successful

My Writing Journey – Don’t Go Alone! (11/03/2016)

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Have you ever tried to do something alone?  It could be dieting, exercising, or anything else.  It’s an uphill battle, and if you’re going at it by yourself, your odds are not very good.

Don’t go alone.  If you’re dieting, join a friend who is also dieting.  If you’re exercising, join a friend who is doing the same.  This will establish some accountability, and you’ll be able to work on your goal.

Are you working on a blog post for a website?  Find other people who are doing the same, and they can encourage you.  Don’t do it alone.  Your momentum will be a lot better if you have your friends to encourage you.

For me, I attend ideation once a week.  Everyone there is encouraged to continue on their idea.  Those who keep going will keep getting encouraged.  For me, it’s like an idea gym.  The ideas that work out the most turn into successful businesses.  I don’t go alone and neither should you.

So the next time you’re doing something alone, try to see if there’s someone else that you can share the experience with.  For us, we’re all sharing this journey together so we don’t have to be alone.  It’s better this way and you have a much better chance to succeed.

What will there be next week?  Since I’m busy with conference planning for Toastmasters, I won’t be attending ideation so I’ll try to think of something special.

See you next week!

Your friend in writing,

Kyle

My Writing Journey – Mistakes are Good (10/27/2016)

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Have you ever made a mistake?

If you answered yes, then good.  You’re a human.

If you answered no, then you’re either conceited, a liar, or some kind of machine.

Mistakes are good.  Yes, you heard me.  I did just say that.

But why?  Think about it.  When you’re working towards a finished product, mistakes are necessary to get to the next step.  If you are fixated on having a finished product on your first draft, you will not make any progress.  Make a mistake and move on.  Get something out there.  It’s better to have a mistake then to have no product at all.

If you look at the most successful people in history, a lot of them made numerous failures.  They failed a lot before they become very successful.  Success is built on many failures, so you will be making a few mistakes before you get there.

I can vouch for my own mistakes.  On a lot of my entries, I can’t tell you how many times that I found a mistake that I had to correct after I posted it.  The important thing is that it got posted.  The mistakes can be corrected later.  Preferably as soon as possible when you detect them.  So I make mistakes and I revise them later.  Are my mistakes intentional?  Absolutely not!  For most people, no one really intends to make a mistake.  It just happens.  And when you do in writing, you go back and correct them.

So the next time someone asks you about a mistake, tell them that mistakes are good.  Although they’re not really that desirable, they’re an opportunity to improve.  Many successful people have made mistakes, and now it’s your turn.  Make that mistake if you can.  And if it doesn’t happen, good job!  But if it does (and it usually does), don’t be too hard on yourself.  Mistakes are building blocks to success and each one of them will help you get there.

See you next week!

Your friend in writing,

Kyle