OK, so I don’t want to get all woo on y’all, but since I wrote you last week about how shy I was feeling about putting myself front and center, the following things have happened to me:
- got nominated for the prestigious Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award
- booked a fun speaking gig for the Professional Photographers of America
- am being profiled for a feature in Carpinteria Magazine (a small town magazine with a BIG impact because of all the tourists and celebrities who come through here : )
- got an article I wrote accepted by The Good Men Project (1.8 million page views/month)
- looks like the musical I wrote has a *very* bright future – stay tuned!
Now…I am not saying that proximity equals causation.
Most of the things on the list above have been in the works for some time now.
But it’s amazing how they all hit on the same week my new site went public, isn’t it?
Here’s what I know for sure:
When You Do Things, Things Happen.
Sounds laughably simple, I know.
You take an action and there’s a ripple effect. You post a photo of your new jewelry design on Instagram and suddenly someone wants to buy 30 of them. You give a talk to a room of 12 people, and afterwards, three of them want to talk to you about working with you privately. You publish a little ebook and you get offered a monthly column in an important periodical.
You’ve seen this ripple effect a grillion times, right?
But what about when you DO NOT take action?
What about when you procrastinate?
When you dither?
When you let your fear and perfectionism hold you back?
Same thing:
When You Don’t Do Things, Things Happen.
But not good things.
When you don’t show your work, you get even more nervous about showing it.
When you don’t give a talk, you become the best-kept secret in town, and your revenue drops.
When you don’t publish your ebook, all the people that you could be helping are left stranded.
And the cumulative effect of breaking your promises to yourself over and over again causes your self-esteem to wither, and your self-confidence to plummet.
(The Shame Spiral….it would make a pretty hilarious ride at a theme park, don’t you think? Floating heads chanting, “you’re not good enough!” and “who do you think you are?” as you caroom down a slippery circling slide…deeper and deeper…and then maybe at the end you get spit out on to a therapist’s office couch….#heeheehee)
Anyway –
All this is to say that YOUR PROCRASTINATION IS HURTING YOU.
And it’s time for it to stop.
Spend 15 minutes *right now* on the project that matters most to you.
Need a Little Push? Get the Procrastination Domination Starter Kit
BEETS – photo by FOODISM360 on Unsplash
I think it was Jitterbug Perfume that gave me the idea that beets are sort of…magical.
And Ruth Reichl’s beet salad recipe in her FABULOUS cookbook, My Kitchen Year, sealed the deal.
It’s perfect for this time of year, but I’m also excited about making it in the summer, because it won’t wilt in the sunshine during pool parties. #alwaysthinkingahead
Borscht Salad (à la Fergus Henderson)
3 beets
1 green apple
1/2 small red cabbage
1 orange
1 small red onion (I didn’t have a red onion so I threw in some diced radishes – worked fine)
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp. olive oil
salt
pepper
sour cream (or goat cheese) (optional)
Peel the raw beets and grate them. You may want to use rubber gloves, or your hands will be a lovely shade of magenta for quite a while.
Peel and grate the apple and stir that into the beets.
Slice the cabbage as thinly as you can. Do the same with the red onion. Toss them with the beet/apple mixture.
Squeeze an orange and measure out 2 tbsp. of juice. Mix it with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil, then toss with the beets. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Spoon on to 6 plates and top each serving with a dollop of sour cream.
(One more note from me: Ruth says to “grate” the beets and apple, but I just cut them finely and it worked just fine.)
Hooray for beets!
Yours,
Sam.
P.S. BTW, you can still enroll in The Get It Done Workshop if you want to – go to www.MonsterGetItDone.com – just $42 gets you started. – S.
By the way, you look really great today.
The sky is orange and the air is heavy with smoke.
There is a brush fire burning in Ojai/Ventura – right now – about 20 miles from my home.
Houses burnt to the ground.
Habitats destroyed.
People and animals displaced.
Normally I wouldn’t try and email you in the middle of a crisis.
But we know that “crisis” contains both danger and opportunity.
So I thought we might take the opportunity of this moment to dwell on a deep truth:
Everything Is Temporary.
And it was ever thus.
Everything is always falling away from us as we circle toward something else.
Mostly we hope for things to fall away gently, not be gone in the whoosh of a sudden fireball.
But we don’t always get to pick.
Your emotions, your belongings, your body, your thoughts and fears – in time they will all pass away
Take a moment right now and imagine that it’s 100 years from now. If you were to return to this spot, what might you see?
Will there be any trace of you?
A book in a library somewhere?
A child with your name or likeness?
A piece of art displayed?
A scrap of music?
A few words of inspiration?
It’s nice to think that the work I do today could ripple through time and still be of consequence a century from now.
And if it were 10 years from now?
What of yours will survive the decade?
What about just one year from now?
What would you like to see in 12 months, as you gaze around the landscape of your life?
What will have been burned away? What will be new?
Will your dreams be still unrealized?
Or will you have created something that lasts?
I know that you are being called to create something that will still be having an impact 1 or 10 or 100 or 1000 years from now.
And I won’t accept any excuses.
You have wonderful ideas and a willing heart – all you need is some structure and support to create a workable plan.
Here’s a BRAND NEW offering:
You’re especially invited to join me for a live, highly interactive (via Zoom) workshop
Your Clear Year: 2018
Eliminate Confusion and Overwhelm and Create a Flexible, Do-Able Plan for 2018
Sat.Dec. 9
10am-1pm PT/1pm-4pm ET/6pm-9pm GMT/5am-8am + 1 day AEDT
Can’t be there live? Register anyway and get the recording – no worries.
Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Tuition Cheerfully Refunded.
NOTE: This is NOT your standard “goal-setting” workshop because, as I said, those annoy me.
“You rocked my mind set…you really get how our brain works!!! I was giving up on my dream of writing the 6 books I have titles for. I got my dream back today….Deep Thanks” – A.W.
I have devised a NEW, unusual, and highly-participatory creative process designed to get you to:
-
- Dream a Bigger Dream (because it’s never too late for your sweet dreams to come true)
- Discern Your Right Path (even if you’re not sure right now what your “goal” should be)
- Declare Your Deep Truth (because it’s time to stand up for your creative wisdom)
- Determine Your Do-Able Daily Steps(I’m a practical girl – this isn’t just about your vision, it’s about making your vision WORK in your actual life)
This is a live, interactive online event. You will need a good internet connection and an open mind.
If you’d like some clarity on what 2018 is going to be about for you AND how to get there, please register now.
Because the reminder that everything is temporary is also the reminder to take action now.
There is no better time than now.
Now is the only time there is.
P.S. In the past few years, I’ve had major surgery, written a few wildly successful books, lived with depression and anxiety, grown my business into the mid-six figures, and still found time to walk on the beach. I know something about how to be productive, even when life is getting in the way. Join me for this all-new live interactive video workshop – in which you will actually be DOING stuff (not just taking notes : ) and let’s have 2018 be the year that makes a difference, OK? – S.
P.P.S. Your Clear Year: 2018 also includes a full year of membership in the 365 Club, featuring a monthly “Ask Sam Anything” call, daily inspirational emails, a private FB page and access to the Library. So this isn’t just a one-off quickie – you’ll get a FULL YEAR of support from me and the team. – S.
P.P.P.S. If you are interested in helping, United Way of Ventura County is accepting donations via text by sending UWVC to 41444, online at www.vcunitedway.org, or by calling 805-485-6288. Also the Humane Society of Ventura County has taken in over 120 refugee animals, and I’m sure they would also welcome any assistance you can give. http://www.hsvc.org/. Thank you. – S.
By The Way, You Look Really Great Today
