Give Yourself Permission to Write About Whatever You Want to Write About

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I wrote my first nonfiction eBook in 2010. It was called, Butt-In-Chair: A No-Excuses Productivity Guide for Writers Who Struggle to Get Started. It came out on March 23, 2010 and it’s still, to this day, the book I sell the most copies of.

Before I published this book, I’d been blogging for two years, all about my writing journey and what I was learning along the way. And before that I was in journalism school and working many jobs where I had to use my writing skills.

So writing about writing just seemed to be a natural fit for me. I’ve published nine eBooks and all of them relate to writing or being a writer.

But lately I’ve been wanting to expand and write about other topics. I’ve wanted to write nonfiction about other parts of my life and share what I’ve learned in those areas.

I want to write a book about how I used personal challenges to transform my life. I want to write about overcoming fear by facing it head-on. I want to write about making amazing gluten-free, dairy-free food. I want to write a business and marketing book for multi-passionate entrepreneurs.

These are all topics I’ve avoided because I thought I wasn’t allowed to write about them. That I didn’t have enough credibility or I had to stick with writing books about writing because that’s what I’ve been doing and that’s what people expect of me.

Yet another unfulfilled desire, buried deep inside.

A couple years ago my story mentor and great friend, Larry Brooks, wrote a book about relationships. Totally outside of the usual topics he writes about (as most of you know him from StoryFix.com and Story Engineering). I respected him a lot for doing that. It’s hard to be known for something and then move outside that wheelhouse to something totally different.

Most people couldn’t and wouldn’t do that. (Not to mention all the advice in the writing industry, which says to focus and niche down. Total BS, by the way.)

But the thing we often forget when we’re multi-passionate, is that we’re different than other people.

For most people it would be a total disaster to change topics and start writing books on other topics that you’re not known for or that are outside of the wheelhouse you’ve been in. Because many people really are only good at one thing.

You and I are different. We’re good at lots of things. We have talents and gifts that stretch far beyond just being and doing one thing.

So why should you hold yourself back from writing about what you want to write about?

The way I see it, you’re alive and you’re living life. That means there are things you’re passionate about. That means along the way you picked up knowledge and skills that have allowed you to become really good at several things.

In my opinion, writing a badass nonfiction book is all about being passionate about a topic and having knoweldge, skills and experiences related to that topic.

And with that definition, it really opens up the possibilities for you to write about whatever you want to write about. How fun is that?

The reason it’s so important to focus on writing about the things you’re passionate about is because that passion will fuel you. It will be the thing that keeps you going when you want to give up.

Passion will get you across the finish line.

And that passion can only come from allowing yourself to write about the things you desire to write about–regardless of what they are–so you can share yourself, your gifts, your talents, your skills, your knowledge and your experiences with the people of the world who want and need what you have to offer.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

P.S. If you want to find the perfect topic for your first (or next) nonfiction book, join me today at 5 p.m. CST for a FREE livestream training on how to find a badass nonfiction book idea, right here on my Facebook biz page. (If you’re not reading this on my FB biz page, go here to join us: www.facebook.com/dreamlifeorbust)

P.S.S. Are you ready for the biggest writing challenge of your life?? (I’m talking bigger than NaNoWriMo!) Join us for the next round of my workshop, Write and Publish Your Nonfiction eBook in 10 Days.

Scary? Maybe. A challenge? To say the least. Doable? When you join this workshop.

>> Details and sign up here: www.jenniferblanchard.net/10days

Why Every Writer Has a Nonfiction Book in Them

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I work with a lot of fiction writers. In fact, fiction writers make up the majority of my community at this point. And a common complaint I hear from them is this: I can’t write nonfiction.

While it’s true that writing nonfiction isn’t for everyone, it’s untrue that fiction writers can’t write nonfiction.

Nonfiction just means what you’re writing about isn’t made up, it’s something that comes from your own knowledge, skills and experiences. And every writer–including fiction writers–has knowledge, skills and experience in something.

