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planning & productivity reading notes

12 books I’m planning to read to consolidate and grow in 2020

January 30, 2020

2020 is my year for consolidating my efforts of the past few years and being strategic about how I work and learn. There is a big focus on consolidating practice and building on my skills and knowledge in new ways. You can read more about my plans for consolidating in 2020 HERE.

One key area of consolidating is reading what I own. I have many books recommended to me and purchased or received and not read. Whilst I still plan to buy new books in some cases, I want to limit this. In 2020, I want to be really mindful of what I am buying to read and working out where it fits in my business and life.

Here’s a list of 12 of books I plan to read this year and why they are important in my year of consolidating and growth:

Thrive by Ariana Huffington

Published in 2014 and a gift from my dear friend Di, this one is high on the list. It is time to get to it. Focused on getting in touch with who we are, it encourages practical responses to what is important. These are around the ‘third metric’ of measuring thriving and success in terms of well-being, wisdom, wonder and giving. A useful personal read, it aligns with my work in encouraging women in transition to connect with what matters.

This is for you by Ellen Bard

Subtitled, ‘A Creative Toolkit for Better Self-Care’, this is a very practical book of self-care tips by work psychologist, writer and digital nomad, Ellen Bard. There are 101 creative exercises to help make incremental changes and flourish in day to day life. I am looking forward to working my way through them to be more present each day and sharing the practices with clients.

The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll

I first came across this book via Caroline Donahue’s Secret Library Podcast conversation with Ryder Carroll. It was so inspiring as I listened, I stopped as I was driving to seek out the book straight away! Getting more organised and strategic with my list-making is an ongoing search. I have long been interested in bullet journaling practices. Focused on tracking your past, ordering your present and planning your future, I can’t wait to learn more and activate the principles in this book.

Speaking Out by Tara Moss

Published in 2016, it also time to read Tara Moss’s Speaking Out. This is a guide for women and girls on managing being in the public eye and speaking out. Contexts include public speaking, social media, writing and other public spaces. A guide to speaking out safely with confidence, it emphasises the need for women’s voices to be heard. I am keen to speak out more in 2020 in various ways so this will be an important read.

Power vs Force by David R Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.

This book was a recommendation from speaker Alex MacFarlane at the 2019 Australian Association of Psychological Type Conference. In a session on Holistic Mental Health, Alex encouraged us to read Power vs Force for scientific insights into higher levels of consciousness. Subtitled ‘The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior‘, it looks at theoretical concepts from particle physics, nonlinear dynamics, and chaos theory and uses applied kinesiology as a research tool. I am keen to learn more about this field where science meets spirituality.

How to Write Non-Fiction: A Companion Workbook by Joanna Penn

I have read How to Write Non-Fiction by Joanna Penn. This is the accompanying workbook that I have started working through to apply the learning. This year, I am working on bringing my non-fiction book with the title of ‘Wholehearted: Self-leadership for Women in Transition‘ into the world. Working through this companion book will be a powerful and practical learning guide for this process and for writing future books.

The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke

This book by Maxine Beneba Clarke – recommended by Bek Ireland, friend and Quiet Writing Wholehearted Stories contributor – is a memoir of growing up black in white middle-class Australia. I plan to read this book and also Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia edited by Dr Anita Heiss as part of a commitment to looking at bias and privilege more deeply in 2020.

White Tears, Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad

Sharyn Holmes, Founder of Formidable Voices, leadership coach, consultant, speaker, artist and writer, recommends this book. Described as “a confronting reality check for the privileged position of the white woman,” White Tears, Brown Scars is another key read for me in looking at privilege in more personal and practical terms this year. Sharyn’s story features in the book. She is hosting a Formidable Book Club in her Membership space with this book featured in February 2020.

Your Dream Life Starts Here by Kristina Karlsson

This book was recommended by Kate Morell so I sought it out, inspired by the changes this book and the accompanying Dream Life Journal encourages in her life. Kate says that:

Reading these instil in me the importance of continuing to share my dreams and vulnerability and remind me of the magic that happens when I do.

Dreaming with Sunsets for Kate

And don’t we all need reminding of that?

Start Finishing by Charlie Gilkey

I have been a fan of Charlie Gilkey’s Productive Flourishing and its practical tools and tips for a long time. This new book is about ‘how to go from idea to done’. With a deep interest in productivity and planning, skills I share with my coaching clients, I hope this book will help me to finish more things in my life as well as encouraging that spirit in the lives of others.

Authorpreneurship by Hazel Edwards

I was lucky enough to be the winning bidder for Hazel Edwards’ wonderful offer in the recent Authors for Fireys fund-raising effort for bushfire support in Australia. As well as a brilliant and practical 1-hour Skype chat with Hazel, I received an ecopy of her book, Authorpreneurship: The Business of Creativity. I look forward to learning more about the business of creativity from this highly experienced mentor and author of more than 200 books.

Aligned and Unstoppable by Cassie Mendoza-Jones

I am planning on limiting new book-buying in 2020 with my focus on consolidating and reading what I have. (Hello local libraries and my existing collection!) But Cassie Mendoza-Jones‘ just-released book, Aligned and Unstoppable calls strongly. I had just posted the below quote by Beau Taplin on Instagram when Cassie’s new book popped up. There’s a sign! Cassie’s podcast chat Joyfully Completing Creative Projects with creative Nicola Newman late last year is fabulous! Her focus on joy, completion and working in alignment is inspiring.

Plus some fiction reading!

Balance is important, so of course, there will be fiction reading! I was lucky enough to win a brilliant stack of new/recent books by mostly Australian women authors at the Heroine’s Festival. I recommend Bruny by Heather Rose, The Blue Rose by Kate Forsyth and The Naturalist’s Daughter and The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper. I’m currently reading The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. Let me know any of these you have read I should bump up the list!

