On New Year’s Eve, I walked a labyrinth while meditating on what I wanted to let go of and what I wanted to embrace in 2012. At first, I thought “I want to stop being so reactive. I want to respond to difficult people and situations with equanimity.” Then I thought “Equanimity is all well … More Don’t Just Reduce Resistance, Savor Life!
What’s your vision for your writing and the rest of your life in 2012? And not a boring, corporate-like planning and strategy session — a real vision. Sure you need to ask those logical, linear, pragmatic questions that the left hemisphere knows are important. But you also need to invite the right hemisphere to play … More Beyond New Year Resolutions to New Year Vision
As long as you feel resistance, you haven’t given up. If even the smallest part of you still wants to write, that crucial part isn’t willing to just dance through life. … More Dancing with Your Eyes Open
New Year Resolutions are worse than a waste of time. Depending on what statistics and studies you look at, anywhere from 78% to 92% of the people who make resolutions fail to keep them. New Year Resolutions train you to break promises to yourself, which is the opposite of what writers who want to move … More Abandon New Year Resolutions
Detective Joe Friday knew how to track: Focus on facts. When you track Process, Self-Care and Product Time, keep your attention on two facts: “This is what I said I’d do. This is what I did.” One of the benefits of tracking is that the feedback allows you to recognize changes in your patterns and … More Tricks of Tracking #4: Focus on Facts
Your tracking system should highlight two questions: “What will I do?” (as you set your intention) and “What did I do?” (after you go into action). Even though your tracking system may not highlight it, the “ready” between the “set” and the “go” is equally important. Set Yourself! At the beginning of the week, set … More Tricks of Tracking #3: Set, Ready, Go!
The second trick of tracking is KISS: Keep It Simple and Seen. The system you use for tracking needs to be simple, quick, easy to use and readily accessible. It could be a chart with gold stars on your office wall, a legal pad on your desk, a Moleskine notebook in your pocket (which admittedly … More Tricks of Tracking #2: KISS
Let’s celebrate! We’re halfway through the dark! Winter starts today (for those of us in the northern hemisphere). Frigid winds will blow down from the arctic. The temps will drop. We’ll get snow and ice and more gloomy days than we wish. BUT, from this day forward, every day will be a little longer. The … More Bright Solstice!
If you’re surprised by how long it’s been since you spent time with your writing, you’ve fallen into the trap of unrecognized resistance. It’s an easy trap to fall into – you don’t write for a day or two, so you don’t track your writing for those days. Two days stretch into three or four … More Avoid the Trap of Unrecognized Writing Resistance: Tricks of Tracking #1
How could writer’s resistance steal your creativity without you knowing it? Doesn’t every writer who’s blocked know s/he is blocked? I’ll answer those questions with another: Have you ever gotten to the end of the week and suddenly realized you didn’t show up for Product Time (aka your writing), Self-Care or Process the way you … More Is Writer’s Resistance Secretly Stealing Your Creativity?
Bane of Your Resistance 