This past week has been a great one! I’ve taken on some new projects that I’m absolutely excited about. I love that I enjoy the subject matter I’m writing on. Continue reading “Strategic Sunday Pt. 6: Good Vibes”
Tag: goals
Go Big or Go Home
If I could offer one piece of advice to my fellow writing cohorts (or anyone with a dream/aspiration), it would be: “Don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do”. Continue reading “Go Big or Go Home”
100 Day Project: Day 41
I’ve been slacking on my writing project as life has gotten in the way. Alas, I am back in it to win and I will have the fist draft of my book completed in 59 days, come hell or high water! How’s everyone else doing with their projects?
What if something bad happens?
I’ve experienced some awesome growth in my writing career. The fruits of my labors are blooming and I am very ecstatic for what’s to come. While I am over the moon, I can’t help but overanalyze the future.
As someone who’s experienced loss on a deep level, it’s tough for me to allow myself to be truly happy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a positive person, but on a scale of personal fulfillment, I go up to 75% and then crash and burn. Like a fail-safe switch, I begin to self-destruct once I’ve reached my optimum level of mediocrity. After spending some time soul-searching, I’ve come to realize that I’ve taught myself to stop trying. After all, you can’t get hurt if you weren’t expecting happiness to be the end target right?
My point is, the mind is an incredibly scary place to get trapped in. Understanding that I have to actively deconstruct these mental barriers in my brain on a day to day basis is daunting, but worth the effort. I want to take the world by storm and really be happy and proud of my life. And, what if something bad happens? I’ll just pick myself up and get back on this horse called “Life”.
Whether I’ participating or not, life is happening. Just because I avoid it doesn’t mean I freeze in time and press play when I’m ready to get back out there. I don’t want to one day find myself old and miserable because I was too scared to make an effort. So to all of my fellow bloggers/readers, take care of your mind and do away with the negative thoughts that cause you to freeze. Life is for the living and we should cherish the time we have on this beautiful planet. That said, I hope everyone has a beautiful week!
The Coffee Snob
I started brewing coffee at home in 2013 because A: I don’t have to put on pants to get it; B: I don’t have a sugar daddy to fund my Starbucks habit (goals). Being the creature of habit that I am, I have a very systematic approach to my coffee making process. I do not change said process and had no desire until my beloved coffee maker died on me last week, which has forced me to put on pants and drive the ever so long half mile down the street to Starbucks.
Motivation Monday: Quote of the day
Sharing is Caring
Who do you confide in? No, seriously. Do you share your hopes, dreams, fears and aspirations with just anyone? Or do you keep the deepest, darkest and most personal part to yourself? If you’re the latter, well welcome to the club of pretty much everyone. I find it odd that in such a technologically progressive world, I’ve heard “I feel so alone in a crowd of people” from more people than I care to admit.
We all seem to think that we’re weird individual creatures from Mars whom others couldn’t dream of comprehending, but honestly that’s just not the case. Sharing is caring. What I mean by that, is the more you share with others, you’ll be surprised and elated to find out that you’re really not that different from those you know. I mean really, it’s a mind blowing process.
Once upon a time, I used to think I was this strange person who had all of these weird ideas and concepts that were just completely against the typical norm. Then I shared parts of myself with others and came to realize I’m not as “weird” or “special” as I thought. Sure, my genotypes are pretty unique, but there are a bunch of 20 Somethings out there running around trying to figure out where and how they fit into this world.
The more I shared with others, the more connected I began to feel and it’s quite awesome! I will admit though, that once I found out that I was vanilla boring, my ego deflated a bit. Drat, I thought I was unique and special. In all honesty, it is nice to know that I’m not the only one on Mars. Turns out we’re all on it. 😉
So in an effort to share more, I’m going to toss out into the blogosphere my hopes and aspirations that I usually keep close to the vest. I either felt that people would think they were stupid or lofty so I kept them to myself. I like to think of myself as “practical” (scared) and I try to do the conventional thing. But convention is boring and lame; and the wild child in me is dying to come out. Here are a few things that I want to achieve sooner than later. Don’t judge me too hard, haha!
Things I’d Like to Accomplish
1. Be a features writer for several magazine publications, writing on culture, music, etc. etc. etc. I love people, especially my generation. We’re idealistic, scared, fun, interesting people in which I love to observe. So if I had my way, I’d be doing more of that and less of dreaming about it (Hm, I smell a call to action soon).