The thing is, we tend to discredit this knowledge, these skills and those experiences, because they feel so normal to us.

For example, maybe you’ve been playing softball since you were 11. First you started off on a little league team, then you played for your high school’s team, which got you a scholarship to play in college. You played for a couple years in college and then go sick of the competitiveness of it, and so you stopped playing at the college-level, and instead took up a summer league that’s more about having fun than it is winning.

You’ve got a long-standing background in playing softball and being a softball player. So why not use your softball knowledge, skills and experiences to write a nonfiction book for people who want the knowledge, skills and experience that you have?

And not a boring textbook-style book on “how to play softball” (unless that feels good to you). But something that will allow you to stand out and reach a readership of people who need what you have to offer.

You could write a nonfiction book about how to prepare yourself to play college ball. Or you could write a book about navigating the politics of playing softball in high school. Or you could write a combo memoir-nonfiction book that tells some of your stories from playing softball, while sharing the life-lessons you learned and how to apply them.

It doesn’t have to be long or complicated. You don’t have to write 300 pages or even cover ever little thing there is to know. Especially if you plan on publishing it on Amazon, which now has entire categories dedicated to books that are short, fast reads.

The thing I want you to see in all of this, is how ripe for nonfiction most people’s lives are. At any given time there are thousands of potential things you could write a nonfiction book about.

I’ve written nonfiction books about writing habits (several of them), becoming creative on demand, having a pro writer mindset, journaling. All of these are writing-related topics, but I’m now branching out and writing nonfiction eBooks about life-related topics, on things like productivity (in general, not just writing), being multi-passionate, challenging yourself and more.

I basically just use the knowledge, skills and experiences I’ve acquired over my life so far and turn that stuff into written content that can help someone else do the same.

Not to mention, if you’re an entrepreneur, writing a nonfiction eBook is a great way to shine a light on your business, your processes and how you get results for your clients. I wrote a book called, Find Your Story, that walks you through my 6-part story planning and development process. Then I put a call-to-action at the end, letting people know I offer a coaching program that will allow them to go deeper on this process.

That 99 cent eBook has made me thousands of dollars through clients coming to me for coaching services, wanting to have me walk them through my process in a more official capacity. And it all started by deciding to write down my process and share it in eBook form.

The other awesome thing about nonfiction eBooks is that they’re actually much easier to sell than fiction, and you can make more money overall, which can then allow you to fund your fiction writing efforts.

How cool would it be to make a full-time income writing nonfiction eBooks, and be able to free up more time for writing fiction? How cool would it be to get your processes and ideas out into the world so other people can benefit from them? How cool would it be to have consistent money rolling in every month from eBook sales?

Pretty damn cool.

Now maybe you’re a fiction writer who only wants to write fiction. Fine if you are.

For most of my life I only saw myself as a fiction writer. I thought I would only ever write novels.
But toward the end of 2009, I realized I had built up quite a bit of knowledge and skills on being productive, so I decided to write my very first nonfiction eBook (Butt-In-Chair, published in early 2010). And then I fell in love with writing nonfiction and I’ve been doing it ever since.

If you’re open-minded and willing to use your writing talents for other types of writing, nonfiction eBooks can be a great way to leverage your knowledge, skills and experiences to not only help other people, but to make some money in the process (which can then fund other things you dream of doing, being and having).

Dream life or bust,

 

 

P.S. The doors to my badass workshop, Write and Publish Your Nonfiction eBook in 10 Days, are now OPEN to new students!!! I’ve run this workshop 3 times before, and every time more than half the students who sign up go all the way and hit “publish.” I created this workshop around my own personal nonfiction eBook development, outlining, writing and publishing process. The one that I use over and over again for all of the nonfiction eBooks that I write.

> Get full details, check out testimonials and sign up here: www.jenniferblanchard.net/10days

There’s No Such Thing As Writer’s Block

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I used to be the Queen Procrastinating Writer. I claimed writer’s block for years. I used it as an excuse not to do the writing I knew I wanted to be doing.