Be in action:

SHARE YOUR CONSOLIDATING READS: Love to hear more about what you are reading for consolidating and growth in 2020. Do you have a word for the year? What are your priorities? What are the reads you are planning to align with those priorities? Share in the comments or on social media: Instagram or Facebook.

JOIN SACRED CREATIVE COLLECTIVE GROUP COACHING: Like to join in a creative community filled with rich reads, productivity and alignment this year? The Sacred Creative Collective kicks off 17 February for 3 months of group coaching around. It is focused around transition, creativity, personality and self-leadership. Work with me and a community of women on goals sacred to you for a more purposeful life.

BOOK A Discovery Call NOW for the Collective or to explore other ways to work with me in 2020.

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inspiration & influence planning & productivity transition

CONSOLIDATE: My word for 2020 + tips for consolidating in your life

January 7, 2020
consolidate

It’s 2020 and as always I choose a word to capture my intentions for the year. This year my word is CONSOLIDATE.

This word has been arriving for some time in 2019 through my monthly intention setting, morning pages and tarot practices. It came through a sense of appreciating what I already have and also through feeling overwhelm at having many things on the go. Books I’m not getting to, clothes I’m not wearing, courses I’ve invested in that I haven’t fully honoured.

Part of this overwhelm is a symptom of starting afresh and trying ALL THE THINGS to make it work. At a time like this, we can grab on to so much to help us but over time, we realise selectivity and focused effort is going to be far more effective in the long run.

My partner Keith and I also have a rental property business. We have worked on this together for nearly 20 years now and both have 25+ years of experience in this area. It is a key part of our income stream. I need to skill up and be more active in our partnership. With opportunities to combine my property and coaching skills, I want to promote a positive mindset and practical skills for property as part of a ‘multiple streams of income’ strategy.

The personal and beyond

Personally, it has been a huge transition time over the past three years, a big learning curve and time when my whole life pretty well changed in some way. Having set up two new businesses – Quiet Writing and our property solutions business – it is time to review where I am and look at how I can most productively and sustainably build on what I have created.

Currently, too we have terrible bushfires raging in Australia that have burnt out more than 5.9 million hectares (14.7 million acres) and resulted in immense loss of all kinds – lives, wildlife and homes. A national disaster that defies description and breaks my heart, it was sadly predictable. It has sharpened reflection for many on living more sustainably and appreciating what we have. With so many losing so much, it brings home what is of value and what matters. How we act, protect and look after what we have as a nation and as an individual. Head over to this page for more on what’s happening, responding and taking action including in creative ways.

The intention to consolidate

My intentions from around November 2019 on have been around the urge and desire to consolidate:

I consolidate my learning and effort, making connections in support of others and to grow.

This intention will stay with me as my mantra for the year. As always when we choose a word of the year, we never know how it will unfold. I look forward to learning from a spirit of consolidating this year.

What CONSOLIDATE looks like for me

My Morning Pages notebook is an integral planning tool in my life. On 3 December 2019, I did a page list of what CONSOLIDATE looks like in my life. Here is that list updated to now, noting those completed and in-process as I write:

  • Working on finishing the first round of the Sacred Creative Collective strongly with clients ✅
  • Sharing experiences from the SCC first round, gathering testimonials, sharing them (in process)
  • Crafting experiences from the first round of SCC and building on them for the next round. (in process)
  • Building client connections further, including connecting with SCC clients for mid-February 2020 start. (in process)
  • Working further on my website and funnels, applying learning from Soulful Sequences with Ellie Swift (in process)
  • Providing feedback to my editor on my Wholehearted book draft and thoughts as we progress the editing process.
  • Independently publishing my Wholehearted: Self-leadership for Women in Transition book
  • Working on property skills and upskilling on renovation, interior design and managing AirBnBs. (in process)
  • Upskilling in coaching mastery and mindset through working with a master coach. (in process)
  • Consolidating my work as a property business owner and coach.
  • Following up from the Australian Association of Psychological Type (AusAPT) Conference in November, sharing reflections, resources and learning.
  • Organising my AusAPT volunteer social media, website and state lead roles in a more sustainable and structured way.
  • Reflecting on 2019 via December Reflections on Instagram ✅
  • Reading, finishing books, getting to books I have been meaning to read that I already own.
  • Working on resources and courses purchased to maximise the investment and outcome.
  • Creating an inventory list of these resources and scheduling time to work on them and implement the learning.
  • Learning about Trello and using it for 2020 planning and action tracking. Thanks to Nicola Newman for sharing her experiences to inspire me including recommending Mastering for Trello for Business which is fantastic! (in process)
  • Organising and decluttering inboxes.
  • Organising and decluttering photos.
  • Tidying up electronic files/desktop so I can find things.
  • Organising and decluttering office and workspace.
  • Organising and decluttering my wardrobe.
  • Getting back to self-leadership via Morning Pages and Tarot Narrative as anchors. ✅
  • Writing a piece for Julia Barnickle’s What if life were meant to be easy? project. Join in for this community project in January! ✅
  • Sharing pieces already written in new ways.
  • Finding new markets for my writing.
  • Consistently writing inspiring content on the Quiet Writing blog and social media, streamlining ways of working.
  • Reviewing blog post categories; refreshing, reviewing all blog posts.
  • Finishing my Body of Work page. ✅
  • Working out how best to share Wholehearted Stories in ebook and other formats to inspire others. (in process).
  • Making Quiet Writing a more inclusive, representative space and community including looking at my own biases and privilege.
  • Becoming more informed about climate change and being more vocal about its impacts and the impact of non-action.
  • Look at where I can recycle, reduce, reuse.
  • Starting a podcast on personality and personal stories.
  • Getting back to playing the guitar.
  • Getting back to writing poetry.

