… But what if it doesn’t?

What if your January finds you lifting weight, but dropping none?  What if that high GPA is still MIA after midterms? What if you spend Valentine’s Day with a pair of binoculars and a bottle of Windex, a-gain!

Then what?

I’ll tell you what. You’ll decide your goals are no longer worth the effort and you’ll quit. Unless, of course, you adopt my new technique (by “my” I mean I stole it from my sister Carly: http://www.balance-the-mother-load.com), which focuses more on the process than the goal.

As an author, I live for the process. To me, writing isn’t about the finished piece, it’s about the time, effort, and occasional joy spent creating it. It’s about the journey, for better and worse. Process, not progress. So I’m really good at this. Check it:

Your goal might be to lose five pounds by February 1st, but what if you only lose two? Most of us would get down on ourselves, thinking there’s something wrong with our metabolisms, willpower, scale, existence. Soon, we’d give up. But if you got rid of the added pressure of the date, you’d be free to focus on what you have accomplished versus what you haven’t. So instead of saying, “I was supposed to lose five pounds but I only lost two,” you could try, “I am in the process of losing five pounds. I’ve already lost two!” That feels better, doesn’t it? Less pressure, more positive. Suddenly that two pounds feels triumphant.

Go on, try it. It works for everything.

I am in the process of increasing my grades. I am in the process of finding the courage to call you. I am in the process of writing a masterpiece. I am in the process of never making resolutions again.

The word “process” reminds me that meaningful change takes time. And that I should expect some bumps along the way. Sometimes I will get lost, other times I will need a rest stop. But I’ll keep moving forward. Chances are I’ll be late. So if you need to move on without me, I understand. Just know that I’ll get there eventually. Quietly. Confidently. Hopefully before 2015.

TTYW,

Lisi

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I hope you liked the pictures I Tweeted. Those are the only (appropriate) ones I had on my phone. The rest will trickle in as everyone uploads their cameras so I will share more as they come.

While I was away Office Elf Alisha did an ah-mazing job keeping things moving. Thank you for Blah-gging and for posting the cover of PRETENDERS. What do you think of the official name? After considering thousands, PRETENDERS was the clear winner. And it only took 11 months. (Gulp). More proof that writing is a “process.”

Developing, drafting, redrafting, deleting, loving, hating, loving again, editing… you really have to adore the ACT of writing because that’s what this is really about. The ACT. Once the piece is complete you are no longer writing it. It’s done. You have birthed the baby and the rush is gone.

Do you love your baby? Too bad. It doesn’t belong to you anymore. It belongs to the reader now. She may love it, she may hate it. She may think it’s meh. The only part of it that was yours and yours alone was the process. This applies to all artists, not just writers. It takes a lot of patience and passion to succeed because as every artist knows there are hundreds of no’s for every yes.

Don’t believe me? Look at these early versions of the book cover.

While they are no where close to being as fab as the final we never would have ended up here without them. So here’s to all of our rejects. Thank you for sucking. Without you the winners wouldn’t be possible.

Happy Thursday!

TTYW,

Lisi

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