Category Archives: Motivating Me

Call Me Rock God

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I’m sure you’ve seen the “Rock God” iPhone commercial. If not, you can refresh your memory by clicking HERE.

I’ve loved that commercial ever since Apple launched it. It shows in simple digestible snippets how a dream becomes a reality. The boy doesn’t question his path. With smooth confidence, he buys a guitar, learns to play it, and eventually, rocks out with friends. And, he doesn’t wait for others to recognize that he’s a musician–he claims it for himself.

So, I’m under no illusion that he is far from sounding like a Rock God. But, I still watch the commercial and come away with the belief that yes, this boy creating this horrible racket, is indeed a musician. He is the Rock God he claims to be. Why? Because he lives his dream. Even before he had a guitar to call his own, let alone a band to play with, he had the Rock God mindset that drove him to find a guitar and learn how to play it.

I spent the weekend at DFW Writer’s Conference, and NYT bestselling author, James Rollins (the keynote speaker) shared the difference between getting published and not getting published: writing down his goal. 

After he wrote down his goal, he spent Every Single Day pursuing that goal. Even if it was a twenty-minute research session for his novel in progress or a full day of writing, every day was focused on making progress toward his goal. No one doubts that he is a successful author now, but I would argue that he thought of himself as an author before he was even published, before he found his agent. Probably the only thing that carried him through writing his first novel was the belief that he is an author.  A self-fulfilling prophecy, wouldn’t you say?

I attended several classes with James Rollins, and every time he spoke, I loved him more and more. I admired his ability to balance being a veterinarian (he can spay/neuter a cat in under 30 seconds!) and completing his novels.

(And, hearing about his journey inspired me to continue on my own. I’ll be hosting a giveaway of his children’s novel, Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow starting next week.)

I recognized some self-limiting beliefs this past week, and actually, this past month, that I need to change: mainly, that I can’t do this writing thing and should just give up, and I’m a fraud to call myself an author.

Thanks to James Rollins, I can claim that I’m an author. And, now I need to get to work! ;)

Any self-limiting beliefs you’ve been clinging to? Let them go! Tell me your “Call Me ___” or “I am ___” in the comments below! If you’d like, I can be an accountability buddy…I throw a mean badger if you stray from your path ;)

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Welcome To Your Next Level Up

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Stairway

Almost there (Photo credit: Kaneda71)

Recently, I discovered that I was a winner in my paythebills job’s most coveted contest. I’m not going to lie, ever since I became a store manager three years ago, winning this contest has been something that I’ve hoped for. Not in one of those realistic ways, like saving up to pay for a cool vacation or to buy the next awesome book. No. It was more like one of those “wouldn’t it be nice if I win the lottery” kind of wishful thinking.

For two years, I was a finalist, good enough for recognition and a gift card (for which I was truly grateful), but just missed out on the grand prize. So, when I finally won for 2011, I actually didn’t believe it. I still don’t. Heck, I probably won’t really believe I won the contest till I’m actually at the conference.

Isn’t that the funniest thing? Something that was beyond a possibility suddenly becoming a reality and here I am, not even believing it. I guess my issue is that I haven’t really reached an end point. In fact, I feel like I just climbed a reeeaaallllyyyy long flight of stairs, reached the platform, only to see another flight of stairs. And, another. A never-ending spiral of increasing challenges and expectations.

It’s enough to make me dizzy if I think about it for too long.

I know I shouldn’t be surprised. There will always be another milestone to reach, another goal to shoot for, another layer of complexity to master. That’s life. Besides, any goal worth pursuing isn’t about arriving at a destination, but the stuff you learn about yourself along the way. Or something.

So instead of freaking out about the sky-high results that I’m expected to deliver year-over-year, and the ever-expanding areas for which I’m held accountable, I’ve made a concerted effort to focus on my priorities week by week, measuring progress on them each month.

Eventually, I’ll get to a point where I can be in the moment and celebrate winning (probably during the conference in June). But, now, I have work to do. I need to train my mindset to meet a whole new level of expectations this year, and I have to answer this internal voice that questions if I can win again next year.

It’s a good thing I like challenges.

How about you? Any big goals for this year? Where do you see yourself a year from now?