“Phew!” I have written in my Morning Pages notebook next to that list. A big list, but it is great to get it down and share it with you as a form of accountability. It can feel overwhelming but getting ideas out is a great first step to organising them and being in action. Trello is going to be super useful in organising my projects and time this year to action these steps to consolidate. And I keep reminding myself I have ALL YEAR to work on these consolidating actions.

Tips to consolidate your life

So from the above, here are a few tips to consolidate your life:

  • Make your own list like mine of what a consolidate strategy might look like for you.
  • Embrace lists generally as your friend to keep track and also celebrate the wins and progress.
  • Learn about Trello or other tools to structure your desires, be in action and keep track.
  • Group your ideas into projects that can help connect and align them.
  • Work with a coach to help you be accountable and in action in consolidating your energies and shaping sustainable ways of living with deeper purpose.
  • Tune into what is worrying you or feeling incomplete in your life as a way to let go, move on and tie up the loose ends.
  • Honour your body of work over time and seek to build on it.
  • Look at what you have already done and see where you can reshape, reorder, repurpose existing material eg blog posts, guest posts, ecourse material.
  • Make an inventory of what you already have and make it able to be easily found.
  • Ask yourself, “What have I already got?” before you purchase or do something new.
  • Look at where you can recycle, reuse, reduce.
  • Explore links between existing skills and areas of your life to make new connections.

So how will you consolidate in 2020?

I hope my ideas have inspired you to look at where you can consolidate in 2020. Love to hear how you plan to make the most of what you already have and upskill, repurpose and make connections in your life. Share in the comments or on social media.

And if you would like to consolidate your life in more meaningful ways in 2020, the Sacred Creative Collective Group Coaching program kicks off mid-February. Join with me and a community of women as we explore sacred creative life skills for deeper purpose and intention. Especially if you are going through a time of transition or feeling isolated in your creativity, this is for you. Limited to 10 participants and value-packed, we work globally across group and individual dimensions to ensure your needs are met in an enriching online environment. Bookings for Discovery Call to learn more HERE.

sacred creative

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creativity inspiration & influence reading notes

Words to inspire from ‘The Artist’s Journey’ by Steven Pressfield

September 27, 2018

On our artist’s journey, we move past Resistance and past self-sabotage. We discover our true selves and our authentic calling, and we produce the works we were born to create.

The Artist’s Journey, Steven Pressfield

artist's journey

The Artist’s Journey

I’ve just read The Artist’s Journey: The Wake of the Hero’s Journey and the Lifelong Pursuit of Meaning by Steven Pressfield. It’s a new book and follows The War of Art on resistance and Turning Pro on moving from being an amateur to a professional.

The Artist’s Journey is about how in shifting to being more professional in our habits, we move from the hero’s journey to the artist’s journey. This focuses on our pursuit of meaning, our calling and our ‘daimon’:

On our artist’s journey, we move past Resistance and past self-sabotage. We discover our true selves and our authentic calling, and we produce the works we were born to create.

I’m a big fan of The War of Art and Turning Pro, both books being pivotal in my artistic and creative development and featuring in my 36 Books that Shaped my Story. What I love about this book is how it relates our artist’s journey to our lifelong muse and voice. Each piece in our body of work is a piece discovering our voice and story:

We find our voice that same way. Project by project. Subject by subject. Observing in amazement as a new “us” pops out each time.

This is such a great book by Steven Pressfield, more spiritual in focus than the previous two books in this vein. It’s as if the journey continues through resistance and past it. We turn more professional and sit down to write and in this we discover our artist’s journey. It’s another book to read over and over.

Words to inspire you

Here are a few words to inspire you from The Artist’s Journey:

On hero’s journey + artist’s journey:

What counted was that I had, after years if running from it, actually sat down and done my work. This was my epiphanal moment. My hero’s journey was over. My artist’s journey had begun.

On gifts:

What gift do you bring for the people? You will learn that, now, on your artist's journey. Share on X

On your subject + niche:

You have a subject too. You were born with it. You will discover it on your artist's journey. Share on X

On style:

Style is inseparable from voice. It evolves out of subject and point of view and blends seamlessly with medium of expression.

On the “true work”:

The thesis of this book is that the artist’s journey, which follows the hero’s journey chronologically, comprises the true work, the actual production, of the artist’s life.

On “write what you don’t know”:

The conventional truism is “Write what you know”. But something mysterious and wonderful happens when we write what we don’t know. The Muse enters the arena. Stuff comes out of us from a source we can neither name nor locate.

On process:

The artist's journey is an alchemical mixture of the airy-fairy and the workshop-practical. Share on X

On skills:

On the artist’s journey, we develop skills. Skills we did not have before. We teach ourselves these skills. We apprentice ourselves to others wiser than we are.

On body of work:

You can practice your art. You can produce, over time, a body of work that is the produce of your calling, the fruit of your authentic being, the full expression of your truest and highest self.

Other posts and a podcast chat on The Artist’s Journey

You can read more from The Artist’s Journey in How to Undertake the Artist’s Journey.

Marie Forleo has shared her thoughts on the book here.

You can also learn more about The Artist’s Journey via this fabulous The Creative Penn podcast chat with Steven Pressfield:

The Artist’s Journey with Steven Pressfield .

Here’s a beautiful snapshot of me in action, quietly writing in a sacred creative space at our recent retreat in Hoi An, led by Kirsten Pilz of Write Your Journey. The retreat was a critical step in my continuing artist’s journey, finding my voice and gaining confidence. This image is by Nigel Rowles and used with permission and thanks.

artist's journey

Keep in touch + free Reading Wisdom Guide

You might also enjoy my free ‘Reading Wisdom Guide for Creatives, Coaches and Writers‘ with a summary of 45 wholehearted books to inspire your journey. Just pop your email address in the box below.

