Category Archives: Writing Musings

Musings from author Denise Turney on writing, including freelance, marketing, self-help, nonfiction and journal writing. Here you will find book marketing tips as well as advice on places where you can go to sharpen your craft and network with other writers, including novelists. You’ll also find places where you can network with readers, editors, publishers and literary agents.

Great Mother’s Day Gifts 4 Writer Moms

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happy mother's day card picture

By Books Writer Denise Turney

Globally, celebrating Mother’s Day dates back to the ancient Romans and ancient Greeks. In those days, festivals honored the goddesses Cybele and Rhea. Fast forward to more modern times. And it is Anna Jarvis who is credited with hosting the first American Mother’s Day celebration in May 1908. President Woodrow Wilson established the second Sunday in May as the official national Mother’s Day in 1914.

Honor Moms In Your Life

Mother’s Day is a time when people treat their mothers, grandmothers, wives, aunts and friends to a home cooked breakfast. Talk about homemade luxury, having a meal served to you while you’re relaxing in bed.

It’s also the day when family and friends visit restaurants and gift the moms in their lives with gorgeous bouquets, cards and creative gifts. For moms, it’s the chance to be surrounded by family and friends that makes this day sweet.

If you have a mother who invested her all into you, flowers and brunch at a popular restaurant may not feel like enough. After all, you want to shower your mom with as much love, warmth and appreciation as you can. You want her to know how much you appreciate her seemingly endless patience, physical presence, listening ear, comfort, love and ongoing support.

Great Gifts for Writer Moms

Who could blame you? Yours is a warm heart. Yet, there are so many Mother’s Day gift ads to wade through that picking out a gift could take more time than you’d like, especially if you’re buying gifts for writer moms. Here are great gifts that you could celebrate the writer moms in your life with:

  • Ceramic drinking mug with covers of books your mom authored. Forget buying the ceramic mug. Instead, take an arts class and create the ceramic Mother’s Day gift yourself.
  • Handmade Mother’s Day card. Fill the card with pictures of fun events that the writer moms in your life had a blast attending.
  • Bookstore gift card that’s tucked inside a bouquet of fresh flowers
  • Spa day gift certificate – But don’t just give writer moms spa day gift certificates for Mother’s Day. Gift them with certificates that allow them to get pampered from head-to-toe year-round.
  • Supply of organic home delivery meals – Writer moms working under a tight deadline may especially appreciate this Mother’s Day gift.
  • Airline ticket to the location in a writer mom’s favorite novel.
  • Year of decorative writing journals. You got it! Writer moms love to write so much that they may capture their dreams, creative ideas and more in a journal.
  • Sweet, gentle smelling bubble bath gift set. This one’s hard to beat, especially considering how relaxing a warm bubble bath is.

Mother’s Day Gifts Delight Writer Moms

Writers aren’t always the easiest people to buy gifts for. Fortunately, writers are creative who love artwork. That’s why they appreciate homemade gifts like journal covers, picture frames and silk floral arrangements that you make yourself.

Of course, writer moms enjoy spring fashions, lunch at a chic restaurant and an afternoon with family and friends. But, if you want to give writer moms gifts that they’ll remember for years, get creative. Also, days leading up to Mother’s Day, surprise writer moms with a phone call. Tell them you were thinking of them and just wanted to say “Hello!”

You can’t go wrong with that choice. After all, writer moms are really in tune with emotion. They work with emotions to create characters and stories you love to read. So, this Mother’s Day, gift writer moms with experiences and treats that cause them to feel wanted, appreciated and valued. This list is a wonderful start.

11 Book Reading Benefits

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By Book Author Denise Turney

book reading choices

Book reading benefits are hidden beneath so much great entertainment. You sink into these benefits at certain times. For instance, snowstorms, long vacations and relaxing weekends are times when it’s easy to tuck yourself inside the pages of a deeply moving book. It’s as if you don’t have good enough reason to talk yourself out of reading a book, especially a mind-blowing novel, while weather has you indoors or time itself, plays the role of a good friend.

