by Tish MacWebber | Dec 26, 2017 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
Hello Treasure Seekers! Here we are for another meeting where I think, then I write; so you can read, and maybe then you think too! Not too hard, I hope. It is good to think about things, but if you are Always Thinking…like I am, it can be exhausting. Want to know a secret? It is also exhilarating.
I am building a website. You know that if you follow this blog. I am writing a book. You know that also for the same reason. I have more than one book in me to write, and that is something that I am happy about. In the music world, there are one hit wonders. I want to be a best selling author, and that means I have to write more than one book. I don’t expect to hit it out of the park with my first book, but a girl can dream.
So what holds people back from taking the leap of faith into the exhilarating world of chasing your dreams and chasing their passion? I have been thinking about that a lot, lately. I have been dragging my feet about my website launch. I am struggling with the importance of it. I want to change it, but not too much. There needs to be a bit of familiarity to make people want to take the leap with me, and that requires a foundation built on trust. I am working hard to put myself out there so that when I make the leap, there is a landing pad to aim for. Since I am writing about this in the Treasure Seekers category, I need a map and a big letter X to the destination.
I have been working on this website in my mind for months. I know what I want to do, and now that NaNoWriMo is over, it is time for me to take action on it. I do have time this weekend, but me, really, building my own website? I never learned how to do anything like this before? What if nobody ever goes to it? What if nobody ever buys any books from my website? What if it fails?
The fear of the what ifs can be paralyzing. If you are too scared to try, then you have already failed. What is the alternative, then?
To take action. To stop thinking and start doing. I don’t always have all of the answers, but I have never been too afraid to ask questions. More importantly, the end result is worth asking questions for. I am working on all of this with an end goal in mind. Although like a resume, a website is never going to be sufficient to be left alone when it is done. Inevitably there will need to be changes and updates. If it is left the same for too long, it runs the risk of losing its zest. That is one of the reasons that I have decided to move this blog to my own website.
It is a risk. It is scary. It involves a fair bit of work, which I am not scared of, itself. I am more worried about getting stuck in the middle and not being ready to launch on New Year’s Day. That is the goal I have set for myself, and with that in mind, I have time, if I get working on it right away.
The other thing I see people sharing online is the fear of being seen as an imposter. I am an author. I am writing constantly, several times a week if not every day. I had to build up my stamina as a writer. I needed to test the waters (make a splash) with the blog to see if it was something that I would keep working on, instead of something I just wanted to play with and drop when I got bored. I am still writing here, so I passed the first test I gave myself. I pushed to learn new things. I am taking courses online. I am not spending a lot of money on this passion, yet. I will need to work on a business plan. That means I have to take another course (YAY! #HAPPYWRITING has a course for me to learn how to do this) and I need to take the next step. I need to research what I need to know about publishing options. In the middle of everything I have going on right now, I also have to write my book. Then I will literally switch gears and write another book. The second book will be going in a completely different direction. I have a concept already. It is another one I NEED to write. I am hoping to get the first two books out of my system so that I can prove that I can write a book, and start preparing to make the fantasy trilogy a reality, not just a dream.
When I publish my first book, and sell just one copy, I will no longer be working towards the passion of becoming an author. Of course, I want to sell more than one copy of my book. One is a good place to start. Then we will see what happens. Until that day comes, I will keep working on writing and building my website. If I am doing instead of thinking about what to do, it takes the fear and the imposter syndrome right out of the equation. That is something to work for. When I am a best selling author, and I believe that I will be one, I can start tackling other dreams. Chocolate diamonds are a part of that dream…
#TreasureSeekerTuesday
Treasure Seeker Tuesday: Photo by Tish MacWebber; Photo Edited by Noa Price
by Tish MacWebber | Dec 11, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
I am feeling a little stressed about getting my list of things done this weekend. I had Wednesday off, this past week, and I worked yesterday to make up the missed time. I usually have 2 days for a fun-filled weekend, and this week I was only able to work with one. Let’s review Friday and today, then.
Friday there was a potluck at work. I was up into the wee hours early Friday morning preparing for both the potluck at work and the TGIO (Thank Goodness It’s Over) NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month – November – An annual challenge.) So I made it through work, had a successful potluck, and rushed home to cut the cheese! I planned cheese and crackers for the party.
