Sunday Night Success

One of twelve:
1. Make pencast of SNS changes – Incomplete.
2. Write “Homepage” – Incomplete.
3. Write “Is this you” page Incomplete.
4. Write “How it works” page – Incomplete.
5. Write “Last Ditch” page – Incomplete.
6. Write “About” page – Incomplete.
7. Write “Sign up” page – Incomplete.
8. Write “Contact” page – Incomplete.
9. Write “Archives” page – Incomplete.
10. Write Power Tool – Incomplete.
11. Edit Coaching Model – Complete.
12. Edit Power Tool – Incomplete.

Feeling tired and blocked

This past week was by far my worst week ever for getting my action list completed.

Why?

I think completing 50000 words in November emptied my brain of words. I just don’t think I had any writing left in me this week. I made notes on what I needed to write, I planned some of the writing tasks; but, I just couldn’t put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard) and get the words out.

I was 100% blocked this week.

Working the list to zero not working?

I am not ready to say the experiment of working my list to zero is a failure yet, I haven’t been at it long enough. I will continue to work with this list until I get everything off.

I think what I needed to do was listen to myself when I talked to my SNS partners on the phone two weeks ago. I mentioned during that call that I was feeling the need for a break coming up: that I needed to take a week off. During that call I had decided that I would take the week after NaNoWriMo ended off from working on my different projects.

I forgot about that promise to myself, but I think my mind decided to honour it subconsciously as I definitely took the week off. However, I am not going to beat myself up over it. I had a week off, this week it is time to get back at it.

Wish me luck!

Nine of twenty-one:
1. Make pencast of SNS changes – Incomplete.
2. Write “Homepage” – Incomplete.
3. Write “Is this you” page – Incomplete.
4. Write “How it works” page – Incomplete.
5. Write “Last Ditch” page – Incomplete.
6. Write “About” page – Incomplete.
7. Write “Sign up” page – Incomplete.
8. Write “Contact” page – Incomplete.
9. Write “Archives” page – Incomplete.
10. Write Power Tool – Incomplete.
11. Edit Coaching Model – Incomplete.
12. Edit Power Tool – Incomplete.
13. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete.
14. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete.
15. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete.
16. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete.
17. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete.
18. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete.
19. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete.
20. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete.
21. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete.

NaNoWriMo is complete

A huge accomplishment for me this week as I have completed 50000 words in 30 days for the NaNoWriMo challenge. In the end the challenge had its ups and downs.

On the down side it ended up consuming my November and I didn’t get a lot of other writing tasks completed. I have some major catch-up to do in December. Should be fun!

On the up side I met some great people virtually (and a few in person) in my Spokane NaNoWriMo group. This group is discussing working together on our novels the year round instead of just in November. This is great as my novel is a bit of a mess, still incomplete, and needs a lot of TLC.

Working to zero

Next week’s action list will consist of everything I haven’t completed this week as I continue to work my list to zero. So far the experiment has been successful as I have finished my NaNoWriMo commitment. Now my focus shifts to the writing I need to complete in order to graduate from my coaching program, and the writing I need to complete for my coaching website.

Stay tuned to see how I do.

Writing this week has been a challenge.

Correction. Writing anything that is not the story I am working on for National Novel Writing Month has been a challenge; a huge challenge.

To succeed at NaNoWriMo you need to write 1667 words every day of the month of November. I guess after writing that many words for the novel each day (some days less, some days much more) my brain has run out of words to write anything else.

My other writing tasks, which are all attached to important goals I set for 2009, have fallen by the wayside so that I can focus on completing this personal writing challenge.

Do I regret pushing back important goals that I planned and set months ago in order to complete 50000 words for NaNoWriMo?

Sometimes you need to make changes

I don’t regret my decision for a second.

Yes I have pushed some of my other goals aside for the last month. Yes, some of these goals may not be completed until early 2010. I don’t consider missing any of these goals as a failure, because I see my accomplishment in winning at NaNoWriMo as a stupendously, incredible, huge success:

- Writing a novel is on my 100 goals list, and now I get to check it off.
- Writing a novel is giving me incredible insights, ideas, and skills that I can use with my clients that are undertaking similar creative challenges.
- Writing a novel is pushing me beyond my current limits and evolving me into a different and more exciting person.

A video to help explain

When the opportunity to experience NaNoWriMo appeared I had to make a decision: stick to my current plan, or make a quick decision and change everything. In the world of football this is called “calling an audible”.

Check out Scott Epp’s blog and watch his video post which explains what an audible is and how we can incorporate the idea of “calling and audible” into our lives.

If Scott’s video has your interest piqued, then check out this SNS post about taking action, then adapting to the results.

Can you think of a change that you could make in your life, right now, that would allow you to experience something exciting and new?

Here are my actions for the week:
1. Make pencast of SNS changes
2. Write “Homepage”
3. Write “Is this you” page
4. Write “How it works” page
5. Write “Last Ditch” page
6. Write “About” page
7. Write “Sign up” page
8. Write “Contact” page
9. Write “Archives” page
10. Write Power Tool
11. Edit Coaching Model
12. Edit Power Tool
13. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo
14. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo
15. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo
16. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo
17. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo
18. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo
19. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo
20. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo
21. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo

Check back Sunday to see how working my list to zero is going.

