Category: Motivation

Life, Motivation, personal growth, Positivity, Success

Live Your Best Life

katjorgensen

Are you living your best life? It’s hard to do in pandemic times. But I hope you are really seriously thinking about your future and all that you want to accomplish. We get one life. We should be filling our days with things to make us feel good about ourselves and our accomplishments.

This year I started out with one novel and one book that needed to be edited. Since then I have written two full novels and a novella that is half the length of the full length books. I’m hoping to squeeze a good chunk of writing the next book into the remaining months of this year. When 2020 ends, my goal is to have 5 books published. With more on the way in 2021.

For the first time in a long time, I feel like I am living my best working life. If we weren’t in the midst of a pandemic that might also extend to my personal life as well. But for now, I need to be content that I am doing well with my work life. I am fulfilled and I am totally satisfied. I feel like I am finally putting my talents to good use.

So are you living your best life? Why or why not?

It all starts with a vision. What is the one thing you want to accomplish with your time? To be married? To find love? To have a family? To find freedom to live your best life unencumbered? To play an instrument? To make an impact on someone else’s life? To learn a new skill? To travel? To learn a new language? To take better care of yourself? To exercise? To help others?

Figure out what you want. That’s the first thing to do.

Once you have your priority figured out, then you need to think of ways of getting to your goal. Start brainstorming and writing your ideas down. Don’t initially discount anything. You might surprise yourself.

Narrow your list of possibilities down until you have made yourself a roadmap to achieving your goal. Then put those steps in order.

Soon you will find yourself well on your way to achieving your dreams and living your best life. One step at a time.

I’d love to hear about what you want to accomplish. 2021 will be here before we know it. It’s already autumn and winter will be coming soon. Just a few more months left in 2020. Figure out your goals now. Make your plans and then implement them. By the time 2021 rolls around you will be well on your way to success.

I’m cheering you on.

Kat

Life, Motivation, personal growth, Positivity, Success, Writer, writer's block, Writer's LIfe, Writing

Writer’s Block

katjorgensen

How many of us have sat in front of a blank sheet of paper? How many of us can identify with crumpled up pieces of paper? How many of us have suffered from writer’s block?

I have. I went through years of writer’s block. I tried and tried to get words down on the page. For the most part unsuccessfully. It was brutal. Ideas were in my head. Characters were talking to me. But there was a huge disconnect going on from my brain to the keyboard. Can any of you identify with that? I hope not, but I suspect I’m not alone in what I went through. Sad to say, but it happens to most writers at one time or another.

But I continued to try to write. There was a lot more crumpled and discarded paper going on.

Oh, I’d have brief moments of success where I’d start a new project and get maybe 50 or 75 pages into it before doubting myself and my abilities and putting it aside. The inability to write was painful. And frustrating.

It’s heartbreaking to have a passion for something and you just cannot sustain it. I had gotten to the point where I had almost resigned myself to the fact that I’d never write again.

Almost.

But before giving up, I decided to confront my demons once more. Could I beat this thing?

I’m happy to say I have.

So how did I do it?

First, I searched for a writing coach/mentor. Someone who would hold me accountable. Someone I’d pay for the service. I’d tried to do the whole accountability thing with friends, but I had no penalty factor in play. With a paid coach, if I wimped out, I’d lose money.

Second, I set goals. I know I harp on goal setting a lot. But if you set realistic goals for whatever you’re trying to accomplish and steps to reach those goals, it really does work.

Third, I paired with a dear writing friend and asked her for help and accountability too. And this time this did work for me. We do daily check-ins on what we actually get accomplished. We also review our monthly goals with a FaceTime meeting and assess how we did for the past month. And declare our goals for the coming month. This helps to keep me pushing forward.

Because my writer’s block was so strong and of such a lengthy duration, my final step was to work with a therapist to get to the root of my problem. My issue stemmed from the loss of my husband. Things are sometimes connected in ways we’d never think they could be.

