Becoming Yourself

Developing a Better You

Category: Personal Development (Page 13 of 56)

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Realize Your Dream with S.M.A.R.T. Goals (Part 2)

January 21, 2023 / / 0 Comments

I recently came across this post I originally published April 16, 2022. As January is a time for reflection and goal setting for many of us, I’m sharing it again in hopes that it helps you take another step toward Becoming Yourself.

A goal without a plan is only a dream.

Brian Tracy

In my last post, I told the story of my author dream and the goals I set to help it become a reality.

How can you set effective goals for your dream? Here are some helpful tips I learned from the Book Marketing Simplified podcast on making S.M.A.R.T. goals. A S.M.A.R.T. goal is:

Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Timely

Specific

Dreams are spacious and often vague. Goals are sharp and clear. Determine thoughtful, reasoned actions that will maximize your efforts and move you in the desired direction. The fact that my four writing goals were focused and sequential helped me stay on course and persevere.

Measurable 

Establish definable metrics so you know if you’ve reached your goal or not. One of my measurable goals was “Complete the rough draft of a full-length book” vs. the indefinable “Do some writing.” I knew I had met this goal when I wrote “The End.”

Achievable

While having a big dream is wonderful, having unrealistic goals is not. Smaller, realistic goals will give you observable progress and keep you motivated. One of my achievable goals was “Get any book deal” vs. “Get a huge advance plus a movie deal.”

Relevant

Make sure each goal is in direct service to your dream. Other good ideas or passions might pop up during this process. Set aside those that lead you off the path. You can revisit them later. I considered music goals while pursing my writing goals, but saying no to them helped me focus.

Timely

If your goals have no end date, you’re far less likely to achieve them. Having a deadline provides motivation. Even if you don’t meet it, a timeline helps you reevaluate and make revisions for the future. For me, this was giving myself twelve months to meet my first income goal.

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

So which dream are you ready to pursue? What are three S.M.A.R.T. goals you can make right now to help you realize that dream? Make them Specific. Make them Measurable. Make them Achievable. Make them Relevant. Make them Timely. If you do, your dream will be another step closer to reality, and you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself.

The Surprising Benefits of Silence

December 17, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Silence.

What adjectives come to mind when you read that word? Relaxing? Boring? Wonderful? Scary?

Silence is a surprisingly complex thing. It can be intimidating, yet it offers many benefits such as anxiety reduction, mental clarity, increased creativity, and a deeper connection to self. Intentional silence has been a regular practice of mine for many years, and has become a foundational part of my mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

Here’s what renowned author and Harvard professor Henri Nouwen wrote about silence:

At first silence might only frighten us. In silence we start hearing voices of darkness: our jealousy and anger, our resentment and desire for revenge, our lust and greed, and our pain over losses, abuses, and rejections. These voices are often noisy and boisterous. They may even deafen us. Our most spontaneous reaction is to run away from them and return to our entertainment.

But if we have the discipline to stay put and not let these dark voices intimidate us, they will gradually lose their strength and recede into the background, creating space for the softer, gentler voices of the light.

These voices speak of peace, kindness, gentleness, goodness, joy, hope, forgiveness, and most of all, love. They might at first seem small and insignificant, and we may have a hard time trusting them. However, they are very persistent and they will be stronger if we keep listening. They come from a very deep place and from very far. They have been speaking to us since before we were born, and they reveal to us that there is no darkness in the One who sent us into the world, only light. They are part of God’s voice calling us from all eternity: “My beloved child, my favorite one, my joy.”

henri nouwen

What is your relationship with silence? Do you yearn for it or run from it? Start small. Find a quiet place. Mute your phone. Find a calming view. Sit for three minutes. See what comes to your mind and how the experience affects your body. Experiment with longer sessions, with your eyes closed, with different locations, with repeating a focus word or phrase, or having a peaceful mental image. Use a mediation timer like the Calm app or, for those with a Christian spiritually bent, the One Minute Pause app. If you do, you’ll find the benefits quick in coming, and you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself.

Text excerpts taken from “You are the Beloved” by Henri J.M. Nouwen, © 2017 by The Henri Nouwen Legacy Trust. Published by Convergent Books. Excerpt published in Nov 24, 2022 daily meditation from The Henri Nouwen Society.

Pulling Back the Curtain: My First Author Interview

December 10, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I often learn the most when people simply share their story.

On my lifelong journey of personal development, I’ve read a lot of books, watched a lot of videos, and listened to a lot of lectures, debates, and podcasts. While I’ve learned much from experts opinions on various topics, I often find unexpected insights when someone just talks about their life.

With the publication of my debut book series with Penguin Random House approaching (May 2023 – you can learn about it here), I gave my first author interview to an excellent blogger named Angie Azur. She asked a wide range of questions that were both insightful and fun, touching on my background, what’s most important to me, how my author wife and I work together, writing advice, and much more.

So at the risk of being self-indulgent, for this post I offer you the opportunity to read the interview. Hopefully, you’ll find it not only entertaining, but it will provide insights into who I am that will make my future posts more helpful to you on your journey toward Becoming Yourself.

TO READ MY INTERVIEW, CLICK HERE.

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