But once I finally dug deeper into what was really going on, I was able to make a discovery: there’s no such thing as writers block.

Writers Block is actually a surface problem. The roots go much deeper.

NY Times Bestselling Author, Jerry Jenkins, has narrowed down exactly where “Writer’s Block” comes from:

  1. Fear
  2. Procrastination
  3. Perfectionism
  4. Distractions

In his article, How To Overcome Writer’s Block Once and For All, he shares his solutions for dealing with these four underlying issues that bring about “Writer’s Block.”

>> Read the article here

Jerry has written and published 190 books!! Twenty-one of which have been NY Times Bestsellers. If there’s anyone who can help you overcome your struggle with the underlying issues that cause “Writer’s Block,” it’s him.

How do you deal with Writer’s Block? Share in the comments. 

Haters Gonna Hate. And Haters Have a Place.

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It was the Fall of 2009. I was a year into my story planning journey at that point and I still hadn’t published anything. But I was blogging about overcoming procrastination and sharing how things were going as I continued on my writing journey.

And one day I got a hater.

A woman commented on my blog, making fun of the way I pronounced NaNoWriMo (I was saying it NaNo-RyeMo and she said it was NaNo-ReeMo). After I commented back (rule #1: never comment back unless absolutely necessary) she started to say that I didn’t have a right to be blogging about writing if I’d never published anything. I then went back and said that I was blogging about my journey and what I’d learned and helping people overcome procrastination, which was something that stopped me for a very long time.

It went on and on. Eventually, I deleted the entire conversation from my blog.

But the comment stuck with me.

She had raised a good point… why hadn’t I published anything yet?

I might not’ve been ready to publish my novel (I still had a lot to learn about craft and story structure), but there was no reason I shouldn’t publish something non-fiction.

At that point, I had more than 100 blog posts written. It seemed like a waste to not do something else with them. So I pulled out 50-60 of the posts and organized them. Then I added some new content, connected all of the sections together so they flowed, and there I had my first eBook–Butt-In-Chair: A No-Excuses Guide for Writers Who Struggle to Get Started.

Dealing with haters can be annoying and scary and it can make you run and hide. Or you can use it as fuel to push yourself to the next level.

Since that situation on my blog back in 2009, I’ve dealt with haters several times. It used to bother me. And sometimes it still does. But for the most part, I’ve gotten to a place where my dreams are bigger than the bullshit that used to hold me back.

Haters gonna hate. And they have a place. It was a hater that made me finally write my damn book and put it out there.

Who knows how long I’d have waited if that woman hadn’t called me out on not having published yet. Even if it was totally unnecessary and really she should’ve been keeping her eyes on her own lane.

But I’m grateful to her, and all the haters that came after. They’ve all pushed me to a new level in my life and business. Because I know I’m stronger than they will ever be. And I know that haters only hate because they’re people who are not living their purpose or doing anything meaningful with their lives.

And that in and of itself is just so sad it makes my heart break for them.

It’s rare for a hater to shake me these days. But I’ve also gotten less and less of them as I’ve focused more on just doing my thing and calling in the right community and being around like-minded people.

Confidence keeps the haters at bay.

But the biggest thing to remember is, it’s not your fault if you trigger someone. It’s not your problem if you’re speaking your truth, sharing your gifts and shining your light and someone has a problem with it.

Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be doing it.

Doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be there.

Doesn’t mean you should hide out and play small.

Just the opposite, actually. It means you need to shine brighter, share more, stand out more.

Over the weekend I heard best selling author, Agapi Stassinopoulos speak at Infinite Receiving Live, and she said something I’ll never, ever forget for as long as I live:

You’re not meant to fit in, you’re meant to stand out.

It was such a profound statement, and it rang true at the core of my being. We’re not meant to fit in or be like everyone else. We’re meant to stand out and be us.

