I accomplished a goal today. Yes, I'm proud of myself, and yes, I'm telling you.
My article on our recent trip to Egypt was published in the Personal Journey column of the Philadelphia Inquirer Travel section. Of course I want you to read the article, so here's the link:
But more importantly, I want you to know how this accomplishment fits into Creatavita. I'll quickly enumerate the ways in this post and elaborate later.
#1 - Persistence, Patient Persistence.
I first had the idea to submit an article to this column back in 2006. Yes, you read that correctly - 2006, after a wonderful experience in Turkey. In fact, I recently threw out the paper draft of that article. Don't worry, I saved a digital copy. For various reasons, I didn't get to writing the article until this spring. That's okay. The important lesson here is that writing an article mattered to me and I stuck with it. Being patient enough to know that the right time would come and then being persistent in finishing the article when that time came is what is important.
#2 - Have A Plan
For the last two years, with the assistance of one of my Best Friends, I've been following a program called Best Year Yet (Best Year Yet Book). We are definitely going to discuss plans like this in a later post. I've never found a perfect one, but there's no doubt that my present work with Best Year Yet, assisted by a Best Friend, has helped dramatically. Writing this article was one of 10 goals (I know you hate that word) I wanted to accomplish in 2012. Knowing that goal was sitting on that list and knowing the Best Friend would ask me about it once a month gave me incentive to stick with the plan.
#3 - Be Flexible
Wait. Didn't I just tell you to have a plan? Now I'm supposed to be flexible as well? Come on! Yes, that is correct. A plan matters, but knowing when to change the plan matters as much. The Turkish experience was incredible; someday I'll write that article. But when I returned from Egypt this winter, I knew I had to change the subject and write about my Egyptian adventures. Trusting my instinct to be flexible, to put aside the Turkish experience for the Egyptian adventure, was important.
#4 - The Beauty of Assistance
I am by nature an independent person. Some would say stubborn. I wouldn't disagree. We'll discuss further. Not my stubbornness, but the beauty of assistance. Over the past two years, I have made a conscious decision to ask for assistance. When it came time to write the article, I asked another Best Friend to edit. Of course she was happy to assist. Invaluable? Yes indeed. Her edits and comments gave the article a much-needed clarity.
#5 - Be Reasonable
My goal was to write a 500-word article. My goal was not to write a book. My goal wasn't even to have the article published, as I knew I had no control over whether or not the article would be published. My goal was a reasonable challenge which involved nothing but my energy and my actions.
One more word about our trip to Egypt. Phenomenal. Okay, a few more words. The people at Deluxe Travel organized an amazing itinerary for us. Yes, that's a shameless plug for Mona, Mohammed, Yassar and all the other wonderful Egyptians we met.
My article on our recent trip to Egypt was published in the Personal Journey column of the Philadelphia Inquirer Travel section. Of course I want you to read the article, so here's the link:
But more importantly, I want you to know how this accomplishment fits into Creatavita. I'll quickly enumerate the ways in this post and elaborate later.
#1 - Persistence, Patient Persistence.
I first had the idea to submit an article to this column back in 2006. Yes, you read that correctly - 2006, after a wonderful experience in Turkey. In fact, I recently threw out the paper draft of that article. Don't worry, I saved a digital copy. For various reasons, I didn't get to writing the article until this spring. That's okay. The important lesson here is that writing an article mattered to me and I stuck with it. Being patient enough to know that the right time would come and then being persistent in finishing the article when that time came is what is important.
#2 - Have A Plan
For the last two years, with the assistance of one of my Best Friends, I've been following a program called Best Year Yet (Best Year Yet Book). We are definitely going to discuss plans like this in a later post. I've never found a perfect one, but there's no doubt that my present work with Best Year Yet, assisted by a Best Friend, has helped dramatically. Writing this article was one of 10 goals (I know you hate that word) I wanted to accomplish in 2012. Knowing that goal was sitting on that list and knowing the Best Friend would ask me about it once a month gave me incentive to stick with the plan.
#3 - Be Flexible
Wait. Didn't I just tell you to have a plan? Now I'm supposed to be flexible as well? Come on! Yes, that is correct. A plan matters, but knowing when to change the plan matters as much. The Turkish experience was incredible; someday I'll write that article. But when I returned from Egypt this winter, I knew I had to change the subject and write about my Egyptian adventures. Trusting my instinct to be flexible, to put aside the Turkish experience for the Egyptian adventure, was important.
#4 - The Beauty of Assistance
I am by nature an independent person. Some would say stubborn. I wouldn't disagree. We'll discuss further. Not my stubbornness, but the beauty of assistance. Over the past two years, I have made a conscious decision to ask for assistance. When it came time to write the article, I asked another Best Friend to edit. Of course she was happy to assist. Invaluable? Yes indeed. Her edits and comments gave the article a much-needed clarity.
#5 - Be Reasonable
My goal was to write a 500-word article. My goal was not to write a book. My goal wasn't even to have the article published, as I knew I had no control over whether or not the article would be published. My goal was a reasonable challenge which involved nothing but my energy and my actions.
One more word about our trip to Egypt. Phenomenal. Okay, a few more words. The people at Deluxe Travel organized an amazing itinerary for us. Yes, that's a shameless plug for Mona, Mohammed, Yassar and all the other wonderful Egyptians we met.
No comments:
Post a Comment