by Tish MacWebber | Feb 7, 2018 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
Last week I wrote about the book cover design quest I started, in Treasure Seeker Tuesday. This week I can say that I have continued the work and asking for opinions. Which are very helpful in making changes, and getting ready to make a final decision. It is my first book cover, for my first book. It is a big deal.
I have been pushing myself in a few areas since the new year started. I already achieved a personal goal at my workplace. I sent an email, and what I asked for was granted. If I review my list of things that I want to get accomplished in 2018 to make it a SUCCESS, I am making progress. I launched the website. I am continuing to work on it. I am keeping up with my blog, writing consistently three times a week. I am happier at work with the lateral position change. I really needed a change.
I am forgetting something. I do enjoy all of the things I am working on. Yes, I do love writing and telling stories. I love being able to listen to my music lists on Spotify while I am at work. I am pushing my limits and keeping the momentum going. I am forgetting to just stop doing what I have to do every once in a while and just doing something for fun.
I am scared to stop. When I cut myself some slack, I generally go off the rails, and maybe I don’t find my way back. If I stopped writing and working on the website, I might just do what I do and stop. With every intention to get back to it, and never finding the gumption or the time. That would be a real shame.
Writing and being creative are the things that keep me going, with the coffee and vitamins. I enjoy writing and getting comments about what I have written. I don’t want to stop. But in a way, I did, a little. I have put down the book I started writing.
I stopped in December, and have looked at it once. I am in the part of the year where I sometimes do nothing because of the guilt I have about not doing what I think needs to be done instead of what I want to do. So I do nothing. It is not a good place to be stuck in and it certainly isn’t a place I can just walk away from.
It is inside my head. I know I am hard on myself, but it is a part of what makes me tick. I am my own worst critic, and that is not an easy standard to live up to. I strive to be the best at what I do, and when I don’t succeed, I am really hard on myself. Every once in a while, I have a good cry, release the emotions, and I move on. It is also a part of my coping mechanism. In the last year, it has happened a handful of times. It is how I deal. I spring a leak, and then I patch it up until the next time it breaks.
I am working towards finding a balance, and a way to do all of the things that are productive for me to do. In all areas. I think I need to give myself a break. I have accomplished so much in 14 months. I know I am doing well. I know I am finding my way. It all comes down to perspective. And sometimes, a person needs to take a step away from what they are working on, take a break, and think about it in the back of their mind to gain a different perspective before moving forward again. Even me.
I have taken a break from writing my first book. But you know what? It isn’t going to write itself, and it needs my attention. I am so excited about using my imagination to write this book, and when I share a little, people genuinely react well to what I do share. I am going to scale back on the social media platform and the website just a bit, to make time to finish my book. I have to prioritize it and make the time. That is how I will get it finished. I just needed to give myself space to get a new perspective. It is time to get back to writing the book. Starting tomorrow. It is late, and I still have that day job that pays the bills…
#TreasureSeekerTuesday
by Tish MacWebber | Jan 24, 2018 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
Treasure Seeker Tuesday will cover a few different points this week, readers. I hope they make you think about things that you are struggling with in your own lives.
Today I do not feel very well. I either ate something that did not agree with me, or I picked up a virus at the hospital yesterday. I had to go for the ophthalmologist appointment. As a person with type 2 diabetes, side effects can be devastating, if you don’t keep on top of the disease. They dilated my pupils, and then they froze the eyes. That last part was so that the ophthalmologist can put a lens directly into my eyes so that she can quickly determine whether or not the next step is necessary. So far, I have been lucky. I do not need the common treatment called Photocoagulation which is a form of laser treatment, at this time. I am working hard on keeping my sugars in control, and that is keeping the lasers away. For now. You can learn more about this treatment here.
I am a creative, which means that I do rely on my eyesight. I am going to be getting progressive lenses as soon as we save up enough to afford them. I really notice a difference lately, and the general eye test at the appointment yesterday confirmed that I need to make this a priority. If I lost my eyesight, it would be devastating to me. I don’t know how I would continue my jewellery business, without it. I don’t know how I would be able to work outside of the home, but I do know that I would want a seeing eye dog. I am sure that I could find a way to continue writing verbally, with a voice recognition software program. But it would be a hard thing to learn how to deal with. I hope I never have to look going blind right in the eye.
I have also found that I am struggling with my winter blues this year. I was watching a video last night in one of the groups I am in, for writers. It is a supportive group, and there are a lot of great people there. I enjoyed the video and commented. It was about courage as a writer. People don’t realize it, but a lot of authors are terrified of sharing their work with the general population. There is a fear of rejection, negative criticism, and failure that brews together and holds some people back. This video was addressing this topic, and Debbie Burns is one of those brave people that put things out there, and the emotions do show that she cares deeply about helping other authors get their stories out. I write quite freely here, on the Blog, but there are times I have hesitated before pushing that publish button. On Politics and World Peace #This was an example of this. I didn’t know where to put that open letter to the leaders of the world after I wrote it. I hesitated. I asked for advice and was told that the Blog was the right place for it. So I pressed publish, and off it went!
