Things I have learned over the last month
15 June 2010
- Babies take a lot of patience… and I don’t know where they put it. I’m still trying to find mine.
- If it were only possible to speak after you thought something through, some people wouldn’t talk at all.
- Practice makes perfect, but some people need more practice than others.
- It is easier to succeed if you focus on the goal rather than the distance.
- Stress takes a large, physical toll on the body.
LOL!@the first one. It’s a good thing the little darlings are so cute and funny.
Writing novels takes lots of patience when you need as much practice as I do. It’s too bad the kids already ran off with my patience. I have to make my goals smaller, like focusing on a tree or a power pole when I’m running, telling myself I just have to make it there, and then focusing on the next small goal until I finish what I’ve set out to do.
1) – Babies…well, all I can say is that at some point in the not too distant future, you will look back at this time when said baby was immobile and only required feeding, changing, bathing and holding.
Just wait til he’s pulling himself up by the furniture and grabbing everything within reach. That is soon followed by chasing him everywhere as he gets his sea legs, so to speak.
Then you’ll long for these days when he was held captive by soft muscles and a crib.
Don’t you love my optimism and support?
2) – Speaking after thinking something through? Not a problem for me, as I never think anything through…my brain takes a turn mid-stream and I’m left wondering what I was thinking about!
3) – ‘Nuff said
4) – Even better – mini-goals make the endgoal that much more comprehensible
5) – Stress can also motivate…
Yeah, babies are cute, and my wife is really enjoying this time, but I’m ready to take him to a zoo or park. Someday.
In project management, we use the term ‘milestones,’ but I have a hard time using those for encouragement. I’m not really striving to finish my third draft, or to finish my synopsis, or to query X-many agents, or to get a full-manuscript request, or to get an agent, or to get an editor, or to get a book deal… Those are exciting steps along the way (to be celebrated, for sure), but I’m striving to become a full-time author. It I focus on that goal, and celebrate the steps along the way, then the work seems easier to me.