Oct 3, 2019
Valerie goes over five tips to getting back on track when you've fallen off of it.
Show Notes:
Hello Indie Authors! I'm Valerie Ihsan, and This is Season Two, Episode 27 of the podcast and it's 9/28/2019 as I record this. Main Topic: How to Get Back on Track (hint: it's not beating yourself up) But first the personal update segment:
• Passion Planner rep (affiliate, but different). 10% new customers. http://rwrd.io/ox4t691
• If you want to talk to me for a 30-minute interview and tell me what your challenges are and what you think can help you, you can book yourself a call at indieauthormentor.as.me and choose the Interview Call option.
• I'M READING: In fiction, Kay Kenyon's book "At the Table of Wolves"; Non-fiction: Jeff Goins' Real Artists Don't Starve; and also travel memoir, Kingdom by the Sea by Paul Theroux.
• Guests this week and this visiting my dad for a long weekend.
• Picked a monthly game changer/focus for October, and that's getting ready for the 20Bksto50K conference in Las Vegas next month (mid-November). Broke down the steps, assigned them to specific weeks between now and then. And this week's tasks are to plan a lead magnet and create it. (If you want to try a Passion Planner for 10% off, use this link: http://rwrd.io/ox4t691)
PATREON: I'd like to thank all my patrons for the podcast. I really appreciate your support. I'd like to hear from you, too. Feel free to comment on any of my posts in Patreon. Or, download the free Patreon app to make it even easier to send me a message. Shoot me a question or comment and I'll read it out on the podcast. I'd like to remind everybody else that this podcast is sponsored by my supporters at Patreon. For as low as a $1/mo, you can get a shout out on the podcast, a monthly connections video where I'm just myself and share something more personal than I put out on the podcast, and at other tiers, the benefits increase--free books, free editing, and free coaching. Become a patron of the arts, and of me! Find me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.
Resources: If you are a memoir writer, Rachael Herron's book Fast Draft Your Memoir is fabulous. In addition, she was interviewed last week on Ella Barnard's podcast, Author Like a Boss. Episode 67: How to Write and Market Your Memoir with Rachael Herron. GREAT tips.
And now: How to Get Back on Track
This seems, to me, like a repeat of the other mindset topics we've covered. I checked though, and didn't see it. I guess it seems like we've talked about it because I talk to myself about it quite often. It seems it must be important if I really do revisit the topic that much.
I fall off the track of many many things. Weight loss, going to the gym, doing the housekeeping, writing new words in my manuscript, keeping up to date with my email inbox and listening to my podcast subscriptions. And this is why I know how to get back on track. Because I fall off it so much.
I'm reminded of meditation. The practice of it. How Rachael Herron says that when your mind drifts off and you forget you're meditating, the act of pulling your mind back to the task at hand (meditating) is actually the meditation part. Practicing bringing your mind back into "order." It's like that with anything else. If I gain back the three pounds I lost last week because I keep forgetting to track my food, I will remind myself and re-commit to tracking my food. Maybe I'll even set an alarm to remind me. Perhaps I'll remember to track my food four days of the week, instead of the 1.5 I usually do. --The act of re-committing and pulling my mind and body back to what I'm wanting to focus on.
Some practical tips for getting back on track include:
1. Trying again. Centering again. Grounding again. Committing again.
2. Make a new plan. (Life curve balls and interruptions require a Plan B. And so what if you end up on Plan M before you finish your task.) New schedule? New system? Examine the current one, find the holes, brainstorm, patch them up,
3. Let go of something. Often we lose our focus because we have too much on our plate. (Free online conference, free webinar replays, YouTube video subscriptions, newsletters that have piled up.) Delete them.
4. Remember to say No. (I get lots of awesome specials and offers that sound perfect for me, but I ask myself if this particular web special/course/research will help me finish my current project, and if the answer is No, I delete. That used to hard--"Will I ever find it again?!"--but it just can't fit in my world right now. I can't use it right now. So, I remember to say, No.
5. Self-care. (Acknowledge you're off track, how disappointing or embarrassing that is, nurture yourself, and then get into gear.)
*Would like to state that these tips are not designed to aid someone who is suffering from depression or another chronic illness. But actually, it is. Though, the self-care would very likely include counseling or medications, too.