I was really surprised that one of my guests brought along a bottle of Writers Tears Irish Whiskey to try. I loved it. I will be buying some to put in my flask that friends brought me as a gift from Scotland. It is in a pink and purple and blue tartan holder. It is adorable, and a really good effort at matching the MacWebber Tartan I designed. 😉
The party was small, with only 2 guests. The other guest brought art supplies, and we all sampled the whiskey, listened to music (I introduced them to the Screaming Goats Christmas Album before going to my mixed tape list) and we got crafty.
I decided to make the characters of my book, the main 5 cats, for the sticky sticks. The end result of my artwork looks like this:
From left to right we have Dude, Lucy, Rascal, Missy, and Simba. These cats are the main characters in my book, From Where I Am Sitting A Collection of Cat Stories by Tish MacWebber. I am still writing it and will update when it is ready for publishing.
Yesterday I worked for 8 hours. Then I came home and worked on my #Momentum18 Challenge. I am getting things done, and other things are brewing in my mind. I had to creep the Facebook walls of my ideal customers, to find out what they are interested in, and to share it. Thankfully, most of them enjoy humour, sarcasm, and wit. I can keep working with that in mind, and know that they will laugh with me. 😀
Today I have spent at least another 8 hour day working on the social media platform. We ran out to the store for an hour, and have settled in for the night. I made a new Facebook Live video for my contest, and plan to film every evening this week. I have other projects on the go, but I am quite tired after a very busy and way too short weekend. What did you do this weekend?
#WeekendWarrior
by Tish MacWebber | Dec 8, 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 41
I have so much going on in the next 48 hours I was almost not sure what to write about. I figured it out, just now. I am both attending a potluck and hosting a 2 hour long party tomorrow. So I thought about it, and this week I am going to write about how to handle those situations.
I love a good potluck. I love food. Especially food that is not good for me, because that is what makes it so good, right? As a person that loves to eat, a potluck can be really dangerous.
How do I handle it?
First of all, I am going to only fill my plate once, unless there is so much that I need to visits to try all of the things. Inevitably I will get full. The goal is to be sensible, and comfortably full.
How am I going to manage that?
One trick is to not be ravenous when you show up at a potluck (or at a party.) You can prep for this at home, if you are home before going to the event. It will be a little harder at work because I can not whip up something healthy and filling like a smoothie an hour before I go.
The second tip is to make something that you know is a healthy choice for you. I am bringing BigMac Salad. I know I love it so there will be something for me to eat. People at work are always looking to see what I am eating for lunch if it is not an ordinary looking meal. The salad is a meal that has had a lot of curious people asking about it, so I am bringing it for them to try tomorrow.
The third thing is to use common sense. You don’t have to eat ABSOLUTELY everything that is there. Be picky about what you put on your plate. If you have to try the brownie (I hope there are brownies) then just have a small one. If there are other salads, start there, and fill your plate with the healthy food first. My rule of try one of every colour of candy in the bag and walk away is not exactly the best rule for the potluck, but it does help me in other situations, to have a sample, not the whole bag.
I chose 7-9 pm with my Municipal Liason for NaNoWriMo for several reasons. I will need down time after work. I will need scramble time for final party preparations. I will need time to eat something for supper (I made that tonight, I will have leftovers tomorrow for supper, right after work). I also picked that time and made a plan as to what we will have for the party refreshments.
I took control of the party so that it is not a free for all with junk food and meals. Timing means snacks. I will provide some of them, and those will be decently healthy choices. I bought a box of clementines, and some cheese and crackers. Nothing extravagant, but a little better than ordinary. I got fancy cheese. It was on sale, and I will cut the cheese (LOL!) tomorrow when I get home from work.
With these few tips, I may go a little off track tomorrow, but I take comfort in the fact that I am planning ahead to make sensible choices. I will not need weeks to recover from going way off course, it will be nothing but a minor detour that I can easily find my way back from.
How do you handle the temptation to indulge too much when you are at a party or a potluck? Do you have any other tips or tricks that can be shared? If so, please feel free to comment below.
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Dec 5, 2017 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
Here we are again for another Treasure Seeker Tuesday. How are we this week? I have launched my December Beaded Snowflake Contest on Facebook with a live video.
Here is the link, I have it on my own, personal Facebook wall. It is where I am most active on my own and my author social platform.
Treasure Seeker Beaded Snowflake Contest Video
I have never shared a video on my Blog before…let’s cross our fingers that it works.
The information for the contest is in the written part, with links. It was fun. I like videos, they are usually short for me, and I just wing them. Usually.
In #Momentum18 #Week2 #Day4 the challenge was to write a blog post about the challenge. I think it is supposed to be about this current week, but my mind is still lingering on last week’s challenge.
