So, I am trying to figure out what to do while I search for a second job and look for extra income. Obviously, I would love to make money from writing. But we are still quite a ways from that. But this doesn’t mean that I can’t challenge myself in other ways. I’m playing with some ideas and I’ll see what they produce, but the main thing will be challenging myself. Let me explain.
Challenging Myself in Discipline
As I was doing devotions this morning I was reminded that if I have two jobs that means I will really need to buckle down on discipline. If I don’t, then my writing could just fall away and not exist. In fact, I could accidentally forget about it all together and then I would be farther from achieving my writing goals and dreams than I am now. So, how am I challenging myself in discipline?
first- give myself grace
I have a lot of bad habits. Scrolling through YouTube shorts, Instagram reels or Facebook reels can very easily distract me from anything else that I have planned for the day. And it’s like it’s a subconscious thing. Sometimes I don’t even realise I have fallen into it until I’ve been at it for about an hour. Yes, I know. It’s terrible. This will not change overnight. I will make mistakes and fall back onto this. So I need to give myself grace when that happens and then get myself doing something else. I tend to beat myself up for mistakes or just shrug it off and say I guess I failed, oh well. That needs to stop. Instead, I need to realise that I slipped again, brush myself off, and refocus on something productive.
second – make a plan and post it
No, not on social media. Somewhere where I can see it daily as a reminder that this is my plan. I did try this back in January with a physical daily planner. It didn’t work because I left it somewhere in the house and completely forgot that it existed for the rest of the month. Out of sight, out of mind. I have a bulletin board in my office. I think that’s a good place to put it. Maybe even reminders on my phone with notifications. Those might come in handy if I’m in a mindless scrolling mode and then it interrupts me.
lastly -try rewards
I can be very reward motivated. Not always, but sometimes. But I wonder if, posting a reward with my plan will help. It’s not a strategy that I have tried before, so it could be helpful. And as we know, I am always encouraging us to try. So, I will implement that and update you when it’s in motion and when I’m done. I’m thinking I will try it for the month of April, so I can give it a solid month-long effort. And that gives me time to think of a realistic plan as well as a reward that I can stand behind and follow through with.
Challenging Myself Physically
Lately I have been very unhappy with my body. And not just for vanity reasons. I do not feel comfortable in my own skin. I had tried a challenge of doing yoga daily, and I did alright for a short time. But I need to actually buckle down on that. The only way I will see change is if I do something about it. I’m not quite sure what I’ll do with that just yet. Apparently just trying to make a month-long challenge doesn’t do it for me. If you have any ideas, that don’t involve a workout class, let me know. To be clear, I am not against workout classes. I want to join a spin class. I just don’t have the funds right now. Hmm, maybe that can be a reward for myself.
Continue Trying
As I have stated, I do not expect my writing to take off this year. It would be awesome if that happened, but highly unlikely. But, I can keep writing, and keep trying, to see if I can grow my audience. Yes, this will take a lot of effort, discipline, and time. But even two more followers is huge for me. This means growing my social media accounts as well. My goal this year is to grow in making reels. That requires growing in editing videos, something that both excites and terrifies me. That will mean regular blogging and seeing if I can make my blog site better. It means working on my SEO so that more people find my site by basically tripping over it. Which means I might have to figure out what audience I want to target most and blog about those things. Blog about things that people are searching.
Challenging Myself to be my Best Self
I had started a series that I called Best Version of Myself Journey. Not sure what happened to it, but it essentially died. I should revive that series. Researching trending topics I found myself discouraged because I’m not sure what I can add to those topics. Travel? Not doing a lot of that these days. Beauty? That’s laughable. Fitness and food I hesitate with because I use other people’s recipes and fitness plans. But I suppose sharing my journey with these topics wouldn’t be a bad thing. It will just take persistence and, you guessed it, discipline.
I Challenge You
I don’t like to do things on my own, so I issue you all a challenge. It doesn’t have to be as deep as mine will be. But pick one thing you want to see change in. Maybe, like me, you’re looking for another job. Or maybe you’re wanting to lose weight, or start a new hobby, excel in a class, or something else. How can you challenge yourself in that area? Are you reward motivated as well? What reward could you give yourself. Let’s do this together and become the best versions of ourselves this year. Afterall, anything can happen if we try.
