The Journey to Magnificence: Week Eighteen

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Welcome to The Journey to Magnificence! This is week eighteen: June 10-16, 2018.

This week I got diverted from pre-set goals on a path that I think is going to bring a lot of good things.

Medium, the platform for anyone to write on.

I’ve started writing there, and so far I’m seeing really good results for only having written five unlocked posts.

In any case, this week is a lesson in following some rabbit trails that happen to pay off!

week eighteen road

What I Said I’d Do

Actually finish Simple Pin Master Course (since the FAST course took precedence for my call with Demir)
Schedule time to watch at least 2 of the remaining videos I have to watch from Mindset University (it’s been a while since I’ve watched those videos!)
Be intentional with my time tracking
Write out my quarterly goals for July – September
Finish scanning my hand-written notes into Evernote

What I Actually Worked On

Wrote short weekday posts on Medium
Decided to start sending out a second weekly email (not an RSS update on new posts, but an actual campaign with other updates including the links to Medium articles, AND a weekly recommendation from Amazon). The first email will go out on Thursday at 8 AM in your time zone, so be sure to sign up for the Inspired List!
I FINISHED SIMPLE PIN MASTER COURSE!
Watched 2 more Mindset University videos – this is so much faster at 2x speed!
Finished scanning hand-written notes into Evernote (but have yet to tag or appropriately name them)
Tracked my time for a second week in a row!

Sunday, Day 120 – I Have a Shiny Goal

“Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

In a lot of stories, the bookish character is the one who can recite all the facts and figures (kind of like Hermione), but when faced with a situation in which he has to act – unless he has a dream and a vision – he can’t do a thing.

Your dreams and visions are what fuel your progress.

Without a goal, what are you working for?

What’s the point of your life?

While the journey is the most important part, we still need a vision of the future.

You can have all the facts, but you won’t get nearly as far as the person who has the big dream.

This afternoon I had my call with Demir Bentley of Lifehack Bootcamp. We worked through the things I want to get out of working with him in the course, and what my big juicy end prize is for making money with this blog – or some other form of side income.

That’s a trip to Scotland in 2 years, and Demir set me the challenge to make that money, $5000, in three months.

EEP.

That means, if I actually hit this goal, by September 10th I’ll have fully funded a trip to Scotland that’s two years down the road.

If that doesn’t inspire me, I don’t know what does!

Of course, this terrifies me.

It means I’m going to have to change some of what I’m doing and shift some focus to income generation.

At the moment, I have no idea what that’s going to be.

Thankfully, I’ll be having a strategy call with one of Demir’s team in a couple weeks, so in the meantime, I’ll brainstorm ideas.

I had a big win tonight in the form of batching image creation for the next twelve weeks of Journey posts! That’s a big relief, but I’ve still got work to do on the Thursday posts as well.

Day 8 of Time Tracking, Complete!

Monday, Day 121 – Challenge to Self: Weekday Posts on Medium

“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.” Ferdinand Foch

Have you ever felt like you just couldn’t contain your appreciation or passion for something? Like it just ignited your soul and made you speak out for what you believe in?

Standing up for what we believe in is one of the most powerful things we can do.

Malala Yousafzai is a major advocate for standing up for what we believe in.

Her story is incredible – at age fifteen, she was targeted and shot in the head by the Taliban – all because she spoke up for the rights of girls to get an education.

She survived.

She prospered.

And she empowers.

Her soul is on fire for girls all over the world.

What’s your soul on fire for?

I watched a webinar today on how to increase income from Medium.

The host had some pretty easy, pretty powerful suggestions that I’ve basically immediately implemented. I followed a bunch of people on Medium (and a few followed me back almost immediately), and I wrote a short, 300-word article. The challenge to myself is to follow up to 150 people daily on Medium (the cap for new follows) and post a short, 300-word piece every weekday.

The webinar guy suggested keeping locked stories (posts on Medium that are eligible to make money through their partner program) for Saturdays.

I don’t want these two platforms to be separate, but I haven’t figured out how to make sure my content isn’t isolated on one or the other (one being Inspired Forward, the other being Medium).

You know, this webinar came at a really convenient time – right after I set a goal to make $5000 in three months, here I am starting to build an audience and following on a platform that pays you to write.

While I’m not positive this will be my main thing – I’m thinking it’s definitely going to help!

Day 9 of Time Tracking, Complete!

Tuesday, Day 122 – Fear is a Liar

“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” Malala Yousafzai

Malala’s voice became even more powerful after she was shot.

She continued to speak out.

She continued to stand up for women getting an education.

What do we stand up for?

What do we talk about that’s powerful when the world is silent?

That’s how the #metoo movement was born.

One voice became thousands of voices when the world was silent about an issue that had been covered up for basically the entire history of the industry.

Are you going to be a powerful voice today?

I definitely did not stick to my time budget today. Stuff got thrown all over the place, and there were periods where I felt very little motivation.

I did, however, watch a live Facebook video of Demir Bentley in the Focus & Control Time Mastery group, on 4 mindsets that kill productivity. I went in thinking I might know most of them, but Demir threw down so much knowledge and higher truths that I’m so glad I watched it live.

Demir rocks, Y’all.

For real.

Well, day two of posting a short piece on Medium is done! This one is on fear. My story from yesterday got a grand total of one clap, but as it’s not a locked story it doesn’t make me any money.

Still, a clap’s a clap’s a clap!

Doing a short piece a day for Medium will challenge me – I already know that. But I’m hoping it will challenge me in a good way – in a way that I can capitalize on later.

Day 10 of Time Tracking, Complete!

Wednesday, Day 123 – An EXTREMELY Productive Day

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” Rudyard Kipling

If you think about it, a lot of people will believe anything they read or hear.

Isn’t that heady?

