SeleniumI’ve been struggling a bit with starting a regular posting schedule on here. On the one hand, this is supposed to be a creative outlet, I don’t want it bogged down with pressure and deadlines. But on the other hand, the right kind of structure absolutely helps me find inspiration. With the idea of using helpful guidelines to motivate more work, I’m thinking of some regular series blog posts.
This is the first installment of “Motivation Monday,” where I’ll list three goals, hopes, dreams, or ambitions I have for the coming week. Just things I have on my mind that either need to happen this week, or that I hope will happen. Some will be set goals that I’m committing to by writing them down, and others will be wishes that I don’t have control over. I think the second part of that may actually turn out to be the most important. I have a habit of keeping my own wishes a secret, thinking that if I don’t voice them out loud, I can avoid later disappointment by pretending that wasn’t what I really wanted in the first place. I need to be more ok with feeling disappointment. Things that are out of our control don’t always play out exactly how we want them to, feeling sad about those things is an essential step towards letting them go and finding a different direction. In the spirit of trying my best to become a more evolved individual, I’m going to admit to wanting things, even if I have no control over them and am entirely at the mercy of something else. Honesty is important, even if I’m just being honest with myself.
Here are 3 Things Motivating Me in the Week Ahead:
Getting Better
I flew across the country to see family for Christmas. Of course, that means I’m now fighting off a pretty nasty cold. It took a few days to hit, and now it’s the first week of January when everyone else is up and ready to tackle the year ahead while I’m struggling to sit up and type at my computer for at least a couple of hours before succumbing to my next nap. I feel like I’m behind on life already and I hate it. I’m hoping that I’m in the final stages of this now and that I’ll be able to get back to a full, active, schedule this week. I need to get back to derby practice!
Write Something Every Day
I’ve been lucky enough to be able to write for some paying clients. This is awesome, but I’m still in the very early stages, so the projects I have aren’t breaking the bank. I’m looking for other part-time work to make things more financially stable, but that has been slow going. With both of those things going on, creative/novel writing, and this blog have both taken a significant hit on the priority list. The result is that I can spend a whole day working on job applications, only to feel like a failure at the end of it because I didn’t “write anything.” I’m re-defining those goals to be kinder to myself. Cover letters count as writing. Marketing copy and paid content for other blogs all count as writing. As long as I write something every day, I’m still actively working towards my goals of writing full time. It may not be an actual novel right now, but as long as I’m writing something every day, I’ll count that as ok.
Move Every Day
My workout habit can best be described as “feast or famine.” Practice days are hard workouts, I push myself for hours and give it everything I have. The same thing when I go for workout classes at the gym, I have a crazy desire to be the hardest worker, so I leave it all out there. Then, on off days, I am a human slug. Starting this week, I want to work towards bringing that into a more consistent level. I want to move every day, even if it’s just 15 minutes in the yard with the dog, cleaning a room, or stretching. I’ll trade in a few of my off-skates workouts for less intense cardio, where I’m not entirely spent at the end, and I won’t have any slug days. Of course, this week is taking into account the sickness that I’m trying to banish. Ugh.
Future Monday posts probably won’t be this long. Since I’m using this first post to define the idea for myself, I went ahead and worked that out with a whole bunch of extra words. I’ll be back next Monday. Until then, wishing everyone a happy and productive week!
