Yes, 2014, I'm talking to you! Can you hear me? You and I are going to kill it! It's going to be Big, totally Ballin', completely Beautiful, and lots of other B-Words.
2014 is my debut year as an author!
(and maybe the year I get a Boob job)
[see how I wrote this Boob part so small that it's less noticeable/controversial/outrageous]
(and maybe the year I get a Boob job)
[see how I wrote this Boob part so small that it's less noticeable/controversial/outrageous]
And in honor of this climactic year, I would like to announce my theme:
(yes, I have a theme)
“Jessie With A Shot At the Night”
*Based on The Killers song
I’ve always been a dreamer. From a very early age I began setting goals to achieve my dreams. Some panned out (I made it to college by the beach) and some didn't (I never starred on my own Disney show called "Jessie"--someone else did that for me...15 years later!)But here's the thing: Sometimes I get to feelin' like a washed-up dreamer, a mom-jeans-wearing nobody, a dime-a-dozen-two-bit lawyer, a carpooling hack, a burnt-dinner-wifey, a church-going-cut-out, a closed-garage-door-neighbor, and worse.
When what I really want to feel like is an artist with a bright future, a skinny-jeans-wearing somebody, a zealous advocate for good, a movin-and-shakin'-mama, a rockstar wifey, an impassioned believer, an opened-door-friend and...a girl with a shot at the night.
There are so many schools of thought when it comes to goal setting vs. new year resolutions vs. daily systems, etc. I recently read some very interesting information about unrealistic goals. Apparently, setting an unreasonably large goal is an adrenaline infusion that provides the endurance to overcome the inevitable trials and tribulations that go along with any goal. I found this idea fascinating.
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5 ‘Easy’ Steps for Making Your Unrealistic Goal a Reality
Written by
With the book tour just about wrapped up, it’s great to be sitting at my own desk in my own house writing a blog post again.The tour has been amazing. So many roads, people, stories, hotels and cities, and so many delicious meals (especially once I hit the west coast). There are still a few events left, including Charlotte, Raleigh, and my hometown of Asheville this Thursday, but these and the remaining dates in Raleigh and Atlanta (maybe) are short drives away. The hard part — all 11,000 miles of it in my Hyundai Elantra — is over. The goal, achieved.
Yes, this self-supported book tour was like any other goal. It started as a speck of an idea that hit me on a run one day, a ridiculous and unrealistic idea. Then the day of intense, excited research to answer the “Is this possible?” question — knowing that no matter what the facts were, I’d somehow bend them into the shape of “Yes.” Finally, going public with it and creating the accountability. At which point it became real … then the rest was just details.
I’ve got plans for a book tour wrap-up post with photos, links, stories, maybe even a recording of my talk … but this is not that post.
My talk each night focused on three topics: running, the plant-based diet, and setting big freaking scary goals. Far more than the other two topics, the ones I thought were a safe bet, it was the talk of goals that people really cared about.
And so with this post I want to share, in a nutshell, what I said about goals while on tour. It’s exactly what I’ve done with just about every goal I’ve accomplished, from qualifying for Boston to the 100-miler to the book tour itself. The steps are obvious, I think, but important enough that they’re worth hearing from as many angles as you can.
1. Think really big.
If I may, an excerpt from Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Workweek, which perfectly sums up “thinking big”:Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for “realistic” goals, paradoxically making them the most time- and energy-consuming …
If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.
Unreasonable and unrealistic goals are easier to achieve for yet another reason. Having an unreasonably large goal is an adrenaline infusion that provides the endurance to overcome the inevitable trials and tribulations that go along with any goal. Realistic goals, goals restricted to the average ambition level, are uninspiring and will only fuel you through the first or second problem, at which point you throw in the towel. If the potential payoff is mediocre or average, so is your effort.
The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits.
5 ‘Easy’ Steps for Making Your Unrealistic Goal a Reality
Written by
With the book tour just about wrapped up, it’s great to be sitting at my own desk in my own house writing a blog post again.The tour has been amazing. So many roads, people, stories, hotels and cities, and so many delicious meals (especially once I hit the west coast). There are still a few events left, including Charlotte, Raleigh, and my hometown of Asheville this Thursday, but these and the remaining dates in Raleigh and Atlanta (maybe) are short drives away. The hard part — all 11,000 miles of it in my Hyundai Elantra — is over. The goal, achieved.
Yes, this self-supported book tour was like any other goal. It started as a speck of an idea that hit me on a run one day, a ridiculous and unrealistic idea. Then the day of intense, excited research to answer the “Is this possible?” question — knowing that no matter what the facts were, I’d somehow bend them into the shape of “Yes.” Finally, going public with it and creating the accountability. At which point it became real … then the rest was just details.