So haters be damned!!

Don’t ever let the opinions of someone else stop you from living your dreams, shining your light and sharing your gifts with the world.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year or just need to plan your next story? Be sure to grab my FREE story planning checklist here: www.bit.ly/nanochecklist

Stop Looking Around and Worrying about if it’s Working or Not – The Results Will Show Up if You Just Keep Going

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Yesterday my husband and I went to brunch at this badass local diner in Austin that’s open 24 hours and serves gluten-free pancakes and french toast and vegan cheese sauce (which is a dream for a gluten-free, mostly dairy-free person like me). We were sitting outside the restaurant, waiting for our table to be ready. It was a gorgeous Texas fall day–there was a slight breeze and the temperature was 77 degrees.

I was people-watching while we waited, and I couldn’t help but notice that most people were wearing jeans. Without even thinking, I said, “I can’t wait ’til I can wear jeans again.”

My hubs looked at me and said, “you are wearing jeans.” I looked down and saw that yes, I, too, was wearing jeans. But they’re the only jeans I ever wear, because they’re the only jeans I own that fit me.

Now, to be clear, I own a lot of jeans and they all do still fit me as in I can put them on and they’re not too small for me. But they don’t fit me how I’d like them to fit (loose on the stomach and waist). So anytime I wear them I end up taking them off soon after and putting on leggings or sweatpants instead because it’s more comfortable.

I’ve had to do battle lately with the fact that I’m not in the shape I once was. And even though I’m still doing better than a lot of people my age and many people would kill to be as small as I am, I’m still not happy with my body or how my clothes fit me right now.

I want more. And I know I can have it. So I refuse to settle or to accept my body as it is currently. I’m actively working on making the changes I need to make to have the body I dream of having.

But when I said that to my hubs, he said something that really put it into perspective. He said, “your jeans will fit if you just keep doing what you’re doing.”

And even though what he said was so freaking obvious, ’cause I mean, DUH! If I just keep doing what I’m doing–eating better, going to the gym–eventually I’ll have the body I desire. Yet it never really occurred to me.

But it’s true. Regardless of the outcome you’re going after, whether it’s a better body or to finish writing your novel, if you keep taking action, you will get there.

The results will show up if you just keep going.

This is something we need to remind ourselves about from time-to-time, because it’s easy to look around at your current reality, at the results you don’t currently have, and worry that it’s never gonna happen.

Even though I know that I’ve been eating better and going to the gym or working out at home 5-6 days a week, I still on occasion look at my jeans drawer or the shirts I don’t feel comfortable wearing right now, and worry that they’ll never again fit me the way I want them to.

But it’s pretty ridiculous to waste time and energy worrying about the results not showing up when you know for a fact you’re actually doing the work.

Now, on the other hand, if you’re not doing the work or if you know that you’re not fully showing up for yourself in the area that you’d like to see improve–your writing, your fitness, whatever–then that’s when you should worry about not getting the results. Although worrying is still kind of a waste because if you’re not doing the work, of course you’re not gonna get the results. That’s pretty obvious, so no sense worrying about it.

But if you know that you’re doing what it takes, then you have nothing to worry about. Ever. Just keep doing what you’re doing. The results you desire will soon be yours.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. If you’re ready to do what it takes during November (aka: NaNoWrimo) to write the first draft of your story, be sure to download my FREE NaNoWriMo story planning checklist: bit.ly/nanochecklist

The Different Types of Editors and What They Do

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People are constantly reaching out to me to ask questions about my editing service. And I often find that writers are confused as to what they actually need and which type of editor is a fit for that need. (I get a lot of requests from writers who mistakenly think they need line editing when what they really need is content editing, etc.)

So I thought I’d do a breakdown of how to know what you need and which type of editor you should look for.