Lasting Book Reading Benefits

But here’s the thing. Whether you read purely for entertainment or not, there are so many advantages to reading books. If you’re an avid book reader, you already know how much you gain. On the other hand, if you’re on the fence about buying and reading a new, entertaining or educational (e.g., history books, technical books) title, check out these 11 benefits associated with book reading. Some of these benefits might surprise you:

  1. Less Stress – Reading good books takes your mind off of challenges you’re facing in your life, experiences you want a break from. That’s why reading books is a great way to relax.
  2. Imagination – For sure, reading great novels is an effective way to stimulate your imagination. Who knows? Something might pop up in a book you’re reading that helps you find an answer to a question you’re seeking.
  3. Meet Awesome Characters – What’s better than meeting and exploring awesome fictional characters?
  4. Quicker Pick-Up – Reading a lot of books can definitely help you to grasp important facts.
  5. Encourages Young Readers – When your children, nieces and nephews see you reading books, it encourages them to read. Better yet, if you read to your kids, grandkids and nieces and nephews, you can help them build a love for reading.

Book Reading Keeps on Giving

  1. Learning – Also, you don’t have to read nonfiction to learn while you read. In fact, novels, especially historical novels, are rich with educational facts and information.
  2. Motivation – Sure, self-help books are packed with motivation. But there are biographies, autobiographies and novels that leave you feeling truly motivated.
  3. Sharper Concentration – Because you focus while reading a book, your ability to concentrate may improve.
  4. Brain Stimulation – Depending on the book type, you might stimulate both your right and left brain while reading, especially if you complete workbook exercises.
  5. Entertainment – Yes! This is it! Great entertainment, right at home is a top advantage of reading great books.
  6. Friends – Join a book club and you can make good friends. Also, a talented author creates characters that you root for, characters you love – characters who feel like good friends.

Go Deeper with Great Books

Who knows? Read three great books in a row and you might not go a month without reading at least one book. Give it a minute, and you might even become one of those cool train, bus or airplane passengers who’s reading an awesome novel on the way to and from work or during your commute to and from school.

Even more, should you be able to set clear reading boundaries (lucky you!), you might sleep better after you read a good book. But be warned. Putting a good book down is not easy.

Depending on the depth of the characters and the jams they find themselves in, you might keep telling yourself “just one more page”. Yep, that’s another thing about reading good books. You keep wanting to know what’s going to happen to your favorite characters. After all, these characters are about to change you.

Happy book reading!

Dealing With Major Life Changes – When You Can’t Go Back

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By Books Author Denise Turney

People outdoors on a street dealing with major life changes
People outdoors on street Wikimedia Commons, Picture by Moheen Reeyad

Major life changes can knock the wind out of you. They can break your heart. One way you might be dealing with big shifts is by creating a set schedule. For instance, you might have developed a schedule for when you wake, exercise, check emails and relax for the evening. You could even commute the same way.

But schedules can’t stop life from coming at you. That’s right. Living small or forcing yourself into predictable routines won’t save you from big shifts. They could even push you toward boredom which, in time, could develop into a gnawing depression.

Daily Routines Go Away

I learned this the hard way after years of sticking with a workable routine. What you think is predictable won’t save you, even if that predictability is rooted in religion. The first time I learned this was after my mom transitioned.

Then, I learned this when my dad moved, leaving us with our paternal grandparents for a year. And I definitely learned this after my son transitioned. Writing novels couldn’t save me then. I’m surprised that I even started writing on another novel.

Dealing with Major Life Changes

So, what to do? How can you effectively deal with major life changes, especially the types of changes that you can never turn back from?

For starters, acknowledge that you are dealing with a major life change. Discover the impact that the change could have on you. The Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory could be a good place to start.

Additionally, you might find it helpful to write about what happened (e.g., divorce, layoff, loved one transitioning). Even more, it might prove beneficial to talk with a trusted friend or professional about what you are going through.

Stay Motivated – Keep Going

And, referring to “going through”, encourage yourself that you will get through what you’re experiencing. Be honest about what you feel and experience.

Take breaks, especially when you feel yourself becoming imbalanced. Also, exercise, drink plenty of water and eat a healthy diet.

Pay attention to times when you feel tempted to eat or drink unhealthy. It could be a sign that you need to rest. It could be a sign that you need support.

Love yourself. Give yourself the positive help that you need.

More Ways to Deal with Major Life Changes

Getting outside for 40 or more consecutive minutes a day helped me tremendously while I was dealing with a job layoff during the Great Recession. Who knows? It might prove beneficial for you too.

Here are more way to deal with major life changes. Keep in mind, that honesty, patience and self-love are key components of each of the below actions:

  • Depending on the life change, you could write down benefits that derived from the change. For example, after I was laid off, I launched my freelance writing career. I also discovered more ways to connect my novels with appreciative book readers.
  • Take action to move into the next phase of your life. After all, you know that you can’t stay where you are. You don’t want to get stuck in a bad place.
  • Go on a social media and TV diet. Trying reading a good book instead.
  • Spend time with friends. For example, you could visit with one or more friends at least once a week. You could call a friend once a week.

