My dad died two years ago, and it really put my entire life upside down. He’s my only parent and I became responsible for his estate. And it just really changed my life a lot.
It changed my priorities a lot and changed what I had tolerance for, and what I had energy for and motivation for completely, because a lot of the things that I had juice for before, I didn’t anymore,
or I was like why? this is actually not that important.
So it was really important for me to feel like I had a clarity of purpose for the year 2023 and what I was going to do, because that really helps me to know that I’m on track.
And I really feel better when I feel like I’m on track.
But the key is to make sure that my goal is one that is really going to be a productive one, by my own standards. And not just what society tells us to prioritize.
To repeat, I had to find the goal I truly wanted to pursue from my own desire, and not just what other people want me to prioritize.
If your goals stress you out or you feel pressured to achieve things that don’t make you happy, I highly recommend a free series called Feel Good Goals.
I have been raving about this instructor because she’s really helped me be more self-loving as I work to listen to myself better this year (my ultimate goal).
earlier in the spring I fell while ice skating. I put my arm out to catch myself and you really should not do that actually, sooooooo I hurt myself.
It took a while for me to realize it wasn’t healing, and then it took forever to get a referral and an appointment with a specialist, which I finally did on Tuesday.
It really woke me up to how I need to rest my arm more, which is hard since it’s my dominant hand, and I run a business and am a professional writer…all of which means a lot of using my hand.
It’s just one more reason to forgive myself for any lack of ‘perfection’ in what you see me writing or doing, including what you see me NOT do.
So I’m not really going into how my writing went professionally in as much detail this week as I did with my personal goals last week, or at least it will not be as polished.
Let’s be HONEST, my priority this year is on me as a person anyway so it doesn’t give me as much juice to write about the work side.
But now I’m having fun writing this email and my wrist is ok at the moment so I’ll share a bit, why not.
In the last 6 months I:
-wrote 26 articles on Medium, Linkedin, and for On Purpose Women
-taught about how to make writing emails fun at the Vibrant Entrepreneur Conference
-appeared live on camera several times for a Writer Spotlight for On Purpose Women
But I will say that for Medium, I have learned to stop writing as much. LOL
I wrote 17 articles for Medium in 6 months.
My goal in December was to write one article a week, and I realized after a couple months that it wasn’t making me happy so I slowed down.
Instead of focusing on quantity, I focused on being a little more strategic with my topics, article headlines and what publication I was submitting each piece to.
I also was inspired by Becca Syme who spoke about vertical integration in a youtube video; it is the idea of generating many pieces of content in a similar topic, like a ladder people can follow back and enjoy.
I pay attention to what I LIKE writing about, and what people seem to like reading on Medium and go from there.
Right now I have two lines of content I have been building out on Medium:
Stories about Japan, meeting my husband there, our love story, the culture, etc.
Last month, although I only wrote 2 articles on Medium, I ended up making the most money for the month since December. This is compared to months where I wrote 5,4,3 articles.
It was under $4 total for my highest grossing month in May but it is still cool
Cool that I have been learning to work less and earn more, and my previously written articles are still in rotation and being read.
That shows me how they are strong and cover an enduring topic people will want to read for some time to come.
One story leads to the older ones on a similar subject so people can keep reading if they want to and I get paid for all of that even though the older articles are already done.
I know from writing a book and publishing it, that $4 is comparable to what I would make for a single book sale, possibly more. And instead, all I wrote were a few articles.
So yay!
I went from zero followers on Medium to 377 followers since December also, so that’s cool. More friends.
I do enjoy the chat and conversation in comments on Medium which is one of the reasons I originally decided to write there (as I say in this article).
The articles I link above are all via friend link for your viewing pleasure.
Note if you are not a Medium member you won’t be able to read all my stories but you can look throught the previous posts on this blog to find friend links for each article that will let you read for free.
You may know I have complex PTSD from a fraught childhood AND grieving my last parent, my dad, but I have still been fighting.
