Motivating Ourselves - Just Try!

by Marilyn Hilton

"The aim, if reached or not, makes great the life." -Robert Browning

In a writers' workshop a few years ago, the leader asked us to stand up and twist around as far as we could, and then note how far we had turned. Then we did it again, but this time before we twisted we chose a spot farther than we'd reached the first time. You know what? The second time, everyone reached their farther point. The difference was that for the second time, we set a goal and were motivated to reach it.

Chances are, many of us have set goals for 2013. Now here we are, nearing the end of January, and we may be having trouble reaching those goals--or we're wondering how to go about reaching them. 

A few years ago I read a story about Beverly Cleary that inspired me to try new things. When Beverly Cleary was a young girl, she entered an essay contest because her mother had always encouraged her to try new things. She won the contest, and learned from that experience always to try, regardless of the certainty of the outcome.

After reading that, I adopted the "Just Try" method for doing many things that seemed impossible to accomplish. And it worked! I found that just trying frees me from the paralysis of fear and self-doubt; it allows me to explore, to play with ideas and directions, and to go beyond what makes me feel comfortable. "Just Try" includes the possibility--and acceptance--of failure and looking foolish, thereby dissolving their power over me. I've danced more, sketched more, sung more, traveled more, written more, explored more, experienced more--accomplished more--than I would have by wishing or dreaming about it.

Here are 4 simple steps for trying anything:

1. Write down what you want to try.
2. Imagine yourself doing it. What does that look like? How will you feel?
3. Imagine yourself accomplishing it. What does that look like? What rewards come with it? How will you feel?
4. Try doing it. You don't have to do it perfectly or be the best at it, or even finish it--you just have to try doing it.

You'll find that whether or not #3 comes true, you will have done #2--which has its own rewards and is a lot further than #1.

I asked our turbo monkeys for their motivation tips, and here's what they told me:

Amy:
If I get a really devastating rejection or something equally demoralizing, I stew on it for a while then send out a bunch of new subs.

Sarah:
I sometimes just tell folks that I've had a bad day and need encouragement. Other times, I'll go back and read something good that I've written to remind myself that I CAN write. But I think the biggest solution is, like Amy, to do something. Most of the time, that means I keep writing.

Hazel:
- Make a schedule for each (working!!) day and meet those goals ... ticking off is my best motivation
- Have a treat at the end, or to work towards. For me it's usually the next writing retreat/conference.
- Always have chocolate on hand.
- Read other folks' blogs and a good book - both morale boosters.

Hazel's tips for illustrators:
- Visit an art gallery or museum to feed the soul.
- Create a fun project that is totally personal to you, that you don't care if anyone ever sees, and forget about impressing people.
- Try a new medium, or sign up for an art or craft class that you have never tried before.
- Check out bios of your fav major illustrators and be inspired by the journey we are all on.

Kristen:
I set a small goal I know I can reach and once I reach it I set a bigger goal and build from there. 

Ellen:
When I'm down I think. I mostly go back inside my book and think about new scenes that might make the story better. I also like to wander the bookstore and read new releases. Sometime I put my nose into the pages because new books smell delicious, and I dream about smelling the pages of my own published work!

Craig:
Normally I'm a pretty buoyant soul, which might have come from my bike racing days of climbing up an impossible mountain, only to find....another mountain. When I get hammered down, I dream about extreme success...not just monetarily. I dream of romance and love, a fun car, a horse named Rowie, admiration from my mentors, firmer abs and possibly the ability to sing and play the guitar like Brad Paisley. I believe you gravitate towards your dreams, and the endorphins that are released when you dream a great thing is addicting, and your entire body will naturally gravitate to capture that feeling again. And often without knowing it, you will find a way to overcome the thing that brought you down, or hurt your feelings, or made you sad. So I dream of happiness...I don't sing that Julie Andrews song but it's sort of the same thing--"I simply remember my favorite things."

Now it's your turn: What do you do to motivate or inspire yourself?

Happy New Year! Turbo Monkey Resolutions

by Ellen

It’s that time of year again.  You know, that time when we reflect on the past year and make promises to ourselves for the New Year . . . a resolution!

People have been making resolutions since the time of Julius Caesar, way back in Ancient Rome. The Romans believed in a god called Janus. Janus had two faces, one looking backward into the past, and one looking forward into the future. The Romans would ask Janus for forgiveness if they had done wrong in the previous year, and then make resolutions for behaving better in the New Year. And if you didn’t know, our month January is named after the Roman god, Janus.

Resolutions come in all shapes and sizes. Some are based more on luck, like resolving to win the lottery. Others are more realistic, like resolving to save money for a special writer’s conference that you really want to attend. And then we have the most popular resolution: to lose weight. But we won’t go there, not on New Year’s Eve, with New Year’s Day Dinner still ahead.

What about writers and illustrators and their New Year’s resolutions? Most people visiting the Monkey tree house are writers, so perhaps you’ve given a resolution some thought. The Monkeys have, and I’d like to share them with you.

Amy:  I resolve to create a writing schedule and write regularly . . . instead of only when the mood strikes me.

Craig:  I resolve to make a million dollars this year by creating a Trans-media company that creates printed books with Augmented Reality, wildly enhanced e-books, whimsical apps and web based TV series.

Ellen:  I resolve to move on and write a new book.  T.S Eliot best put it, "For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."

Hazel: To finish more often.

Julie:  My resolution stems from Terri Farley's wise words about how people around us will only take our dreams/efforts as seriously as we ourselves do. I want to draw some more boundaries and shake up my schedule to mesh with my goals. I need to make the pie chart that represents "how I spend my life" be more in line with the pie chart you'd see for "what matters to me."

Kristen: I hope to finish a rough draft of my current WIP by March 20th.

Marilyn:  In 2013 I want to finish the projects that I began in 2012, take a class in an aspect of writing I've never explored before (e.g., screenwriting), and read more than I do now in the genres I write. This all means that I'll need to use my internet time more efficiently and cut down on my TV obsessions (i.e., Shark Tank, Real Housewives). Or maybe I'll record them instead ;) 

Sarah:  My resolution will be to write through more than I have. I've always been that person who revises and revises those first few chapters. Pounding out the rough draft of Valiant last summer drove home the value of getting the entire draft down before revising. (Of course, I spent a lot of time thinking about it before I wrote it.)

So there you have it, our New Year’s Resolutions over here at the tree house. We hope you drop by next year, but for now, all the Turbo Monkeys are wishing you and your loved ones a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!