Stay Inspired!

Hi and welcome back to Inspiration Corner! I’m so glad you come back to visit me. Warning: today is kick-in-the-pants day! Today I’m going to talk about something that is a touchy subject with some people: If you have goals that you want to make happen, you’ve got to do the work.

Now I talk about the law of attraction and how it works wonders a lot, but there’s more to it than just thinking positive and keeping a positive attitude. It extends to actions. And the truth is: if you don’t do the work, you won’t get the results.

For example, I’ve encountered a lot of people over the years who say “I want to be a writer.” But do they actually sit down and write? No. Or if they do, when it gets difficult, they quit. Or they procrastinate. Or they rewrite the first chapter over and over again and never progress. And they continue to complain about how it’s so hard, or they’ll finish it later, when they have more time.

That doesn’t cut it.

If you have a goal, you have to take the steps necessary to make it happen. You MUST do the practical as well as the inspirational/metaphysical. It’s the same with magick—one of the first things I always teach people is that you absolutely have to take the practical steps before you undertake magickal work on an issue.

This means that if you want to be a singer, you may have to take voice classes. If you want to write a book, you’ve got to sit down and do the writing, and rewriting, and editing, and working it over and over until it’s polished. If you want to become a business maven, you need to take business classes. And if you want to be a brain surgeon, you have to go to medical school and you have to study.

I write full-time. It’s not a hobby, I support my family with my earnings and that includes the household, as well as two part time assistants. And that means I have to sell books and I’ve got to sell a lot of them.

Now that I’ve gone indie, this also means I have to do all of my own marketing and production. (Although to be honest, when I was with my ex publisher, they didn’t do a whole lot of promotion or marketing for me especially at the end few years. I was expected to do most of that myself. Luckily, that set me up so that when I did go indie, I was ready to take on the extra work).to-do lists

So, I have to sit my ass down in the chair, put my hands on the keys, and make up stories. I consider writing my calling, but even though I love my work, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. That doesn’t mean there aren’t days where I sit here and think, “I want to play a game or watch a movie or just go screw around.” But, if I want to get those books out there, I have to do the writing and marketing and everything that entails.

You want to start a business? Or build your health? Or a dozen other goals?

Well, get your booty in gear and go do it. Nobody’s going to do the work for you. Nobody’s going to hand you the results on a silver platter. And nobody cares about your goal as much as you do. So OWN the goal, stop procrastinating, and just do it.

Before I close out this pep talk, let’s examine two reactions that can keep us procrastinating.

One: the fear of failure.
Two: it’s counterpart, the fear of success.

Now you may say, “I’m not afraid to succeed — I want success!”

But let me clue you in on something that your subconscious may realize even though your conscious mind doesn’t: when you are successful, that means you have something to lose. That means you have a reputation to lose. And that thought terrifies some people.

On the other hand, if you never try, you’ll never fail. The fear of failure can paralyze some people.

So, how can we get over these twin fears?

  1. Realize that everybody fails at some point. Everybody makes mistakes. It’s what we do when we make a mistake that matters. Do we learn from it? Do we get up, brush ourselves off, and try again? So many activities in our lives are only mastered through practice. And practice means you will fail at first. And that’s okay.
  2. And, if you succeed? Well, each new challenge has its own set of perimeters, and so you can’t expect the same results every time. Some of my books sell well. Some, not much at all. But each one, I write to my best of abilities and so each one is a success in my eyes.
  3. Lastly, remember that stagnation keeps you from growing. How will you feel at the end of your life if you haven’t gone after your dreams? It’s far better to try and stumble, then to never try at all. If you’re so afraid of getting hurt, you’re hurting yourself far more by inaction.Celebrate Your Courageous Heart

This applies to many aspects of our lives. It applies to giving love a chance, to having the courage to stand up and say “I care about you” to someone, even if we’re afraid we’ll be rejected. It applies to standing up for something right, even when it’s an unpopular opinion. Yes, sometimes doing what is right will alienate people in our lives. But how will you feel if you don’t take the steps that you know in your heart are right?

I suppose the heart of my message today is: go after what you want. Damn it, gird your loins, take a chance, and go after your dreams! And do it in a way that doesn’t trample on other people!

Take a considered risk (do not jump off the cliff thinking you can fly, if you don’t have a good parachute, peeps). And, if you fail? Dry your eyes and try again. And if you succeed, rejoice and then set a new goal.

And now, a note off-topic: Tomorrow is the re-release of NIGHT MYST, the first book in my Indigo Court series. If you haven’t read it, I urge you to try it because, yeah, I write good books and I LOVED writing this series. (It is darker than, so be aware of that).

You can also preorder NIGHT VEIL, the second book which will be released next month. The following three books and novella will come out once a month through the rest of the year.

You can also preorder OAK & THORNS, the second book in the Wild Hunt series (my new favorite that I’m writing), as well as IRON BONES, the third book. To answer a question that came up—I’m planning at least eight books in this series.

Before you go, tell me, in the comments below, what you are going to do this week regarding some goal that you have. I challenge you: Take a step, even if it’s a baby step, toward your dreams.

Bright blessings and have a great week!

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Inspiration Corner: Go After Your Goals!
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One thought on “Inspiration Corner: Go After Your Goals!

  • 06/17/2018 at 11:06 am
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    I can’t say what I’ll start doing towards my goals, but I can say what I’ll continue to do, which is continue to work on my latest story idea while editing (more like finding where I need details, missed some things, or questions even I’m asking) the other. I began that process back in February, I had fallen out of writing everyday, saying I’m too tired from work. Oh, I’ll spend this month working and then nearly the whole month it works, but it didn’t kick me in gear. Then in February, I finally managed to figure out this idea stewing in my head for two years that I had a lot of false starts and said, fine, I’ll start writing on my phone. That’s what I did, and I shared what I texted it to a friend. Well, after that, I wrote some more the next day, sent it to her again, and repeat. Two months later, I had written the whole book on my phone and now I’m doing an edit of it before taking it from phone/printed copies to typing on my computer. Truthfully, I feel like myself for the first time in a long time and am happy to finally be heading towards my goals.

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