I have been in the fray fighting for the girls in Sierra Leone to get funding through Her Future Foundation, running my own business, trying to get my health together, and a million other things that are triggering or annoying or hard.
I do that because I have the burning desire to keep crawling forward but also because I use tools to help me get into a better place.
In sum, I wanted self-acceptance and self-listening above any other specific goal.
2: What were my Winter + Spring Goals?
So now I’ll discuss my writing goals, i.e. subgoals I held loosely under this overall self-love umbrella goal.
So you may notice I mostly write nonfiction these days?
That’s my comfort zone as I’ve been publishing nonfiction for over 20 years online, in magazines, in books, etc.
Nonfiction or business copy is what I help clients with in the Summer WritingGroup.
I’ll give my nonfiction a separate review next week.
I also have dreams of writing fiction. Fantasy. Romance.
This is more of a PERSONAL writing goal. Fiction doesn’t relate to my business so it always feels a little tangential to my core essential writing to do. Easy to skip.
But in honoring my year’s focus on ME, at the beginning of 2023, I really wanted to work more on a personal fiction project. Specifically, my fiction series called Blood Witch.
And that’s where I’ve been having the most trouble for several years…
Covers for books I haven’t finished.
Blood Witch is a contemporary fantasy/ paranormal romance series I worked on 2020-2021.
Btw I already am mostly finished Book one.
I’ve got quite a lot written for the first 3 books in the series, covers, etc.
Nothing is published or finished yet.
I haven’t moved forward with writing fiction since my dad got sick with cancer in 2021.
At New Years, I really wanted to figure out how to make progress on this writing project again.
Now getting clear that this was important to me took some time.
These helped me uncover my desire to work on my fiction book while maintaining my primary focus of self love.
I went through her different questions around the New Year, and at times in the spring. I also used her Summer planning worksheets to prepare for writing this email review.
3: How Did I Begin Work on the Fiction Goal?
I got clear on my spring goals and it was time to get to work, so what did I do?
I set a weekly timeblock on my calendar and also set up coworks to support this.
I tried other techniques that work with my nonfiction writing, I talked to a few experts.
The project didn’t feel RIPE.
I feel it viscerally that some projects feel ripe to do now and others do not.
This was unripe. I had no motivation to write.
The thought of pushing myself to try to write any way gave me anxiety, and felt very not wise.
🍓Helpful Resource #2
I had just learned about Jacqui Acree. She teaches EFT/Tapping.
If you don’t know tapping, it’s a tool where you tap acupressure points. I’ve been using it for many years and love it.
It helps me process emotions and move forward.
I decided to do an individual tapping session with Jacqui to help me with emotions around the book series.
That was good: I had too much junk to work through in one session but I did get clear on something:
I should prioritize working through the emotions around my fiction series before trying to write it.
To do this, Jacqui invited me to her Goal Trauma program to keep tapping on it and working through it all.
Since tapping in general works really well for me and Jacqui does it really, really well, I joined her program!
This resource made the biggest difference on how I relate to my fiction writing.
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve learned from Jacqui Acree’s Goal Trauma class and I want to share how it impacted my writing process,
I was reading it around when I took Goal Trauma and the two complimented each other nicely.
They both assume that if you aren’t doing something, you probably have a very good reason.
What perked my attention was when Becca Syme said,
sometimes people are blocked from writing because there is a life event that needs to be handled.
Moving is one example.
And that made me really look at my life and assess it.
Had I had a big life change? Um yes.
I stopped working on my fiction series when my dad got cancer and then almost immediately died!
That’s a big life change!
4: What was the Big realization or AHA moment for the Fiction Goal?
I still haven’t gotten back to where I was before my father died in 2021.
Of course, the emotions are a challenge, absolutely,
but specifically, I mean the tasks that were added to my plate.
– the estate responsibilities, deadlines & paperwork alone!
People don’t talk about paper work that can be involved when someone dies.