Tips to Help You Shift

As hard as it may be to believe, getting through major life changes can teach you a lot about yourself. You can get through what you’re facing. Here are additional actions that you could take to effectively deal with major life changes:

  • Keep connecting with people who love you. As tempting as it might be, don’t isolate yourself.
  • Get enough sleep. But don’t oversleep.
  • Appreciate healthy (non-isolating) routines.
  • Avoid adding another major change into your life until you get through this change mentally, emotionally and physically.
  • Watch your finances. Don’t overspend. Money can’t help you avoid the stress that you want to run away from.
  • Try something different once a day or once a week. It could be something as small as driving a new route to work or trying a new salad when you visit a restaurant.

In this world, it’s impossible to avoid change. Regardless of what happens in your life, you’ll find great benefit in being patient with yourself. At the same time, sticking a few existing routines could help prevent you from feeling like the ground is shifting right beneath your feet.

But routines won’t save you from change. They can help reduce stress, but they won’t stop change. Keep moving in the right direction. Keep advancing. Surround yourself with loving people. Offer yourself as much support, peace and love that you can. Be like Mulukan in Long Walk Up and never, ever give up on YOU.

Shift Dream Vision – Brand New You Spring Motivation

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By Books Author Denise Turney

spring flowers motivational shifts
Spring Flowers Wikimedia Commons – Picture by AutoGyro

Spring approaches. And so, it’s time to shift forward and in ways that don’t involve Daylight Savings Time. It’s time to shift into a brand-new vision, gain liberating spring motivation. The shift might be just what you need to persevere until the roots to your dream start to push above the surface.

Don’t Quit Your Deep Dream

Here’s the thing. Belief that you can achieve your dream works like horsepower. It’s powerful, energizing. Yet, as powerful as the belief that you can achieve your dream is, it pales in comparison to the commanding influence the belief that you will achieve your dream possesses.

Not surprisingly, the start of a dream quest is an easy time to believe that you will accomplish a goal. In fact, it gets harder as you go, especially if you’ve been developing products, marketing your brand, hitting the road doing face-to-face interviews and knocking out copy writing projects Monday thru Saturday only to reap fatigue and little financial reward.

Let that continue for two years and you might toss in the towel. But what if you’re missing something? What if someone could help you see what you’re missing? This Spring, to shift from being a disillusioned dreamer to being a dream catcher, start building the right dream team. At the very least, don’t quit your deep dream.

Spring Motivation – Smart Dream Team Building

As a solo dreamer, despite your intentions, you will fatigue yourself at some point. Desire is not enough. You really can’t do it all yourself if you plan to scale big. Hence, you need a smart team.

Think about it, successful midsize and large companies have smart teams. The right board ensures that every action you take brings you closer to fulfilling your dream. A good board also keeps you from falling prey to tunnel vision. And the right board fuels you with motivation, a critical ingredient you need to persevere.

Also, the right board pushes back when you veer off course. Members of the board may help you to build your sales, marketing, accounting and communications teams. Because you’re in business (even if you’re an artist working to sale books), draft up and sign ironclad contracts. Partnering with freelancers is another option.

Persevere To Spring Away Pipe Dream

Above all, persevere if you want to fulfill your dream. After all, you may have to change board members and other members of your dream team along the way. That alone could shake you. So, commit that you’ll persevere through highs and lows, as you’ll certainly see your share of both.

This Spring, to shift and persevere, remember why you got started. For example, did you receive inner guidance to pursue a specific dream? Did you take hold of your dream and start taking smart actions to see it fulfilled because you wanted to help fill a perceived gap in healthcare, education, law, a community? If so, does the need persist?

Stay Open To Change And Persevere

Consider this. People may be waiting for to fulfill your dream. Once you reach the next step in your dream, you may be guided to level up from there. So, you have to persevere. Who knows how many lives the fulfillment of your dream will impact.

So, surround yourself with the right dream team, nurture your dream and keep going. Also, review your finances from top to bottom. Don’t talk yourself out of looking at financial records, including your personal finances. And don’t hand this responsibility off to anyone else. Make cuts, additions and shifts as needed. This will certainly not be a one and done activity.

