WEEK 10: DEVOUT TIME TO THE PROCESS OF DISCOVERING WHAT YOU LOVE

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Planning and Preparing: This week I wanted to continue by watching another series in the self publishing series. As always, I prepared in advance by uploading the page on my iPhone and laptop. In addition, I made a schedule in order to complete the tasks as it is better to stick to a schedule rather than waiting to be motivated to complete the task.

Implementation: this week I focused on the 2-minute rule, which states to focus just on the first two minutes of initiating a task rather than the whole task it self. Sometimes it can get overwhelming to think of finding time, making sure Meggo and Tae are ok, and then focusing for at least an hour on the video, but just focusing on turning on the laptop and having my notepad ready makes me start the process. 

Reflection: Some great learnings this week. First, was the lesson that you do not need huge blocks of time to create meaningful work. I felt that I would need a huge block of time to complete the tasks, but have learned in recent weeks that 10 minutes here or 16 minutes there can give you the time to create meaningful work. Although, it is great to be able to block out time to devout to the process of completing the task, you can still do a lot of things during your waiting times. This reinforces my idea to turn WAITING TIME into DEVELOPMENT TIME. For example, I was able to turn waiting for my car to be done into the process of what I would write this week and I am actually writing this post waiting to get my haircut. Even more, this connects to the idea from James Clear about he cumulative effect, which states that meaningful results are created from the collective work over a period of time. Think about that, imagine all the times you spend waiting and imagine using that time consistently to discovering and achieving some passion of yours?  

In addition this week, I had he pleasure of learning from Joanna Penn,http://www.thecreativepenn.com/. She is a NYT best selling author and voted by the guardian as one of the top 100 creative people in the UK. She worked first in the corporate world and then switched careers into her passion writing in her mid thirties. Joanna had a wealth of useful insights and I have listed them below:

• Do a lot of research and read a lot of books in the genre you want to write about.
• Devout yourself to the process of discovering what you love to do, as it will have huge dividends.
• Learn from those that have made money the way you want to make money, or learn from those that have done what you you want to do.
• The difference between Type 1 and Type 2 fun. Type 1 fun is fun strictly from the activity itself, for example, dancing to your favorite band at a live concert. Type 2 fun is something where you feel fulfillment after the achievement of the task. For example, writing a book.
• Your creative side = your inner child. Let them play to foster your creativity.
• Lastly, if you want to do something, then you will have to be the one to make it happen. No one else will do it for you. 

Learnings: Something that really resonated with me and validates what I am doing is the fact that Joanna said that we should all devout time to the PROCESS of discovering what we love. This is an example of Type 2 fun. Although it will not be fun everyday, the process and eventuality of finding what you love will be most rewarding once you have completed it. 

The other key learning was to learn from those who have accomplished what you want to do. This runs in line with what I have learned from other financial books, like the Richest Man in Babylon and Rich Dad, Poor Dad. If you want to learn how to grow your wealth, learn form those that have succeeded in growing and maintaing theirs. 

Week 9: Book in a Box

Planning and Preparation: In week I wanted to watch another video in the self publishing website. In order to do this I loaded the video on an open tab on my laptop and on my iPhone. This was key, as if I had wifi and some waiting time, I could watch some of the video during my waiting time. 

Implementation: I incorporated two things that James Clear, http://jamesclear.com/, wrote about creativity on his blog. First was to stick to a schedule, so I scheduled a specific time outside of waiting times in order to devote to my task. Second, I implemented the 2-minute rule. This rule states that instead of focusing on the the whole process of completing a task, only focus on the first two minutes of initiating the task. James wrote a quick and insightful read about this in PDF book about creativity. You can download it from the url that I inserted above. 

Reflection: This week I had the pleasure to learn from Zach Obront, http://bookinabox.com/, one of the co-founders of the Book In A Box (BIAB). He gave an outline of how his company helps individuals write their non-fiction books in half the time. It was quite informative, as it broke down step by step how to write a non-fiction book. Here is a basic outline of what I learned:

Step 1: Purpose and Audience

The first step is the ask three questions about why you are writing the book. First, what are your personal goals for writing the book? Second, what audience do you need to reach to accomplish this goal? Third, what book idea serves the purpose of answering the first two questions. 