And all of my efforts have paid off. I now write every day without fail. I’ve completed two full length mystery novels already this year. I have plotted out two more. And I have concrete ideas for several more books and series. My goal is by year end to have five books for sale. I’m well on my way.

My latest novel is the second book in The River City Mysteries, set in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia. Your Time is Up. It gives me great joy to see readers buying it and to hear from many who take the time to write to tell me how much they are enjoying it.

The first book in the series, Your Eight O’clock is Dead, is enjoying a new cover and new life as readers discover the story and the series all over again.

What’s stopping you today from pursuing your dreams? I suggest you sit with that for a bit and see if you can write down anything that comes to mind – no matter how far-fetched it might be. I know I discounted a lot of things that really were connected if I’d only taken the time to figure them out.

Do you set goals for yourself? Do you have someone with who you are accountable? Do you review your goals and revise them as needed to get where you want to go? Are your goals realistic? Unrealistic goals will sideline you quicker than anything. Are you prepared to do the hard work? Perseverance can take you far in writing and in life. Giving up or giving in gets you no where.

The key to your success is waiting for you. Pick it up. Figure things out. Get a plan. Implement your plan with concrete actions. Reach for your dreams each and every day. And never give up.

I wish each of you success and happiness in whatever you do.

Kat

Life, Motivation, personal growth, Positivity, Writing, Your Best Life

Stay Busy and Carry On

katjorgensen

Most of us are staying in place and practicing social distancing, washing our hands and not touching our faces. Working from home. Practicing new daily routines. But what else are you doing?

In times such as these it’s easy to let yourself be a target for fear and anxiety. None of us knows how long the pandemic will last, not even the experts. So what can you do to keep yourself positive?

First, I think this is an excellent opportunity to use our time wisely. Is there something you’d like to study or do that you simply haven’t had time to do before now? Or do you have a hobby you’ve been neglecting or one you’d like to take up? Go for it.

Or maybe you’d just love to have time to kick back and relax. Read more books. Garden. It’s spring in the Western Hemisphere and everything is starting to bloom. Now is a great time to get outside and work in your flower garden. Or maybe plant a food garden. Or take a walk. Spend quality time with your family if you are fortunate enough to be quarantined with them.

If you live alone, make sure you are staying in touch with others daily via social media, emails, and video chats. Loneliness can lead to depression and that’s something none of us needs to deal with on top of all of our other challenges right now.

As for me, I’m using this time to write. I’ve finished my second book in The River City Mysteries and have moved on to writing the third book in the series. I hope to have all of the books for sale sometime this summer.

I would really love to have you subscribe to both my blog and my writing newsletter. Newsletter signup can be found on this website’s home page. Right now, you have to go out of the website and sign back into katjorgenseauthor.com for the subscribe button to appear. I’m working on that. I will never share your email and you will hear from me about writing related things – new releases, contests, giveaways and inside scoops.

The Mona Lisa and I are both wearing our masks for the times when we do have to be out and about. I encourage you to do the same. Stay well, Stay safe. Be kind to one another. Think about a donation to a food bank to ensure those less fortunate have food. Or find other ways to donate to our first responders, healthcare workers, and those on the front line. We are all in this together.

Life, Motivation, Your Best Life

Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone

katjorgensen

Are you complacent? Are you living in a comfort zone where you aren’t stretching yourself to be the best that you can be?

Too often we get in a rut and accept where we are as where we need to be. But by doing that we don’t grow and we don’t push ourselves. Being comfortable is easy. To stretch forces us to grow, learn and be more than we are.

I really try to push my comfort boundaries. To try new things. Perhaps it’s just a new way of doing something familiar. Or perhaps it’s trying something totally unfamiliar. Whatever it is that I do, I usually am much better off for having tried it.

The first step of any new endeavor is tough. We might fail. We might make fools of ourselves. Or we might just succeed. And how great would that feel?

Get out of your comfort zone and reach for something new and exciting.