You will receive access to the Wholehearted Library which includes the Reading Wisdom Guide and so much more! Plus you’ll receive monthly Beach Notes with updates and inspiring resources from Quiet Writing. This includes writing, personality type, coaching, creativity, tarot, productivity and ways to express your unique voice in the world.

Quiet Writing is on Facebook  Instagram and Twitter so keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community. Look forward to connecting with you and inspiring your wholehearted story!

You might also enjoy:

Creative practices in my toolkit to make the most of this year’s energies

How to know and honour your special creative influences

NaNoWriMo – 10 lessons on the value of writing each day

Doing the work: 21 valuable quotes to help you show up

Practical tools to increase writing productivity

Free ebook – 36 Books that Shaped my Story

#quietwriting – growing creative community and connection

creativity planning & productivity writing

Practices and tools to support creative productivity, writing and mindset

September 26, 2018

practices and tools

As part of the #quietwriting hashtag and IG Challenge, we now focus on the creative practices and tools that help our creative productivity, writing and mindset.

Use the #quietwriting hashtag across platforms – for the challenge and beyond – as a way to create, connect and link us together on our ongoing journey to draft, process, create, make space for writing and other creativity and otherwise live a wholehearted creative life. Read on to discover more and connect with creative others about the value of quiet.

The value of creative practices and tools

Quiet Writing focuses on getting creative work done. Whether it’s your reading productivity, writing tools or creative habits, it’s a key focus in my life and learning and what I share here. For this #quietwriting prompt, it will be great to see what members of the Quiet Writing community value as practices and tools to get creative work happening.

We’ve started with creative space and quiet as two key ingredients. But what helps you sit in the chair or stand at the desk and actually get the creative work in process and out there.

Questions like:

  • What helps with setting the right environment?
  • How do you count or measure to give you targets and keep you going?
  • What helps you get started or warm up?
  • How do you manage time?
  • What helps you be productive day after day?
  • Which blocks impact you and how do you deal with them?
  • What software or apps help you get work done?
  • Which stationery, notebooks, art and craft tools, pens and pencils are your tools of choice?
  • How do you keep organised to keep on track?
  • Do you use music to help you or do you prefer silence?
  • What sets the mood – candles, tarot, morning pages, tea?
  • Which people, books and habits have made all the difference in how you work?
  • Do you set goals to help you be productive?

My practices and tools

The practices and tools that have helped me get writing, creating and sitting in the chair (or standing), in no particular order are:

Morning Pages 

They have helped me immensely since I went back to writing 3 pages most mornings in July 2017.

These words from Julia Cameron so true:

The bedrock tool of a creative recovery is a daily practice called Morning Pages.

You can also read Penelope Love’s ‘Wholehearted Story‘ here on Quiet Writing about how Morning Pages became the foundation of her writing life and creative practice.

Working with tarot

Working with tarot and learning to tap into my intuition as an INTJ personality type has been a key creative tool. Every day. I work with tarot and oracle cards to guide my creative and life journey. Learning the symbolism of tarot and using cards regularly helps with blocks, creative practice and especially understand the long haul journey of creativity. Jessa Crispin’s book, The Creative Tarot has been a steady companion on this journey. As she says:

Each reading is, essentially, a story.

practices and tools

Pomodoro technique + Scrivener + Tide App

I’ve written about these three tools that are a key part of my writing habit in Practical Tools to Increase Writing Productivity. They also all go together. Pomodoro is a technique for breaking up time into manageable chunks and having a break. The Tide App is fantastic for working with Pomodoro and provides music and other background days in 25 minute timeframes. Scrivener writing software is my tool for getting all my writing work researched, organised, done, formatted and compiled. More info and links are in the Writing Productivity post.

Bluetooth keyboard + standing desk

After reading Joanna Penn’s The Healthy Writer and thinking about the ergonomics of my writing set-up, I went with a bluetooth keyboard. I use a laptop all the time and that is not good practice for my hands especially as I have osteoarthritis. Working with a bluetooth keyboard makes all the difference. I can set the laptop up higher so it helps my eyes and neck. And my hands are happier with better support on my desktop. I highly recommend it and it’s not expensive. A standing desk is also a great investment to stop that sitting in the same position all day. You can also improvise in various ways to make standing an option for writing.

NaNoWriMo + the metrics of word count

I’ve written more about my experience with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) here on NaNoWriMo: 10 lessons on the value of writing each day. After years of trying to do NaNoWriMo, I did it and wrote 50,000 words in a month last November. It helped me get my book draft mostly done and taught me so much about the metric of writing. I know how many words I can write in an hour. It helps me break up daunting tasks into manageable chunks and see progress.

Starting a new business + creating my beautiful logo

This is a curious one but the whole journey of starting over with a new business has created its own rhythm, practices and tools. Working out what Quiet Writing all about and its components – writing, coaching, personality type work and tarot – has been such a deep meaning-making structure and inspiration. A process and practice, day in and day out, with all of the creative tools it engenders. I am so grateful for this journey. Creating my beautiful logo and my colour palette as part of a suite of work with Stephey Baker of Marked by the Muse has been pivotal and such deep work. It helped me work out what I stand for, what Quiet Writing means, and why it’s important for me and others. I’ll share more on this process and the logo soon.

practices and tools

Creative mentors over time such as Joanna Penn, Susannah Conway + Sage Cohen

For me, creative mentors are a key part of my resources and inspiration. From the work of others, I can take their ideas and craft my own habits, practices and tools. Two key creative mentors over time, for nearly 10 years now, have been Joanna Penn at The Creative Penn and Susannah Conway. Sage Cohen has also been a key writing mentor and through her I learnt to Write the Life Poetic and be Fierce on the Page via Sage Cohen.

