In my meditations preparing for the day this week I've been thinking a great deal about the lioness. She is the hunter that keeps her pride alive and she has common strategies that are relevant in the world of business and investing. We could learn some important lessons from her. 

Patience

The first thing to learn from the lioness is patience. Often she will hide in the tall grass for hours studying her opportunities and waiting for just the right moment to make her move. 

Discernment

The lioness does not pounce on every opportunity she sees. She knows how to protect her resources of time and energy. Many people new to business and investing want to over engage in investments that fall through draining valuable resources. Relax! Only take the best opportunities with the best probabilities of success. How do you know which opportunities have the best probabilities of success you ask? Become educated on well-used real world strategies with documented results and document your own experiences in a journal or on a spreadsheet and over time you too will know which opportunities are worth the time and energy and which ones are not. 

Know your hunting grounds

A lioness will scout her hunting grounds knowing the best advantage points. It is the same with the investor. A stock trader will have a few core stocks that she revisits often in order to make successful trades. A business person will be an expert of a particular area. Sometimes that area is geographical and sometimes it is an area of expertise in a field of study but they know the field they are working in and that knowledge and wisdom that comes from experience brings success whether it's a business project or a lioness' hunt. 

Know when to rest

Lionesses will often stretch out in the warm sun for a nap. Being rested is an important part of being good at business and investing. Good decisions are not often made by exhausted, stressed, and over-worked state of mind. Take time to rest and relax with those who you enjoy being with, because it is in these times that inspiration is able to find us and offer us some great insights that lead to opportunities!

If the pride doesn't eat, she doesn't eat. 

In a pride of lions, as with any leadership position, if the team is not fed the leader doesn't get to eat. In business if everyone else isn't taken care of the owner doesn't get a check. In investing there is risk there is no absolute guarantee of a return. It's important to know this and plan accordingly. However, when done well there are more wins and more productive hunts then there are hungry nights. That is what makes all the effort, patience, and planning worthwhile. 

Ego is a powerful thing. The way we determine our own self worth particularly when there isn't a long list of accomplishments to tick off that society would deem traditionally successful. From my observations of myself and others is the temptation to measure self worth by who we interact with instead of doing the work to be truly successful on our own. Hence the dynamic of the lyrics the power comes from the story of who loves us, who hates us, who we allow to use and abuse us just to say that they are in our lives. Because we find personal value in that. Let me explain further. 

I have been on both sides of this dynamic. Being both the bestower and recipient of perceived personal value due to association.  Neither side of it feels awesome once the realization happens that that is what is going on. For example knowing that someone is trying to strike up a relationship in an attempt to steal some of the aura of success you created by working hard and achieving goals feels bad.

It also feels bad when after a personal evaluation you find yourself inquiring "Why does it matter so much to me that I have a relationship with this person? Is this a bond on mutual connection and affection in exchange or am I just trying to make myself feel better because of the company I keep?" That is especially problematic when knowing the relationship is an excuse for not doing the work and finding true personal success. True personal success allows one to feel good about life's accomplishments regardless of what anyone else does. Personal accomplishment that is authentic is a feeling that no-one can take away from you. Basing value on relationships leads to unhealthy power dynamics all the way around. It doesn't last because it isn't real. 

A healthy way to come together with a successful person, either in a friendship or something more intimate is to do the work to deal with personal insecurities. Do the work to create personal fulfillment and feelings of success that way there is something to share. Confidence is attractive, dependence is not.

Always remember all happiness and power is yours to access whenever you want to when you internalize personal value. Do not place the ability to obtain it outside of yourself in what may be some unattainable standard that another person, for their own reasons, places outside of your grasp. That is no way to live a contented life. Add value to the lives of those around you. Do something difficult and stick with it until it is done. Each time this is accomplished a higher level of confidence is achieved. Ego dies, as it is not needed, and personal value is felt deeply and authentically because it is real. It is all yours. No one can take that away from you because you earned it and it's yours to keep. 

In the latest chapter of how to fund my fun I have wandered into the world of Real Estate and Investing and I have to say I am having a good time. Never have I felt so stupid and excited at the same time. Everyday I learn more, however, and the excited fun overshadows the feeling stupid part that happens because of lack of experience.

Anyone that knows my journey knows what a 180° turn this is for me. To jump into the corporate world of finance. I did it for the same reason I've made other choices in my life to immerse myself in it and learn. To understand that which I feared and didn't understand. 