– 100s of documents I’ve had to page through,
– Dozens of phone calls I’ve made,
– 30 hours of scurrying around to please banks and creditors.
– 100 pages of super picky annoying paperwork to file
– Round after round of deadlines required by state government.
I’ve literally written a book’s worth of papers for the estate at this point, not to mention all the other work.
It has taken up a huge amount of real estate in my mind.
I was kicking and screaming emotionally every step of the way. It sucked.
And what the Author Stuck List, and the Goal Trauma class helped me see is that:
My mind can only hold so much
I only have so much bandwidth for stuff.
And since my dad died, I can’t handle as much at one time.
The tasks are more + my brain is still not functioning the same way.
The lessons are:
YOU CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH.
THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY COST TO EVERYTHING YOU DO.
By doing one thing, you miss out on doing another thing with that time, energy and *bandwidth*.
I never thought about bandwidth, or how I only have the ability to hold a finite number of things in my mind at a time.
I’ve always been trying to be superwoman.
I try to do too much, and end up beating myself up when I can’t.
Thank goodness I see now.
The responsibility of being my dad’s executor was a legal necessity.
But the cost was I lost bandwidth needed to write my 5 book fiction series.
It’s taken bandwidth from other essential things, as well,
so now I have a fun pile-up of taxes and other things that need doing.
It adds up to a small mountain eating up my bandwidth.
5: How did I Reassess my Fiction Goals in the last 6 months?
First things first: clear stuff the mountain out of the way.
To work on the book series I have to cut through a small mountain of things FIRST.
WHAT A CHANGE IN THINKING.
For the last two years, I have not made significant movement on this fiction book series and thought:
– I need a new editor, writing coach, etc.
– I just need to figure out my block
– I’m just lazy or uncommitted or scared to fail and that’s on me
And believe me, all of those things may have ALSO been true, but they were not the *real root* of the problem.
Going through Jacqui Acree’s Goal Trauma program, she guided me to lovingly dive in and explore the real root of the problem.
It helped me cut through the noise,
forgive the hell out of myself,
work through all those possibilities, and
figure out how to accomplish my goals in an easier way.
Because if it’s too hard, it’s not happening. Life is better when things feel easy.
Her process worked really well for me and where I was at with the fiction goal.
So that’s how I figured out my big insight since January:
I just don’t have the headspace to hold a whole 5 book series right now!!!
With running the estate + running my business + all the nonfiction writing I want to do for that,
I really DO NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY.
And that’s ok.
6: How does this Change Align with the Yearly Goal?
Self-love, self-acceptance, listening to myself, ahoy.
Thank god, I’m doing it, for sure.
And big thanks to Jacqui Acree, who I definitely feel like helped me realize opportunities for more self-love through tapping.
Tapping helped me release bad feelings, so I could objectively assess my fiction goal and how I relate to it.
I’ve stopped feeling BAD about the lack of progress on this goal.
I have limits.
And that’s just fine.
I understand myself and my writing process better.
I have been able to RELEASE the pressure to work on something I physically cannot do right now.
I’ve stopped the negative self-talk and blaming around the lack of progress on my fiction series.
That’s all waste of energy, and tapping helped me let it go.
I’m channeling my energy into more useful things.
What’s really cool is that the Goal Trauma program I did can be applied to any goal,
so I just watch the replay again.
Each time I watch, I tap on something new.
It helps me take step after step to knock things down.
It’s a super helpful resource!!!
7: What did I do in the Last 6 months?
I have been better about not writing fiction, and I’ve doing other things instead.
I’m getting a lot of other things done
and chopping steadily through the mountain
of things standing between me and fiction writing.
Here’s what I got done since I signed up for the Goal Trauma Program:
BUSINESS GOALS
I’m going to talk about my business writing goals next week.
My intention for the Goal Trauma program was to focus on my life goals,
although it had some benefits like more confidence that helped my career.
It’s too much to get into right now,
so I’ll do another post reviewing my writing goals related to my business,
like Medium.
