Tag Archive - Motivation

The only easy day was yesterday

March 30, 2010 in Journal with 6 Comments

David Goggins is a Navy SEAL, ultra-marathoner, and I’m pretty sure he’s also a cyborg. Just saying. Either way, he is a fantastic example of what it means to blow out the walls of personal expectations and make something remarkable happen.

I may never run a 150 mile foot race or have the opportunity to go all Jack Bauer on Bin Laden, but I can push my own boundaries and expectations of what is possible for me. We all have moments of clarity when we surprise ourselves and realize that we sell ourselves short. I was told that today, that I don’t believe confidently enough in myself and my abilities. So I’m going to take David Goggins advice tomorrow and invite you to do the same:

  1. Try something that will truly test your soul’s limit.
  2. Stay at something until it’s uncomfortable. Then go a bit farther.
  3. Write this on a sticky note and read it aloud: “My life doesn’t have a finish line.”
  4. Replace the things you do to just fill time–email, planning instead of doing, Twittering, whatever–with a narrow window of time dedicated to accomplishing just ONE thing with excellence.

Just four things in one day. That’s it. I’m going to give it a shot and let you know how it goes. You do the same and we’ll compare notes tomorrow. Deal?

Trenchcoats in Summer

January 21, 2010 in Journal with 3 Comments

Being a poser is one of life’s great temptations. I should know. I’m so well versed in its siren song that I deserve a Grammy.

We want other people to like us and spend a lot of time, money, and effort trying to be what we think others want. Others who don’t really think about us as much as we think they do. Others whose affection is conditional. Others whose true commitment comes with a price tag and expiration date, which is no commitment at all.

The best we can do, the best we should do, is be authentically us. I was reminded of this as I was looking through Brad Meltzer’s website this week. In the Q&A Section, there’s a photo of him sitting for a photo that ended up in Entertainment Weekly. Here’s the caption:

“Entertainment Weekly took one look at me and said, ‘Want to look like yourself, or you want us to make you look cool?’ I said, “Myself.” They gave me the trenchcoat and said to put it on even though it was 102 degrees in Washington.”

Ask yourself: What would my day look like if, for a full 24 hours, I was 100% me? A lesson (and a dare, really) from Brad Meltzer for all of us, folks.

Momentum

November 25, 2009 in Journal with 5 Comments

In physics, objects in motion are said to have a momentum. This momentum is a vector. It has size and a direction. It has velocity.

This is significant for me because the single greatest thing lesson I’ve internalized this year is the all-importance of momentum. Whether you’re a writer or something else, the same is probably true of you, too.

Picture 1

We exert tremendous amounts of energy overcoming inertia, simply getting started and headed in the right direction. Then after we’ve picked up some speed we let up, ease off the gas, coast. It’s a fatal mistake where dreams are concerned because gravity is relentless and, unlike us, doesn’t need sleep.

The challenge isn’t beginning. That’s simple. The trick is continually and consistently adding “push” to your situation so you can keep momentum. Knowing how to do that is a thing that’s unique to each of us. I have a friend who keeps a list of his goals in front of him everyday and reads it in the morning and evening. I know someone else who wrote a future article about herself talking about what it took to become the success she is (will be). Me, I keep a piece of paper in my office. All it says is “New York Times Bestselling Author Kevin Kaiser.”It’s enough to remind me to shove the pedal back down to the floor when I want to give up (which is most days).

Bottom line…find whatever it is that encourages you and adds “push” to your day. Keep your momentum, especially when it’s hard (which is most days), because it’s easier to keep a moving object in motion than it is to start a dead one rolling.

How do you keep momentum?

vBlog #005: Conflict

September 29, 2009 in Journal with 7 Comments

Conflict. It’s part of life, that’s why we connect it so well in stories. But how do you give conflict meaning? The answer is pretty simple, actually.

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