Freedom Is A Choice

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When I was in college, I wanted to be a magazine editor (preferably fashion or lifestyle) in New York City. It was all I thought about.

I applied for jobs and internships all over NY as often as I could during my junior and senior year. But nothing really came of it.

I wasn’t deterred. I knew the NYC magazine world was a tough business to get into.

It was the second semester of my senior year and I had no idea what I’d be doing after graduation. I wasn’t worried, though. I already had a good job working for the local newspaper’s website and writing a weekly column in the print edition and features for its entertainment supplement.

And then something happened: my professor told me about a magazine internship she thought I should apply for… in Southern California.

Funnily enough, that same professor told me about that same internship (it was an annual thing) the year before, when I was a junior. I brushed it off because it seemed like a far-off idea to leave everything and go away for the summer.

But as a senior with no after-graduation plans who dreamed of being a magazine editor it was pretty much the best thing ever.

So I applied and got the internship and moved out to SoCal for the summer of 2005. I spent three months writing and editing for Reptiles magazine (by choice, I love reptiles!!), as well as helping out with other magazines within the company when they needed a hand (they had dozens).

I loved getting to dress up every day and go to the office, because that’s what I always saw my mom do growing up and that’s what I was always told you did. It was one of the best summers of my life.

Then I got offered a job as an editor for a pet products magazine, which I accepted without hesitation. I loved SoCal and loved working as a magazine editor.

At first.

But then I was really living out there. I wasn’t just subletting an apartment for 3 months in student housing, I was renting an house with a roommate and living further from the office, which required a longer commute.

And it made me realize something… why the fuck am I driving in HELL traffic to commute 15 miles from my house to the office to sit at a desk and go online and do all these things I could be doing from home?

I loved Southern California more than anything and can’t wait to move back there sometime in the near future. But what I didn’t love was working in an office.

I’d do anything I could to escape being there, including manifesting illness so I had to go to the doctor. And every time I’d be out of the office during the day, I would see tons of people out and about, enjoying their day. Eating lunch, drinking coffee, not living their life in an office all day.

And in that moment, I decided that’s what I wanted. To be FREE all day long and do whatever I wanted to do.

I had no idea how I’d make it happen, but I believed it was a future possibility.

Toward the end of my stint as a magazine editor, I hated going to the office so much that some days I’d roll in unshowered, wearing khakis, a hoodie and Chuck Taylors. I blamed it on the fact that I wasn’t doing enough writing and I wanted to be doing more writing.

So I left and moved with my now-husband to Houston to start a new adventure.

But then the same thing happened again. I got a great job, I loved it for a while, but I hated the commute and having to work in an office all day. And this job was a 100 percent online job, which meant I could do the whole thing from home (or anywhere).

And lucky for me I had a great boss who allowed our team to work from home 3 days a week. It gave me a preview of the life I wanted.

The freedom life. A life where I’m totally in control of my time and location.

But it still wasn’t enough.

I so badly wanted to find a job where I could work from home every day and never have to go to the office except for very rare occasions.

The problem was there weren’t very many jobs like that out there. Or at least I hadn’t been able to find any.

And whenever I jumped jobs for money (which I did often, I was totally driven by the money in my corporate career), I’d run into the same issues. I constantly tried to get my bosses to see how much more I’d be getting done if I was working from home full-time. But they’d never go for it.

I applied for work-from-home jobs all the time. Nothing came of all the energy I was putting into it.

That’s when I realized I had to stop giving other people permission to control my time and location.

I had to take back my power. I had to create my own freedom.

So that’s what I did. I quit my corporate day job in March 2012 and walked away to do my own thing where I’m in control of my time and my location.

I had no clue how I’d make money. It was pretty damn scary, actually, but I had so much adrenaline going from finally doing the thing I wanted to do–quit my job to work for myself–that I didn’t care. I just trusted that I took the action and something would work out.

And what worked out at the time, was freelance writing.

Back when I first moved from SoCal to Houston I couldn’t find a job right away and I didn’t want to settle for any crappy-ass job. So I freelanced for the first few months I was there, and I made a damn good income.

A job eventually came along, but I freelanced on the side now and then just because extra money is always nice. And there I was in 2012, having to figure out how to make my own money.

So I turned, once again, to freelance.

I wrote articles and marketing copy and feature stories and I interviewed people and I wrote my ass off. And I made a living.

It wasn’t a lot at first. In 2012 I brought in around $16k. But it was the best year of my life. Because it had been all on my terms and I was in charge of my time and location.

Freedom.

It’s the ultimate thing I value above everything else. Freedom.

My definition of freedom have evolved a lot over the years and I continue to create more freedom and it continues to be more and more on my terms. But that’s where it all started.

With freelance writing.

It gave me an income when I was in a job transition. It helped me support myself and my family when I first quit my job to work for myself.

Eventually I went from $16k to $25k to $32k and growing. Now I’ve added in several other income streams and make more money doing more things I enjoy.

But it all started with freelance.

Freelance writing = freedom.

Before you go jumping the gun here and quitting your job to freelance write, I have to add that freelance writing is a tough business. It’s an uncertain and sometimes inconsistent business. It’s an ever-changing business.

But the toughest part is being mentally strong enough to handle the freedom and all that comes with it.

Because now you’re in charge. You have to apply for gigs and you have to handle the payment arrangements and you have to keep track of everything and you have to pay taxes and discipline yourself to do the work by deadline.

Now your income is in your own hands.

And if you can’t handle the uncertainty and being in control and having the discipline to get shit done, the freelance life isn’t for you.

But if you can handle all of that, there are more and more opportunities available every day because so many companies are building online presences and on the internet, content is king.

Content can’t write itself. Which means they need writers to write the content for them.