Stay tuned for more about writing for Medium next week and other biz goals.
LIFE GOALS
Because this is 100% in line with my self-love focus this year.
To be clear these are things I deliberately did tapping on with Jacqui’s Goal Trauma class to do more easily, not just any old thing I did:
– I finished my wedding announcement.
I made custom cards with links to a special website and sent them out, followed by social media announcement. Since I’m sad about my dad not being around, this was extra emotional and hard to announce, and it took me a long time to do. But the hard work is done and I’ve enjoyed so much love in response. Yay!
– I’m studying Italian regularly for the first time since 2020.
I had been feeling bad and discouraged. I’ve stopped the negative self-talk about it. I found a new way to study languages that feels much more fun with the LingQ app, and using it and learning a lot. I am planning to see my Italian family later this year and have a honeymoon in Italy!
– I’m going to the gym more and pushing myself to get strong and fit.
I’m going to new specialists to help with lingering health problems I’ve had for years. Health journeys are super emotional especially when it goes on for a long time, but so essential to face.
– I am doing volunteer work for Her Future Foundation regularly.
Since my dad died, I felt too overwhelmed to help them much because I could barely take care of my own stuff. But I’ve been really involved this spring. I wrote a grant for their funding, fundraised $255 for an event to end myths about FGM. We didn’t get that grant but I am exploring new grant opportunities. It can be hard to keep going sometimes when their funding doesn’t come through but I know that helping them is part of what I’m on the planet to do.
And finally:
– I FINISHED THE ESTATE PAPERWORK.
Thank god I don’t have those state government deadlines anymore, and the estate is closed. I’m not done wrapping up everything left behind by my dad. Some things are still pressing. But hey, a step completed is a step completed. You can bet I used Goal Trauma to help complete this crud.
8: What is the best change from January?
If my goal is to love myself more at the end of the year than the beginning, I am definitely on track.
– I’m feeling much more ENOUGH.
– I’m feeling more self-forgiveness about the limits of my abilities.
– I’m feeling more self-trust to do business and life *my way.*
– I’m feeling more realistic about what I can put on my plate so I don’t stress about what I can’t do.
The increase in self-compassion is gold AND
I am getting emotionally difficult things done as well.
All in all, it’s been a great few months.
I’m grateful that in the last 6 months I’ve come such a long way in so many areas.
I’m grateful I found Jacqui Acree to help support and I’m strategically tapping a lot more, making it easier.
I’m sharing to celebrate and also to offer her, Elin’s worksheets and Becca Syme’s book as resources to you.
over goals, things that went wrong, or respond in another way that doesn’t help you:
I really recommend Jacqui Acree’s Goal Trauma program. That program isn’t open yet! It starts later this month, and she also has smaller programs coming up over the summer.
So instead do something free:
Get a taste of tapping with Jacqui during her free classes coming up!
Feel Good about your goals so you can relax this summer.
In that case, have fun writing your story, message, book or business content so you can be of greater service in a greater way. Join The Summer Writing Group community for guidance and coaching to write.
Enrollment for the Summer Writing Group ends Midnight June 13th.
Doors open again in November 2023 for winter.
But it’s ok if you don’t feel like writing at the moment
A few people told me they are not in the right headspace to write and have other things in the way.
Maybe Jacqui Acree‘s classes or the others could be a great resource for you, like it was for me.
This post contains affiliate links.
P.S. Make sure to sign up for my email newsletter if you’d like the installment next week on how my biz goals and writing for Medium are going!
❤ A feeling of enoughness ❤ A sense of purpose on the path ❤ Knowing I am taking one step at a time and all of them feel right ❤ I’m doing something meaningful
Those are the reasons I step up to do what my soul is calling me to do.
If you feel called to write for your book, business copy or content, website, articles, video scripts or other nonfiction
And you are:
-Interested in writing more for it over the next 6 months
-Wanting to learn more or get one on one support through challenges you have
-Inspired by other people making progress and celebrating them
But you don’t necessarily need writing to take over your entire life…
The Summer Writing Group coaching group will help you:
-Ease in, and get clear on what to write for your book or business.