ASK QUESTIONS

In order to know what kind of editor you need, you first have to take inventory of where you are right now. The following questions will help you do that:

1. Have you completed you first draft?
2. Have you completed a first round of revisions?
3. How confident do you feel that this story is ready to be seen by someone else?

If you’re not done with your first draft yet, don’t show it to anyone, especially an editor. It’s not time for that yet. At this point, you need to be completely focused on finishing the draft.

If you’ve finished your first round of revisions and worked through your entire first draft and have made changes and reworked things, you’re ready for your first round of editing.

ENTER CONTENT/DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR

Your first round of editing should be with a content editor. You may have also heard this person called a developmental editor.

Regardless of the name, the job is the same–to read your manuscript and give feedback on the overall story, including plot, structure, scene execution, character arc, theme and more.

This editor won’t be looking at your prose or checking for grammar or punctuation. That stuff doesn’t matter at this point.

The feedback you get from this editor will help you turn the draft you have into a draft that’s more cohesive and engaging.

After you’ve spent time implementing the suggestions from your content/developmental editor and you have a story that’s closer to being finished, now’s a great time to send to Beta Readers for additional feedback on the story. (This step is optional but recommended).

When you’ve implemented all your editor and Beta Reader changes, then you’re ready for your next editor.

ENTER LINE EDITOR

A Line Editor’s job is to read your prose, line-by-line, and help you polish it up and make it shine. They look at word choices, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation and more.

What a Line Editor is not concerned with is the content of the story. That’s already been handled by your Content/Developmental Editor and Beta Readers.

This editor’s exclusive focus is helping you make the story sound better through improving how it’s written.

After you’ve implemented the suggested line edits, you’re ready for the final round of editing.

ENTER PROOFREADER

This is optional, but highly recommended if you want to give your draft a final once-over before you hit “publish.” A proofreader will go through your story again, line-by-line, and look for any misspellings, typos or other random things that need to be cleaned up.

BUT–before you hire any editor, you first need to do your own revision, to make sure you’ve gotten the story into the best shape you possibly can on your own.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

The Five Most Common Issues Writers Have with Their Stories

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I spend about a hundred hours a year reading writers’ manuscripts and doing content edits on their stories. I’ve seen it all–stories that ramble on for 400+ pages, never really getting to the point; stories that start off pretty good and then about a quarter of the way in change into a totally different story; stories where the voice changes so many times you couldn’t keep up if you wanted to… I could go on.

And this is true for every editor on the planet.

We’ve all seen a wide array of stories from “decent start but still needs work” to “total diaster” to “what the fuck were you thinking?” You name it, it’s out there.

But there are also many stories that have a pretty good start and just need tweaking and revising and editing to mold and shape it into the story it’s really meant to be.

My author and editor friend, Sarah Fox, and I got together the other day to talk about what the most common problems are that we see in writers’ drafts (we’re doing a revision workshop together–see the bottom of this message for more). And we came up with five things that are the most common manuscript problems:

1. Episodic Narrative (AKA: No Structure)

An episodic narrative is when a writer shows you the day to day occurances in a character’s life, yet there’s nothing actually happening. There may be drama and conflict, but there’s no true story going on.

A story is a very specific thing. A story is: a Protagonist who wants something, an Antagonist who opposes what the Protagonist wants and a journey that ensues because of it.

It has a purpose, a goal. There are stakes. And there’s a resolution where an ordinary Protagonist is then turned into a hero.

Most importantly, there’s a true end point. In an episodic narrative the story could keep going forever.

Most drafts that we get hired to edit are missing the key element that turns something from an episodic narrative into an actual story: structure.

Without structure you don’t have a story.

2. Inconsistencies

The next most common problem is inconsistencies, in both the story itself and with elements in the story. For example, in the beginning of the story a character is named Bob and later his name changes to Bill. Or the first part of the story is a mystery and then it turns into a romance and the mystery somehow disappears.

The goal for a completed novel is to have an engaging, cohesive story that’s consistent from beginning to end.