Another example of this was my first ever Trust Your Gut story. I took the leap. I shared my own weight and medical description of being morbidly obese for the first time. I had a difficult time going public about being a type 2 diabetic, and I thought long and hard about sharing that information here. One person in my life has never been told, and unless someone tells her, she will remain in the dark about it. That is my wish. She is my grandmother, and has since stopped using her computer, and has trouble remembering things now. I didn’t want her to feel bad about giving me desserts as a child. I don’t want her to worry about me. I am doing just fine, and managing it the best way that I know how.
In terms of what I got out of watching the courage video yesterday, the word I chose to create changes in my world with was to simply just start. No further explanation was given at that time. I know that I have a lot to do, and I know that I need to start working on the things that I need to do; so that I am going to be able to feel like I can spend the time doing what I want to do. It is a vicious cycle that I fall into every winter, and I need to start something to make changes and feel like I am making progress. I decided that I need to make the “List of all Lists” and write down all of the things that I need to get done. As long as I am working on those things, I can give myself permission to be creative. This way I am not limiting my needs to be creative, and it also helps me to work on one or several other tasks that need to be done. I will write that list when I am feeling better.
If you are an author and want to learn more about Debbie Burns and her facebook group, you can sign up for it here. I like being a member, and maybe I will see you on the inside.
#TreasureSeekerTuesday
by Tish MacWebber | Jan 21, 2018 | Weekend Warrior, Weekend Warrior
Hello Weekend Warrior readers! This weekend was again your Thursday and Friday. Things will be getting back to normal for me soon, and I will be really glad for that. It has been a learning curve with training for the new position. Thankfully, I know a lot from my previous position, so it is not ALL new, but I am finding it drains my energy because it is still new to me.
This weekend I had a lot of goals and zero gumption. I think my seasonal depression is starting to kick in. I will be adding some more vitamin D asap. I live in Canada, and that is the one vitamin that came as a recommended one when I saw a specialist a while back. I do take multivitamins, but I think I might need a little boost. No, it is not an official diagnosis by a doctor, but it does seem to be a pattern that I have seen the last number of years. I just keep doing what I can.
The challenges help, when I get around to doing them. I feel like I am close to burning out, though, because I am just blah. I am still going through the motions, but I am capable of more. It is hard to just get the little things done, some days. When you combine the time of year, the new position at work, and the amount of things I have accomplished in the last 14 months working to build my Author platform, and writing books, keeping up with the blog, and trying new things all the time, eventually I was going to need some downtime. I think I am smack dab in the middle of my downtime season. Which is tough, because I have goals and deadlines. I have things to do that need to be done.
I am starting to wean off from all of the challenges I was doing. I need to focus on applying what I have already learned to my advantage. It is hard, though. I see the new ones starting up, and it would be so easy to lose myself in the challenges again. A part of me feels like I am going to be missing out on some important things. Another part of me is more sensibly saying to take a break. I can learn more after I have worked through all of the information I did learn already.
I did some volunteer work yesterday. I was unable to attend the event today, but I helped the Boston Terrier Rescue Canada team set up the booth for the event last night. I was only there an hour, and then I decided to get groceries. After that, it was time to pick up my husband after work and get ready to start my work week. The good news is that a friend is taking me to see Pitch Perfect 3 tomorrow night. I am really looking forward to that. My husband is not interested, so we are going to leave my car for him, and my friend and I will take his car to the movie. It is nice to have a night out on my Tuesday with a friend. Tomorrow. Your Sunday. I will be so glad when things are back to normal.
I am not holding my breath because things tend to change at work if you get used to them. If things go as they are looking, I will be back to my regular hours so that I can do the new job, and get back to Zumba very soon! I miss it, and I hope that it does work out. I am liking the fact that I can listen to my music at work again. It really helps me to stay positive. Music is my jam, people!
I had an underwhelming 2 days off. I did very little, and that means the weekend has its second win already this year! I plan to get that fixed asap. I need to feel like I am in control again.
by Tish MacWebber | Jan 17, 2018 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
Hello Treasure Seekers! I have news for you, and it is all good! I have finished the Jewellery Brand makeover Bootcamp, and I have had some wonderful new ideas come to mind.
I have been struggling to find a way to move my jewellery business here, to the website, in my online store, the Boutique (Coming soon!) Part of the reason was that I wasn’t sure how to remove my jewellery line from the store my friend offered space in. I was nervous to ask her about it because I didn’t want to have it be a reason for any hurt feelings. My friend was totally fine with my decision, and I think she was ready for me to make a change. I have been talking about adding it to the website store, and now I am closer to making that happen. I was happy that my friend is being supportive of me in this. I appreciated the time that my jewellery was for sale in her store, but as I have not had a large number of sales, I think we both knew it was time for me to try something different.