There’s a whole lot more to know about freelance writing and living the freelance life. More than I can share in this post right now.

I really just wanted to inspire you to see that the freedom you so desperately want is yours, so long as you’re willing to do what it takes to create it.

Freelance writing isn’t the only option, obviously, but it is a great way to get paid for your words and to make a living as a writer.

And it also frees up your time so you can do more of your own writing too.

I’ve had the freedom life for 5+ years now and I will never go back.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

 

P.S. If you want to create your freedom life through freelance writing, stay tuned!! Doors to my new workshop, Freelance to Freedom, are opening on Thursday and we kick things off on August 1. More details soon… 

Being Normal Is A Soul Killer

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It’s been four days since I’ve written to you. I spent the last four days not doing anything–partially because of Resistance (damn you, Resistance!) but also because everyone is always saying that I need to “take a break” or “take some time off.” Because that’s what normal people do.

So I did. I gave it a try. And here’s what I have to say about it… NO.

The nothingness of binge-watching TV shows and avoiding all the things I feel called to say and write–it could go on forever and it does for most people. They get into a slump where the momentum of not doing is stronger than the momentum of getting shit done.

To be honest, I’ve felt totally lost the last four days. Like my life had no purpose and I was just drifting along aimlessly without an end in sight. I guess that’s what it means to be normal.

To “take a break” or a “vacation” or even just to “rest and relax.” But it’s not for me.

Writing and doing the stuff I do most days is all I really want to be doing. And maybe that’s anti-social and maybe I’m headed toward burn out. But I don’t think I am.

In fact, I KNOW I’m not.

Because the last four days of doing nothing made me feel burnt out and numb. I had no energy. I slept way too much. I felt sick and like I was wasting my life.

I honestly don’t know how people do it.

How do so many people avoid doing their soul work while aimlessly binging TV shows and eating junk and partying with friends or just sitting around resting? I don’t get it.

I felt totally fucking lost the last four days. I started to question everything I’d been doing. I felt anxious. I worried that this would be my life–a life of being normal–if I decided to buy into the bullshit about needing a break or taking time off.

Because here’s the thing–how do you take time off from being who you are?

How do you not do you and not do the things you feel called to do inside? How do you avoid your soul work and still feel alive? (Hint: you can’t.)

I don’t get it. Never have. Never will.

When I see people living without purpose, numbing themselves out with food and TV and other activities that don’t really make them happy, I wonder how they can live like that. How they can sustain a meaningless existance day-in-and-day out, without losing their minds.

Now I’m not saying don’t ever watch TV or take a day off or go on vacation. I like doing those things on occasion too. But only when I’m doing them with intention and purpose, because I’m choosing to do those things, not just doing them by daily default.

I felt like crap the last few days, and today, writing this, I feel better. More alive. More like myself. More like it should be.

My writing, my message, my art, my stories, my desire to better the world and myself, those are the things that get me out of bed in the morning. It’s the stuff that keeps me up ’til 2 a.m. most days because I just can’t stop.

It’s what keeps me creating and launching 2-3 times a month, pretty much every month. Because… purpose, flow and getting as many of my ideas, messages and projects out in the world as possible.

It’s what keeps me sane.

I don’t worry about being perfect or doing everything perfectly. People don’t want that anyhow. They want real and they want empowerment and they want motivation and to see someone who they feel is the next-level version of themselves killing it at life, because it inspires them to do them same.

To wake up and LIVE. To NOT be one of the normal people, the drones who numb themselves out to the soul work and to what really matters and what they’re really here on this planet for. To live a life of purpose.

My purpose made me $10k+ last month and it will continue to grow and expand so long as I continue to do and be me and continue to ignore all the stuff normal people say I should be doing and just follow the call of my heart and my soul.

What calls you? What’s pulling you from the inside? What’s bouncing around in there, dying to be let out?

Let it out. Answer the call. Do the soul work.

There is no other way.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. Want access to ALL of my workshops, courses and digital products (that cost $100 or less), as well as the accountability, guidance and support you need to finally finish and hit publish and be the writer and author you always dreamed you’d be? Stay tuned!! Doors to the Bestselling Author Mastermind are opening again soon…

You’re Either All In Or You’re Out… Which One Are You?

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“I’ll give it six months and if I don’t find an agent by then, I’ll just become a self-published author.”
 
“It’s been four months and nothing is happening. I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this.”
 
“If it doesn’t happen in the next two years, I’m gonna go do this other thing instead.”
 
If I could put a label on those three statements and statements like them, here’s what I’d use: NEVER GOING TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS.
 
When you want something, when you have a dream that you want to bring to life, when you have a desire you want to manifest, the last thing you should ever be doing is putting a timeframe around it or setting up arbitrary “rules” for when it’s time to throw in the towel. Because doing that will stop you from achieving what you want.
 
Why?
 
You’re not all in. You’re not willing to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, until it takes, and then keep going.
 
That’s the thing about success, those who achieve it only do so because they’ve thrown out the back up plan, they’ve gone all in on the goal, and they’re not willing to accept anything except making it happen.
 
Success really comes down to who’s most committed, most consistent and most willing to do whatever it takes and be in it for the long-haul. There can be no fairweather goal-chasing in the level of success that you dream of playing at.
 
You either want it, or you don’t.
 
You’re either committed, or you’re not.
 
You either give up the back up plan and go all in for however long it takes, or you may as well give up now and just go with the back up plan. ‘Cause so long as that back up plan exists, you will never do what it’s gonna take to achieve your dream.
 
When you have another option in mind, it stops you from pushing through the Resistance or the doubt or fear or the “I don’t feel like its.” It stops you from laser-focusing on what you really want and blocking out everything else. Because you have a backup plan.
 
