lwidmer | Words on the Page

More from Less

Posted on January 11, 2010 by lwidmer

The news this morning about the jobless rate and the predictions going forward were less-than-inspiring. Ten percent is bad. Worse, jobs aren’t just drying up temporarily – they’re never coming back or they’re moving overseas. Fewer people are doing more work, and it’s a matter of time before the collective meltdown of overworked Americans occurs….

Transitions and Friday Stuff

Posted on January 8, 2010 by lwidmer

I don’t know if it’s the Windows Easy Transfer app or my husband I have to thank for it, but the transfer of all my stuff from the old computer to the new one was so freaking easy it was silly. I have to install programs, which I’m doing in order of priority, but I…

The Best and Not-so Best

Posted on January 7, 2010 by lwidmer

Great day yesterday. I love when I can say that. I made good progress on some ongoing projects, and I’m enjoying very much the work. I got a link to one of my articles and was asked to write two more. Also, a collaboration is shaping up and I’m exciting to be moving into new…

Freelance or Full Time?

Posted on January 6, 2010 by lwidmer

This is not a post about whether you should be in freelancing or stick with full-time work. This is a post about how to tell if your client is paying for a contractor but expecting an employee. I’ve had it happen to me a few times. My guess is so have you. Here’s what your…

Turn the Beat Around

Posted on January 5, 2010 by lwidmer

There’s an earworm for you. But it’s something we should all remember, for I’m about to go out on a limb and make a prediction. I predict that within the year, content mills will lose a lot of business – so much so that many who own them will see the futility of the business…

Your Learning Curve

Posted on January 4, 2010 by lwidmer

Kimberly Ben over at Avid Writer has a great post up about the stability of a freelance career compared to a 9-to-5 job. In the comments, Kim said something incredibly insightful: “… if it weren’t for freelancing I wouldn’t have half the skills I’ve developed over the past two years.” Ditto that. As freelancers, we’re…

The Shiny New Decade

Posted on January 1, 2010 by lwidmer

see more Lolcats and funny pictures Happy 2010, everyone.

Monthly Assessment – December

Posted on December 31, 2009 by lwidmer

The last assessment of 2009 – can you believe it? Here we are, 12 months from when we set those business goals for this year. So how did you do? First, looking at the year as a whole, I was off my mark almost every month, but somehow managed to come within $10K of my…

Your Invitation

Posted on December 30, 2009 by lwidmer

Yesterday I invited you to commit to a monthly assessment for each month next year in an attempt to kick-start your career. I realize it was an unofficial invitation, so I’m here to remedy that. Here’s your formal invite: Who: YouWhat: Monthly Assessment of your earnings and career plansWhere: Right hereWhen: The last day of…

Forget Resolutions

Posted on December 29, 2009 by lwidmer

I’m not a fan at all of resolutions. I think they’re lies we tell ourselves in order to wash away our guilt from the previous year. We promise to be good. We promise to achieve X, Y, and Z. And if we don’t? We’ll be back next year at this same time, making promises up…

Devon Ellington

December 29, 2009

I disagree about resolutions. REsolutions are a way to set the bar for yourself. Something to aim towards. One of the reasons we're in such a mess is because we're encouraged to lower our own bars, that it's "okay" to lower/not meet expectations, that nothing is our actual fault.

Bull pucky.

It's time to stop settling for mediocrity, on both personal levels and beyond.

Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions work together and shore each other up. When you live a holistic life instead of a fragmented one, each shores up the other.

That's why I set up the Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions site.

http://goalsdreamsresolutions.wordpress.com

I've got the questions up for 2010. I'm posting my accountability on December 31 for this year — and I'm hard on myself, because I did not meet my goals — and here I thought I'd put in such a productive year.

I pull no punches on where I fell short this year and why, and on January 1, I answer the 2010 questions and see how what I learned from where I fell short can be applied to make 2010 the best year ever.

Resolutions take courage, and too often, we are encouraged not to take risks.

Why do you think content mills get away with so much? Because people, across the boards, are encouraged to lower their own personal bars.

Goals are the steps we take to achieve our resolutions, which in turn, are the foundation of our dreams.