3. Point of View/Voice/Narration

Next up is how writers handle Point of View/Voice/Narration. Sarah and I agreed that we both see so many manuscripts where the Point of View (POV) is all over the place–we’re bouncing from one character’s head to another every few paragraphs and we’re going from First Person to Third Person and back again.

Oftentimes writers think this makes the story more interesting and exciting. But what it really does is make it confusing as fuck for a reader.

4. Info Dumps/Backstory Problems

The next problem is how writers handle backstory. Most drafts I read have “info dumps” happening throughout. What that means is they’ll drop a whole bunch of backstory all at once and it goes on and on for pages.

Backstory should always and only be peppered into the story as you go, when and if it’s needed. The “if” being an important thing here. If it’s needed.

Because it’s not always needed.

Which is why you don’t want to give the reader more backstory than they need to have the current story make sense.

The other backstory problem is when the backstory ends up becoming the current story (which then turns it into an episodic narrative). This is a huge problem!

I see this a lot in flashback (which should be used rarely, if at all). Writers will write a flashback scene that’s merely backstory to show us something that happened to the character. Don’t do that.

We only want to see a flashback with backstory if that somehow adds new information to the current story that’s needed for it to move forward and make sense.

Otherwise leave it out.

5. Unnatural Dialogue

And the fifth problem we came up with that we see across the board in most stories is dialogue that sounds weird or that isn’t written how people really talk.

For example, not using contractions. People talk in contractions–don’t, won’t, ain’t, can’t. They don’t too often say I will not, do not, cannot… because it’s too proper and slow.

Dialogue is a huge part of what makes a story engaging. So you want your dialogue to pop.

These are the top 5 issues Sarah and I see in manuscripts over and over and over again. Hopefully now that you’re aware of these issues you can change them in your own writing.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

You Get to Make the Rules

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The other day in my Bestselling Author Mastermind group one of the members posted a thread asking about how to best track the progress she’s been making on her revisions. She mentioned how many people recommend tracking your daily word count, but that with revisions it’s harder to do that because sometimes you’re revising a scene and the word count doesn’t really change much.

I then commented and said that I don’t track word count or page count or anything like that. I used to try to do that, but it was too overwhelming and, honestly, de-motivating for the days when I didn’t hit the word count, even though I was still writing.

Now I just use the DONE app to track whether or not I actually work on my fiction each day. Just having worked on my fiction in some way, shape or form each day is enough for me. I’m over being rigid about my daily habits.

When I mentioned this to my BAM member, she commented back, sounding completely relieved that she could just track whether or not she worked on her revision each day, and not have to worry about tracking the specific word count.

I commented back and said: You get to make the rules.

And I think that’s something we tend to forget about… that we get to make the rules for ourselves. We don’t have to go along with how others do things, even if most other people are doing it that way.

Don’t want to track your daily word count? Don’t track it. Track what feels good to you.

I used to be super rigid about my daily tasks and would give myself a hard time if I didn’t do it perfectly or if I felt like I didn’t get enough done. But all that berating did was make me not feel like doing the things I was trying to build daily habits around.

Because it’s no fun to feel like you’re failing every day, especially at things you’ve tasked yourself with.

So a few months ago I gave myself permission to stop being so rigid. To just have my daily list of the Top 5 things I wanted to get done each day, and as long as I did something related to each of those tasks, I could check it off and count it as having done it.

Progress was still being made, every single day, even when I didn’t do something major in each area.

And that’s the important thing, right? That progress is being made. That you’re 1% further today than you were yesterday.

Success in life isn’t about making giant leaps every day (although that’s one way to do things, and, of course, it does work). It’s about taking baby steps every day in the direction of your dreams.

Baby steps are still steps, and while it might take you a little longer to get where you want to go, you will get there if you just keep on baby-stepping (just like in, What About Bob? –baby steps!!).

That’s what I’ve been doing with my Daily Top 5 for the last few months, baby-stepping. Working on each task a little bit every day. Making progress. Getting shit done.