Life, Motivation, Your Best Life

Never a Failure; Always a Lesson

katjorgensen

We’re human.  We’re going to make mistakes. I have to admit it. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes and failed many times in my life.  In all areas of my life.  

But I know one thing.  I’ve always learned lessons from my mistakes. And those lessons have been invaluable in my life.  They’ve made me a better and stronger person.  I’m proud of who I am and what I’ve learned along the way.  Will I continue to make mistakes?  Sure, I will.  But hopefully, I will continue to learn as I go through life. 

When we learn from our mistakes, we do better the next time.  We only fail when we ignore things and continue to plod through life without learning and growing.  

Life lessons are some of the best lessons.  They may not feel like it at the time, but they are.  Don’t resist learning from your mistakes.  Don’t be too proud to learn either.  Embrace the mistakes in your life and determine how you could have approached things differently.   Live your best life.

Life, Motivation, Your Best Life

Enjoy the Child Within You

katjorgensen

Have you ever seen people who truly look older than their years? They seem to embody all things ancient. Their attitude has impacted how they look, feel and act.

I’ve seen some fifty and sixty somethings look and act far older than some eighty and ninety year olds.

They’ve forgotten how to tap into that playful spirit that lives within all of us. Life has turned into a number for them. A drudgery. They’ve lost their zest for living – and playing.

My father was in his fifties when a group of neighborhood children knocked on our door and asked my mother if my father could “come out to play.” You see, he was always able to tap into his inner childlike spirit. He enjoyed people of all ages. But the children were especially dear to him. He loved to entertain them with endless stories and inspired them to tap into their imaginations. He enjoyed teaching them things and helping them with problems. He never stopped learning and doing. And he never looked or acted old until his health got the better of him in his nineties.

I suggest that we all try to tap into our inner child and encourage him or her to come out and play and lighten our load. Show us how to play again, if we’ve forgotten. Get us to relieve some stress and enjoy our lives. Add balance to the daily work schedule and massive to do items that surround us.

Find a creative hobby that feeds your soul and makes you light up from the inside out. Blow bubbles. Take a walk in the woods or a park. Play with a child and see the world from their perspective. The ideas are only limited by your imagination.

Don’t act old before your time. Enjoy your life. And enjoy the child within you.

Life, Motivation, Writing, Your Best Life

Time For Change

katjorgensen

It’s a new month. Are you making important changes to your life yet in this new decade?

Or are you complacent? Content with your lot in life. I hope not.

Change can be scary. People like their routines. They are familiar. And comfortable. But we need to constantly push ourselves in new directions to be our best selves and to live fully.

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

This year I’m resurrecting my writing career. I put it on hold seven years ago when I lost my husband after a very brief illness. Life descended on me. Suddenly I was in charge of keeping everything going. Talk about pushing me out of my comfort zone. But I did what I needed to do, and I learned a lot. However, there was no time to write. Only to do. To stay afloat.

But now I’m ready to stretch myself again with my writing. Yes, it’s scary. I’m rusty. Really rusty. Technology has moved forward in those seven years and things which were once fairly familiar to me have changed drastically. It’s a learning curve to get back up to speed. New writing packages. New ways of reaching readers. New resources which weren’t available years ago. It can seem daunting at times. But it’s also exciting.

Don’t let your fears sideline you. You are capable of achieving your dreams and desires. But you have to be willing to try.

If these last seven years have taught me one thing it is the fact that none of us are guaranteed the next moment. Life changes in the blink of an eye, the sigh of a breath. Why live a life of less than you deserve or want? Decide what will push you out of the familiar and into uncharted waters. Take that first step. Then push yourself further. It all starts with a dream. And idea. A goal. You can do it.

I challenge you today to make a commitment to yourself to try something new or to pick up something you put aside and give it another go. Don’t be satisfied with where you are in life. Reach for your dreams.