When you’re all in on your dream, and when you’re willing to do whatever it takes, there’s no need for a backup plan. Because you already know there’s no other option for you. You’ll either get there or you’ll die trying.
 

Backup plans are for people who don’t believe in themselves enough to fight for what they really want.

 
But when you believe in yourself and in the work you’re doing and in your dreams, backup plans become unnecessary. People who fully believe in themselves and in what they’re doing will always find a way to make it happen.
 
And the best part is, you never have to do it alone. The Universe is totally here and ready to help you make whatever dream you have happen. This universal energy and power is available to all of us. But it only works if you use it and only if you’re laser-focused on achieving your goal.
 
Otherwise you’ll keep doing the one-foot-in-one-foot-out dance, and the Universe will have no idea what you really want. Because doubting and changing course a million times and not being clear on what you want just confuses things.
 
Don’t get me wrong–it’s totally fine to change your mind and to pivot directions or quit what you’re doing and go do something else. It’s not about never changing your mind or pivoting. That stuff has to happen, it’s what gives you clarity on what you really want.
 
But you have to eventually commit to and go all in on something and then stick with it until you’ve achieved it.
 
And the good news is, when you’re laser-focused on the goal and you know what you want, you can absolutely have it and achieve it, and the Universe will totally show up for you and help you make it happen.
 
You just gotta give up the backup plan. You’ve gotta stop putting parameters around your dreams or the success you desire to achieve and go ALL IN. All in means no back up plan, not going to be detered, eyes on the prize, willing to risk it all, and never, ever giving up no matter how grim it may look.
 
Are you ALL IN on your writing dreams? Or do you have a backup plan for fear that you can’t really achieve what you want?
 
Here’s the truth: if a dream is inside you and if you feel called to achieve something, it’s because you’re meant to. It came to you because you have everything it takes to make it happen.
 
But you gotta get your head out of the sand, take a good look at where you are currently, and then go all in on closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.
 
No rules. No timeframes. No backup plans.
 
Dream life or bust,
 
 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

 
P.S. Are you ready to go ALL IN on your dream to be a full-time novelist? Today is the FINAL DAY to grab my Mid-Year Motivator writing bundle and get access to four of my best resources EVER for under $100!! The sale ends TONIGHT at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
 
And there’s even a payment plan to make this a total HELL YES no-brainer.
 

This Is Why Nothing Ever Changes

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Have you ever had a bad experience at a restaurant? The food was cold, the waiter was rude and they tried to charge you for something you ordered but didn’t actually get. You walked out that day and said you’d never ever go there again.
 
But then a few weeks later, your friend suggests you go to that restuarant for lunch. You don’t want to go because of your previous experience, so you tell your friend all about it and share just how bad it was. Your friend says, “everyone has a bad day” and insists on going there anyhow.
 
So you go, grumbling along as you do, pointing out all the stuff they’re doing wrong. And your experience the second time around doesn’t go much better than the first time–the waiter spills something on you, they ran out of the menu item you wanted and the music was too loud.
 
But what if the reason it was a similar experience is because you assumed that it would be and you expected it to be?
 
What if you projected your first experience on your second, so that, again, you would walk out disappointed? Because you would also walk out feeling “right” and being able to say, “I told you so.”
 
But what if your assumptions and expectation that it would be bad again is what actually made it bad again?
 
‘Cause that’s the thing about the human mind… once it has an experience, it continues to pull up that experience and reference it anytime a similar experience happens or you’re in a similar–or the same–place or situation. And so it’s actually your assumptions and expectations based on previous experiences that keep you repeating that same experience again.
 
Which then leads you to believe that it just “is what it is.”
 
So if you’re not achieving the goals you have or you’re still not writing or finishing the novel (or other creative project) that you started–assumption and expectation is probably what’s keeping you stuck. Because if you assume you won’t finish or you expect that you’ll keep on repeating the same behavior patterns–procrastination, doubt, self-sabotage–then that’s exactly what will happen.
 
In life, you don’t get what you want, you get what you expect.
 
Here’s another example to truly drive this point home about how much expectation and assumption can get in the way of you creating the success you want and living the life you dream of…
 
A few months ago, my cousin announced on her Facebook page that she’s taking her mom to Hawaii for her 60th birthday–in two years. My cousin likes to plan things out way ahead of time; it makes it feel more doable for her that way. And then she invited whoever wanted to join them to leave a comment so she could get a head count.
 
And one of her friends commented and said, “I’d love to join you!! But we can’t afford it.” Now keep in mind this trip is TWO YEARS AWAY (in 2019). Yet this woman already assumes and expects that the way things are for her financially right now is how they’ll also be two years from now.
 
And for her, they will be, because she’s already projecting into her future that assumption and expectation. So of course that’s what will show up for her–because you don’t get what you want, you get what you EXPECT.
 
Assumptions and expectations are what keep people stuck, spinning their wheels and living mediocre lives they don’t love, because they expect and assume that things will always be the same and won’t ever change. Expectations and assumptions are the reason people spend months, years and even a lifetime repeating the same behavior patterns and continuing to create the same results–usually ones they don’t want–over and over again.
 
It’s sad, really, because life can change practically overnight when you change your thinking and change what you expect and assume. How?
 
Instead of saying, “I can’t afford it” to something that’s two years away, open a savings account and commit to putting 5-10% of your income into it every month. Two years from now you’ll not only be able to afford the trip, but that leap of faith, acting-as-if action will help make the trip a done deal.
 
The truth is, expectations and assumptions are just a MINDSET–a way of thinking that can keep you stuck and playing small. So if you change what you expect and assume–you can change your whole life.
 
Yes, it does take having faith in the Universe and trusting in uncertainty. But just like anything else, the more you do it, the better you get at it.
 