Breaking through resistance over time with Steve Pressfield + blogging

Special mention goes too to Steven Pressfield for his work on resistance and turning professional via his books The War of Art and Turning Pro. I’ve also just read his new book, The Artist’s Journey which focuses on our calling or ‘daimon’ in creativity and life. He also continues to blog which I find inspiring as well. Blogging on a regular basis now for over eight years has been such a central practice to my writing. It’s helped me keep writing, find and hone my voice, connect with others and work out what I want to say. On the way, it’s become a resource for my creative work.

My writing books + reading in my life

Many of the books mentioned in this piece and other key writing books in my life are discussed in more detail in my free ebook, 36 Books that Shaped my Story. You can find more there about how reading and the books I’ve loved have been a key influence in my creativity and writing story.

The right music playlists for the job

The Tide Pomodoro App helps with a kind of muse music that signals, time to write. For other jobs, it helps to have a playlist on Spotify or another app that is your music that inspires you. Create playlists for different creative jobs and moods. Standing and writing with the right music can become a kind of workout! Healthier and a good way to mix up the work and mood. My main playlist is my Flow list on Spotify. It’s always changing and flowing!

My recent writing and yoga retreat with Kerstin Pilz of Write Your Journey

One of my goals this year was to do a writing retreat. So when my friend Kerstin Pilz of Write Your Journey offered up a writing and yoga retreat in beautiful Hoi An, Vietnam where she lives, I was in! We recently spent a blessed and inspiring week of working on our writing and yoga practice in balmy and colourful Hoi An. It was so inspiring and refreshing, all my senses engaged and my writing practice, voice and story-telling renewed. I’ll share in more detail soon but encourage you to think about a writing retreat as a practice and tool for renewal in your life. So grateful to Kerstin, Nigel and the team for this week! Here we writing at the beautiful An Villa. This picture by Nigel Rowles and used with permission and thanks.

resources and tools

Publication and writing deadlines

Sometimes they can feel like a pain, but I am grateful too for the practice of working to deadlines. These might be ones I set for myself like morning pages and blogging each week or it might be external publication deadlines. But having a structure helps me so much to design and manage my timeframes and be in action to create work. Look at NaNoWriMo and how that deadline of 50,000 in a month was so inspiring.

Next?

Yes, it takes a village and a whole bunch of tools and practices to settle into your creativity, be productive and embrace the writing habit. But they all come down to mindset in the end – supporting it and fostering it to get the work done. I want to master dictation next. I’ve been studying and reading about it for a while. I think it will be a great tool to get me writing more and in a sustainable way. Look forward to sharing that with you!

praise

Mindset, habit and productivity

I’ve just finished the first draft of my book, ‘Wholehearted: Self-leadership for Women in Transition.’ Writing that draft has been a study in developing a mindset to get the words down and the creative habit to write page after page. Believing in yourself is such a critical aspect of the journey as my creative mentor Joanna Penn, reminds us in The Successful Author Mindset. Joanna shares her own journey of creativity via her journals. I was amazed how even after writing book after book, each new beginning brings its own feelings of challenge. Joanna describes how you learn to recognise them and ride with it, befriending the ups and downs and the inner critic.

Working on the draft of my book has taught me so much about the value of an outline to guide the way; the metrics of how much I can write in a given time like an hour; and the practical support of tools like Scrivener and the Tide App. It showed me how much can be done by committing time and sitting each day to get the work done. Keeping a spreadsheet, I could see how the hours and words added up to a body of work I could hold and share with the world. I’m working on the editing process now and I can’t wait to share my wholehearted self-leadership skills with you. And see the product of my productivity over time out in the world.

practices and tools

Creative practices and tools in your life

How about you? What creative practices and tools make the difference for you? Which habits help you be in that creative space? What breaks resistance? Which practices help you find joy in creativity and writing?

This is a prompt that I think will yield such valuable insight into how we create, manage mindset and decide to embrace creativity and writing. Steven Pressfield talks about the moment when we ‘turn pro’ and basically stop stuffing around and commit to creating art. Whatever that look like in our lives. I look forward to learning from you and collating your thoughts to share with others.

Love to hear your thoughts and see any images on Instagram – just use the hashtag #quietwriting for the challenge or anytime so we can connect with you. Or share your thoughts in the comments or on Facebook. And check in on the #quietwriting hashtag anytime on social media for inspiration from our community. Just remember too, “Done is better than perfect!”

practices and tools

Quiet connections via #quietwriting

So I welcome your comments here or on social media. I look forward to seeing #quietwriting images that share thoughts and open up dialogue on quiet in your life. Just share an image on Instagram using the tag #quietwriting and follow the prompts each day for ideas. Here are the prompts:

#quietwriting

And the #quietwriting hashtag will continue beyond the week of the challenge, so use it anytime to create and connect. You can learn more here about #quietwriting

Just a reminder of the key points:

  • Quiet Writing is about the strength that comes from working steadily and without fanfare in writing and other spheres to create, coalesce, influence and connect.
  • Hashtags are such a fabulous way to gather, finding our creative kindred souls and inspiration online.
  • On Instagram, you can now follow hashtags as well as individual profiles. So follow #quietwriting now and into the future to connect around creativity and your quiet work, writing and making art.
  • You can head on over to the #quietwriting hashtag on Instagram or Facebook or other social media anytime and see what’s popping up. 
  • You could also post on your own profile on Facebook as well using the hashtag.
  • Often we write quietly, behind closed doors or in busy cafes, privately. Let’s shine a light behind the scenes and capture the process of writing and creativity in action, wherever we are.