So far I have learned that it is a lot more difficult than it looks from the outside. The actual work is not hard, but knowing the timing and when to act is definitely a skillset that sorts people out pretty quickly. I have just begun, so it is difficult to tell at this point whether or not I'll be sorted out. Only time, patience, and practice will say for certain. I'd be happy to answer any questions you, dear reader, may have as I set upon this journey. Pray for me. LOL 

Enjoy yourself.

How do those words hit you? 

I find that for a long time the words and concept of enjoyment weren't present in my mindset or brain space at all. For so long I was in what could be called a reactionary-survival mindset. So much so that to actually enjoy something? I mean, what is that? 

Lately I have been put in a place to observe a different social group of people. People who speak in the language of enjoyment. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy your day. Enjoy your meal. Did you enjoy your sleep? What is all of this enjoyment they speak of? However, this goes back to an older lesson. If you don't ask the Universe for it, you don't manifest it. That which you think and speak about the most in your life is what you bring into it. Right? 

So when most of the chatter in your head and your mouth is a complaint. When it is about what sucks or what isn't working, then that is what is magnetized to you. It is where your attention is so it is what you notice more often. I did this way too much for too long. But when you begin to embrace the mindset of enjoyment that worldview begins to change. 

The first thing I noticed when thinking in an enjoyment mindset was how my shoulder muscles became more meaty and less stony. Before, if you were to touch my shoulders they would be wound tight, hard with tension. I would beg someone to rub them to get my circulation going again. Now not as much, if at all. Because no matter where life is, how challenging it may feel in the moment. There are things to enjoy. A sunset, a smile, a cup of coffee or your favorite drink. There is something if you look for it. Enjoying a rest or the sound of a friends voice telling you a story. 

When you are enjoying life people want to enjoy it with you. Enjoying life is a practice like any other. And like any practice, it becomes a habit over time. 

I've been on social media for about as long as it has been around being a GenX kid. I recently got kicked off of one of the major players for playing too rough apparently which led me to explore an up and comer platform. It was nice. It reminded me of the Golden Age of social media, the time before governments, big corporations and advertisers get a hold of a platform and destroy it. Here are my thoughts about the transformation from what I would define as a pure platform and its slow demise as outside forces attack and destroy the social fabric of social media. 

Average people when left to their own devices will often share posts about music, travel, children, pets, food, inspiring quotes and stories, some sports perhaps, play games maybe, and share jokes. That's what we do on our own without interference. Often there is beauty and love in the posts. People share the things that bring us together, things that we care about the most. This usually builds large platforms of users happily chatting and sharing like a fun picnic or cocktail party. 

Politics can come into these early stages, particularly now a days because it has become so prevalent and worrisome in our daily lives. But often in the pure phase of a social media platform, politics is a spicy side dish that a few wish to partake in, but it is far from the entire content meal. It's over there, not center stage. It's not the main driver of clicks and shares.

Then as a platform becomes more popular the bad actors arrive. My heart sinks and angers simply at the typing of it. They ruin everything! And here's how. Often you hear snide comments laughing about people sharing snaps of their lunch. Then they come in with vicious kinds of politics for clicks. Not problem solving politics mind you. They are articles and posts meant to incite anger and inspire an attack on an individual. That individual is chosen because they represent a group, teachers, police officers, public servants, and groups. Groups are racial, ethnic, class, however humans can be divided up and set against one another. 

Don't get me wrong. There are times when this outrage is absolutely called for. There is a great deal of corruption going on in the world today. Abuses of power and valiant struggles to find Justice in and unjust world. However, the side effect of a cesspool of this kind of strike and attack content created solely to create outrage and hatred without channeling that energy into an outcome that is more suitable to the group only creates a community of hostility and destruction. Not one of coming together in a spirit of finding out how to harmoniously share public space with one another which would be a far more meaningful discourse to engage in. It would be far more productive to solve problems that way. 

This dark social space is not the fault of the average user. They only reflect the world in which they live. The pain forced on them from an increasingly authoritarian and austere political and economic environment is like the boiling frog in that they don't feel the heat until it is too late and they are captured in it. Where else can they go to let off steam and feel heard? If they don't let off steam life feels a great deal less manageable. So though a casual observer might find this behavior unhealthy and unreasonable it is quite the opposite. It is very healthy and reasonable especially when due to lack funding or access, no professional counseling or guidance is available to them. 