2. Get to Sweden. I’d love to go visit the country. When I was in college, I had studied a lot of their public policies and they have some cool things going on over there (Paternity leave, how cool is that?!).
3. Get a loft in downtown LA. It’s funny when I was in school in LA, I hated it (Granted it was a difficult time in my life). But now after being away for a few years, I am dying to go back. I’ll make it happen one day!
In short, let’s keep it real and talk to people. It’s incredibly fun and very eye opening on how we all want the same thing; which is to be happy and enjoy life as it comes our way. What are some things you keep to yourself? I’d love to hear about it!
Life is For the Living
I often find myself struggling with the fear of “Am I crazy for leaving my job to go into the unknown land of freelancing” all the time. From a rational standpoint, I have abandoned all the security a 9-5 brings with no immediate backup in sight. On the other hand, the world is my oyster and I’m free to do with it as I please. Getting trapped in a finite way of thinking is something we’re all taught. You go to school, graduate, find a steady job, have a family, grow old and die. We tend to look at life in a “step by step” manner, a blueprint if you will. I threw out my “blueprint” a few months ago and I haven’t been the same ever since.
After going rogue, I’ve failed, faced rejection, and even questioned my path from time to time. Yes, I’ve fallen flat on my face, but as it turns out, I’m still here. I didn’t crumble and die from these experiences. I used to be so afraid to do something wrong or to be shot down that I would not attempt the unthinkable. For some reason, I treated life as a Mario game where you only have 1 life left and if you messed up, game over, you have to start all over again, so you play extra cautiously so that you won’t die. Well, I’m throwing that out the window too.My goal is to turn my dreams into a reality. Pursue the things I want most out of life. I’m just choosing the road less traveled to get there.
No Time Like the Present
Life does not wait for anyone. Boom! Post done; you’re welcome 😉
All jokes aside, I’m really getting ahold of my avoidance tactics and am facing the world come what may. I was walking my dog this morning and I realized that, scared or not, life is still happening. It was in the moment I understood that I was using fear as a catalyst to hold me back. Life is scary and yes it’s often easiest to run and hide under your covers and watch Duck Dynasty (everyone does this, right?), but by hiding out, there are so many things you are missing out on.
I realized that there will never be “the perfect time” to do anything. A lot of times I say to myself “if the situation were this way” or “if I only had this one thing to make me productive, I could make it work” and my favorite “if the circumstances were different”. Until today, I kept thinking that the “right” moment would arrive where I could finally do everything I’ve set out to accomplish. Well guess what, that utopian world where life is perfect and you have nothing to focus on but yourself is a fantasy.
These are excuses used to rationalize my failings towards my goals. Excuses are like buttholes; everyone has one and they’re full of crap. The only thing that is standing in between me and what I want to accomplish is me. Now armed with this newfound understanding I’m going to hold myself a bit more accountable. I’m not going to have 100% perfect days everyday and I’m going to accept life happens. I cannot be a twig flailing around in the wind whenever life throws something unexpected my way. Instead, I will embrace it, and keep on keeping on. I see life as an impatient train that does not wait if you are the slightest bit late; so you have to be sure and get on it. Sometimes we miss the train initially, but the cool thing is there are many stops on the way. So next stop jump on and hold on for dear life, as it’s the only one we’ve got. Lastly as my grandmother would say, “Piss or get off the pot”, and on that note, I need to find a bathroom… 🙂
Whatever you do, do it well
That was something my mother told me when explained to my parents that I wanted to leave my “cushy corporate life” for the unknown island of bummage. A decision I have not regretted in the slightest. As I’ve said before I have the “gift” of doing things “half assed” and still come out smelling like a rose, well for the most part. The one thing that I love and respect about my parents is that they never tell me what I want to hear. They tell me the truth whether I like it or not, and for some reason I’m able to swallow my pride and run with it.
I am (or was?) predictable to a T. Anyone who knows me can tell you what I’m doing, where I’m doing, and who I’m doing it with (no pun intended 😉 ). Seriously, calling me a creature of habit barely begins to scratch the surface of it. Why? Honestly, I think it’s because there is comfort in the predictable. When you know the outcome, you can never be hurt, disappointed, or fail ultimately. I think that’s the reason why I’ve always been a “successful” slacker. If I succeeded, great! If I didn’t, I could always blame it on my lack of trying. Bottom line, I don’t always want to be a person with “potential”. I want to use that potential and be great.
“The greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could become.” -Ben Herbster
Taryn Was Here 