Review marketing and advertising costs and return on investment. Keep learning to stay abreast of industry, product, service and marketing and advertising changes. As simple as it may sound, invest time in self-care. Simply put, get enough rest, exercise and treat yourself to a healthy diet. Be open to change. Yes, be open to change. You may soon spring forward. So, persevere.

Can You Join in Love Again?

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By Books Author Denise Turney

African American couple in love smiling next to bikes wearing helmets
Couple in Love with Bikes – Wikimedia Commons – Picture by Bill Branson

Feel that nudge in your heart? Maybe your core is telling you that it’s time to join in love again. But are you ready?

It’s easy to fall in love when you’re young. It’s easy to fall in love when you haven’t had your heart broken. But go through the heartache of divorce or even a non-marital breakup and you could become reluctant to enter a new romantic relationship.

And who could blame you? After all, you’re merely trying to protect yourself.

Give yourself chance to join in love again

Yet, self-protection has a cost. The highest cost is living with an invisible wall around your heart and your mind, a wall that no one can penetrate. If you’ve experienced this, you might feel alone, isolated or like no one understands you. In addition, you might start to believe that you’re simply not someone who will ever enjoy a loving, romantic relationship.

But what if you’re wrong? What if you can join in love again. What if your next relationship could actually be rewarding, enriching, empowering and inspiring?

Prepping your inner being for love

To enjoy a healthy relationship, make sure your inner being is healthy. Signs that you are inwardly healthy include:

  • Freedom from suspecting other people of doing wrong when there has been absolutely nothing done or said that would indicate that another person has intended to harm you
  • No interest in searching through your partner’s cell phone simply because you want to be certain that you’re not being cheated on (again when there has been no indication of infidelity)
  • Engaging in a variety of interest (e.g., sports, crafts, traveling)
  • Appreciation for the chance to experience new events, conversations, etc. with your partner and others
  • Lack of obsession
  • Strong family and friends support system
  • Connections with people who are positive and improving their lives
  • Taking full responsibility for yourself
  • Daily routines that encourage physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Examples include exercising, meditating, nature walks, keeping an appreciation journal, worship of the Creator and resting.

Acknowledge your self-worth

You’re right. It takes work to maintain good inner health, especially in this world where there are long work hours, financial challenges, family demands and harsh environmental shifts. Yet, it’s doable and so worth it.

In fact, just as you brush your teeth and shower or bathe every day, it takes daily actions to maintain inner health. You need good inner health to attract other people who are committed to being inwardly healthy. Simply reading self-help books isn’t enough. You and your partner need to take the right actions to enjoy inner health.

If this is new to you, start by acknowledging your self-worth. Below are a few shortcuts that could help you acknowledge your self-worth:

  • Engage in hobbies or work that you love. For me, that’s writing page turning novels! Oh, and I also love to interview artists on Off The Shelf Books Talk Radio
  • Remind yourself that other people’s opinions do not give you real worth
  • Try something new once a month. For example, you could drive a new way to or from work, go swimming if you haven’t been to a pool in years, ride a bike, travel someplace new or try a different food.
  • Be patient with yourself. You’re learning.
  • Recall past successes.
  • Remember that your worth is not tied to what you do, how much money you have, who you know, what you weigh or where you live.
  • Say “I love you” to that gorgeous person in the mirror!

You just might be ready to join in love again

Can you join in love again? Of course, you can. In fact, joining in love with someone who is ready to love you may get easier after you acknowledge your self-worth and get your inner self healthy.

To join in love again, you also need to open up to the idea of being in a romantic relationship. Turning away from loving people, doesn’t signal that you’re welcome to romantic love. After all, just as you don’t want to be rejected, the person who’d like to approach you, doesn’t want to be rejected either.

A final thought, you’re never going to know everything that’s going to happen to you in this world. And why would you want to? In fact, opening up to surprises is part of being in love. As you start to acknowledge your self-worth more, work on your inner health and take full responsibility for yourself, surprises may stop being viewed as risks to you.

They might become opportunities to grow, have fun, avoid boredom and stay engaged in the details of your life. Surprises also might serve as a pathway into deeper, richer, fuller love experiences that you treasure with your partner. So, like Raymond Clarke in Love Pour Over Me, you just might be ready to try romantic love again.

Signs You’re in a Healthy Love Relationship

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By Books Author Denise Turney

Love Pour Over Me book cover of African American couple in healthy love relationship
Love Pour Over Me Book Cover – Denise Turney

Chance to flourish in a healthy love relationship may be the top desire of every adult. Time, disappointment, aging communities and diverse solo social events don’t seem to be putting the brakes on this desire. In fact, the numbers of people searching for a romantic partner to enter a healthy relationship with may be growing, thanks for the Internet. For starters, Pew research reports that 15% of American adults have used a dating app.

