Monday Spark: Are you paying attention to the wrong fears?

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fear of failureThis could be a huge aha moment for you…so keep reading, and then watch the video at the end.

During the video author Karen Thompson Walker talks about fear, and how our fears are often expressed in the form of stories in our minds. If you are scared of earthquakes, you see a short story, or movie clip of that fear in your mind – the shaking, things falling off shelves, buildings falling, people being trapped and crushed.

She then talks about the decisions made by a group of sailors back in 1820. Their ship, the Essex, was sunk by a whale and the crew ended up in the lifeboats, over a thousand miles from the nearest land.

They didn’t aim for the nearest island, because they had heard there were cannibals there. They took a route that was almost twice as long, during which they knew they would probably run out of water and food.

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Monday Spark: Make yourself accountable to someone you would hate to disappoint.

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sign of accountabilityWe have dreams. We make ourselves promises. We make resolutions.

And…all too often, absolutely nothing happens or changes.

When nothing changes, we are quick to find excuses. We find a way to make other people or circumstances the cause of our failure to take action and move forward. If all else fails, we can simply say something wooly like, “The time wasn’t right. Maybe next year.”

It’s easy to get away with this kind of non-action, because we keep our plans and promises to ourselves. In fact, if we hard work on it, we can even persuade ourselves that we didn’t really promise ourselves to do anything at all. (As humans we’ll go to almost any lengths to protect our self-esteem.)

One step forward is to make yourself accountable by letting other people know what you plan to change or achieve. In fact, there are whole websites devoted to sharing your goals with other people. At this time of year, people also share their resolutions on social media sites like Facebook.

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Monday Spark: Don’t have time to network in person? I bet you do.

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hand grinder networkingOne of my Christmas gifts this year was a hand coffee grinder. This is a great little device for grinding coffee beans by hand.

Why bother when I have an electric grinder? Because from time to time I like to actually pay attention when I make coffee. Instead of being a process that is automated and rushed, making coffee becomes something I focus on, pay attention to, and enjoy. I can feel the beans being crushed as I turn the handle. The experience becomes real and physical…something I am doing, rather than something I get done by a machine.

Anyway, I posted a photo of my coffee grinder on my coffee site, and within minutes someone left a comment.

Here is what he wrote:

“Very nice article but I must say manual coffee grinding is a thing of the past. With all these improvements in technology everything is going automated. Burr coffee grinders are in and manual coffee grinders are out!”

Someone else wrote:

“Nice idea, but I don’t have time for that.”

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Freelancers: Repeat after me, “I am a Rolex”.

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rolex perceived valueIn a fair world, every freelancer would be paid what they actually deserve. But, of course, it isn’t a fair world. So you have to do something to make sure you get paid at least what you truly deserve, and preferably more.

As an example, I spoke with two different coaching clients a few weeks ago, both of whom had just picked up projects to create a monthly e-newsletter for a client. One was charging $200 per issue, the other was charging $2,000.

Was the second guy ten times better than the first? Not at all.

The difference was that the second freelancer genuinely felt his work was worth $2,000. So that’s what he estimated, and that’s what he got.

The value of your work has less than you think to do with its real value, and more to do with its perceived value. That perception resides both in your own mind and in your client’s mind.

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Monday Spark: How to avoid chronic pain as a writer [VIDEO]

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freelancer with back painSitting at a desk for 8 hours a day is not very good for your health. In particular, it’s bad for your spine.

For years I used to suffer from back pain. Just too many hours sitting in front of a keyboard.

I tried a few things. Not pills, because I avoid those like the plague. But I went to a chiropractor, I tried scheduling times during the day when I would get up and do some walking around and stretching, and I even tried setting up my computer so I could work standing up.

There was nothing wrong with any of those approaches, but the solution that really worked for me was to throw away my regular chair and use a kneeling chair instead. Not every office supply store carries them, but some do. Failing that, you can find one online.

To go a step further, watch the video below. It contains some interesting information and some tips on strengthening your lower back.

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Why writing great headlines is like creating a soap opera.

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writing great headlinesOne of the things you’ll notice about soap operas is how hard the writers work to let you know that the best part is yet to come.

For example, just before each commercial break the drama is built to a point of peak suspense…so you just have to sit through the commercials to find out what happens next.

The same devices are used at the end of each episode to make sure you tune in again next time. Will she run off with the pool cleaner? Did he survive the plunge off the cliff? Will she be found guilty and sent to jail? And so on.

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