Get on board with #quietwriting + the hashtag challenge!

These are just some ideas and they will evolve as we all contribute. It doesn’t have to be all about writing – it can be any form of creativity. Nor do you need to be an introvert; all of us need quiet writing time to get creative work done.

I’ll feature my favourite images from the tag here and on Instagram and Facebook so share your images for the chance to be featured!

So join the #quietwriting party and let us know what you are up to! Who knows what creative connections you might make to support you on your journey or inspire your next creation?

Welcome your comments and images to inspire and connect our creativity online around the resources and tools we use!

resources and tools

Keep in touch & free ebook on the ’36 Books that Shaped my Story’

You can work with me to help reset your creativity and wholehearted self-leadership. Free 30-45 minute coaching consults chats are available so please get in touch at terri@quietwriting.com to talk further. I’d love to be a guide to help you create with spirit and heart in your own unique way. Consults available now for an October coaching start!

You can download my free 94-page ebook on the 36 Books that Shaped my Story – just sign up with your email address in the box to the right or below.  You will also receive updates from Quiet Writing and its passions. This includes personality type, coaching, creativity, writing, tarot and other connections to help express your unique voice in the world.

Quiet Writing is on Facebook and Instagram – keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community.

If you enjoyed this post, please share via your preferred social media channel – links are below.

You might also enjoy:

#quietwriting – growing creative community and connection

Creative practices in my toolkit to make the most of this year’s energies

How to know and honour your special creative influences

Free ebook – 36 Books that Shaped my Story

NaNoWriMo – 10 lessons on the value of writing each day

Doing the work: 21 valuable quotes to help you show up

How to read for more creativity, productivity and pleasure

Practical tools to increase writing productivity

2 Comments
introversion planning & productivity

Reset time – with a touch of jet-lag, life-lag and rest

August 20, 2018

Home from a beautiful holiday and I’m feeling it’s time for a reset. But jet-lag and life-lag are teaching me that reset can mean rest as much as anything!

reset

Home from a beautiful holiday overseas and I’m feeling it’s time for a reset. It was always my plan to come home after this break and get stuck into my writing, business, coaching and ecourses. I know where I want to go with it all and I have more open space to work. Yet I come home feeling that the jet-lag has morphed into a kind of life-lag. I can’t seem to quite get into synch with it all.

Do you ever have that feeling? Like your plans are known, but you can’t quite reach them or enact them? That you know the timing and can write the schedule but it keeps pushing out because you are not up to it? It feels like you are out of body and can’t quite connect the pieces to make them happen.

Life-lag seems to be the best way to describe it. Circumstances mean that you haven’t been able to keep up with yourself or your plans for some time, so you start to feel permanently in a state of lag.  I’m thinking it’s all about needing to learn to rest as part of resetting, acknowledging that life-lag means you are still catching up with it all.

There’s really no need to push so hard. What is this pressure I put on myself? It’s something I need to consider and take into account.

Being away, coming home

Being away meant enjoying being in the moment and that was important and special. One thing about travel is that being away from your usual surrounds and commitments makes enjoying the moment much easier. I imagine that’s a reason why people seek the experience of travel at times. Your normal life circumstances are changed. You are more likely to eat out, for example, and not have to make plans for daily tasks like buying food and cooking. Everything is new and fresh and your senses are revitalised.

Coming home, I have felt really excited to make a new start. But as I said on Instagram recently for this image below, snapped looking out at the ocean I wanted to dive into but was too tired to get to, it does all feel a bit raw coming back home. It’s like a reset, a restart, which I’d anticipated and looked forward to after a break away. But I am having trouble getting to it in real life.

reset

Symbols to reset for a new start

As I worked through this time, the Aces kept coming up in Tarot, signalling fresh starts of all kinds. I want to work on my business plan, realign priorities and time for that and life generally: family, friends, writing, coaching. Finish my book and see it out in the world. But yes, it does feel a little tender as you come home, stepping back, resetting, looking at things a little differently and imagining next steps. Reality hits and collides with the fresh start aspirations, along with jet-lag and it all starts to feel out of reach again.

A New Moon also aligned with our homecoming, throwing a focus on starting afresh. As my friend Jennifer Cockcroft reminded me on IG: “lots of r words”: reset, raw, restart, rejuvenate, refresh, reboot, recharge, realign.

So what to do with all these Aces and plans to reset? Maybe it is just the cosmic energies, Mercury Retrograde (just finished as I write!) causing havoc recently? Perhaps life-lag really is a thing and I need time to catch up with myself and rest before I launch ahead again.

I’m thinking my cat, Azzie, is really on to something!

reset

Reset, jet-lag and life-lag, travel and rest

There’s no doubt that jet-lag is a thing. I don’t usually suffer too badly but my partner was also sick on our return home within a few days. We had sleepless nights from that. Suddenly we were on weird sleep cycles again and staring up at the ceiling for long hours during the night. Our reset suddenly became quite problematic.

And then it felt like all of life was lagging. A gap between my plans and where I wanted to be. Definitely a chasm between the energy I needed and what I had. I returned to swimming and yoga last week which both helped me feel more connected with my body. Sleep is returning now in more natural patterns which I am grateful for.

The life-lag is something I am learning from. Maybe it is too early to get out the door with all my plans just now. Even though I’d made this plan, it doesn’t mean it was a good one or the right one. After all the recent years of challenge, one thing after the other, it doesn’t mean one holiday renders you all ready to go, perfect in mind and body.

And travel itself, although wonderful and inspiring, can be tiring, especially for introverts with all that sensory and people input. I loved it all but my introvert soul needs to recharge again with time alone.