So instead of continuing to expect that you’ll never finish your novel or you’ll never find an agent or you’ll never get reviews on Amazon or no one will want to buy your book or read it anyhow, expect something different.
 
Assume you will finish, you will get reviews, you will sign with an agent, you will find a readership for your books and sell lots of copies. It may not happen right away, but if you keep focusing on the new expectations and assumptions–and keep taking action–it will eventually happen.
 
Because what you expect and assume will be your reality. You call it in with how you’re choosing to think. And yes, it’s always a choice.
 
Your thoughts, beliefs, assumptions and expectations are what’s really creating your life and the things you experience every day.
 
So when you assume and expect what you want to show up, guess what? It eventually will. As long as you don’t sabotage it by returning to old patterns and expectations about, “that’s just how it is.” Because if “that’s just how it is” then that’s just how it will always be.
 
Change your expectations, change your life.
 
Dream life or bust,
 
 

#DailyThinkDifferent #DreamLifeOrBust

 
P.S. For the next 72 HOURS ONLY you can grab the Mid-Year Motivator writing bundle and get access to some of the best resources I’ve ever created, including the Write Your Damn Novel eCourse which is worth the entire price of the bundle (and you still get MORE!!).
 

Success Is A Mindset and A Way of Being–Remember That Or You’ll Never Get Where You Want to Go

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So often we think that success is a destination. That the dreams and goals we have are something we have to work toward; a place we think we’ll land eventaully if we just keep doing the work.
 
And that couldn’t be further from the truth.
 
Yes, you have to do the work and keep going–that’s a given. But success isn’t a destination or something you have to work toward. And that’s where most writers, authors and creative people get it wrong.
 
We tell ourselves if we just work really hard or if we grind and hustle every day, we’ll get there and we’ll achieve what we want to. But what usually happens with that kind of thinking is you either burn out before you get there, or you can’t actually enjoy the success you’ve achieved because you’re too exhausted from how hard you’ve been working all these years.
 
What if it could be easier than that?
 
What if you could achieve your goals just by changing your thinking and who you’re being?
 
Because I guarantee that the way you’re currently thinking and who you’re being right now is what’s really stopping you from achieving your goals. No matter how hard you’re working. Physical action is not enough.
 
Don’t get me wrong–you have to take practical physical actions if you want to achieve something. But there’s still an easier way.
 
There’s a way you can step right now into the success you dream of having and feel like it’s already real and you’ve already made it happen. Even if it hasn’t shown up in your physical reality just yet.
 
And that comes from how you’re thinking and who you’re being, in every moment of every day.
 
So, how are you thinking and who are you being in your life right now? Because that’s what’s going to determine how far you go and what you actually achieve.
 
Are you making choices and decisions like a pro writer? Or are you making them like a hobbyist? Big difference.
 
Are you showing up every day as the writer and author you dream of being? Or are you still showing up as who you are right now? Big difference.
 
Who are you right now and how you’ve been thinking up to this point has gotten you to where you are today. But if you want to go further and achieve more, you have to shift your way of thinking and who you’re being.
 
Most people think you have to work toward a goal. Nope. Working toward it will just keep you working toward it forever.
 
Instead, you have to work FROM your goal. You have to figure out who you’d be and how you’d act and what you’d think if you were already that person and if you’ve already achieved that goal, and then you have to ACT AND THINK FROM THAT PLACE every single day.
 
Doing it this way not only helps you achieve success faster, but it also helps you achieve it with ease and flow, as opposed to burning yourself out from trying and trying and working so damn hard.
 
Hard work is a part of achieving success, but it doesn’t have to feel hard. It can actually be easy and fun. But it’s gonna take some drastic changes to the way you’re currently thinking and being.
 
Because how you’re currently thinking and who you’re showing up as every day isn’t enough to get you there. Right now you’re living the 1.0 version of yourself and your life.
 
To get to the 2.0 version requires new ways of thinking and being. It requires you to push yourself out of your comfort zone and to do things you probably haven’t done before, at least consistently enough to achieve what you want. It requires you to release who you are right now in favor of who you want to be.
 
The problem is, we often think who we are right now is just who we are. And that’s a limited way of thinking that will keep you stuck and spinning your wheels for years, maybe even for life.
 
Because who you are in any moment is just a product of how you’re thinking and acting. Which means you can change who you are to become who you want to be, just by shifting your mindset and actions.
 
Now doing this could cause some heartache, because you will have to release being comfortable and certain. You’ll have to release the baggage and the bad habits and negative, limiting ways of thinking that have brought you to this point. And that can be scary.
 
But as my mentors always say, what got you here won’t get you where you want to go. Which means change is inevitable. Unless you want to stay where you currently are forever.
 
Most people do. Most people get to a certain point in their lives, usually a mediocre one where they don’t have what they really want but they’ve convinced themselves that it is what it is, and they give up on wanting to be different and instead just accept what is.
 
But let me tell you something, if you accept “what is” and aren’t willing to go beyond that, you can close your computer right now and hang up your author hat because the success you dream of is never gonna happen for you.
 
It can’t. It’s impossible. Because you’re not willing to change or to think and act how you need to in order to achieve your goals.
 
Success isn’t about achieving a goal, although that’s a side effect of it. It’s about who you become in the process of achieving that goal. And who you become means you’re constantly evolving and up-leveling.
 
If you’re not currently doing so, then that is the reason you don’t yet have what you want.
 
Wanting is so badly that you can taste it and see it isn’t enough. You can see and taste ’til you’re blue in the face and it still won’t happen. Because desire and vision still isn’t enough if it’s not backed up by ways of thinking and being that will actually get you there.
 
