Ooh, Shiny!

This morning, Patricia Patton said, For the entrepreneurially inclined, this paragraph caught my eye this morning: "As entrepreneurs and creatives making new things happen in the world, we feel that we constantly need to know more in order to do more and prove our credibility...... Reading more blog posts, clicking on every article that catches your eye on social media, investing in countless courses, watching Periscopes until the cows come home, and downloading every free opt-on e-book every made doesn't actually get you any closer to your goals and it doesn't provide you with new skills."

Up until now, I could certainly agree with Patricia as she recounts that in being an entrepreneur and creative feels like we constantly need to know more than we do to prove our credibility. It ends up feeling like procrastination. However, in 2016, I am going to stop ‘chasing every shiny new thing’ and put much of what I’ve learned so far into practice.

By taking a moment to step back and reflect on all that I have learned so far, I see that much of the ‘new’ information is starting to sound ‘redundant.’ That makes me think that my next objective involves ‘action’ rather than ‘accumulation.’ 

If you recall, my word for 2016 is ‘consistency.’ I plan to put what I’ve learned to use on a daily basis, and when I can honestly say that I have committed to a purpose, project, or program ‘consistently’ for 30, 60 or even 90 days, only then will I evaluate it before taking a step in another direction.

Even the farmer knows it takes time for the corn to grow. Plant it, seed it, water it, weed it. The process is not overnight. If our lives are based on the steps we take toward actions, activities and opportunities, these things take time to come to fruition. Give it a minute.

What did I do this year?

I drove to San Antonio, Texas and back.

I taught school a lot.

I joined a Goddess Group.

I went back to church.

But what I am most proud of is that I quit smoking and I quit gambling. Gambling was not like a Gambler’s Anonymous kind of problem, more like I was just doing it every day out of pure boredom. I haven’t found a worthwhile activity to replace it yet, so I just spend the hours on my computer. I decided it’s not any worse than watching TV, and I don’t watch TV. 

My next step is to find more productive activities, which is one of the reasons I am writing this blog post. I want to write more because I hear and see lots of great things to respond to, and I do. But more often than not, it is in my journal, not on my blog. Starting now, I’m going to change that.

I didn’t really make any resolutions last New Year’s Eve. First of all, I would rather make them on my birthday because that seems to be more relevant to my experience. What can I personally achieve this year? Learn Spanish? Blog? Generate passive income? Travel more?

New Year’s does seems like a good time to check-in though. It’s about three-quarters of the way to my birthday, motivating me to ‘get ‘er done’ before my year is over.

But if I was going to make a resolution for the New Year, it would be just one word, ‘consistency.’ I start things all the time. 

I started building a website 3 or 4 times. They’re out there, but I let them lapse.

I started an organization for folks over 55, but I haven’t had a meeting since November. I need to get back on that.

My son has motivated me to do a podcast, I do need to get on top of that.

I need an email list because I’m pretty sure my blog is not going to go to the ‘front page of Google.’ I really do need to work on that.

There are so many posts on the social media sites that basically say the same thing about goals and dreams in the New Year. How many times do you have to say them? Until everybody hears it, I guess. It’s like the gym, EVERYBODY shows up in the beginning, but if you wait a couple weeks, it all thins out and you get to see who stays in the game. Consistency.

So, for my birthday resolutions, I’m doing pretty well, at least with the learning Spanish and travelling part. For New Year’s, ‘consistency’ is going to help with the blogging and passive income part.

Come back often. Follow me, at least so we can check-in to see if that consistency thing is working.