A Passion and a Business

Living a creative life is amazing, but it often is in conflict with the business side of things when you are trying to parlay that creativity into a career. My 30th book was released last month. You’d think I’d have figured out a way to meld the two sides of my writing life a long time ago. The bottom line is that it’s always a challenge to bridge the two. This is why two creative friends and I began what is called a ‘mastermind group’. We did this in order to have accountability, not necessarily for our work product, but more for our intentions around our work, whatever that looks like for each of us. It has been a powerful tool in my writing life.

Between the three of us, I’m the only writer. The others are artists, each with their own approach to their businesses…because that is the number one thing we are constantly reminding ourselves of. This is a business for each of us. We started with a passion, but since then, we’ve each grown our crafts and now we earn varying degrees of a living from what we do.

It’s Like a PLC

Part of what we do is similar to what is done in a Professional Learning Community in education. We choose a book, read chapters each month, and discuss the ideas that resonated with us. We also take time to do a check-in based on our previous month’s goals–Did we achieve them? Did we struggle with anything? Did we accomplish or encounter anything we hadn’t anticipated? And then we set goals for the following month.

Being very intentional about what we want, what we want to accomplish, and how we plan to achieve those things has made a significant difference for each of us. The idea of manifesting is abstract and wholly unscientific but it actually does work. When you actively put into words what you want and how you will get there, you start to operate in a way that will help make those things a reality. It’s akin to planning a trip with a specific destination. When you plan a route and follow it, you’re more likely to reach that destination in the timeframe you need than if you simply get in the car, head north, and hope you get where you need to.

Achievable and Accountable

When you want to accomplish something specific with your writing, setting achievable goals and being accountable to those goals is essential.

My mastermind group has become an invaluable part of my writing life. Having intention is powerful. I encourage you to take a little time each month to think explicitly about what you want to accomplish in your writing life and how you will achieve the goals you set.

Celebrate!

We also take little trips once in a while to celebrate out successes. This one is in Hatteras on the Outer Banks.

If you do this already, I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment or email me at writersparkacademy@gmail.com!