Life, Motivation, Your Best Life

Resilience from a Survivor

katjorgensen

I’m a survivor. Over my life I’ve faced a lot of challenges. Loss of loved ones. Divorce. Disappointments. Serious illnesses, including both endometrial and breast cancer. I’m not saying any of this to garner sympathy. It simply is what it is. At any point it would have been very easy for me to give up. But I didn’t. I’m still standing. And I’m happy to say I’m resilient. And I want you to be too.

So what is the meaning of resilience? The dictionary defines resilience as someone who is able to recover or adjust to misfortune or change.

Life is full of challenges. Choosing a career. Meeting a life partner. Having a family. Children. Taking care of aging relatives. Relocations. Downsizing. Losing a job. Changing careers. Losing someone you love. The list is endless. So how do we weather the storms?

One way is self-care. We should all be practicing self-care. Healthy food. Proper exercise. Restorative sleep. Good hygiene. These are the cornerstones of good self-care. But what about in times of extreme challenge? That’s when you need to up your self-care game. Add in things to compensate for the stress your body is undergoing by whatever challenge or challenges you are currently facing.

Meditation. Massage. A manicure. A new hairstyle. Maybe some retail therapy. A good book and time set aside in your busy schedule to read and relax.

These are but a few extreme self care measures. I’ve used all of them and more. We need to give our bodies a break from the stress.

If money is a problem, what about a long walk in a beautiful setting? Or simply sitting outside and enjoying either a sunrise or a sunset.

Take up a new hobby. Something you’ve always wanted to try, but didn’t have the time to devote to it. Now is the time to make time.

Stress is a contributor to so many diseases – cancer, heart disease, diabetes. It can bring about insomnia, depression, anxiety, panic, or other nervous disorders. The list goes on and on. The Harvard Business Review states that 60-90% of all doctor visits are related in some way to stress. Without a break from the stress, your body can’t withstand the constant attacks. Something will give. You need to find ways of coping. And that’s where extreme self-care comes into play.

I urge you to have great self care now. And to figure out what measures you will take for your extreme self-care – before you find yourself in a situation where you need to put them into play. It’s always better to be be prepared.

I want you to be resilient.

Life, Motivation, Your Best Life

Dream Big

katjorgensen

I’m a huge proponent of Dreaming Big. Set your goals out there beyond your current reach. Stretch yourself. Challenge your abilities. Refuse to limit yourself. Don’t settle for average or less than your very best. You have it in you to go far. To reach what you may have once thought was unattainable.

Write down your five Big Dream goals for 2020. Post them somewhere prominent where you will see them frequently. Imagine how you will feel when you reach your goals. See yourself achieving your desires.

Now decide what small steps you need to take for each of your big goals. Steps which will move you once step closer on your journey to success.

Maybe that means taking a class. Or doing research. Or honing a particular skill. Whatever you decide to do produces forward momentum. Each tiny goal achieved results in a step closer to your big goal. Your Big Dream.

What are you waiting for? Seize the opportunity. Our days are finite. Our dreams are limitless. Why wait another moment? Take that first step today. I guarantee each succeeding step will be easier.

Dream Big. Take the challenge. You won’t regret it. And that’s how we should all live – without regrets.

Life, Motivation

If Not Now When?

katjorgensen

We are all busy people, That’s a given. I’m constantly trying to wring more time out of every 24 hour day. So far I haven’t succeeded.

Each of us has the same 24 hours every day to live our best life. What are you doing today to be your best?

Or are you sitting back waiting for tomorrow? You’ll try something new then. You’re far too busy to attempt a change today. I have a newsflash for you. Tomorrow never comes. Today is all we have. It is the present. When another day rolls around, it will be today. That elusive tomorrow will always stay one step ahead of us.

Stop waiting for tomorrow. Decide to take action today. Because if not now, when? Do you want to live your life on regrets and might have beens? I sure don’t.

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Formulate a plan. Then take the first step. It’s always the hardest. Then each new day, take another step and another. Before you know it, you will have made a new habit and you will start to see positive changes in your life.

Don’t be content with yesterday. Or hope for a different tomorrow. Act today. It’s all we have. Your best life is waiting for you.

If not now, when?