

It was by far one of the most torturous things I’ve ever been through. After it was all over, I made a decision: from that day forward, I would brush and floss my teeth every single night, no matter what. Even if I was tired. Even if I didn’t feel like it.

And I did.

There hasn’t been a single day since then that I haven’t brushed and flossed my teeth before going to bed. Even on the nights when I’ve fallen asleep on the couch, slept there for half the night and then woke up at 4 a.m. and wanted to go sleep in my bed. I still forced myself to brush and floss my teeth before I was allowed to go to bed.

I created this habit almost immediately and became super disciplined about it, so I’d never have to go through anything like that or get another cavity filled ever again. (And I haven’t since!!)

But you don’t have to wait until the thing you’ve avoiding gets so painful that you’re basically forced into changing.

What I discovered is the discipline I now had with flossing my teeth could be used for anything you want to turn into a habit. Including your writing.

All I had to do was figure out what I’d done to make it happen. And here’s what I came to:

1. Decide

After that painful (and expensive) inlay experience, I made the decision that never again would I let a day go by without flossing my teeth. If flossing my teeth was the one thing that would stop me from getting cavities, I was going to do it and do it daily.

2. Commit

Once the decision was made, I committed to it. Fully. I was all-in on it.

3. Trigger

I created a trigger to help me make it easier. I went out and bought floss and I put it with my toothpaste so I would see it every time I brushed my teeth. This made it much easier for me to actually follow through because I had a reminder every time.

4. Why

In the beginning, when it wasn’t a habit to floss my teeth every night yet, I had to remind myself of why I was doing this and why I wanted to create this habit. The why of what you’re doing is so important because it will keep you motivated and will help you push through when things get tough or when you “don’t feel like it.”

5. Keep On Going

When I first started flossing every night, it was definitely a challenge because I wasn’t used to it and I hadn’t been doing it long enough to see the full benefits from it yet. When you’re not seeing the results or benefits right away, it’s often hard to keep going. But that’s what you have to do.

If you fall off track for a day or two, don’t make a big deal about it, just get back to it as soon as you can. The biggest problem with creating habits and being disciplined is that often when you fall off track you make it mean something it doesn’t mean. You’ll say it’s because you can’t do it or you’re not good enough or whatever.

But it has nothing to do with that. It’s just not a habit yet. And once it is, you’ll do it so automatically you won’t have to even think about it. So get back to it as soon as you can and then keep going.

Follow these five steps and you can make a habit and create discipline around pretty much anything, whether that’s flossing your teeth or doing your writing.

So often we’re afraid to make something a habit or to be disciplined because we think that it will take away our freedom. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Discipline creates freedom, because once something is automatic, your mind is freed up from having to think about it or worry about it getting done. And since you’ve made it a habit, it always gets done, even in the midst of life chaos or being busy.

Want to totally change your life and step into the identity of the writer and author you’ve always dreamed of being? It starts with creating habits, discipline and consistency around doing what matters and doing it daily.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. Is it time for you to create habits and discipline in your writing life? Then be sure to join us for the Writing Habit Revamp workshop: 21-days of discipline, habit-building, support and accountability to get your butt in a chair and words on the page.

>> Details and sign up here: www.jenniferblanchard.net/writinghabitrevamp

Commit To Doing At Least The Bare Minimum Every Day

/0 Comments/in , /by

For the last three weeks I’ve been prepping and preparing for my move to Texas. Cleaning things out. Clearing out stuff for donation. Selling things. Whatever needed to get done.

Which has meant that a lot of what I’d usually be doing in my days and weeks wasn’t getting done or was being pushed off for the time being. This is a sacrifice that sometimes has to get made when you have bigger things going on.

But that doesn’t mean you should allow yourself to completely fall off on everything.

That would be a huge mistake. And it’s the mistake that a lot of writers make that derails them. Because it’s hard to get back on track once you fall off.

So many fall off and don’t get back on.

Yes, sometimes life gets in the way and interrupts your best-laid plans. It’s gonna happen. Unless you’re committed enough to keep going no matter what.

And I am.

The thing that helps me keep moving forward and making progress is to have a daily bare minimum. My daily bare minimum are the tasks that–even on my most insane and busy of days–still must get done.

For me, that list includes:

> Walking my dog
> Journaling and mindset practice
> Writing a blog post (or at the very least, posting something thought-provoking and engaging on my Facebook page)
> Checking in with clients/students
> Promotion and sales activities (at least one activity)

My daily list of things I do is a lot longer than this, but on days when life gets in the way, I’m totally happy if I’ve done at least my bare minimum stuff.

That bare minimum stuff will still help me make progress on my writing goals. Which is why I’m writing this post right now when I should be finishing up what needs to be done before we get on the road to Texas Wednesday morning.

I could’ve made the move an excuse and not written this post–it would have been totally relevant and legit. Most writers would have and no one would give them a hard time about it either. Making a cross-country move is stressful! It’s a lot of work! It requires a lot of energy and focus! So it’s totally fine not to do your writing.

But I’m not most writers and I’m committed to doing what needs to be done. Even when it’s not convenient.

So, what’s your daily bare minimum? What can you commit to doing every day, bare minimum, that will still move you forward and make you progress on your writing goals?

You probably don’t want to do the bare minumum EVERY DAY. The bare minimum is for days when life gets in the way or when you really are legit way too busy to do everything you need to do or you’re intentionally choosing to take it easy that day.

You want to be committed to doing whatever you need to do every day, which usually means a whole lot more than the bare minimum. But if all you can do is the bare minimum, you will still make progress and move forward.

That’s what matters.

And if you’re just starting out or need to build some habit and consistency into your writing life, then committing to doing your bare minimum every day will get you on track to eventually being able to take on more.

This week, I’ll definitely be doing my bare minimum stuff, but once I get to Texas and get a bit settled in, watch out! There’s a whole lot of awesomeness coming in June.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. Are you ready to take the idea in your head and turn it into a fully-developed story plan? You can get access to my upcoming 4-week Plan Your Damn Novel workshop for FREE when you join the Bestselling Author Mastermind, my mentorship group for multi-passionate writers and authors who want to create the habits, mindset, craft expertise, follow-through and consistency of a bestselling author.

Doors close on Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

>> Details and sign up here: www.jenniferblanchard.net/mastermind