Top Secret Tips for Success in Writing and Life

Hugh Howey recently shared an article about becoming a successful writer. By successful, I MEAN earning an income. By income, I MEAN a living wage that sustains me and my family.

He can speak with authority on this subject – from his sailboat, going around the world. Hugh Howey crafted a path to the top of the indie author industry (and the publishing industry as a whole).

The words and the ideas that he shared were not profound in their craftiness. They were not even new (because there is nothing new under the sun). They were yet another reminder that if I want to reach my dreams it is up to me.

Four Tips for Reaching Your Dreams

1. Work harder than anyone else. Coach Bear Bryant (from the University of Alabama) said “There’s a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success.” It takes work to craft possibility out of a dream. If I want to stand above the crowd then I have to do more than what the crowd is doing.

2. Read. Hugh Howey recommends reading outside your writing genre. Napoleon Hill said to always invest in learning. Both men challenge me to keep growing my mind and my imagination. The more I grow it up the more doors I will be in a position to open.

3. Build relationships. It has almost become a cliché to say it is all about relationships, but it is all about relationships. Zig Ziglar offers this challenge, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

4. Invest in planning. I have to have an idea of where I am going and why I am going if I am going to recognize when I arrive (or if I am headed in the wrong direction). It is attributed to Benjamin Franklin the idea that a man who fails to plan plans to fail. Planning is a map for a vision. It provides wisdom and guidance in the journey.

It would be nice for my fairy godmother to make her appearance and create the reality that I desire. Even if that occurred, unless I did something with that reality, I would soon slip back into the realm of “it is all just a dream.”
[tweetthis]The only way to my success is through my actions[/tweetthis]
If I want different, I have to create different. If I want possibilities, I have to take action. If I want to live in my BIG DREAM world, I have to pursue that dream until it happens.

Be blessed,