-Get into a flow writing or stay in the flow over the summer.
-Get your writing out to the people who will benefit from what you have to say!
This 6 Month Community and Coaching Program includes:
☀️ 7 60 minute writing group lessons
☀️ 6 Months group coaching through voxer
☀️ Editing on 1 short document per month
☀️ 3 group coworking sessions
☀️ 6 months access to a video vault of over 40 writing and creativity lessons
☀️ Bonus digital organization templates for writing and productivity
☀️ Bonus digital organization class
Get this premium 6 month group coaching program for writing,
worth $3831,
for only $470 or 6 payments of $79.
6 open spots remaining. Last day to sign up is June 13th
❤ Make progress on writing for your book or business so you can help more people and do what you were put here to do.
Join this loving community to help your writing flow as smoothly as a mermaid swims so you can reach those people and feel the love coming back to you.
Every dot is a different document, journal entry, or idea.
Yesterday I had a massive writing AHA on a project I’ve been working on since September 2022.
Thank you digital organization!!
I was at the library doing something totally different-a mid year review. I read through some old notes about my past writing goals. Luckily I already had those written out in a specific area.
As I read, I clicked between various documents I keep in my favorite writing application.
I used to keep all of these in folders in my computer, or Google Docs and then in Scrivener. I still use Notion and Google Docs for certain things, but my writing HOME is a new application I’ve used for a year.
Also it’s free.
It’s where 90% of my writing goes and where I write daily.
I can make a million files because it’s easy to organize. The files are small so it doesn’t take up much space. I have everything from daily journals to book drafts to article ideas to business ideas in there. Even my todo list is there now.
And it’s synced on all my computers AND my phone. (I do pay a small fee for that/the cloud storage I already use.)
Everything is linked so I can see where ideas connect across the hundreds of documents.
I’ve been doing this for a year and every so often I have an experience that really shows me the benefit of this system.
Case in point: the AHA moment I’ve waited for.
Reviewing my writing goals for the season led me to a really powerful write up I had done in my journal.
There was a conversation I had with Kate in Paradise last July on voxer. I’d transcribed part of it.
Something we talked about perfectly related to a project I have been working on since October.
This is for a vlog series on Life after Loss, a sequel to the video about lessons from a year grieving my father. It’s about my personal journey grieving and what I’m learning.
Because I have everything connected, I didn’t even have to remember this conversation happened or that I had it written out, it just naturally came up.
I didn’t have to go into a year of paper notebooks or look through endless folders. The exact entry of the conversation popped up with a click.
What’s crazy is how much that conversation from a year ago still resonated today, which led me to the answer I hadn’t realized I was looking for.
I’ll be working on my vlog over the summer.
But I love how I can work on multiple projects and keep them all in one application, dance between one and another and connect everything to everything.
This picture above is what all my writing looks like in “graph” view where you can see all the connections between ideas and documents.
If you’d like to learn about how I’m doing this sort of digital organization process,I’ll be teaching more about it in the upcoming Summer Writing Group. It’s been truly life altering.
This group coaching program is for free spirits, mermaids-at heart, and entrepreneurs who want to
write for a book, website, emails, posts, articles, blogs, or video scripts so you can help people.
The goals of the writing group is to:
– Get clear on what to write, get into a flow writing or stay in the flow over the summer.
– Hone your writing so it has the power to move people and understand your key message.
– Use writing to step up as a leader and serve more people who need what you have to say.
Question 2: Is there still space?
Answer: Enrollment is now closed.
Question 3: When does enrollment end?
Answer: Midnight EST June 13th 2023
or when all spots fill, whichever happens first.
Question 4: Can you offer me an extended plan for smaller monthly payments?
Answer: Yes!
You can now get full access to everything included in the Summer Writing Group for $79/month (6 payments)
Question 5: When do the live classes start?