Everyone’s Looking for Love – Who’s Finding Love

Percentages are higher for Americans who have never tied the knot. About 30% of American adults who have never been married have used a dating app. Gone are the days when an adult posting a dating ad in a newspaper or magazine is considered a “lonely heart” or as being “socially inept”. But finding someone to get involved with and enjoying a healthy relationship are not always the same.

So, how do you know if you’re in a healthy relationship? A good starting point may be to pay attention to how you feel when you speak to yourself. Pay attention to how you feel based on how you treat yourself. For example, do you feel anxious or peaceful when you highlight mistakes that you made?

Do you feel confident or cowardly when you encourage yourself or speak positive affirmations to yourself? If we’re created to experience joy, love and peace, then, that may well be the hallmark of a healthy relationship. Forget trying to dupe yourself. Go after what you were created to have. Consider flourishing with joy, love and peace to be key signs that you’re in a healthy relationship.

Honesty Is Pathway to Healthy Love Relationship

This means that your partner and you actively help each other to experience joy, love and peace. You make it a goal. It may take honesty to accept this, to allow yourself to receive this trio of blessings. These three cannot be swapped out for excitement, romance or sleeping all day. Your relationship either enriches you with joy, love and peace or it doesn’t. No substituting.

More signs that you’re in a healthy relationship include:

  • Accountability is clear and accepted – Both you and your partner take full responsibility for your thoughts, emotions and behavior. You don’t blame each other for how you feel, think or behave. If you want to end or start a new way of thinking or behaving, you hold yourself responsible for doing what it takes to achieve that. This includes lovingly dealing with sabotaging mental forecasting.
  • Change celebrations – You and your partner don’t run from change. You don’t curse the world when your routines change. Instead, you celebrate change, seeing it as another chance to awaken and grow.
  • Admit when you’re not happy – Even if you grew up in a home where you rarely saw your parents laughing or expressing peace and happiness, you and your partner are not afraid to admit when you’re not happy.

More Signs of a Healthy Love Relationship

  • Clear, honest communication – Communicating is not enough. If you’re in a healthy relationship, you and your partner are honest, open and clear while communicating. You don’t belittle each other. You don’t diminish each other to relatives or friends.
  • Ongoing work – Healthy relationships see couples continuing to learn. Both you and your partner refuse to believe that you “know it all”. You listen to one another. You keep paying attention and learning.
  • Common goals – Rather than strive to convince or sell your partner on a goal, you and your lover pursue common goals. Neither of you feels as if you’re constantly “giving in” or being forced to do what you don’t really want to do just to keep the other partner happy.

All shared, no healthy relationship sign tops love. This is also where things can get tricky, as each person may have a different perception of love. Start discovering what your would-be lover’s perception about love is early in the dating process. Hook up with someone who has a vastly different perception of love than you do and, despite how much energy or time you invest in the relationship, the road could long be rocky.

Healthy relationships, like the one shared in Love Pour Over Me may take time. The best intentions can see relationships experience highs and lows. The good news is that some couples, like the couple in Love Pour Over Me, are truly meant to be. Here’s to wishing that’s what you experience!

Great Journalists Help Shape the World

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By Books Author Denise Turney

Great journalists help shape the world by digging so deep into real life events, some which world leaders, local politicians and business moguls, prefer kept hidden, that they gain real keys. Some unethical and illegal operators will stop at nothing to protect their image, the very idol that journalists expose. It is most unfortunate that, in 2019 alone, as many as 25 news writers gave their lives in pursuit of truth.

W. E. B. DuBois professional portrait of great journalists
Wikimedia Commons – W.E.B. DuBois (Library of Congress)

Committee to Project Journalists (https://cpj.org/), Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/) The Center for Investigative Reporting (https://revealnews.org/ ) and Reporters Without Borders (https://rsf.org/en) are among the organizations that work to protect journalists. Their work is necessary. If investigative journalists are silenced, so too could be the truth. It’s why we need more of these effective fact finders.

There would be no Watergate without great investigative journalism. We might not learn about corruption at the local government level. Stories like the Flint, Michigan water crisis and the North Dakota pipeline protests wouldn’t get the widespread attention that they receive were it not for the work of great, probing journalists.

