Guess it is fair to say that writers tend to reflect a lot – either on paper or in their head. Combine that with a diploma course in coaching and you end up with a freaking mirror ball. And this is exactly how I currently feel like.
found on www.edwud.com (great pics 
)
When I started my coaching diploma only four weeks after arriving in Berlin, I was eager to sort out an issue I thought I had with myself: distracting myself from my long term goal (finishing a second fiction manuscript) with short term assignments and engagements (said coaching diploma, setting up my own business as an online copy writer, blogging).
So when I received my first coaching within that course myself, I set myself the goal to narrow down my focus from BCC (Book-Company-Coaching) down to two of these branches by the end of 2010. After becoming rejected with my first manuscript by a bunch of publishers, sending me pretty much back to square one, and while still waiting on communication if I made it onto the short list of a comparatively small literary competition I took part in, I am happy to announce that I have achieved a break-through insight in that matter:
All that is codswallop.
The whole forcing-myself-to-focus thing, I mean. Because yes, short term projects like building my own website or writing a blog post or coaching somebody do take time and keep my bum firmly away from my writer’s seat. These activities are indeed bends on the road towards publishing glory. But pushing the button to release my first own (!) real (!!) website, and seeing a person finding new insights, or just being with my friends is the fuel that keeps me going when the writing gets tough.
found on orangefuel.com
It’s the short-term gains that give me the motivation and energy to keep facing the “long-term pain” of questing to become a published writer. Fact is, I just love my little distractions, and I am not ready to cut off my sanity from that life-line. So in your face, focus! I’m off to meet my friends at the coaching course, now…
What keeps you going, when the path to your long term dream seems to drag longer and longer? From which sources do you feed your mojo?
9 Comments
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Ahh, Eva *sigh* I just love your posts!
AND: Your distractions are not really un-focused, are they?
Keep on distracting otherwise everybody else would feel really “couch potatoish” in their lives
Everything is good for something even though we can’t figure it out yet.
There’s more to come…
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The distractions give us the outlets and life experience and inspiration that we need to write…and I’ve found that the writing actually makes me more distractible and seeking/appreciative of those distractions, so it’s all a bit circular in that case, isn’t it?
I’m constantly reminding myself that the things I do for work or recreation outside of my project are cultivating me and feeding into that very project in some way—preserving my sanity by letting me escape time to time, if anything! Good writers aren’t one-note people; it’s the diversity of your day-to-day that makes you tick and terribly interesting to the rest of us, Eva 
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I do find that having my own blog, helps me at least get my “writers” hat on in the mornings and sharing opinions with others via their blogs also helps. I’ve tried the military type focus where I ONLY do, say editing for 5 hours straight with no break and I find my brain feels fried. Sometimes, even going for a walk or going to the park feeds the mind.
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Hola! I came across your web page when i was on Bing researching a few current Twitter trends to find what has been hot as of late. Stuck around a bit to take a look around and read some of your articles… intriguing stuff. I’ll make sure to come back later on some time and catch up.
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@ Britta: Aw, thanks so much, that goes down well, as you know – even better than you spotting a gazillion typos in my long-nursed copies within two seconds
Everything is good for something, you are right. It will just feel so much better when I finally know what that something is. Thanks for keeping by my side along the way. Earning yourself a mention in my never published books there! 
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@ Alannah: Oh yes, walks! I agree. Just writing itself, no matter if on small or bigger stuff, provides energy. What I am finding is that when I am in the “zone” I can easily spend 12 hours on the stuff until I can’t anymore. It is just quite hard to get there … well some military boot camp might be the best thing for that …
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@Nitric Oxide: Thanks a lot for dropping by! Am happy you found something interesting for yourself and hope to see you back again, soon.
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What an inspiring post Eva! I agree with you %100- it’s the little achievements and the short term goals, the simple pleasures in life that keep us going on until we reach our ‘major goals’.
My blog is also a huge source of motivation for me.
For me, to do anything, motivation is vital. And as far as family & friends go, I’ve been a very lucky girl
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@ Lua: Thanks Lua – it is definitely a big motivation to get those nice and uplifting comments. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.