Nevertheless, as advertisers begin to take up the time line which people resent because they come to social media to escape the pressures of corporatism and finance. As the political forces fear monger and vomit false platitudes on the screen. As corporate media churns out miles and miles worth of vicious click bait the environment of social media discourse becomes more acidic and vile until it breaks. That hasn't happened yet but it is close. A societal reckoning. 

It is not that this vicious content doesn't hold a truth to it. People are telling their truths on social media. Each personal lived experience, even if totally fabricated holds a truth because to advertise how you would like the world to be and your place in it holds as much powerful truth as reporting strictly in unemotional terms what is happening in your space. However,when that becomes a pumping of a particular kind of manipulative communication which is not meant to do anything but spread a false narrative like a virus in order for people to participate in destructive behavior that is not beneficial to anyone but a few who profit off of it that holds no moral or social value. 

I am happy that I have been released from that Hell. It is nice to be on a new platform again looking at puppies and kitties, lunch, and beautiful landscapes. Smiles of laughing families having fun. This is the best of us as humanity. This is the best of not only what social media can be, it's also the best of what we as humanity can be as well. I support that. 

Hello out there! 

I started this site mostly to journal my own thoughts as I had time. I felt like I was just sending things out like a message in a bottle to see if anyone received the message or cared about it.

I was happy to get some positive feedback from readers that found value in what they read. That is fantastic! If you have anything that you would like me to post about feel free to comment and let me know. If my writing is given purpose here, I'd be happy to give more time to it. What would you like to know more about? I am listening. 

Until next time. Happy Writing!
​S. 

My journey as a writer is approaching a decade now. I have been sporadically documenting the path going from writing for fun, to writing for funds. I have learned a lot during this time. Would you like to know my conclusion about the process? It is complicated. I cannot stop there and give you that vague answer though. So let me break it down a little more. 

There's a place for us. 
There is a place in this world for talented writers. There are billions of people wanting their stories heard. This creates both a tremendous audience and a tremendously large, noisy crowd to contend with. If you want to write for money, you must write about things that people (most likely a corporation or industry leader) would like to pay for.

Selling or sell out? 
One thing that is quickly learned is that money is not the best indicator of what is valuable subject matter for humanity. Therefore, we choose. We choose to pursue the subject matter of most interest to us, the writer, and all else be damned. Or we choose to write about the things that others want to pay for. Those blessed few who are able to have a passion that people are willing to pay for are extremely fortunate--and rare. 

About the bills. 
I am $16,000 in debt from my Communication Degree. I wonder if it is worth it. I thought the process was interesting, engaging. I felt like I was accomplishing things. I was extremely happy that I did this in my forties instead of my twenties. If I had gone through this process when I was younger I may have allowed it to define me more. When a person is in her forties she knows who she is and what she is capable of, for better or worse. The process held me accountable to my writing process and that is the most important gift that the process of gaining a degree brought to bear in my experience. 

About the cost. 
Why does the cost of the degree matter? It matters because unless a person makes a decision to give ALL of themselves to the writing. ALL time, ALL energy (and then some), ALL self; it is very unlikely that a writer will be able to make a living otherwise. Working as a writer is ALL CONSUMING! For some it is a calling and not a choice. It matters not that it is all consuming. However for anyone wanting relationships, children, and other things to happen in life simultaneously, it is a serious decision to make. If it is your calling perhaps the decision has been made for you. If you came to this calling late in the game, as I have, the decision becomes what are you willing to give up to make enough room for the writing to make something of it. 

For all those out there who are still hungry, who still have that craving for the keyboard. I say go for it! Learn all you can learn about your craft and give it every second you can. Between the demands and the obligations of life. Sneak away for awhile for you and your writing. Your voice is needed by someone. It is not your job per say to know who that someone is. Just do your best to craft your message for them. Perhaps it will touch them, move them, inspire them. And after all isn't that what it is all about? I think the money comes later, like love, it comes when you least expect it. But you must create yourself first. Create yourself as a writer, the best writer you can be, and when that happens. The rest of it comes with the work. 

Good luck fellow writers!
Happy Writing! 

"Don't let the turkeys get you down." This is my favorite phrase to tell myself after reading the comment section of some articles. I am fortunate that many times I have more positive comments than negative ones. However, the important thing for any writer that wants to go from writing for fun, to writing for funds to remember is, not to give either kind of comment too much weight in your writing life. That is not to say that a writer should ignore comments. I think comments are the best part. I am able to get feedback and see how my readers received the information I put out there. I get to be enriched by my reader's experiences, which I find to be an extremely rewarding part of the process.

