On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

Most mistakes are unavoidable. Learn to forgive yourself. It’s not a problem to make them; it’s only a problem if you never learn from them.

If you’re too afraid of failure, you can’t possibly do what needs to be done to be successful. The solution to this problem is making friends with failure. You want to know the difference between a master and a beginner? The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. Behind every great piece of art there are dozens of failed attempts to make it, but these attempts are simply never shown to us.

Bottom line: Just because it’s not happening now, doesn’t mean it never will. Learning the way on the way is key. Sometimes things have to go very wrong before they can be right.

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

I highly recommend reading Didn’t See That Coming by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hollis. Here’s a thought-provoking excerpt about setting goals:

The only way I know of to actively pursue growth in my life is to set goals both personally and professionally so that I am forced to grow as a person in order for those goals to be made manifest. I challenge myself in this way as a leader, as a mother, and as a friend.

I truly believe that we find purpose in creating traction against a goal we are trying to achieve, so long as the goal is something we care about. When I talk about this subject it sometimes rubs people the wrong way because they associate the word goal with the industries that have adopted it most.

People think that a goal must be for financial gain or weight loss or a bigger promotion or a nicer car since those are the categories in which the term is most used. But the truth is, a goal can be about anything. It doesn’t have to be associated with what you’ve lost or what has caused you hurt.

You can create a goal to show up as a better mother or to grow in your faith. You can create a goal to learn sign language or to pay off your student loans or to repaint your local community center. You can create a goal to learn to make the world’s best carrot cake. It doesn’t matter what the goal is; it only matters that you have one and that it’s something you care about.

Any area of your life that you feel passionately about can be improved upon by adding a specific goal to it, and the beauty is that you’ll start to see the positive effects of your goal-setting long before you actually achieve anything. Once you start to see traction, once you start to see that you’re truly making strides toward something you care about, you will find purpose not in the achievement but in the pursuit.

Source: Didn’t See That Coming, pp. 206-207.

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:

Baby eagles spend the first three months of their lives in the comfortable nest their parents have prepared. But eaglets get a big surprise when they are about twelve weeks old. Their mother suddenly begins throwing all their toys out of the nest.

Next, she pulls out all the comfortable material in the nest—the feathers and the animal fur—and leaves the babies sitting on thorns and sticks. This is what the Bible means when it mentions that the mother eagle “stirs up her nest.” The reason she stirs the nest is that she wants her babies to get out and fly.

Before long, the mother eagle nudges them out of the nest. The little eaglets, who have no idea how to fly, fall through the sky, probably very frightened. Soon, though, they hear a “whooooooosh” as the mother eagle swoops up under them to catch them. At that point, the mother eagle takes the babies right back up to the nest and then nudges them out again. She keep repeating the process, over and over again, until they finally understand that they have no choice but to fly.

The mother eagle does this because she loves them and wants them to have the best lives they can possibly have. Most eaglets won’t get out of the nest without this push. Similarly, most of us will also choose comfort over challenge unless we have no choice at all.

Do you feel God is working in your life the same way the mother eagle does with her young? Has he been pulling some of the padding out of your nest so you find yourself sitting on prickly branches? Is he saying to you, “Come on, it’s time to fly”? If so, remember the mother eagle’s intentions and know that you can trust God’s good intentions for you.

Source: Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

As we all look forward to the next step in our lives, I know many of us are yearning for a simpler and more selective range of life experiences — the happy days, the normal times, the settings and experiences that make us feel more comfortable. And yet, the full range of our reality often brings something very different. The days ahead will inevitably offer an extensive array of experiences that evoke feelings ranging from sadness and struggle to growth and pride, and more.

So we have a choice starting today. We can revolt against reality — the reality of having to deal with discomfort, cope with uncertainty, and sometimes feel upset. Or we can embrace every experience life gives us, including all our highs and lows — all the blissful moments, frustrating ones, and everything in between. Life is not just happy and comfortable 24/7. It’s well-rounded, and it’s ever-changing.

Embracing the full range of life’s experiences means embracing every moment with our full presence, being open and vulnerable to reality, being gentle with ourselves when moments are tougher than we expected, and practicing sincere gratitude whenever possible…

It means accepting life as it is and accepting ourselves as we are.