Perhaps this life-lag is all about balancing my personality needs and time alone, and rejuvenation, Four of Swords style, is what is needed. I had the best time, seeing so much, meeting so many online friends in real life and making many new friends. But all that extraverting sensing and interaction can take its toll and some quiet writing time is what I need, no pressure.

Four of Swords – letting it rest and synthesise

Speaking of the Four of Swords, it’s a card that has been on my mind. So I checked in with the Spolia Tarot to see what it has to say about this time of reset. A very wise deck, it reminds me that this time is about synthesis:

This is the creation of an intellectual foundation. For that, knowledge has to become almost unconscious, it has to move from remembering facts from your cramming session to an ease with handling the information. It requires synthesis.

We are reminded that we have done the work: the swords are on the wall. We can still be working intellectually, reshaping, crafting all the inputs we have gathered. All the work we have done can be honoured by resting and allowing it to connect and compost, without so much active engagement on our part.

reset

What I’m thinking about: my wholehearted self-leadership questions

In the midst of all of this travel and homecoming, I have been thinking and reflecting a lot. I welcome any thoughts and input you might have in this reset phase.

I focus on wholehearted self-leadership in my business and personal focus. I’m always seeking input and connection via coaching, colleagues, online friends, books and courses. But I’m constantly also reflecting on my key questions at any time. Here’s a snapshot of this now in this reset phase.

The things that are composting for me right now include:

  • How can I find out what the Quiet Writing community needs and wants?
  • Perhaps a survey of readers and subscribers would be helpful for getting input?
  • How can I serve and provide value most effectively?
  • What would help better connection within our community?
  • Where does tarot fit with my life and business?
  • How do I share my tarot insights in a way that helps people and is balanced?
  • Where does tarot with my blogging schedule?
  • How can I finish my book draft now and edit it meaningfully myself before I seek outside help?
  • And then, how much outside help is needed?
  • How can I revamp my website so it’s more focused on my business as well as my blog and writing?

The questions can go round and round though at times and I am learning I need to rest more in this reset phase. Allowing answers to come through rest and recuperation, not pushing so hard, seems a valuable part of reset.

Rest not quitting as part of reset

Of course, feelings of giving up and hopelessness can come up too when we are not pushing as hard as we think we should. We don’t quite measure up to where we thought we would be. Thoughts like, “I’ll never finish writing that book! I’ll never see it out in the world!” for example, have started to run around my head. But as this post and quote reminded me today on LinkedIn via Andrew Johnson, rest and relaxation are a critical part of resilience:

If you get tired, learn to rest not to quit!

Banksy

A very valuable reminder. Reset is as much about resting and reflecting as anything. It doesn’t mean we are failing or need to quit!

And you?

Are you finding you need rest as part of your reset right now?

Has travel or holiday time left you strangely feeling in need of rest?

Does personality come into it for you with your need for rest?

Do you struggle with the need to keep going when rest is probably the best reset you can focus on?

Do rest and quitting get tangled up for you too sometimes?

Welcome your thoughts on these or any of my wholehearted self-leadership questions to guide me and others in our work. Just post in the comments or on social media posts on Facebook or Instagram.

Found this too while thinking about jet-lag and life-lag! You might enjoy it if you find the jet-lag/life-lag experience resonates with you: Jet-lag? More like life-lag

Keep in touch & free ebook on the ’36 Books that Shaped my Story’

You can work with me to help reset your creativity and wholehearted self-leadership. Free 30-45 minute coaching consults chats are available so please get in touch at terri@quietwriting.com to talk further. I’d love to be a guide alongside to help you conduct creativity and magic with spirit and heart in your own unique way. Consults available now for August and an August/September coaching start!

You can download my free 94-page ebook on the 36 Books that Shaped my Story – just sign up with your email address in the box to the right or below.  You will also receive updates from Quiet Writing and its passions. This includes personality type, coaching, creativity, writing, tarot and other connections to help express your unique voice in the world.

Quiet Writing is on Facebook and Instagram – keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community.

If you enjoyed this post, please share via your preferred social media channel – links are below.

You might also enjoy:

Ancestral patterns, Tarot Numerology and breaking through: My wholehearted story

Your body of work: the greatest gift for transition to a bright new life

6 inspiring podcasts for creatives and booklovers

Strategy, patterns and the higher order of connections

Joy – 18 inspiring quotes on doing what you love

Feature image via pexels.com

2 Comments
personality and story planning & productivity

Bring it all together via a strategy or system

July 2, 2018

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.

Peter Drucker

bring it together

A Quiet Writing deep-dive Tarot Narrative each Monday to share intuitive guidance, wisdom and insights from aligned books – for the week and anytime…

This week: bring it all together via a strategy or system

Theme for the week beginning 2 July

The underlying theme for this week to guide our overall focus is from Lisa McLoughlin’s Life Design Cards deck – #7 Bring it all together.

After last week’s message of clearing the way by finding your practical truth, we move into a time to look at the whole of what we are doing. We are encouraged to bring it all together in some way. How can we see things from a higher perspective? What’s the order, strategy or integrating principle of our work? And what systems are we using to keep track or plan our business, creativity or content?

These are all questions to ponder in this week as we look at how to bring it all together. I love in this image that there is bountiful harvest there to coalesce and nourish us. But it seems we need to stop and gather ourselves to work out how to bring it all together in the best way. What is in and what is out? Which way is best?

bring it all together

Advice from the Life Design Cards Guidebook for #7 is:

Gather all the information you have right now. Look at systems that could be put in place to meet your needs.

Tarot Narrative for the week beginning 2 July

bring it all together

Tarot Narrative: 

Bring it all together and in order via a strategy or system. Some kind of organisation or boundary setting will help provide inner strength and calm to manage fear and risk. That way you can plan to move ahead with integrity and emotional courage now.

