The Ultimate Success Formula

FOUR SIMPLE STEPS

All people who succeed consciously or unconsciously utilize the same formula for success. Use these four simple steps to achieve whatever you desire --

-- whether author, musician, graphic designer, or

-- shrimp boat captain.

1 - Decide what you want. Be precise. A goal like "Become famous" isn't very valuable because there's no indication of what needs to be done to achieve it. Therefore, there's no measurement possible. Clarity is power.

2 - Take action. Because desire is not enough.

3 - Notice what's working or not. You don't want to continue to expend energy on an approach that's worthless.

4 - Change your approach until you achieve what you want. Flexibility gives you the power to create a new approach and a new result.

Christian Bale - The early years

EMPIRE OF THE SUN

Christian Bale as Jim Graham
Thirteen-year-old Welsh actor Christian Bale is brilliant as Jim in his feature film debut.

Steven Spielberg’s 1987 EMPIRE OF THE SUN, based on the autobiographical novel by J.G. Ballard, stars Christian Bale as Jim Graham, a British schoolboy separated from his upper-class colonial parents when the Japanese sweep into Shanghai during World War II. Temporarily orphaned, Jim attaches himself to Basie (John Malkovich), a fast-talking American opportunist determined make a buck off the spoils of war. Later, when the two are interned in a prison camp, Jim's boyish fantasies are fueled by the grace and daring of the Japanese fighter pilots whom he comes to idolize despite their enemy status. Spielberg's visually spectacular wartime epic is a testimony to the human will to survive and a child's ability to find wonder even in the midst of horror. [celebritywonder.com]

Are You Sure You Want To Be A Writer?

IF SO....

you must be willing to embrace the inevitable despair that accompanies doing your best.

Of all the arts, writing is perhaps the most difficult. It’s not a performing art, so you don’t have the immediacy of a live audience to let you know how you’re doing. It’s only black marks on white paper--

Um... computer screen

--it’s not pretty like painting or architecture. Everyone thinks he can do it, so writing has little prestige.

It can be lonely work.

So we have to get used to the despair.

And keep on writing, of course.

Note: I also watch my musician friends work on their recordings just as hard and with the same hope that writers do. And looking to future success in the same way. And feeling the despair. Yet keeping on....

What do you do to keep going when you want to chuck it all and take up knitting? Or sleeping?

Your Destiny

YOU CAN DECIDE

It's not what we do once in a while that counts, but our consistent actions. What ultimately determines who we become and where we go in life? The answer is our decisions. It's in these moments that our destiny is shaped. More than anything else, our decisions--not the conditions of our lives--determines our destiny.

Dream BIG. If there were no limitations holding you back, what destiny do you want?

Where And When Do You Create?

DO YOU USE CREATIVE RITUALS?

If not, invent some.

Rituals can spark our creative process. For some of us, a ritual can be a simple routine that readies us for inspiration.

One writer begins her writing day at her dining room table with a fountain pen and a yellow legal pad because she loves the color of the ink. When she finally gets to her computer, she is surrounded by pictures she has gathered that fit her story.

You could read before you start working... go for long walks on the beach or in the park.

In my case to the nearest bench... just across the street. Then I have to get my strength back to go back home. Luckily the new hospital is on the other side of the parking lot.

Ah-hem... It's not that bad, really.

A lot of writers start their day with a cup of coffee and a gander at the rising sun. I don't drink coffee, but I like to watch the sun come up.

I try to start work early, before the world comes alive.

But when I'm having a difficult time, I put the timer on for twenty minutes (I have one on my computer) and I say to myself, "Okay, you're not inspired, fine, but you're going to do this for twenty minutes. Write something, even if its a list of things you're NOT going to write about..."

... werewolves, bungee jumping, the history of the south pole, a study of Frankenfish--I don't know why.

Usually by the end of twenty minutes, I've found my inspiration.

Lately I've been reading what I've written that day before going to bed. I'm hoping for that 'something' that inspired writers like J. K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer. Maybe I'll get answers and clarity in MY dreams.

What rituals do you use that work for you? I'm always looking for other approaches I can try.

Do You Need More Time?

THE TWENTY-FIFTH HOUR

If they can put a man on the moon and clone a sheep, they should be able to create more hours in each day, right?

Scott Westerfeld's novel Midnighters has an interesting concept. Those who are born at the exact moment of midnight get an extra hour a day. They have 25 hours instead of 24.

What could you do with an extra hour?

If you could discover where you tend to fritter away your time you might be able to add that one hour.

Think about it, five minutes here and ten minutes there add up. It's entirely possible to lose an eye-opening amount of time by wasting a few minutes several times a day.

People who know how to manage their time well usually have one skill mastered: They are aware of where they are in their schedules at all times. They may not be crazy about it, and it may have taken them a long time to train themselves, but they are able to keep their entire day in focus as they progress through each activity.

It might help to discover what kind of time waster you are.

Before you can manipulate your schedule so that it provides a boost to your efficiency at home and with your work, you need to first examine all the ways in which you don't make the most effective use of your time. The best way to do this is by keeping a detailed record that spells out exactly how you spend every minute of every day--or at least in five-minute increments.

For me, its the on-line games, FreeCell and Twitter. It used to be TV, but I put that on the weather channel now and ignore it the whole day.

What things trip you up when you're trying to get your WIP (Work-in-Progress) done?