And this isn’t about who you are not being good enough. You are good enough, exactly as you are. But being good enough doesn’t mean you’ll achieve your goals. Because being good enough still isn’t enough.
 
Who you are and how you think is a CHOICE. So the question you need to ask yourself, every single day, is: who am I being and how am I thinking right now and does that align with where I want to go?
 
Dream life or bust,
 
 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

 
P.S. It’s almost mid-year!! Have you achieved the goals you set back in January? Or is this year turning out like the previous years where you set a goal and then months later give up on it and retreat back to being the same person you’ve always been and doing the same things you’ve always done? If it’s the latter, stay tuned… I have something AWESOME coming on Wednesday that just might help you kick the slump you’ve been in so you can finally end your year having achieved what you set out to.
 

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How To Ignore the Opinions of Others and Do What Works For You

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One of the biggest reasons writers, artists and creators don’t go after their dreams is because of what other people might think or say. The fear of judgment and ridicule. The fear of having to hear someone else’s negative opinion.
 
It can be very hard to know that your family and the people you respect don’t agree with what you’re doing or have the opinion that you shouldn’t be doing it. It’s also hard to listen to people give you advice when you’re not asking for it.
 
Because everyone’s got an opinion. And many of them feel the need to share that opinion with you. Even when you don’t really want it.
 
Yes, there are times when it’s nice to have someone else’s opinion or advice. I’m constantly turning to my mentors and accountability buddies for opinions and support.
 
But I always get the final say. And regardless of rules or expectations, I never do anything that doesn’t feel good to me.
 

When to Listen to the Opinions of Others

 
So how do you know when you should listen to what someone else has to say? Here are some of the criteria I use:
 
> Is the person more successful than you are? Is the person giving you the opinion and advice more successful than you are? If they are, their opinion definitely has more weight then if they’re not. Someone who’s already been-there-done-that will be able to share things that only someone who’s been through it can share, and that kind of advice can shave years off your learning curve and help you achieve success faster.
 
> Do they have a result that you want? If the advice and opinions are coming from someone who has achieved the result you want for yourself, the advice is probably worth listening to. You may not be able to completely replicate how they achieved the result, but you’ll definitely get some tips and inside info that will help you along on your journey.
 
> Did you ask for the opinion? If you did, there’s probably a reason for it and you may want to consider listening.
 

When to Ignore the Opinion of Others 

 
On the flip side, here’s when you should ignore the opinions or advice from others:
 
> They’re not more successful than you–if the person giving the advice or opinion isn’t more successful than you are, you can feel free to ignore everything they’ve said.
 
> They don’t have a result that you want–if the person hasn’t achieved something that you want to achieve, there’s no reason to listen.
 
> They’re not living their dream–this is really important because I see so many writers and creators listening to the opinions of people who aren’t living their dreams and are just numbing themselves out with food and TV and other BS. People like that will try to hold you back and keep you playing small because you going after your dream triggers them. And they don’t like that. (It’s my belief we’re supposed to trigger people and get triggered by people–that’s how we all learn and grow.)
 
Now these are not hard-and-fast “rules” for how to ignore people’s opinions. There are always exceptions where someone who doesn’t fit the criteria will give you an opinion or piece of advice that feels good to you and in that case, it may be worth listening to.
 
Only you can know for sure which opinions and advice feels good to you. And only taking action on those good-feeling opinions and advice can help you figure out if it will work for you or not.
 
But once you find what works best for you, keep on doing it. Tweak it when necessary, but stay focused on doing you.
 
Because if you want to create success on your terms, that’s what it’s gonna take–being fully who you are and continuing to step into the identity of who you dream of being.
 
Dream life or bust,
 
 
#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent
 

P.S. If you’re a blogger, listen up! I’ve got something awesome for you… Blog to Book: an interactive 2-hour workshop where you’ll turn your blog posts into a book that you can publish–happening this Saturday, April 29 at Noon EDT.

 
This isn’t a sit there and learn something kind of workshop, it’s a take action right then and there workshop where you’ll actually start building your book during the live workshop. And if you follow through, you could have your blog transformed into a published book by the end of next week!
 
>> Sign up here

The Thing that So Many Authors Forget

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When it comes to marketing and growing your author brand, there’s something really, really important that you need to keep in mind. It’s something that I think a lot of writers and authors forget. And that is…
 
An author brand is a personal brand.
 
Your author brand is not like having a name brand that represents a group or a company of people. Your author brand is YOU.
 
Which is why if you want to grow your following and actually have a readership and sell more books, you need to do you. You have to do things your way. You have to say what you really think. You have to be who you really are. You have to document your life for your audience.
 
And screw the “rules” or what anyone else thinks.
 
The whole point of a personal brand is for you to be yourself and grow your audience and following by letting people into your world.
 
That’s all I do, every single day. I just show up as me and write from my heart whatever comes out.
 
No, my blog posts don’t always follow the “rules” of blog posts, like having subtitles to break up the text. I know the rules and principles of blogging because I spent years of my life studying them and following them.
 
But now I do things my way. Because at the end of the day, I don’t want to follow a formula. I don’t want to do things how everyone else is doing them. And I believe that I don’t have to.
 
I believe that I can do things my way and just be me and the right people will find me and resonate with me and want to be part of my community and work with me.
 
Now this was a belief I had to create, obviously. As the belief I used to have was that I had to follow a formula or the “rules” of online marketing and if I didn’t do that I couldn’t be successful. But it’s actually been the opposite.
 
When I started to show up fully as myself and do me and unleash the from-the-heart messages I deliver on a daily basis to my community, that’s when things started to take off for me. That’s when I started making more book sales and more money. That’s when my business became consistent.
 
And not a minute before.
 
Why?
 
