Great notion about boundaries — writers need them, too. We need boundaries to keep all that extraneous stuff from interrupting our writing. Schedule it like work and stick t it like you would having dessert after a meal. 😉 That's how I motivated myself early on — I'd never skip dessert!

How frustrating. And he's a PUPPY — he'll learn, he wants to learn. But he's a PUPPY, and he needs boundaries.

Even my cats pay attention to some basic rules, like not being allowed on the counters, etc. They look at me with that contempt only cats can truly pull off, but they do pay attention!

I said, "That's probably because the piddle pads you use when you don't want to take him out give him a mixed message and he thinks it's okay to go inside when it's cold or rainy." Then I kicked it up a notch and said, "When you have a puppy, it's not about YOU, it's about the PUPPY." She's used to making everything about herself, so she needs more training that her puppy.

(Seriously, if you're consistent, potty training a puppy isn't that hard.)

I won't even get into how many times I had to say "Off" and "Leave it" because she was to wrapped up in herself to see he was being mischievous.

Damaria, so true. Life gets in the way only if we let it. Right now, I'm sitting in Phoenix, Arizona where it's nearly ten pm. I'm watching my dear mother-in-law struggle with illness. And I'm making time to check in, answer emails, and allow the spaces in between to be filled with work when family duties aren't calling. It's called having a life that has actual life in it, perhaps.

Devon, I remember a woman who was writing a children's book. She asked me for a critique. She didn't like it, either. Her story was filled with the words "began to" or "started to" in nearly every paragraph. I told her she needed to stop all the starting and beginning and just DO it already. But I guess thinking back it was more of her own internal struggle with writing coming out onto the page than it was about any trepidation she had about putting pen to paper. She'd done that — it was the longest damn children's book I'd ever seen (until Harry Potter, that is).

Cathy, that's frustrating for me, too. I suggest marketing and it's "Doesn't work — I've tried it." Really? Have you stuck with it? Only after you've tried to be consistent with it will you know whether or not it works.

Paula, some people cannot learn any more than they already know. They're not open to it and not willing to show that vulnerability. Kind of dumb since we ALL learn something new every day. Her loss, really. I'd stop answering her question, or just answer "Why do you ask? You're not going to take any advice anyway." Then let her argue her way out of that. 😉

Krista, I agree. There's so little of common courtesy these days. How hard is it to say "No thanks" or "We're killing the project"?

And don't even get me started on Facebook!! I once went through the trouble of scanning and sending several gluten-free bread recipes to someone who was searching for good ones, and didn't even get a quick "Thanks!" That may sound like a really small thing, but when stuff like that happens over and over it makes me not even want to bother going through any trouble for anyone.

The real reason is she doesn't want to admit I know more about something than she does. This is why her dog will never be fully housebroken. Instead of heeding my advice and taking her puppy outside every time he wakes up, eats, or plays (and every 20 minutes when he's awake), and being inconvenienced by taking him out at night or in bad weather, she has him use a piddle pad at night or if it's too cold or wet out for her. By making it about herself, she's giving him mixed messages. Funnier yet, she lectured her mom that paper training doesn't work…um, that's exactly what she's doing, only with piddle pads. I'd had dogs since I was a kid, yet apparently I don't know anything, but in the three months she's had a puppy she's an expert.

Another friend told me today that someone asked her for professional tips on LinkedIn. She responded and the person never said thank you. I told her next time that happens, say, "I'd be happy to consult with you about this. My rates are…"

It's like the excuse I don't have time to exercise. If you make it a priority in your life, you find the time.

The other excuse is not having enough clients, yet ask them about marketing and they slide into another excuse-such as-not enough time. I guess clients will simply know you exist.

Excuses of not enough time, money or clients get really old when the person complaining does nothing to change the situation.

Enjoy LA & the conference, Lori.

There is no such thing as "no time to write."

Writing is ALWAYS a choice. Not writing is ALWAYS a choice.

If you ask for advice and someone is kind enough to take the time, say "thank you." You are not obligated to follow the advice,but you should act like a professional and demonstrate basic courtesy.

As Damaria said, we all have the same amount of hours in the day. It's how we choose to use them that differentiates us.

And if someone says, "I don't have time for that, you have to do it for me", my response is, "this is how much my services cost and you can send the deposit via PayPal right now."