Cards: The Emperor and Strength from The Textured Tarot and #36 Come to the Edge from Wisdom of the Oracle.

Bring it all together via a strategy or system

Last week we had the King and Queen of Coins emphasising practicality and resources and how we use them. This week continues this theme but lifts it to encourage us to have a look at our whole overall strategy.  How are we working to bring it all together, whatever we are doing?

As an INTJ personality type, I am a big fan of structure, logic, order, plans and knowing where I am going. These areas are highlighted this week. It’s also looking at the ecosystem of what we are doing, how things connect, the touchpoints. How does one part of our work or life related to another?

It was very exciting to see The Emperor arrive for my first engagement with Lisa McLoughlin’s beautiful deck, The Textured Tarot. This card embodies getting in order in some way. Having a vision, a strategy, working with integrity at a high level. It’s also about boundaries and scope – knowing what is in and what is out.

As Peter Drucker’s fabulous quote reminds us, we can waste a lot of time being efficient if what we are doing doesn’t even need to be done. This is the power of stepping back to look at the connecting principles and the overarching plan and strategy. We can beaver away with so much, but is it important or essential? How can we bring a little rational spirit and coherency to our work? What we choose to do is important here but how do we know which is the right thing? How do we know which colours to focus on? A strategy or system can help this choice and direction.

bring it all together

Bring it all together with quiet strength

The Strength card also backs in The Emperor. What a mighty pairing this is! It suggests that working with structure and order will bring a quiet strength and calm to our work. If we look at where the sources of our confusion and uncertainty come from, it’s often from having too much choice. We don’t know what to do first or which is the important thing.

If we have an overall plan, this can help us to be organised but also self-compassionate and gentle. Within these boundaries we can explore and develop inner strength. We are not so filled with self-doubt as we know our overall path.

The Come to the Edge card from Wisdom of the Oracle encourages us to take some risks and all our courage to lead us. But if we make a clear container to take risks and experiment, we are more likely to feel less fear as we step forward. This card featured two weeks ago also around time to check in to the calling of you heart. So in your plan, make space for leaps of faith and listening to your heart.

Strategy, order and planning does not have to be dry and lacking in colour or life. It can be a collage, a vision board, a journey about colour itself. There are many ways to being it all together and find the connecting principles.

bring it all together

How can you bring it all together?

So how can you bring it all together via a strategy of system?

We are half way through the year now so it’s a great time to take a step back and look at your overall strategy for your work, creativity or business.

I enjoyed this podcast earlier this week on The Creative Penn which focuses on exactly these aspects of creativity. It’s about ‘Strategy and Business Plans for Authors’ but the suggestions are applicable to any kind of creative endeavour. I found it very thought-provoking and inspiring.

Strategy And Business Plans For Authors With Johanna Rothman

I’ve also started working on the consistency of my Instagram and social media work via Sara Tasker’s The Instaretreat. This is all about integrating voice and style in our Instagram and social media work and I look forward to learning more about the threads that tie my work together.

Tips for bringing it all together

Here are some tips for bringing it all together this week. Take time to reflect and journal on any that catch your attention:

  • look at your colour palette: What’s the overall colour in your social media or website? What’s the colour palette and is it what you want? What’s the organising principle?
  • get some advice from experts:  It might help to seek advice on your brand essence, your integrating principles. Sometimes we are so close we can’t see it or articulate it and help can make all the difference.
  • look at your mission: As Johanna Rothman talks about in the podcast chat, knowing you mission and overall aim helps to know what to do and what not to do.
  • choose integrity:  A key connecting theme in these cards is also integrity. How does integrity connect your work?
  • look at what’s out of control: Where are you a little out of control, Seven of Cups? Where are you doing too much that is not connecting? How can you cut back? What can help you choose what to do wisely?
  • strategise for the next 6 months: It’s a good time to go back to your plan for the year and readjust it. What were you hoping to achieve? What’s the strategy for the next six months?
  • quiet strength: Where can you put your energies for quiet strength? What will make the difference to your progress in an underpinning way?

bringing it all together

Thoughts for this week

Bring it all together with structure, order, strategy and overall plans this week. Take some time to breathe, check in on what you’ve harvested so far and where to go next. Invest your energy in this for traction in moving ahead for the next six months.

Here’s to a week of reviewing and getting our organising principles sorted.

Love to hear your thoughts!

What are you doing to put some strategy, structure and order in place? I’d love to hear! All best wishes for a week of getting clear on how your vision manifests in the world. And to sharing ideas and practices so we can all avoid time-wasting and inefficiency and get out work done.

May you find that taking a few moments to clear the way brings hope and focus. And let me know what you think of this post and this weekly Tarot Narrative!

Keep in touch & free ebook on the ’36 Books that Shaped my Story’

You can work with me to help develop strategy and order in your creative life and work. Free 30-45 minute coaching consults chats are available so please get in touch at terri@quietwriting.com to talk further. I’d love to be a guide alongside to help you conduct creativity and magic with spirit and heart in your own unique way. I’m taking a short break in July but consults are being booked now for August and an August/September coaching start!

You can download my free 94-page ebook on the 36 Books that Shaped my Story – just sign up with your email address in the box to the right or below.  You will also receive updates from Quiet Writing and its passions. This includes personality type, coaching, creativity, writing, tarot and other connections to help express your unique voice in the world.

Quiet Writing is on Facebook and Instagram – keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community.

If you enjoyed this post, please share via your preferred social media channel – links are below.

You might also enjoy:

Your body of work: the greatest gift for transition to a bright new life

6 inspiring podcasts for creatives and booklovers

Strategy, patterns and the higher order of connections

Joy – 18 inspiring quotes on doing what you love

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