The most powerful drug is simply human communication. Speech. Writing.

Words inspired the crowd at Martin Luther King, Junior’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Words inspired every person who grew up reading Harry Potter.

It doesn’t matter if they’re flowing from speakers or across your screen or on the page in the book in your hands – words are what brings the world together.

I got a lot done today.

Or, at least, it felt like it.

I think that’s what happens when I feel incredibly productive and energetic enough that I don’t get distracted by the shinies all over the place.

And by “shinies” I’m talking about my phone.

Which I’m addicted to.

Most of this productive time was spent at work teaching co-workers how to use Smartsheet and then figuring out how to combine audio and video recordings into one file.

I got into a flow while doing this, which means it’s something I enjoy doing!

Day 11 of Time Tracking, Complete!

Thursday, Day 124 – Lunch With the Coolest Dad

“The single most powerful thing I can be is to be myself.” Dwayne Johnson

There is no one else like me on earth.

That’s a fact.

DNA says that there is not, has not been, and can never be a perfect clone of me, my upbringing, and my experiences.

So why should I try to be someone else?

Why should I try to be like people whose lives are curated on social media?

Why is it that we say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?

In some cases, it makes sense, but when it comes to changing our personalities, or hairstyles, or appearances to match some celebrity – it’s all nonsense.

Be you.

Be beautifully, authentically, honestly YOU.

And I’ll do the same for me.

Every month or so, my dad and I get lunch together and talk about family, recent travels, stuff in the news, and our mutual weight loss. I consider it time well spent, not only because it strengthens my relationship with my pretty cool dad, but also because it gets him out of the office and I get to hear all his funny ideas.

I decided this afternoon that I’m finally going to start sending out a second weekly email to my subscribers. This one will give quick links to all of the previous week’s Medium posts, as well as updates and questions I might have for you guys.

I love hearing from you, by the way!

Day 12 of Time Tracking, Complete!

Friday, Day 125 – Feeling Prepared is a Relief

“Truth is powerful and it prevails.” Sojourner Truth

Truth always outs.

Keeping things secret is a recipe for disaster, most of the time.

Important things that we lie about will eventually come around to bite us in the ass.

I strive every day to be honest in my work and own up if I don’t understand something or don’t think I can do something – being honest, not self-invalidating.

I honestly don’t think I’m that great of a liar anyways – any time I think about possibly lying, in the moment the truth just spills out like it was pre-programmed. I’d have to consciously & actively think about lying in the moment.

But lies are weak.

There’s a reason the Bible says, “The truth will set you free.”

Lies can have holes poked in them until the truth leaks out.

Lies are like flimsy balloons full of water, and the probing questions are the needles that puncture the balloon to let the water – the truth – flow out.

Nice visual, right?

Totally made that up on the spot.

I spent a decent chunk of today planning. There was planning for work tasks & travel, planning for blog posts & Medium stories through the end of August, and planning for fun stuff.

At the moment, I actually feel like a weight has lifted off me. I know what I’m going to write about, at least through August, and I have time in the mornings and evenings to do it – and most of the weekends too!

As it happens, I’m still honing my weekly to-do list template in Evernote, and reconciling that with the time I have available in my time budget/tracker. Doing it like that keeps me realistic, and if I slack and just spend an hour reading Fanfiction or Medium articles, then I know where stuff can fit later.

Once again, I wish I’d found Demir & Carey Bentley years ago!

Day 13 of Time Tracking, Complete!

Saturday, Day 126 – The Day for All the Rest

“When I dare to be powerful – to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” Audre Lorde

Being afraid – scared – is the only way one can be courageous.

Courage is being scared – and doing it anyway.

Lorde is emphasizing the action over the fear – be powerful. Cling to what you believe in – what your vision is – and use that motivation to be courageous and forget the fear.

You can be afraid, but that fear is a liar. [What are you so afraid of? Medium post]

Do the scary shit anyway.

Today has been spent working through the to-do list I set at the beginning of the week in order to meet the stuff I said I’d do…and haven’t yet.

Primary on that list – finishing Simple Pin Master Course!! I’m a little sad that Kate Ahl opted to close the course to new students and stop updating it, but it’s still full of great information that I’ll have to digest for a while.

I’ve learned more about Google Analytics with her course than I have just by poking around GA.

In other news, the husband and I are meeting up with both sets of parents and my grandma tonight for a Father’s Day dinner.

In thinking of fathers, I just want to shout out that my own pops is a pretty fantastic dude, and I love spending time with him, especially during ski trips and random workday lunches.

Other than that, I’m very excited about my progress this week on Medium.

Following 150 people a day is netting me followers back, and all of my locked posts so far have received claps! That means money – though how much money is no guarantee. The clap system is a little weird, so we’ll see how that works out.

A blogger I stumbled across the other day wrote an income report for her blog – and her income report is way more realistic for someone my level than those thousands of dollars a month. She only brought in around $100! Seeing it as low as that gives me hope for my own journey, and I think I’ll do a post similar to that after my first month of real “income.”

I’m excited for what the future holds!

Day 14 of Time Tracking, Complete!

What’s Next?

Continue writing a short post on Medium every weekday, and a locked post on Saturday
Finish Module 1 in 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success
Finish Module 3 in Intentional Blog, and start/finish Module 4
Watch 2 more videos in Mindset University
Continue fine-tuning my time budget/tracker

week-eighteen-pinterst-v1

The Journey to Magnificence is a series of weekly summaries of my journey through courses and resources provided by or found through the Work at Home School, hosted and delivered by Caitlin Pyle.

If you missed a post or found this one first, the others can be found here:

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About the author

Colleen

Life coach, author, podcast host, cat mom, wife, Ravenclaw, and semi-compulsive hiker living in the Montana Rockies.