I’ve got plans for a book tour wrap-up post with photos, links, stories, maybe even a recording of my talk … but this is not that post.
My talk each night focused on three topics: running, the plant-based diet, and setting big freaking scary goals. Far more than the other two topics, the ones I thought were a safe bet, it was the talk of goals that people really cared about.
And so with this post I want to share, in a nutshell, what I said about goals while on tour. It’s exactly what I’ve done with just about every goal I’ve accomplished, from qualifying for Boston to the 100-miler to the book tour itself. The steps are obvious, I think, but important enough that they’re worth hearing from as many angles as you can.
1. Think really big.
If I may, an excerpt from Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Workweek, which perfectly sums up “thinking big”:Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for “realistic” goals, paradoxically making them the most time- and energy-consuming …
If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.
Unreasonable and unrealistic goals are easier to achieve for yet another reason. Having an unreasonably large goal is an adrenaline infusion that provides the endurance to overcome the inevitable trials and tribulations that go along with any goal. Realistic goals, goals restricted to the average ambition level, are uninspiring and will only fuel you through the first or second problem, at which point you throw in the towel. If the potential payoff is mediocre or average, so is your effort.
The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits.
5 ‘Easy’ Steps for Making Your Unrealistic Goal a Reality
Written by
With the book tour just about wrapped up, it’s great to be sitting at my own desk in my own house writing a blog post again.The tour has been amazing. So many roads, people, stories, hotels and cities, and so many delicious meals (especially once I hit the west coast). There are still a few events left, including Charlotte, Raleigh, and my hometown of Asheville this Thursday, but these and the remaining dates in Raleigh and Atlanta (maybe) are short drives away. The hard part — all 11,000 miles of it in my Hyundai Elantra — is over. The goal, achieved.
Yes, this self-supported book tour was like any other goal. It started as a speck of an idea that hit me on a run one day, a ridiculous and unrealistic idea. Then the day of intense, excited research to answer the “Is this possible?” question — knowing that no matter what the facts were, I’d somehow bend them into the shape of “Yes.” Finally, going public with it and creating the accountability. At which point it became real … then the rest was just details.
I’ve got plans for a book tour wrap-up post with photos, links, stories, maybe even a recording of my talk … but this is not that post.
My talk each night focused on three topics: running, the plant-based diet, and setting big freaking scary goals. Far more than the other two topics, the ones I thought were a safe bet, it was the talk of goals that people really cared about.
And so with this post I want to share, in a nutshell, what I said about goals while on tour. It’s exactly what I’ve done with just about every goal I’ve accomplished, from qualifying for Boston to the 100-miler to the book tour itself. The steps are obvious, I think, but important enough that they’re worth hearing from as many angles as you can.
1. Think really big.
If I may, an excerpt from Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Workweek, which perfectly sums up “thinking big”:Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for “realistic” goals, paradoxically making them the most time- and energy-consuming …
If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.
Unreasonable and unrealistic goals are easier to achieve for yet another reason. Having an unreasonably large goal is an adrenaline infusion that provides the endurance to overcome the inevitable trials and tribulations that go along with any goal. Realistic goals, goals restricted to the average ambition level, are uninspiring and will only fuel you through the first or second problem, at which point you throw in the towel. If the potential payoff is mediocre or average, so is your effort.
The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits.
So as for 2014, here's my flat-out unrealistic, crazy-stupid, and downright ridiculous goals:
- I will Blog EVERY DAY (excluding weekends and holidays). I have some really crazy-stupid ideas of how I am going to do this. Stay tuned—I promise to be shocking, controversial, and borderline inappropriate (as usual). I am going to do this through the use of three B-words: Bullet points, Brevity, and Bridget Jones. You’re welcome.
- I will take a shot at the night...and get Brandon Flowers and The Killers to appear at my book launch for KILLING RUBY ROSE. I told you these goals were going to be crazy-stupid. But just so you know, Brandon Flowers is from Las Vegas (we even went to the same high school--he was a freshman when I was a senior--go Chaparral Cowboys!), and the band is crazy-awesome, and this goal is not outside the realm of possibility. After you get done rolling your eyes…(done yet?)…make sure that you clear your calendar to come to Las Vegas on September 16.
- I will embark on trips to New York City, Chicago, Orlando, Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles (and maybe a few other cities) for various literary reasons: to attend book expos/library conventions, writing confrences, to meet my publishing team, party with my agent, tour with my publishing sisters at Skyscape/Amazon Children’s Publishing.
- I will write/revise and sell another Book. Plain and simple.
Love,
Jessie With a Shot At The Night