It is vital to know the WHY you are writing the book, as this will help you outline your book and get it to the individuals that want it most. 

Step 2: Outline

A. Create a skeleton with chapters and their respective title.

B. For each chapter, create the major or sub points. Then the questions or prompts that lead you to explaining the main points. Lastly, any supporting points. 

Step 3: Structure the Intro

This step is by far one of the most important parts  of writing your book. 

A. nail the hook by saying something bold or telling a bold story. 

B. Pain/pleasure orientation: Tie the hook back to the premise of the book and explain the negatives of not following your advice vs the positives from the benefits gained if you did follow your advice. 

C. Identify what they will learn. 

Step 4: Structuring Interior Chapters

A. Each chapter will have a clear goal of what your teaching the reader. 

B. Clearly explain the steps needed to accomplish goal.

Step 5: Structuring the Conclusion

A. Recap the main points and learnings.

B. Have a call to arms or identify what they can now do after reading your book. 

C. Add some additional food for thought for the reader. 

Step 6: Record your Content

A. Record an actual conversation of you explaining each chapter to a friend.

Step 7: Translate your Recording

A. Transcribe your interviews. Use rev, https://www.rev.com/, to turn your recording into a physical document. Rev costs about 1$/minute. Can do this yourself, but worth the price if you can get it transcribed. 

Step 8: Hire an Editor

A. Find a great editor with good work experience. Some good sites are Upwork, https://www.upwork.com/, and Elance, https://www.elance.com/. 

B. Explain clearly to them that the job is neither ghost writing (where they have to come up with ideas) or editing (just grammar and flow). 

Step 9: Edit your Manuscript

A. Fist pass, just for content. Ask, what is the point I am trying to make? Is it clear? Is it simple as possible?

B. Second pass just for style. PRINTOUT AND READ IT OUT LOUD.

Learning: This week I was able to implement the idea of setting a clear schedule for completing my task, and it helped as it did not take any will power to decide if I should do it or not. We all start with a set amount of will power everyday, and setting a schedule to complete tasks of our choice in advance saves it for other important parts of our daily lives. 

In addition, I learned this week that difficult things always seem overwhelming at first, but become more manageable once you invest in researching about them. I am now in week 9 and honestly did not have a clear idea of how to put all my ideas into a book. After the work in the previous 8 weeks and the learnings from Zach, I have a better sense of how I can do this. The moral of the story is that things will always seem too big or complex, until we learn about them and break them into manageable parts. 

Feeling Great in Week 8

Planning and Preparing: This week I wanted to plan and prepare on Sunday before the week started. The task was to watch another module on the self-publishing site, so I uploaded it on my iphone and as a tab in my web browser on my laptop. 

Implementation: I was able to to watch the whole video on Wednesday when we had someone over to help watch over the little guy. Usually I would have run errands during this time, but I made a commitment to completing this task, and I did it. 

Reflection: This week I learned about the program Scrivener. It is a program to help writers organize ideas and compile there work to publish in a variety of formats. Scrivener, https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php, allows for easy transfer from word, maps out your progress on all parts of your writing project, and like I said before can be complied in a click of a button to export into multiple formats. 

Joseph Michael, http://www.josephmichael.net/, is the guru on using Scrivener to its maximum potential. He has made a business of helping others learn how to use Scrivener and this reinforced the idea that "you need to start with a problem to solve" first in being an entrepreneur. 

I also read a lot off of James' Clear site and learned some valuable information as well. I have listed them below as there were many:

-3 R's of habits are Remind, Routine, and Reward. These are the three main steps in creating new habits. Attach new baits to things that you already do to make them a part of your daily routine. Then reward yourself to create a positive association.

-Choose an identity, rather than an action to sustain new habits. For example, be a person committed to health, rather than "losing 20 lbs."

-Commit to a schedule not a deadline. It is much easier of setting a schedule to complete tasks that lead you to your goal. 

-Implement KEYSTONE habits, ones that make changes to multiple ares of your life, so that you don't get overwhelmed. For example, exercising daily can have benefits physically but also add to mental clarity. 

-Fall in love with boredom, with repetition and practice, with the process of completing tasks that lead you to your goals. This is a characteristic that separates really successful people form everyone else. 

Thanks for reading and will see you next week for entry #9.