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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Thursday Thought: Be So Good They Can't Ignore You



I love Steve Martin. When I say I loved his memoir Born Standing Up, I am not gushing randomly... I truly loved it. It's one of those books that still makes me smile when I run across it. It was a reading experience. Bonus: I listened to it on audio, and he read it, so it was even better hearing it from him.

So I was delighted to run across this post referring to the book, dissecting one of the points Steve (I call him Steve) made ("Be so good they can't ignore you"), and showing all of us how we can apply this principle in our lives. I thought I'd direct you to the post in case you'd like to read it.

This got me thinking further about what it means to be the best in your field-- whatever your field may be. And it solidified something I've been thinking about doing in the month of December. (And maybe January depending on how December goes.)

I've taken this month to devote intentional time to getting better at writing. That means actually reading the books I've bought on writing. It means taking an online class I've signed up for on food writing, as I've got an idea that would involve history and food and I need help to make that idea a reality. It means evaluating where I'm at in my writing and setting some goals for where I want to go. I'm at a good point to do that as I've just turned in the edits on my next novel and don't have to start the next one right this minute. (Though you can bet I'm still jotting down notes and allowing the elements of this story to emerge. This is my favorite part of writing a novel so I'm savoring it.)

As the year wraps up and another one begins, it's a perfect opportunity to set aside intentional time to get better at what you're doing, whatever that may be. If it's being a homemaker, maybe it's time that you'll read some books on cleaning, organizing, cooking, etc. If it's being a mom, maybe it's time to read that parenting book you bought but never got around to reading, or time to plan crafts or purchase board games or whatever it is that's been nagging at you to do with your kids. If it's being a better steward with your money, maybe it means finally creating that budget, learning to use coupons to save money, finding websites that teach you how to save/shop/menu plan. If it's being a better follower of Christ, maybe it's time to finally create that prayer journal, read that spiritual growth book, ask that person to hold you accountable, etc. Whatever you do, the point is to set aside the distractions that keep you from making the effort to become better.

I liked what Michael Hyatt had to say about this idea in this post.
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I used to sit around feeling sad or defeated because my house was not in the state that I wanted it to be, I finally realized that it was because -I- was not doing the things needed to get it that way.I am excited to use this thought process with my upcoming goals!! Thanks for this motivation!!