Probing great journalists surface issues before they develop into bigger social storms

During the Civil Rights Movement, it was the investigative writing, the radio shows and probing television journalists that pushed deeply troubling events into the public eye. It was those printed, heard and watched stories that helped to change the conscience of the nation.

During my early years, I was impacted by the works of great journalists like Gwen Ifil, Walter Cronkite, Xernona Clayton-Brady , Ed Bradley and Ebony magazine’s Lerone Bennett, Jr. On Sunday evenings, my family watched 60 Minutes religiously. Ed Bradley covered a story and interviewed influential guests as if the only thing that mattered to him was the truth.

And how I admired Mr. Lerone Bennett, Jr. and the amazing, moving stories that he told about the African American community. He had a rare way of digging into a story and uncovering hidden gems.

Other great journalists who I recall and appreciate are Edward Morrow, Ida B. Wells, Lillian Ross, Michelle Norris, Helen Thomas, Dan Rather and Bernard Shaw. There is also Max Robinson, Maureen Dowd, Diane Sawyer and, of course, the great, W. E. B. DuBois.

Imagine if stories they broke were never shared. How much would we not know?

Springboard off good journalism training

As aforementioned, we need more of these courageous, curious event explorers. We need more truth seekers, truth sharers. If you are thinking about pursuing a career as a freelance writer or journalists, I commend you. I encourage you to be committed to the craft.

Research colleges and universities. Consider college journalism programs that have robust internships, externships and that have established journalists as guest speakers. Be prepared to do the hard work during and after school. You could become one of the greats. You could help to change the world.

I wonder if it’s the knowledge that the work they do can change the world, enlighten and help to awaken, that fuels journalists. The risks are too high for the chance to experience an adrenaline rush to be enough to keep someone on the journalism path. And there are certainly easier, safer, ways to travel. Regardless of motive, I deeply appreciate great journalists’ work.

Motivation Traps – Dream Chasers Be Careful

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By Books Author Denise Turney

Dream chasers are believers. They are steadfast in their hope that they will attain their deepest desires and reach their most sought-after goals. At the worst, they doubt that they will ever do what they keep striving to complete. Is this you? Does this sound like you? Are you a dream chaser?

Wikimedia Commons, Picture by Benh LIEU SONG

Dream chasers turn away from facts

Do you run away from facts when weeks, months, maybe years have passed, and you still haven’t met one significant goal? And these are goals that you set for yourself. I’m not talking about goals your parents, friends or older siblings set for you, whether they pushed you toward those plans directly or indirectly.

Examples of facts include bathroom scale readings, health screening results, book sales, time spent with friends, depth of family relationships, athletic performance, late bills and money debt. So, let’s say that you want to lose 20 pounds within three months.

If you’re a dream chaser, you might get a fitness watch, track your daily steps and trade soda in for water. That’s the good part. On the flip side, you might start munching on potato chips, eating more bread and snacking on pizza on weekends.

It’s time to face facts dream chasers

Result is that, despite how many times you tell yourself and others that “you’re trying to lose weight”, you either go back and forth between losing and gaining weight or you don’t ever lose even five pounds. If you’re a dream chaser, the fact that you haven’t lost five pounds in 10 years might not be enough to stop you from swearing that you’re really serious about losing weight.

This is called self-deception. Hope to move beyond just being among the dream chasers? Pay attention to the facts. Track your progress. Create a spreadsheet and list specific actions that you take to reach your goals. Each month, list the results that your actions produced.

Open yourself to changing your actions as needed. Big businesses do this. It helps to determine which businesses survive and thrive and which businesses fold. It might sound hard; but facing facts could save you years of striving and exerting energy that will never get you what you want. Ever.

Are you another Raymond Clarke?

This is a critical point where you may have a lot in common with a guy named Raymond Clarke. Raymond spent the majority of his childhood trying to fit in. For Raymond, it started at home with his alcoholic father.

No longer able to stomach anymore of his father’s disapproval, Raymond started telling himself that his father wasn’t really angry. He did this despite the fact that his father treated him with an unrelenting meanness.

There are downsides if you lie to yourself

That’s when Raymond learned to lie to himself.

What happened to cause you to think that self-deception or chasing dreams (and never catching them) was the answer? How did you come to perceive lying to yourself as a better alternative than facts?

If you’re willing, consider examining this habit. The last thing you want is to spend decades chasing dreams that will never come true. You also don’t want dream chasing to consume so much of your attention and energy that you miss awesome opportunities, none of which is related to your dreams.

