Jaime Buckley
Contributor
RIGHT! I’m up, pumped and ready for a new month.
Let’s start this with a short and sweet post to get the blood flowing.
By now I’m seeing the extensive work this is going to take to accomplish my personal 100 Sales a Day goal.
That’s what it will take for me to make a full-time living from my blogging and writing online, to support my wife and 7 children still at home.
It is turning out to be a little bit harder than I thought.
Not TOO much, but harder.
…it’s the variables that are getting to me.
Not that it’s complicated.
It’s not.
I’m a pretty organized guy when it comes to writing and the end products are being cranked out, as needed (posts, reports, merchandizing artwork, books).
The first challenge was the sheer volume of specific content that had be produced…and even now, I’m only able to maintain the minimum posts a week instead of the 18 a DAY, my marketing expert quoted me.
Yeah, 18 posts a day, to generate the 30,000 visitors a month, the get the 1-2% buyers in my fiction, writing and parenting resource products.
Is that bad?
No.
I was able to maintain 12 articles a day for 7 months and 13 days before I fizzled out.
The sheer volume wore me out both physically and emotionally, not to mention draining me mentally.
Now, before you jump to any conclusions, this is actually a GOOD thing—because I’m being stretched beyond my limits.
This process is building creative muscles!
(insert Rocky music here)
The side effect is that as my mind begins to adjust, it tires, which affects my ability to focus.
Bad focus means bad writing.
Bad writing means suffering results.
…and bad results means the 100 Sales a Day goal drifting from me.
Not good.
This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced this kind of mental and emotional exhaustion.
It specifically means it’s time for a renewal.
Of focus.
Of perspective.
Of determination.
Even my computers are showing serious signs of wear and hints of rebellion.
I’m well overdue to have them all replaced—but again, can’t afford it yet.
If money comes in from side jobs, it goes to rent first, food second, then utilities on down the priority list.
You see how my mind works?
Variables.
So how do we deal with these variables?
How to we renew ourselves so we can push through challenges around us and onto success?
Let me share what I remind myself every time I hit a wall or plateau:
You Are More Than You Think You Are
This is key.
Variables will happen each and every day.
You cannot control them all.
You can, however, influence them, endure them and even ignore them (just don’t forget the anniversary or wife’s birthday).
YOU made these goals.
You also did it for a specific set of reasons.
Think about those.
Get that motivation bubbling in your mind and chest once more.
This IS going to work.
Why?
Because you were made to do this.
Don’t believe it.
Know it.
Make Sure You Have Your TO DO Lists
Don’t leave anything to chance, not when variables start poking their nasty fingers into your plate.
Keeping a strong focus on what steps you have to take will help you with a level head when things hit your hard.
Make your decisions up front and as I’ve already told you in previous posts—do the most important things first.
That doesn’t mean the easiest first, it literally means the MOST important.
Use paper.
I know this might sound archaic to some of you, but try it.
Rip a section of paper from a notebook and keep it with you throughout the day.
Place it in your pocket, pin it in front of your desk, tap it to your computer console.
Just try it.
Don’t Wait
If you get hit with a variable that you can’t do anything about, leave it.
Move on.
Now, not later.
Don’t fuss over the problems—because there are no problems, only challenges.
Don’t wait for other people either.
I know that might be hard when I don’t know what your goals are—but if there’s anything you can do personally, focus on that instead.
Make sure that if this is to fail, it won’t be from a lack of follow through on your part.
Trust me when I say that point alone is a mental and emotional saving grace.
There are slow people, cruel people, dishonest people and stupid ones to boot.
That’s ok.
Keep going and push yourself.
The KEY is PERSISTENCE
If I can impart anything in this post that will stick in your mind, the first would be to keep going.
Personally I don’t believe in luck.
I believe in striving to do the right thing for the right reasons and pushing myself, staying persistent despite the circumstances.
Sometimes it works.
Sometime not so much.
Many time I fall flat on my face.
Hurts like hell too.
But it’s then that I remember what my dear father taught me back when I was young and violence was a constant in my life.
Get up one more time that you get knocked down.
When you think you can’t take another step, take one anyway.
If you can learn to do that, you’ll carve out your own luck
Challenge Your Limits
The second thing would be to challenge yourself.
Hopefully your goal is such that it keeps you up at night and wakes you up first thing in the morning. I know this does for me.
My days start promptly at 3am.
They go until 6pm with bathroom breaks, unless I miss a deadline, then I work later.
Is this worth it?
Absolutely.
Is it hard?
Most definitely.
Know what I say to the odds against me?
To all the people who look at me and say this cant be done?
To all the critics and Nay Sayers of my life, inCLUDING that nasty little voice that occasionally surfaces from the back of my own brain?
BRING IT ON!
I hope that helps you in your own challenges with the variables in life.
Don’t get discouraged.
There’s no need to.
Renew your goals.
Renew your determination.
Renew your focus on succeeding and be the example for those around you.
You’re bigger than these challenges.
Goodness, at 356lbs I know I am!
But it’s all love and handsomeness.
(wink)
More about Jaime Buckley: Author, illustrator & Dad of 12. Builder of Worlds, Maker of Heroes, Slayer of Monsters. Loves God, family, country & cheese. Mmmmm, cheese. Learn more at www.jaimebuckley.com