Answer: The first live meeting was June 1st at 2 PM EST.
If you’ve missed it, you can quickly catch up with the replay.
The program includes 7 classes teaching writing techniques and guided writing exercises.
After one hour, the session is open to Q & A.
There are also 3 Coworking sessions for connecting and writing together.
The full list of live sessions includes:
June 1 – Class 1 June 15 – Class 2 June 29 – Cowork July 13 – Class 3 July 27 – Class 4 August 10 – Cowork Aug 24 – Class 5 Sept 7 – Class 6 Sept 14 – Class 7 Final COWORK TBD
$1200 value
Question 6: What if I can’t make the live classes and meetings?
You will get the replays and transcripts.
PLUS you’ll have access to me to ask questions with voxer coaching for 6 months!
Includes editing feedback of up to one 2 page document per month.
Voxer is a free app where you can reach me with text and audio messages.
You’ll have access to a group to reach me through the week,
so you can watch the replay and share your responses or questions in the group when it is convenient to you.
And you can submit one document for editorial feedback each month.
Voxer coaching June 1st – November 30th 2023
$1500 value
Question 7: What other bonuses are included?
Answer: There are 3 bonuses, and
one bonus that is brand spanking new!
1. BONUS 6 MONTH ACCESS TO VIDEO VAULT
Instant access to the online Video Vault so you can enhance your writing at your own pace.
Includes Worksheets & 40+ videos on writing, creativity & productivity
$777 value
2. BONUS DIGITAL ORGANIZATION TEMPLATE SET
Organize your ideas, and projects in a simple way so you can get more done.
Everything is customizable! This template set is hosted via Notion software.
Includes Digital Template Set + Video Training
$122 value
Every dot, in this image above represents, an idea or a writing document! I use this application to produce high-quality writing consistently and organize everything I write. That way I can develop lots of different projects over time and never lose anything.
3. BONUS DIGITAL ORGANIZATION CLASS – NEW! {I haven’t even gotten this on the sales page yet!}
IF:
– you have a LOT of ideas,
– you are a non-linear thinker or
– you’ve got lots of material that is starting to overwhelm you,
you’ll want this bonus.
Get early access to a new class that I will record later this summer on how I organize:
my business content, book drafts, journal entries, article ideas, and allllllll other writing.
This is my secret to the increase in productivity publishing lots of articles in the last year!
And did I mention this program is free?
This image above is what it looks like after 1 year of use, connecting inter-related ideas together in a web.
“I have accomplished so much this summer, and I’ve been writing a lot of different things and having a lot of breakthroughs in the area of ease and flow. I’ve been putting a lot less pressure on myself around what I need to get done. It doesn’t need to be difficult. Thank you for this beautiful space.”
-Kate Burkett, Inner Beauty and Founder of Kate in Paradise
Hope this helps you decide if the group is right for you and
You are growing, changing, and stepping into a new level.
It is time to write your book, be a leader, grow your business, while trying to be a more balanced human being.
Whatever you are working on, I know it’s not always easy but I am here cheering you on!!
The writers and entrepreneurs I work with are grappling with fear daily on the path to write and grow a business to serve more people.
It can make your heart pound or show up as:
🌪️ Indecision
🌪️ Not Knowing What to Do Next
🌪️ Uncertainty
🌪️ Confusion
🌪️ Writers block
🌪️ Procrastination
🌪️ Stalling
🌪️ Self doubt
🌪️ Disquiet
🌪️ Anxiety
🌪️ Stomach aches
🌪️ Absence of Peace
I see you dealing with it all 🙌
But what if it could feel less scary and more like an adventure?
What if you could have more fun? How about hanging out with a crew of like-minded peeps, ❤️ me and some mermaids at heart ❤️ as we all tap into our inspiration and write around you?
Let’s do it 🧜🏼♀️🧜🏼♀️🧜🏼♀️🧜🏼♀️
The Summer Writing Group for Business Mermaids opens tomorrow!
Covers for books I haven’t finished.