Please don’t let this happen to you.

If you’re ready to get familiar with Raymond’s story, grab a copy of Love Pour Over Me. Look for similarities in your life and Raymond’s story. Be open to making changes. Give yourself a chance to live your best life starting right now.

How to Finish Strong in 2019

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By Author Denise Turney

Finish strong as a new year gets closer, and you could reap more than fantasy success. You could pull in more than a harvest of hope and great expectations. If you’re serious about advancing in 2020, why not finish 2019 strong? Below are reasons not to take your foot off the accelerator just because 2019 is winding down. After all, the way that you finish 2019 may have more impact on how your 2020 goes than you’d imagine.

Finish Strong in 2019

Sure, it’s tempting to trick yourself into thinking that it’s too late to get real results in 2019. Makes sense. The year really is almost over. But you could use the next several weeks to finalize plans for a new book, business venture, relationship change, home renovation, financial shift, childcare options, healthy lifestyle, marketing strategy and more.

new year 2020 graphic with happy people jumping
Happy New Year – Wikimedia Commons – Picture by
naziruddin (https://www.statuswire.in/2019/11/happy-new-year-images.html)

As it regards marketing, you could try a new audio, visual or print content marketing strategy, the type of content marketing strategy that could grow your sales throughout 2020. Looking for growth ideas? Check out these 2019 year-end marketing actions that you could take to yield good results in new year:

  • Identify three to five experienced freelance writers who you will assign 2020 content marketing responsibilities to
  • Connect with these freelance writers before 2019 closes out
  • Settle on content marketing rates
  • Build on your pool of copywriters
  • Incorporate the strength of these copywriters into your prospecting communications
  • Contact three dozen (or more) prospects before December 31, 2019

That’s just one area where you can finish 2019 strong. And you won’t have to work long hours to complete each of the above options. Simply, create a daily schedule.

Easy Ways to Finish 2019 Strong

Add three actions to each week, and you’d complete each action listed above by the end of the year. As an entrepreneur looking to grow her business, you’d be setting yourself up for a good start to 2020. This is for content marketing. But what about a lifestyle change?

For example, what if you want to get your wellness numbers within a healthy range? Consider not eating and drinking whatever you want over the next several weeks. Instead, start to change your beliefs around food, comfort, excitement and energy.

Wikimedia Commons – Picture by naziruddin (https://www.statuswire.in/2019/11/happy-new-year-images.html)

In fact, with holiday food temptations, now may be one of the best times to start creating deep healthy lifestyle roots. Doable ways to finish 2019 strong as it regards healthy eating, exercise, rest and healthy relationships (a huge part of any healthy lifestyle) include:

  • Eliminate poor relationship habits like gossiping, back biting and manipulation. If you start or engage in gossip, back biting and manipulation, stop. If you’re a listener, let folks know that you’re no longer participating in these unhealthy habits.
  • Drink plenty of fresh water every day. This one should be easy.
  • Avoid talking yourself out of doing what’s good or better for you.

Chart Your Own Course

Chart your own path as the year progresses. Keep at it in the new year. Check out these simple ways to create finish the year strong, creating a path for a rewarding new year:

  • Exercise daily
  • Get your BMI, blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels tested
  • Take one unhealthy food or beverage out of your diet
  • Replace an unhealthy food or beverage with a healthy food or beverage item (e.g., fresh, leafy spinach, broccoli)
  • Step away from your desk at least three times a day. For example, you could step away from your desk after breakfast, for lunch and an hour before you head home.
  • Park several yards from stores and offices when you know you’ll exit the buildings while it’s still daylight.
  • Walk stairs that are in safe locations at least once a day instead of taking an elevator
  • Lift weights three days a week. You could start by lifting dumb bells for the remainder of 2019.
  • Stretch at morning and at night before retiring to bed. Strengthen your balance and flexibility.

Also, finish 2019 strong by getting sufficient sleep. You could do this by turning off your TV before you go to bed. If you’re in the habit of sleeping with the TV on, consider turning your TV off the first time you wake in the middle of the night.

Prepare for a Happy New Year

Even more, you could use a lava lamp or other meditation tool to relax an hour before you head for bed. Other ways to unwind before bed include writing in a journal, counting blessings or reading a book while you relax on the sofa.

Key is to break actions into doable steps. Another key, is to get started now. Don’t let the word “now” scare you. After all, you could always just let 2019 wind down, shift into the gear of pulling back and cross your fingers and hope for magic to occur in 2020.