Because before I started doing that, I was playing by the rules and trying to do things using a formula and planning stuff out to the most minute detail instead of just operating from intuition and flow.
 
Don’t get me wrong–the formulas work and the principles and rules work. But that doesn’t mean you have to follow them (except in the case of storytelling principles; those you do have to follow).
 
Yes, it might take a little longer for you to get where you want to go, but you’ll eventually get there knowing that you were 100 percent yourself and didn’t compromise or sell your soul in the name of other people’s opinions about what you should be doing.
 
These are just the things I believe about creating success on your terms. And my ideal readers are people who agree and have these same beliefs (or want to have them).
 
That’s why an author brand is a personal brand–because the reader wants to get to know the author and decide if they like them as a person or not before they’ll trust them enough to buy anything from them. The Know-Like-Trust factor is the foundation of successful online marketing.
 
And you build that Know-Like-Trust factor by showing up every single day, being who you are and unleashing the ideas, stories and messages that you feel inside you.
 
So don’t be afraid to say what you think and do what works best for you. Don’t be afraid to throw the rules out the window (again–except in the case of storytelling principles!!) and live on your terms, doing things how you want to do them.
 
When you show up as you and unleash what’s inside, the right people will always find you. Like moths to the light. You call them in when you allow yourself to shine bright as exactly who you are.
 
Dream life or bust,
 
 
#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent
 

P.S. If you’re a blogger who is ready to create your first eBook, you’re gonna love my workshop that’s happening this Saturday, April 29 at Noon EDT. It’s called Blog to Book and it’s a 2-hour virtual workshop where I’ll be walking you step-by-step through the process I use to turn the content on my blog into eBooks that I sell on Amazon.

 
And you won’t just be sitting there listening to me talk about how to do it. You’ll actually start putting together your book right during the live workshop!
 
I know this is short notice… I meant to tell you about this workshop last week but with traveling and all it totally slipped my mind. So if you can’t make it live, don’t worry! Sign up anyhow and you’ll get the recording immediately after the live workshop is finished so you can put your book together in your own time.
 

How Much Longer Are You Going to Wait for This?

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I keep thinking about purpose and what I really want to be saying with my writing that I haven’t allowed myself to fully say before. And what I want to say, is this… (brace yourself):
 
It’s time to wake the fuck up. It’s time to STOP conforming and living other peoples’ standards and rules. It’s time to STOP worrying about what people think and just go after your dreams.
 
It’s time to stop working BS jobs and walking on eggshells and only partially being who you are. You deserve better and your gifts and purpose deserves to be let out.
 
Why do you think you were born with these talents and gifts? Because you’re meant to use them. You’re meant to create a life around them.
 
You weren’t born to live someone else’s idea of what life is “supposed to” be about. Fuck that shit!
 
You’re born to do what you love and live the life of your dreams.
 
You weren’t born to conform or live on someone else’s terms. And yes, I know you like predictability and certainty, but what the fuck is certain about what you’re doing right now?
 
Working a job you don’t love and don’t really care about–even if you happen to be good at it. If they decide tomorrow that they no longer need you, you’re out on your ass. Then what? Find another BS job where you’ll sit there all day and think about what you REALLY want to be doing?
 
That creative thing you’ve always been good at. Maybe even something you’d consider to be a god-given talent. That writing. Singing. Dancing. Building. Painting. Drawing. Or maybe even all of the above, as you’re multi-passionate and good at quite a few things.
 
And yet there you sit. Wasting away doing stuff you don’t love to please people who never lived their dream and just spent their lives people-pleasing.
 
Imagine instead being able to control your day and what you spent it doing. What if you got to wake up every morning and do something you love and that you actually care about? Imagine what that life would look like. Really think about it for a second.
 
And now admit it–you’re already thinking about this all day long while you’re doing the thing you do that gives you predictable income and a mediocre life that makes you feel dead inside.
 
Sure, there are parts that make you feel happy–your family and friends, and the stuff you do for fun on the weekends and when you’re granted permission to take vacation days.
 
But inside you’re dying–a little more every day. And that feeling shows up in your life in ways you’re not even yet conscious of. You probably call it anxiety or stress or heartburn or insomnia or being overweight.
 
But the truth is, the reason that stuff has manifested in your life is because you’re not letting out what’s really inside–the dreams and desires and talents and the way you really feel and what you really think.
 
You’re walking on eggshells and people-pleasing and living someone else’s life or the life someone else told you that you should live.
 
Ignoring your dreams. Pushing away your desires. Stuffing them down with junk food and TV and over-the-counter remedies that help you feel numb to what’s inside.
 
Because if you can’t feel it, then it’s not really there, right? And yet day after day, there it is. Nagging you and begging you to make a different choice.
 
A choice to STOP caring what other people think and instead ask yourself what YOU really think and then having the courage to go live it.
 
Do you really want to wake up every day and allow you life to be controlled and dictated by someone else? Do you really want to keep telling yourself you’ll go after your dreams “one day” while continuing to spend 8+ hours a day 5+ days a week doing something you could give a fuck less about?
 
Or do you want to live the life you’ve always dreamed about? The one you know you really want and could actually have if you were brave enough to let go of the bullshit that’s keeping you on the hamster wheel of “one day.”
 
One day I’ll live my dream. One day I’ll do that creative thing I’m so damn good at. One day I’ll stop being afraid and realize that the only certainty in life comes from being exactly who you are and doing what you love and sharing the talents and gifts that you were born with.
 
But what if “one day” never comes?
 
Are you OK leaving this world knowing you didn’t do what you came here to do? Do you think you’ll lay on your death bed and be so grateful that you lived the life your family or society told you that you should live, instead of living on your terms and doing what you love to do?
 