What I learned about myself is nothing new. At least, not to me. I wanted to launch something for my blog. It was an idea I had, and I wanted to try something different. I have been thinking about it for almost 2 weeks now. Do you want to know what I learned?
I have to go back to the drawing board. You see, I am quite determined (stubborn) and I am not ready to give up on the idea of what I want to do. This idea, however good it sounded at the time, will have to wait.
I need to prepare to launch my own website. It was in limbo during November while I was writing :
Yes, that is the draft of a cover for my first book. There is a story behind the picture, of course, and it will be in the book. So that is something that I am working on, but have to put aside for the website building. (Thanks to my friend Noa Price for help with this cover picture and design advice).
This book was never even supposed to be written. I wasn’t going to do NaNoWriMo. I have learned that when an idea strikes, and it is a good idea, especially in terms of writing, that I should just write it. I am in the middle of writing the first draft of this book and will be continuing to write it after I launch the website. Unless my brain has other ideas that I am not currently aware of.
That is what is the most important thing to me right now, launching my website, not a checklist. I have been brainstorming and thinking about how to use a different theme to make it the same, but different, and to make it better than the WordPress website that hosts my Blog right now. I am not working it to my fullest potential, here, and I need to get out of the brainstorming process and put the ideas into action. Like that book I am writing. I can put it aside, for a month, and really spend every spare second into getting that website finished so I can have a place to promote and sell this book when it is ready.
I have to prioritize what I need to do first, or nothing will get done. I did work on writing the book in November. I prioritized that as my main project for November. In December, I need to make a beaded snowflake for the contest prize, maintain consistency on the blog, and get the website ready and launched.
When I launch the website, I will be gathering information on how to also launch a newsletter by Tish MacWebber. When that is ready, I will have a launch for that to get it up and running. I hope that the Treasure Seekers will all sign up. I expect it will be starting with a monthly publication, at least until I get the feel for what I want to do with it.
What are you working on in December? Do you like the book cover I designed with the help of my friend? Are you ready to move along with me to bigger and better things? I hope so because when I decide to get something done, nothing stands in my way.
#TreasureSeekerTuesday
Treasure Seeker Tuesday: Photo by Tish MacWebber; Photo Edited by Noa Price
by Tish MacWebber | Dec 1, 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 40
This week has been hard on me. I am writing a book, and I participated in NaNoWriMo to try to write 50,000 words in the month of November, with several hundred thousand people all around the world. I am currently waiting for the final validation as I write this. I am really anxious about it. I want to beat 25,000 words. Time will tell.
I have not finished the book, just like I have not finished my journey to become a healthier version of myself. It is going to take more work. I will have to spend time on the writing, editing and then work on publishing and sales.
In my journey to be a healthier version of myself, I have to work on my diet, my exercise, my self esteem, and being able to stop listening to the little voice in my head that talks me into doing destructive things, and to eat things that are not going to be the best option for my goals.
I know all of this. I know what to do. But being human means that sometimes I make the wrong choices. It is inevitable. So instead of focusing on what I did wrong this week, I am going to share what I did right.
I went to Zumba twice. Excellent. I didn’t overeat the wrong things when I chose to eat them. I didn’t panic today when my sugars were close to a low at lunchtime. I ate my lunch, and then I had 1 sucker just to make sure I would be OK. I avoided the panic of wanting to get chocolate, just in case.
I did alright, all things considered. My official word count is 25,223. I broke 25,000. That is a lot of writing. I am learning about my style, and how to get things going again. The same must be said for my struggles with my health. I went to Zumba twice this week, and my body responded better than previously to insulin. That is why I almost had a low. It shows that hard work pays off and that I can do it.
I have finished NaNoWriMo for this year. I do not know if I will do it again. I do know that I learned a lot about how I like to approach writing a book.
I have happily worn some of my new clothes this week. The new jeans fit like a glove. I don’t have to be losing weight to appreciate something that fits me well. I am going to need some more jeans soon, but these are a good fit for now. I haven’t worn all of the new clothes, yet, but I am liking what I bought so far.
I have 4 spaghetti squash to cook this weekend. I am supposed to share it, as my friend gives me some to turn onto something edible to share. Maybe now that I am done with NaNoWriMo, I can shift my focus to my healthy journey again. I am trying, and that is what I will keep working on until I am doing it again. It will happen. I just have to keep working on it.
#TrustYourGut