It means not expecting the best to happen at every step, but instead accepting what happens at each step and making the best of it.

And it won’t always be easy, of course, but it’s worth remembering and practicing daily so we are prepared when a day comes that’s much harder than we expected.

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In a recent newsletter, Happiness Professor and New York Times bestselling author Arthur Brooks shared the following advice:

Complaining is the act of expressing your dissatisfaction or annoyance. According to psychological theory, it is a fairly complex process that follows at least five steps, starting with a focus on your own desires. Next, you detect a discrepancy between what you want and what you are experiencing. This leads to negative feelings. Then, you judge the utility of complaining. If it seems worthwhile to you, you let rip; if it doesn’t, you keep the complaint to yourself.

The problem with all of this kvetching is that while it can feel therapeutic, it typically isn’t. Although complaining might offer temporary relief, it’s bad for your happiness in the long run. For example, in one 2009 study, Polish researchers measured people’s mood before and after they complained, and found that the complainers’ mood significantly deteriorated. Other scholars have shown that people who share negative emotions on social media—a very prevalent type of complaining today—experience lower levels of well-being.

Much more likely is that it will be in your interest, if you have a complaining habit, to break it. The people you care about will be happier too. Here are four research-based ways to quit complaining.

Judge less, observe more. Complaining is a fundamentally egotistical act—subjecting something about the world to your judgment. Tomorrow, try to reframe what were today’s minor irritations as simple events. For example, instead of grumbling about someone who cuts you off in traffic, simply observe that the person is obviously in a hurry.

Consider the underlying problem. If you have a habit of complaining, you could find it worthwhile to dig into why you’re so often going over your dissatisfaction threshold. For my own part, I’ve noticed that when something big is disturbing me, I also get impatient about all the little things I don’t like. Perhaps if you deal with what is really bothering you, you’ll find that the weather and politics aren’t really worth complaining about.

Avoid the grumblers. One reason you complain a lot might be that you keep negative company, online or in person. Curate your personal life to the extent that you can, and turn off the complaint machines in your media. Remember, your misery is their fuel.

Be a Stoic. The Stoics, such as Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, managed their feelings about life’s trials through reason. So when you are about to complain, subject your complaint to the Stoic test: Can you do something about the situation? If not, then complaining won’t help. If you can, then get on with life.

Sign up to receive Professor Brooks’ weekly newsletter here.

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:

It is important for everyone to have the heart of a finisher, but I believe it is especially important for God’s children. After all, we represent Him, and He always finishes what He starts.

Is there anything in your life that you are tempted to give up on? If there is, I am asking you to reconsider. In your quiet time with God, pray and ask if He wants you to give up, and unless you are sure that He does, I recommend that you press on.

The only reason we should ever give up is if we realize somewhere along the way that we are not doing what God wants us to do. Don’t let the fear of circumstances or the weariness of passing time cause you to give up. You might be tired of waiting, but pressing forward is much better than going back.

Source: Quiet Times with God by Joyce Meyer

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

I don’t entirely approve of some of the things I’ve done in my life, but I am who I am. And I would not be me if I hadn’t learned along the way. The same is true for you. We are all works in progress! So don’t be ashamed of who you had to be to get to where you are today. Forgive yourself for those times when you lacked clarity, for those foolish decisions you made that caused needless stress. Forgive yourself for being human, young, and reckless. Your journey has many vital lessons. What matters most now is your willingness to grow from them.

And isn’t it wild how we often outgrow what we once thought we couldn’t live without, and then we fall in love with what we didn’t even know we wanted? Life keeps leading us down worthwhile paths we would never travel if it were up to us. Don’t be afraid. Have faith — trust the journey. Continue to be a work in progress, and celebrate the fact that you are!

The trick I have found is to embrace life today. Be right where you are. That’s where your power is. There’s a time and place for everything, and every step is necessary. Just keep doing your best, and don’t force what’s not yet supposed to fit into your life. When it’s meant to be, it will be. You’ve come a long way already, and you’re still learning and growing.

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.