STAY FOCUSED TO REACH YOUR DREAMS

     If you want to change your life…don’t settle for a life of mediocrity. Dare to dream! You get out of life---what you put into it. I learned this from my mentor and friend, Doran Andry.

     So get a journal and have a daily chat with yourself. If you’re willing to learn and be teachable, it will assure your success. Evaluate your writing career –ask yourself; “Am I where I want to be? How can I change and get better?” Write down what your ‘self-talk’ is telling you. Find your passion and dare to dream where your writing career will take you.

     The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is usually a half a dozen things done consistently. The reason why people fail vs succeed is they usually do a half a dozen things wrong consistently. And most people never know what those things are.
     Doran Andry, in Gateway to Greatness, stated there are six steps to becoming great. They are the guidelines for my writing career. Since I adopted them I have successfully sold fourteen books; eleven are written and I’m starting a trilogy in two months.
     1. Make a real decision to choose success and take action. Most people hope for it, they’re open to it, they say they want it, and they’ll even say they’ll do whatever it takes, but, when things get difficult they default to ‘option B’—which is quitting and going back to their comfort zone. The net result is they stop doing what it takes to reach their goal of becoming a successful writer.
     2. Be teachable. Embrace the value that successful writers might know something about writing and the business. Be open-minded and willing to learn. Listen during critiques and remove the ‘personal’ from it. Be professional and apply comments in your mind; would it make my story better? If the answer is yes, you know what to do about it.
      3. Inconsistency in your daily writing commitment. Many people write for hours one day, then take a few days off or write barely an hour the next. If we did this in our ‘day’ jobs, we’d get fired. What’s ironic; people show up for their ‘regular jobs’ even though they don’t feel like it! It’s more or less creating a habit and sticking to it, or if you will; creating guidelines/rules for your writing career.

     4. Take advantage of the world of information about writing and keys on being successful and reaching your goals (which I call the mentors & the mentoring process). The beginning is the most difficult and most people hit the wall of skepticism, doubt and fear. These people fall back on their weakness and undeveloped skills, instead of going directly to their goals or writing network who have been to that same wall and conquered it. You need to develop the roadmap, tools and support that will assure you success.

'Giant Cedars in Libby, Montana'