Then again, if improvements don’t just happen out-of-the-blue, it may be best to finish 2019 strong. Start the actions that will help to set you up for a winning 2020.

Help For The Inner Journey

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By Denise Turney

There may be no journey as hard or as rewarding as the inner journey. Unexpected experiences, outright shocks, long awaited successes, heartbreaks and joyous, peaceful events that can stretch into weeks, sometimes years, are part of the inner journey. If you’re up for it, you could be in for the ride of your life.

What If Hope Doesn’t Know The Way

Play it safe (stay where you) and you may find yourself in need of help, particularly as it regards mental health than if you had stirred your courage, gotten started and stepped right into change. Whatever your prior decisions, if you want your life to improve, don’t keep doing what you know isn’t best for you.

natural inner journey with trees in woods
Path thru nature – Wikimedia Commons – Picture by ForestWander

Don’t just hope that an old situation will get better with time. After all, instead of enduring defeat, you could seek help. This article shares three ways to receive help for the inner journey.

To begin, practice mental health awareness to avoid getting stuck, burned out or anxious. Mental awareness could help you to get and stay mentally sharp. No need adding more struggle to your journey.

Stay Mentally Sharp on the Inner Journey

Fortunately, achieving mental sharpness may not be hard, especially if you are committed to your journey for the long term. If you’re looking for ways to get or stay mentally sharp, here are a few suggestions:

  • Add at least three activities that you enjoy into your day (e.g., a hot, scented bubble bath, listening to your favorite music, reading a good book)
  • Get enough deep sleep
  • Meditate or still your mind
  • Pray and trust the Creator
  • Pay attention to your dreams and other forms of inner communication
  • Treat your body to a healthy diet (e.g., fresh vegetables, delicious fruit bursting with flavor)
  • Daily exercise (get your body moving)
  • Write down your dreams (Don’t get too surprised if you start spotting dream themes or recurring symbols that your subconscious pushes up to your conscious in your dreams.)

Different Kind of Travel Map

Next, take inspired action. This means that you’re not just throwing paint against the wall, hoping that it lands in the right spots. Also, don’t worry too much about getting it right. You’re going to make mistakes.

Yet, don’t accept mistakes as habits. Steer clear of convincing yourself that taking the wrong action is “okay” just because everyone makes mistakes. Examples of inspired action include:

  • Signing up for a free training
  • Joining and actively participating in a support group (e.g., mental health support group, startup founders support and networking group)
  • Attending a specific event
  • Contacting a certain person who can aid your progress
  • Waking in the morning when your brain is most alert, allowing ideas and answers to bubble up

You’ll know in your gut when the inner voice of wisdom is prompting you to take action. That inner voice of wisdom is your real voice. Even in this world, you can listen to it.

Seek Help from Someone Else

Should you feel stuck or confused (circling the mountain because you don’t know what to do), seek help. Avoid limiting “help” to mental health therapy with a licensed psychologist.

After all, bonding with friends, truly listening to the people who you partner with, and working with someone who has been stuck before (and who found her way forward) are other ways to seek help. Key is to seek input from someone who can offer you a new perspective, someone who can speak with conviction.

As an example, you could seek the support of a life coach who has deep experience in your field. A coach could help you to see your blind spots. Just be open to listening.

Above all, keep going. Your beautiful life won’t unfold with the snap of a finger. But it will unfold if you listen to your inner wisdom, practice mental awareness, stay mentally sharp and, if when you get stuck or confused, you seek help for the inner journey.

Making the Inner Journey Easier

As a final thought, when it comes to covering inner ground, consider external travel. Think about it.

New York to Kenya may be a long way to travel, especially if you go by boat. Oahu to Tuscany isn’t better. Yet, technology has helped to make it easy to see the path that you must take to get from one of those travel destinations to another. Do your homework, and you can even know what to expect when you arrive.  

There are plenty of travel websites and travel packages you could use. Talk about taking the fear out of making a decision about a new journey. Technology has taken a lot of unknown out of world travel. Mental awareness and the right support can do the same for the inner journey.

Although your life’s detailed plans aren’t uploaded on a travel website, you aren’t absent help. In fact, the more you listen to the inner voice of wisdom, the better. Listen to the inner voice of wisdom and you could avoid mental health roadblocks.

That alone could keep you fueled with enough motivation to keep going, and you need to keep going. After all, how else will you know what this phase of your never-ending journey will look like? Even more, how else will you come to know what you really are?