It’s cool if you would be, I guess. But you know what I think? I think that scares the fuck out of you. I think you’re scared of having regrets and wishing you’d stopped caring what people think and lived your dreams.
 
And yet there you sit, doing nothing about it. Messing around here and there doing that thing you love, but never making it the priority and habit that it deserves to be. Dreaming, but rarely doing.
 
And the days and weeks and months and years roll on and you just keep telling yourself “one day.” One day. One day. ONE DAY.
 
And on you go.
 
But what if you decided right now that TODAY was that one day? What if you started to do those things you love and those things you were born to do, every single day? What then?
 
I’ll tell you what then.
 
Then you’d be living the life you dream of. Then you’d get braver and more confident in doing what you love. Then you’d feel FREE inside and you’d no longer need to numb yourself.
 
Then you’d be sharing your gifts and talents with the world. Then you’d be living a life of purpose and intention. Then you’d be being exactly who you are and who you want to be and doing what you love and saying what you think and not caring about what anyone else thinks or wants for your life except you.
 
Then you’d be happy and fulfilled. And then you’d be on your death bed feeling grateful for and looking back on the day you finally decided TODAY was one day and that you didn’t have to know the full picture or even the next step in order to just START.
 
You can make that decision right now, TODAY. To think for yourself. To do what you love. To not care about anyone elses’ opinion. And the rest, as they say, will be history.
 
Dream life or bust,
 
 
#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent
 

P.S. If you’re ready to do what you love and create a daily habit around it, be sure to check out the recording of my Writing Life Rehab workshop. It’s available until 11:59 p.m. EDT tonight for the same price as the live workshop (price doubles at midnight!!).

 

If You Never Decide and Then Take Action, You’ll Spin Your Wheels and Stay In the Same Place

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A year ago this month I was writing what would go on to become my first Amazon best selling book: Align Your Writing Habits to Success. I had no idea that was going to happen with that book. It wasn’t even a thought in my mind.

Because the only thing I was thinking about was the decision I just made to become a best selling author on Amazon in 2016 and the action I was taking next, which was to write and publish more books.

And that’s where Align Your Writing Habits to Success came in. After making the decision to become a best selling Amazon author and to write and publish more books, I received a Divine Download to take the content from the free 30-day writing habits challenge I created and turn it into an eBook.

So I did it. I took action and a few weeks later, Align Your Writing Habits to Success debuted on Amazon, hit #1 in the Authorship category and then stayed in the top 6 for a couple months.

In hindsight I can see the reason why this all happened as quickly as it did… because I decided that it would and then I took action.

Deciding is a HUGE part of achieving your goal. In fact, I can see now that not fully deciding and then taking action is a big part of why I spun my wheels in my writing life for so many years.

Why?

Because deciding cuts off all other options. Deciding says THIS IS WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. Deciding means you’re putting your full belief in the goal you’re going after.

You may not know how it’s going to happen or when, but you can absolutely decide that it will happen and the details will work themselves out. But to do this requires something most people have a very hard time with (myself included at times)… Trust.

You must KNOW in your heart and soul that you are MEANT for whatever you want to achieve. You must FEEL IT. But even with that level of belief in yourself and in your goal, you must also have TRUST and FAITH in the Universe to deliver what you’re asking for, so long as you do your part (your part = deciding and then taking action).

The trust component to creating success is so important! And yet it often gets overlooked. You’ve probably experienced this first-hand. (I know I have!)

You want something. You want it bad. You dream about it at night and think about it all day long. It’s yours.

Except it’s not showing up in your reality. You’re not actually experiencing it or holding it in your hands. It’s not real in your world.

And you wonder why.

You’re doing the work. You’re showing up pretty consistently. You thought you were making some progress. And yet… nothing.

What it all comes down to, is trust.

If you’re feeling impatient or if you’re looking around at your reality and saying, “it’s not working” or “it’s not showing up,” then you’re not trusting. You’re actually doing the opposite of trusting.

You’re stuck in lack thinking and you’re afraid.

You’re looking around and noticing the lack of the thing you’re asking for, rather than trusting that you placed your order and you’re doing the work, which means what you’re asking for will eventually show up. Not having patience means you’re afraid that what you want won’t actually happen or that you’re not meant for it or that someone else may beat you to it (impossible, by the way, as there are things that only you are meant for and could ever do).

And that’s why deciding is such a huge part of creating what you want.

Because without deciding that it’s DONE and that it’s YOURS and no one and nothing in the world can take it away from you–even if you don’t physically see it in your reality or hold it in your hands right this minute–you’ll just continue to be impatient and continue to look around and say, “this isn’t working.”

And that’s where you’ll stay. Stuck and spinning your wheels.

Because the truth is, it’s always whatever you decide that it is.

So if you decide it’s not working or you’re not meant for it, well, guess what? That’s exactly what you’re going to experience.

But when you decide that it’s yours–even if you don’t have it yet–and when you feel it on every level of your being, that’s when it will come to you. And not a minute before.

But once you get there, once you get to making that decision and having that infinite trust and feeling in your soul that it’s yours and its on its way to you, it will show up so fast your head might actually spin.

There was less than a month between when I fully decided I was going to be a best selling author in 2016 and when it actually happened.

A month! After years and years of not allowing myself to want it because I had no idea how I’d make it happen, it happened. Within a month of deciding.

That’s how powerful deciding and then taking action can be when you let it.

So, what will you decide?

Write with a purpose, live with intention,

 

 

 

#DailyThinkDifferent #DreamLifeOrBust

P.S. It’s the FINAL DAYS to join the Bestselling Author Mastermind, my high-level community and mentorship group for multi-passionate authors who want to write better stories and create the habits, craft expertise, mindset, consistency and follow-through of a bestselling author.