I let myself get mired in things that weren't a priority of my heart this year, and, although I managed to keep my head above water financially, I felt trapped and frustrated. I willingly gave up my safety net, and that gave me a huge sense of freedom, but I didn't utilize it properly.

I do not intend to get stuck in that quicksand for 2010.

Wendy

December 29, 2009

Like Devon, I'm a big fan of resolutions, but in my opinion, don't bother making them if you don't have any intention of trying to follow through with them.

Most people I know, that make resolutions, do it simply for the sake of making some. They either don't bother following through with them or they do it for a couple of days and quit because they didn't see immediate results.

I usually make one or two every year; sometimes more. I know that I'll fall off the wagon a time or two, but that only gives me more fire and determination to push through. Stubbornness can be a good quality, eh?

I'm still figuring out a business plan for next year, so when I get that done I'll have more of an idea of what my expected income goal will be for 2010. I have no qualms in believing you'll hold me or anyone else to those goals, Lori; nor do I have any reason to doubt that you'll meet your own.

Lori

December 29, 2009

That's the difference between you two and the rest of the world – you put action behind your resolutions. In general, we don't. We just say "I'm losing ten pounds!" or "I'm getting a better job!" but we don't move toward that. We just state it and forget it.

Devon, I totally agree that resolutions take courage. They also take commitment and a plan. It's why your triple play has worked so well for so long (you guys, DO go see Devon's site. It's inspiring). I think resolutions alone are a huge waste of time and a good way to kick ourselves ahead of time for that failure to meet that resolution.

Wendy, stubbornness is an excellent quality. It takes guts and the inability to accept "no" for an answer to reach success. And please, hold me to my goals, too. We're in it together, eh? 🙂

Devon Ellington

December 29, 2009

Lori, I get what you're saying. What's at fault here isn't the concept of resolutions, but the lack of courage, commitment,and dedication many individuals have to actually build the lives they want.

That's within THEM, not within the concept of "resolutions."

Lori

December 29, 2009

Bingo, Devon. 🙂

Jenn Mattern

December 29, 2009

I'm personally a fan of resolutions, but then again I don't set a goal without also mapping out a plan to make it happen. Whether that's knowing how often, when, and where I'm going to work out to work towards those 10 lbs lost or it's figuring out what to raise my rates to in order to meet new income goals, the key is not going into the new year (or new day for that matter) blindly. Goals are great, but you need a plan if you ever want to get beyond that.

Diane

December 30, 2009

I'm a big fan of resolutions too, but that's the linear aspect to me – I like to have lots of things to tick as I go along as it gives me a mental pat on the back and the motivation to continue. If I don't stick to my resolutions I've stopped beating myself up about it, but it's still a cross rather than a tick. The list ethic works very well for me and resolutions are natural listees.

Saying that, I also do the numbers game. I decide how many articles/stories/fillers etc I completed last year and how many I can realistically complete this year, and I do the same with earnings. Getting a day job made me a bit lazy but I had other stuff going on at the same time and needed the regular income as I couldn't concentrate on getting additional work/income in at the time. We have a contractual bonus that they nearly didn't pay last year and I had to replace that sum of money elsewhere. I replaced it, and then we got the bonus as well, so in effect I earned extra last year to what I expected.

So, my work "resolutions" for the coming year include: complete 1 article/short story/filler/chapter per month (= 12 each for the year — minimum), 4 magazines, 2 brochures, 1 website, 4 competition entries; + at least my regular annual salary + the bonus + the bonus again + a bit more that I haven't yet decided, but probably at least the bonus again.

Lori

December 30, 2009

Jenn, I agree. Resolutions, as Devon says, are not the problem. Applying action to them is. I tried reframing it not as resolutions, but as business plans. Sometimes it's easier for people to wrap their minds around a plan instead of a promise. And I'm like you – if I say it out loud, I'm going to back that up with some serious action.

Diane, I think these are both excellent tools to get motivated and stay that way. Mental lists, for those of us uber-organized types, are deadlines that must be met. 😉 And I love setting a quantity goal. Whatever works is great!