Success is more about consistency than anything else.

If you can be consistent with taking baby steps, you will arrive exactly where you want to. You will finish and you will make progress.

But if you’re constantly telling yourself that you have to live by someone else’s rules or standards, that’s only gonna make you feel like a failure or like you’re not good enough. Neither of which is very motivating.

And the truth is, you don’t have to. You get to create your own rules, about whatever you want.

Just because most writers track their daily word count or page count, doesn’t mean you need to. Just because most writers use Scrivener or Final Draft, doesn’t mean you need to. Just because most writers take years to write and finish and publish a book, doesn’t mean you need to.

You get to decide.

You get to choose.

You get to make up the rules that you live and operate by.

It’s all up to you.

But this is something I’m constantly having to remind myself about. Because it’s very easy to slip into living someone else’s life or someone else’s rules, sometimes without even realizing it.

And especially if you were raised with said rules or if you grew up watching other people live said rules.

Still, doesn’t mean you have to follow them though. You don’t. You never had to and you never will have to.

This is what life on your own terms is all about.

You make the rules that you get to live by. And fuck everyone and everything else.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. Isn’t it time for you to FINISH what you’ve started?! Join myself and Editor Sarah Fox for Revise Your Damn Novel: 5 weeks of focused revision time so you can get your story into a more final state and then either hit “publish” or finally send it off to an editor for feedback. >> Full details and sign up here: www.jenniferblanchard.net/revise

One of the Best Things I’ve Ever Done for Myself is Spend Time with People who Think Like I Do

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I just got off a team call with one of my clients who’s in the middle of a launch right now. Her team is amazing and all of us think very similarly about life and business. Every time I spend an hour on the phone with these women, I’m reminded of something I decided I was gonna do more of this year: spend time with people who think like I do.

You’ve probably heard the quote, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with” (Jim Rohn). And it’s true.

Yes, it’s OK to spend time around people who think different than you and who aren’t at the same mindset level that you are. But if that’s the only people you spend time with, you may have a problem.

You need to be around people who think like you do and who’ve achieved more than you have. It pushes you to higher levels of thinking, believing and doing.

It inspires you to BE MORE.

If you’re only spending time with people who don’t think like you do and who aren’t achieving, it won’t motivate you. You may even start to feel self-conscious that you don’t fit in with them, and then you’ll dim down your light even more so you can be like they are.

Which is why you must have the like-minded people to spend time with. This will pull you back up and make it OK for you to shine your light and be who you truly are. And that will inspire you to greater levels of success and achievement.

It will also give you the mindset strength you need for when you’re not around like-minded people.

This is becoming more and more true for me as I make this major pivot in my business, because there will be people who don’t agree with my new direction. (#November7 #ItsComing)

I’m OK with that.

Because I want to create a community of millions of multi-passionate writers, artists and entrepreneurs who all think like I do and who are all taking action and achieving, and yet still aspire to greater levels of success and achievement. And to do something as powerful as that, you will have detractors and people who don’t agree and who think you need to follow the rules and do things like everyone else is doing them.

But I’m a rebel. I don’t like rules and I don’t like being told what to do. I like to do things my way. Always have.

I want to lead a revolution of multi-passionate writers, artists and entrepreneurs who never want to choose just one thing. Because I never, ever wanted to choose just one thing. And really, I couldn’t.

My soul is multi-passionate. That’s just how it is.

So being forced to pick one thing or even trying to pick one thing made me feel like I was dying inside.

If you’re a multi-passionate person, you’re not meant to do one thing. You’re meant to do all of the things, whatever your heart calls you to.

And the truth is, you can’t be successful at the level you dream of if you pick one thing or if you continue forcing yourself to pick one thing. Because that’s not who you really are.

Success comes from just being who you are.

This is why I’m so grateful to have opportunities to spend time with people who think like I do and who inspire and motivate me to want to be, do and have more. My dream life and career and business, exactly as I want it, all on my terms.