Next, I had to think about the Branding. I want it here, but there is so much time and thought spent already in my Author Branding. Tish’s Treasures just doesn’t seem to fit with the new website. I thought about different names, and combinations of names to make the launch of the online store fresh, and new. A part of me is sad to let go of the name Tish’s Treasures. Deep down, I knew that I was going to have to do this, though.
Before this Bootcamp, I never gave it any real thought, of how to do this. But I knew that it was what I wanted to do, despite experts telling me that it should be one or another, not both passions sharing the same website. I joined a thread within the Bootcamp, based on branding. I worked through my thoughts and ideas with one of the admins, who also tried to steer me away from my dream of making Bling | Blog | Books a real and effective tagline for my website.
During that brainstorming session, I hashed it all out in that thread. I couldn’t understand why someone else was telling me that my idea wasn’t going to work. But then, it dawned on me. I needed to make it work by changing the name and matching it to my website. When I asked about it from a different angle, the admin agreed that this idea could work. I figured it out.
I googled my idea. When Google asks you if you really meant something else, and you are looking for a unique name that is not currently in use, that is what you want to find. I had my answer.
I took my current logo for the website and changed a few letters. And just like that,
Tish MacWebber, Always Blinging…
became my new jewellery business name. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it. It seems RIGHT. When I get that feeling, I rarely make any further changes. It happens a lot. I am firm when I finally make up my mind, no matter how long it takes me to make that decision.
Tish MacWebber, Always Blinging… New Logo, new jewellery business name.
I am in the process of changing it where I can. Facebook was surprisingly fast with the update.
Now comes the best part. When I move the jewellery over, any existing jewellery will be listed under Basic Bling. I am also planning a new line for the new website. I am going to launch a new jewellery line with every book launch. Book Bling will have several Collections, one for every book I write. HOW EXCITING WILL THAT BE? I am beyond excited to see this happen. I am planning the first collection already. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but it will be unique and designed with cat lovers in mind.
It has been a creative and exhausting week. I also launched a new contest this morning to celebrate the new jewellery business name. I have another contest planned for February. I am going to try and have the store open for February. If not at the beginning, then before the end of the month. I am still sorting out the details of what to do next, but at least I have a clear direction, and a plan to get me there.
I have been trying to get this jewellery business to be successful for years under the Tish’s Treasures name. Now that I have made some tough decisions, and changed the name to Tish MacWebber, Always Blinging…
I have high hopes for new successes with this change.
#TreasureSeekerTuesday
by Tish MacWebber | Dec 29, 2017 | Trust Your Gut
The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name. If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story. The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors. I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.
This week I am pleased to share another of my own stories.
Here is Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 44
I have been doing okay with my food choices this week. Not perfect, but okay. I indulged in some chocolates and now they are gone. I bought chocolate ice cream, and haven’t gotten into it yet. When I did buy it, I looked really hard at the larger sized bucket, as it was less than a $2 cost difference between the one I ended up buying, and the larger one. I am fine with treats as long as they aren’t around all of the time. If they are, I make them disappear…and reappear in places like my chin! I want to learn to stop making the magic of this type from happening. It is a time for a new magic trick. And that different kind of chocolate that I have been craving. Diamonds, darling, I am setting my sights on chocolate diamonds.
I have mentioned this to my husband but I don’t know how seriously he took my comments. I am aiming for a time about six months from now. I am going to set a goal, and if I make it by my birthday, I am going to get a reward that I can happily show off to the world. What better incentive can I make? Well, I will be needing to add to my collection once I get it started. I would rather collect diamonds than pounds, so it is a great thing to work for.
I haven’t set the goal yet. I want to be realistic. So let’s do the math. Ugh. 6 months. The average healthy weight loss goals have always been 2 pounds a week. 6 months have 4 weeks each. Multiply that by 2 pounds a week and you get 48. I am going to round it up to 50. So the goal I am setting for myself is realistic. I am undergoing a change in my day job starting next week, and I will be missing my Zumba for a while. In the winter, but I have a plan. As I am ALWAYS THINKING…
I have decided that I am going to workout at home. I know a few of the Zumba moves by heart for some of the songs. I have a step here too, for exercise so I can mix it up. I may even start a third day of exercise a week. I want to say more than 3 days a week, but I am not going to push myself so hard that I just give up. That is not the way I want to approach this change in my schedule. I want to do what I can, on my own, and then when I do get back to Zumba, I will not be so far out of shape that I have to build myself up to where I am now in my fitness level. See, ALWAYS THINKING…
In the spring, I still want a dog. If it isn’t a chocolate lab, that is OK. I will love any dog we take home. A dog means I will have to take it for walks. Walks are good for me, but I do not want to go just because of me. If I have a dog, I will need to go, because the dog will be needing this to happen. More than once a day. I live in a trailer court, and it is well kept. It is a nice place to live, and lots of people have dogs here. I would have a regular route to walk a dog on twice a day, and I think that is a fantastic goal to work towards. I know, I have written about these things before, but I am still aiming for them.
What are your goals for living a healthier lifestyule in 2018?
#TrustYourGut