I managed to move my list closer to zero by

1. Make pencast of SNS changes – Incomplete.
2. Write “Homepage” – Incomplete
3. Write “Is this you” page – Incomplete
4. Write “How it works” page – Incomplete
5. Write “Last Ditch” page – Incomplete
6. Write “About” page – Incomplete
7. Write “Sign up” page – Incomplete
8. Write “Contact” page – Incomplete
9. Write “Archives” page – Incomplete
10. Write Power Tool – Incomplete
11. Reorganize goals for end of year – Complete
12. Edit Coaching Model – Incomplete
13. Edit Power Tool – Incomplete
14. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete
15. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete
16. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete
17. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete
18. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete
19. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete
20. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete
21. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete
22. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete
23. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Complete
24. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Incomplete
25. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Incomplete
26. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Incomplete
27. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Incomplete
28. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Incomplete
29. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Incomplete
30. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Incomplete
31. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Incomplete
32. Write 2000 words for NaNoWriMo – Incomplete

Focus on writing – NaNoWriMo

Although I put a number of different writing tasks on my current action list in an attempt to work the list to zero I wasn’t really planning on getting to most of them this past week. I knew ahead of time that I had fallen behind on my National Novel Writing Month challenge and was going to need to catch up.

So, I managed to sneak a couple other tasks into my week, but the main focus was on increasing my NaNoWriMo word count so that I would at the challenge.

20000 words in a week

I am happy with the outcome: I have never written 20000 words about the same topic in one week before, including seven thousand words in one sitting during a Spokane virtual write-in. I am still about 3000 words behind but that is a far cry from how far behind I was earlier this week.

The upcoming week will probably be focused on NaNoWriMo once again as it is the last week of the challenge and my 50000 word milestone is only a handful of days away. After that my focus will change to the other writing tasks I have put on my list.

There is a book inside of me.

In fact, I have always had the feeling that there are quite a few books inside me. The problem is, somewhere between my high school writing enthusiasm, and joining the “real” adult world I lost trust in my writing skills.

I found that trust again while working for “The Electric Playground” as a freelance, and then staff writer, and entered a period of writing productivity that resulted in many published articles and one published short story. Unfortunately, the real world struck again, I got busy “making a living” and lost my way as a writer once again.

The coaching mindset

A lot has changed for me in 2009, most of it centered around my training as a professional coach. I have been learning about creating and living my dreams, and developing strategies to create supportive environments that are helping me to be successful.

As a coach I know that I can do anything as long as I set my mind to it, make sure it is actionable, and find the resources and supports that I need to be successful. This shift towards achieving my dreams has been life altering, and my perspective on my world is now constantly improving.

The writing mindset

My new coaching mindset has resulted in a return to the idea of not only writing, but being a writer. To succeed in this move back into a writing lifestyle I have filled my life with various support environments:

1. Macbook: I write on the computer and my old PC laptop was cumbersome, hot, and difficult to work on. My Macbook was a big investment, but it was an investment in an environment that has made writing enjoyable again. Totally worth it.
2. Blogging: Sunday Night Success has been the most important writing environment I have created. Setting a post schedule and sticking to that schedule (with a hiccup here and there) has quickly put me back into the writing mindset.
3. Reading: to help me return to my writing ways I have started reading books on the creative process and writing. Reading this material helps support me in developing the writing habits that are crucial to my success as a writer.

4. NaNoWriMo

I have done an excellent job of supporting myself in writing nonfiction, but I still wasn’t moving forward with getting all of those books out of my head. Then I stumbled upon NaNoWriMo.

National Novel Writing Month presents a challenge to all hopeful novelists who are stuck with getting started: write 50,000 words in the month of November. Write an entire novel, or at least get a healthy start, in one month. Just let it all out.

Accepting the challenge and being accountable

I have accepted the NaNoWriMo challenge and started writing my 50,000 words on November 1st. I am already behind schedule (1667 words a day) by a few thousands words, but I plan on catching up.

NaNoWriMo has now become a new support environment in my life that will hopefully help pull me towards my long time goal of writing one or more novels. However, I don’t think the NaNoWriMo challenge is enough, so I will be using Sunday Night Success to help me stay accountable to this challenge. Keep an eye on the top right of the sidebar for my updates on words written. Hopefully you will watch it approach and then break the 50,000 word mark by November 30th.

Are you ready to move out of your comfort zone and into you danger zone?

What goal or challenge have you been avoiding because you don’t have the right support environments in place?

What is one environment you could make today that would help support you in being successful?

Here are my actions for the week:
1. Write refund policy for workshops
2. Plan out SNS changes
3. Make pencast of SNS changes as example of action planning
4. Pay for Thesis developer’s license
5. Download Thesis 1.6
6. Watch Thesis 1.6 tutorial video
7. Download grunge theme for Dad
8. Change Dad’s blog to grunge theme
9. Change coaching website to new folder
10. Make new folder for main coaching site
11. Upload Thesis 1.6 into new folder
12. Backup Sunday Night Success
13. Load SNS backup onto MAMP
14. Play with SNS and thesis 1.6 options
15. Download Straightshooter theme
16. Play with SNS and Straightshooter theme
17. Business Academy: write self story
18. Business Academy: write 7 yeses
19. Write message for NaNoWriMo forum
20. Post message for NaNoWriMo on forum
21. Write 30 min 7 times for NaNoWriMo
22. Download Elluminate trial
23. Experiment with Elluminate
24. Take bike racks off roof
25. Try Shambhala meditation for 15 minutes 5 times
26. Call Telus and change long distance plan

Check back Sunday to see how I did.