The Writer Behind the Words Read Online Free Page B

necessarily a religious one. They are in tune with themselves and their place in the universe. They believe that writing is what they are meant to do and have faith that things will turn out well. Faith is sometimes seen as a dirty word or merely a religious one. Don’t make this mistake. Faith is the foundation of dreams realized. When all looks bleak, faith is your sunshine. When the statistics are against you, faith makes them meaningless. Will your faith get shaken? Probably. Is that bad? No. Just don’t let the doubts last. Constantly focus your energy on the future that you want, not the future that you don’t want. If you don’t want to stay broke, don’t study why writers struggle or get low pay. Study the rich ones and model them.
    If you don’t want to be an obscure author, don’t read about the lives of authors who died in poverty and had their work discovered after their death. Study those who were successful in their own time. Study success. Surround yourself with people and things that propel you forward. Once you are a financial success, then you can worry about the plight of the lowly author and provide help.
    Ways to Improve Your Faith
     
Learn to listen to your gut, instincts, or whatever you wish to call it.
     
Learn to say “no” to things that aren’t part of your plan. The world will not crash and burn if you tell your sister you can’t baby-sit or that you can’t help your neighbor with his taxes this year.
     
Write about anything for fifteen minutes without stopping.
     
Write affirmations (more on this later) and say them every day.
     
     

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Three Necessary Keys for Resilience
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It is the constant and determined effort that breaks down all resistance, sweeps away all obstacles.
    CLAUDE M. BRISTOL
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    T here are three traits that can determine whether you will be successful with resilience: passion, focus and initiative.

Passion
    Passion is a great equalizer. Success doesn’t depend on intelligence, degrees or talent. Success depends on passion. All the great figures in history had a burning passion and achieved amazing things. You can too. Keep the fire of desire burning in your heart and you’ll find the solutions to all obstacles. Passion will delete the word “impossible.” Enthusiasm will make every day exciting. Get in touch with what makes you angry, happy or miserable. Experience these feeling and come alive again.
    When you live with passion, your life will expand in ways you could never dream of.

Focus
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The secret of success is constancy of purpose.
    BENJAMIN DISRAELI
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    Put your energy into developing your strengths. Too many people spend their time trying to become perfect. They put their focus on trying to fix their procrastination or nasty temper or bad habits instead of focusing on what they want. The sun is a huge source of light and energy; the laser is much smaller, yet a laser can do more damage. The reason is focus. Focused energy is very powerful.
    You don’t need to be perfect to achieve your goal. You’re not a car or a machine that needs all the kinks smoothed out in order to work properly. You’re a human with unlimited potential. Focus on your strengths and how they can serve your purpose.
    Discover what your career is about (or what you want it to be about). Try to limit it to one thing. Is it about entertainment? Enlightenment? Healing? What is your core theme? All writers have a core theme that runs through their work, both fiction and non-fiction, no matter the format. Find yours. It will keep you from being swayed from your mission.

Initiative
    Don’t wait for the wind; start paddling the boat. Many writers like to wait for inspiration. Reach out and grab it or, better yet, do without it. Write, write, write. Don’t wait for the right moment, right idea or the right equipment. Get started. As I said earlier, action is the key to success.
    Don’t confuse praise with self-worth. Some people will love your work, award it and