As a member you get:

> 3x a week live-virtual work sessions where we come together as a group and get our writing/writing projects done

> A monthly live-virtual workshop or group challenge –you either get access to a workshop I’m doing that month or I run a challenge inside the BAM group to get everyone motivated and taking action

> 3x a week accountability check ins, plus monthly goal setting and check ins

> Unlimited access to Jennifer in the private BAM Facebook group

> A monthly story deconstruction, and training in Revision, Publishing, Mindset and Productivity

> FREE access to all of Jennifer’s workshopsand digital products that cost $100 or less

>> Join us here

“Why Would Anyone Care?” <---The Voice That Keeps You Playing Small

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This morning I had a Divine Download for something really cool to create. I got excited about it and started making a whole page of notes for how I could do it and what it would be called.
 
And then that voice came up; that voice that comes up everytime I’m feeling good and clear and certain about what I’m doing…
 
“Why would anyone care? What makes you think you’re so damn special and that anyone would want to follow you or pay attention to you?”
 
That voice has shut down so many ideas and projects over the years. In my life and other peoples’ lives (maybe you can relate?).
 
Because why would anyone care, right? What makes you think any of your ideas are even valid or important or worth putting out into the world? What makes you think you’re good enough to do that or be that or have that?
 
I spent most of my life feeling not good enough. Bullied throughout my childhood and high school years, I just wanted to blend into the crowd and not stand out. I didn’t want people to pay attention to me, because all the bullying over the years programmed me to believe that standing out and being seen was a bad thing.
 
I still battle with the feeling not good enough thing, more often than I’d like to. But I’ve reprogrammed my beliefs around what it means to stand out and be seen.
 
Now I know that standing out and being seen means being able to help more people and make a bigger impact. It means getting my ideas, my stories, my message and my creations out in front of more people.
 
Even if you feel not good enough at times, that doesn’t at all mean your ideas aren’t valid or important or worth putting out in the world. It just means you’ve got subconscious programming going on that’s telling you your ideas aren’t valid or important or worth putting out there and you’re currently accepting those beliefs as true.
 
But here’s the thing… you weren’t born with those beliefs or that programming! You didn’t come into the world feeling not good enough or thinking your ideas weren’t valid or worth putting out there. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
 
You were born feeling worthy. You were born feeling so much love for yourself and for everyone and everything around you. You were born with loads of creative ideas and a brilliant imagination that can create anything you want and more. You were born with a gift(s) that’s meant to be shared with the world.
 
THAT is who you really are. THAT is your TRUE NATURE.
 
It’s society and the media and the people around us and our life experiences that have programmed our true nature out of us.
 
When you were a kid, if you had an idea or wanted to create something, you just did it. You didn’t think about it. You didn’t agonize over whether or not it was worthy or worth putting out. You just drew the damn picture and made your mom put it on the fridge.
 
But now because of all the other voices around you, those ridiculous, unhelpful, negative thoughts come up… “why would anyone care? What makes me think this idea is any good? If I put it out there no one will pay attention to it anyhow. The world doesn’t need another book. I should probably just quit and go watch Netflix for the rest of my life.”
 
And that shit just isn’t necessary.
 
The only voice, the only opinion, the only thing that matters is YOU. What you think, what you feel, what you believe. That’s it.
 
If someone doesn’t like it, too fucking bad (or as my mom would say, TFB; she was using acronyms long before they became the “cool” thing).
 
So when an idea like the one I got this morning hits me, I run with it. Even with that voice popping up that says, “why would anyone care?” I’ve made it a core value in my writing business to act on Divine Downloads. (Notice I didn’t say question or judge or analyze… I said ACT!)
 
There’s a huge element of creativity that’s often forgotten about… the element of trust. You must have infinite trust that whatever idea or story came to you chose you for a reason and that it not only deserves your attention and effort, but it also deserves to be finished and put out into the world.
 
When I run with a Divine Download idea, I never know what’s going to happen. I never know how it’s going to turn out or how it will be received by my audience.
 
But I do the work, I finish it and I put it out there anyhow.
 
It’s not up to me to judge the idea. That’s not my job. My job is to channel the idea, the message, the story and be the creator who brings it to life in the physical world.
 
That is how I’m able to create so much stuff on a consistent basis. Because I no longer judge it. I no longer worry or criticize. I just do the work, put it out there and move on to the next thing.
 
This may not seem like a rational way to operate, and most of my business mentors have told me that I need to slow down and do less. But I can’t. Because slowing down and doing less means fewer creations and ideas and stories make it out into the world.
 
And I have way too many to let them sit inside my head and die a slow death.
 
So I push on. I create and I write and I unleash my creativity. And when the voices of negativity pop up, I deal with them and push on. And when the doubt and the fear pops up, I deal with it and then push on. And when [insert distraction or trigger] pops up, I deal with it and then PUSH ON.
 
That shit used to stop me. It used to make me procrastinate and resist doing the work and especially finishing. But that was also back when I used to question the speed at which I create and the amount of stuff I put out into the world on a daily, weekly, monthly basis.
 
Now I don’t question. I just act.
 
Do the work. Put it out there. Repeat.
 
And when it really comes down to it, the only thing that can actually stop you and keep you playing small and listening to those BS voices is YOU.
 
Write with a purpose, live with intention,
 
 
#DailyThinkDifferent #DreamLifeOrBust

 

P.S. If you’re ready to STOP playing small and START unleashing the stories and ideas and creations you have inside you, it’s time for you to join the Bestselling Author Mastermind–my high-level community and mentorship group for multi-passionate writers, authors and creators who want to create the habits, craft expertise, mindset, consistency and follow-through of a professional.