However, as many writers know there is always at least one in the group. Especially when writing for more populated sites, the one turkey that wants to take pot shots for whatever reason because that is what they like to do. I have seen many writers get frustrated by this, sometimes to the point of wanting to give up writing because of them and to those writers I say "Don't let the turkeys get you down." Keep writing, keep improving, learn your topics, be brave in your point of view and keep at it.

The other difficult challenge is to face the notes given by professors, colleagues, or editors about your work. It is difficult to know what type of weight to put on their notes. I think there is value in listening to what they have to say. However, there is also the need to understand that they are people too. Some people just don't get where you are coming from and that's okay too. There are changes that need to be made in writing and there are also times to stand your ground and stick up for your writing. That is something that a writer must develop in her gut. Being able to correctly engage or know when to back down in order to write another day, is an important social skill to have as a writer. Nevertheless, when a writer comes up against an editor or other in authority that "Just doesn't get it." That is another time to remember "Don't let the turkeys get you down."

The most important thing is that a writer puts her best writing out there. Some readers will get it and others won't but just keep writing.

Until next time.
Happy Writing! 

What would you do if you were exactly where you wanted to be with your writing career? Every day as I strive to go from writing for fun to writing for funds, I attempt to shape my day as that of a writer. What would a writer do? I watch the news in the morning and tweet comments to my favorite shows. I scan for the trending topics of the day. I attempt to read a few blogs about how to be a better writer, and a few sources about the topics I like to write about the most, and then I write. Some days it works out better than other days, because I still have other responsibilities. Nevertheless, the more I "act" like a writer, the more habits of a writer I take on, the more I become a writer. I get stronger and better by practicing and by developing the successful habits of a writer. When I go to writing lectures or conferences and meet other writers I always feel inspired. This is what writers do. So if you are still writing for fun and you'd like to write for funds take on the habits of successful writers.

One of my writing friends recommended this blog about getting work as a writer. It's worth a read: http://bit.ly/HSKSsW.

Until next time...
Happy Writing! :o)

I've been away for awhile. Partly because there was a fire at my house and I've been rebuilding from that. It's taught me a lot about myself and what is important about life. I felt glad that I was a writer gpoing through this. Because being a writer allows something good to come from this madness. I have a story to tell that I didn't before. Would I have forgone the experience if I could choose? I don't know. That's hard to answer because none of it had to do with my choices. These choices were made for me, so all I have now is to decide how I reflect on this moment of my life. I choose to find the silver lining and move forward with life. 

What's great about being  writer is having something to show for having gone through the experience. So what do I want to say about it? What are my observations, my unique point of view? What do you have to share? As one can see through Facebook or speaking to people sharing the story I have found many people have a similar story of some sort, they just don't know how to share it.

The other good part about being a writer is the ability to get the thoughts, the fears, the anger, the hope and the lessons I've learned out onto the page and for me that is a huge help in healing from this traumatic event. Yes, I feel very blessed to be a writer. Blessed that good things can come out of the worst of situations. 

Until next time. Happy Writing! 





 

With the New Year coming it's time to plan for the future and make New Years Resolutions. Have you made any yet? I am about to sit down and make mine. Do you take yourself seriously as a writer? I didn't really but 2012 is the year. And in order to take myself seriously as a writer I must set goals in order to achieve them a goal set is the first step to a goal met. 

Good questions to start out with:What is my topic of expertise?
Who can I help?/ Who is my audience?
Is the audience of this topic a wide or an exclusive audience?  

How much do I want to make?
How many people would I have to help in order to reach that number?
What media methods can I use to reach them?
How many units of my work would they have to purchase in order for me to meet my goals? 
How many hours will it take to research and write these stories? 

What does this audience want to learn about regarding my topic of expertise? 
What can I do to make myself the top expert in the topic of my choice? 

As a writer finds the answers to these questions and others that will most certainly come up and puts a chart together, a strategy, then they are able to transition from being a dreamer, to a person who makes dreams come true. 

Make it your New Years resolution to take your writing seriously and act upon it with focused action. Bring in a consistency that your fans can count on.This will begin the fateful steps that all writers must take to writing for fun to writing for funds.