If it weren’t for my like-minded and beyond mentors and entrepreneur friends, I wouldn’t be at this place right now. Getting ready to jump into a whole new business and life and ME.

To finally say what I really want to say to the world. To finally allow myself to BE on the outside the me I’ve always been on the inside. To finally once and for all fully stand up for what I believe and what I want to be known for going forward.

For the last decade I’ve been showing one side of myself to the world. And while it’s been a great bunch of years, there’s been so much of myself that has been surpressed and dimmed because I kept telling myself I had to pick one thing.

But I could never pick one thing. Not even when I actually tried.

And now I don’t want to.

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. The doors to the Revise Your Damn Novel workshop with myself and Editor Sarah Fox, are opening on Monday, October 9 and we kick things off on Monday, October 16. Save the date and get ready to join us!!!

This is Why You Must do Your Work in the World

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Between the senseless tragedy in Vegas, the unexpected death of the wife of my husband’s friend, and the loss of a musical icon, October 2 really gave us a lot to think about. My thoughts, as usual in situations like this, traveled to purpose and soulwork and legacy.

Losing Tom Petty was hard. His music has been a part of my life since I first heard Free Falling back in the mid-90s, when I was trying to learn how to play the keyboard (I have long-since given that up, ha!)

Tom was most definitely doing his soulwork–that’s undeniable.

The man was one of the best singer-songwriters of our time and his catalog of work is a legacy that will live on for the rest of time. He was a true artist.

And he was a writer who acted on inspired ideas.

In his documentary (available on Netflix right now) he says that he had no idea where the songs came from. He just heard a riff and the lyrics came to him. He described it as going up into the stratosphere, pulling down the words and bringing them to life in the song.

He never questioned where this inspiration came from, for fear that it would go away.

By acting on these inspired ideas (aka: Divine Downloads), he was able to build a beyond-incredible dream life and career. One that most musicians aspire to, but many never reach.

He was an artist who was willing to do the work.

And all the years of his life he continued writing and performing and creating and putting stuff out in the world, both through his own music and by producing the music of other musicians he believed in.

But there was another side of Tom that not everyone remembers, and that was the side of him that had strong convictions and was willing to fight for what he believed in. He fought the industry to keep record prices from going up. He organized an independent tour with his band, The Heartbreakers, to pay for the legal bills he endured from standing for what he believed.

And he won.

The legacy of Tom Petty will for sure live on forever. Both his music and his legacy as an artist willing to stand up against an industry that tried to take advantage of him and of so many other artists.

Tom’s legacy is undeniable.

But what about everyone else? All the other people in the world–those who are gone and especially those who remain…

Are they living their dream lives? Are they doing their soulwork in the world? Are they standing for what they believe in? Are they spending their time doing what really matters?

I have no idea the answers to those questions, as I don’t personally know every person in the world. But what I do know is all we ever really have is right now.

Tomorrow, next week, next month, next year aren’t guaranteed. We have no idea what the future holds for us. Any of us.

And so that’s why we must wake up every morning, grateful to be alive, and we must live our legacy. We must create and we must finish and we must put our soulwork out into the world.

There are no more excuses.

There’s no more time for procrastinating or puting it off.

There is only NOW.

And we, the lucky ones, who still remain here on planet earth, must create our legacy and live our dream lives. If for no other reason than to honor those who are gone.

We must show up every day, do our soulwork and put it out into the world.

For those who would give anything to have one more day, one more breath, one more chance. To do the thing they always dreamed of. To live the life they always wanted. To finish what they came here to do.

Today is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present.

And so we must live NOW, create NOW, put it out there NOW. Because you never know what tomorrow will bring…

Dream life or bust,

 

 

#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent

P.S. Is it time for you to finish your story? Then mark October 16 on your calendar and get ready to join myself and Editor, Sarah Fox, for Revise Your Damn Novel. Stay tuned…