Article by Wendy McCance
I have a question for you. How much time and energy will you put into make sure your dream is realized? This is the question that keeps floating around in my head. I am so determined to become a full-time, successful writer, yet, I wonder what I am made of. How close will I repeatedly come close to failure before I throw in the towel?
I have read numerous stories about people finding major success. There are those people who fought crazy odds to see their dream realized. I have read about the people who seemed to have found that lucky break in a way that seemed like they just sort of tripped over it and had luck on their side. I have also read about the people who have worked tirelessly for years in sheer poverty and somehow, finally saw a break in the clouds.
I have been grateful to have written an accomplishment journal. I have written about it in the past and feel that it has helped whenever I had moments of doubt. It reminds me of what I used to think was a big deal. It outlines how I was able to achieve that goal.
It’s ironic how your goals change as you get closer to the things you want so desperately. I remember when the idea of getting someone to hire me to write an article was the ultimate feeling of success. Well, that happened, several times, and now I am anxious for a steady flow of writing opportunities.
There is a big difference between a few scattered articles and a daily supply of assignments. I want to be flooded with work. I need to make a good living off of a career in writing.
At this point, I feel like I am on a rollercoaster. One moment there is tremendous excitement as well as fear as I am challenged by a new project. I get over the hurdle, and then the excitement as well as the fear vanishes. I hit a low point where I can’t see the next hill. I am disappointed, feeling like the ride has come to an end. I try to remind myself that I have gone through this before and that the next hill is just around the corner.
To answer my own question, I don’t see myself giving up. I want this too much to throw in the towel. Currently, I have had to get a bit more creative in finding new ways to get a new requests to write. Strangely, I know that the more I push myself the more excitement I will face. It just comes down to impatience, lack of a solid income and finding that inner strength that will propel me to that next great achievement.
So to you, I ask this, have you experienced a dream so big that you were unwilling to give it up? Was it a dream that seemed so impossibly hard that you were in a deep battle with your inner feelings? Was your dream realized? How did you tweak your plan of attack to see your dream through? Was there a lot of failures before you finally saw the hard work pay off?
I know these are a lot of questions, but I know that I am not alone. If you have struggled and then found success, sharing your experience would be incredibly helpful to me as well as the readers of this blog. Many of these readers are in the process of reinventing themselves and could use a lift from a positive story. What’s your story? I hope you share your experience.
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Wendy McCance
To contact Wendy McCance about a writing or social media assignment, interview or speaking engagement, please email her at: [email protected]
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I have struggled at many things in my life and have succeeded in all of them except my writing career, but the struggle continues.
If you have struggled and found success before, it’s just a matter of time before you start seeing success in your writing as well.
I have always been a writer at heart, but it was not until a life changing event when I was 48 years old – my unexpected layoff, that I followed a dream of mine and wrote and published my first book about the relationship I shared with my family of cats who inspired me to be a better person and allowed me to make lemonade out of the lemons of my life (The Chronicles of Zee and Zoey – A Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary).
I was under the naive impression that I would be wildly famous and a best-selling author with my phone ringing off the hook to be on the Ellen Show and other incredible venues. Crickets would be a better description and my bubble slowly began to burst as I realized no one really cared about me. As time went on, however, cats became my voice and passion and I started blogging about them and began to realize I was not a failure at all and that success is not always measured in sales or phone calls, but in making a difference.
I will never give up believing that I wrote a great book and I will never stop believing in myself. As a result of my writing, I am now where I am today - a serious cat advocate and Secretary of the newly created Pawsitively Humane Nonprofit organization of Miami, Florida, whose mission is to create public
awareness and reduce the numbers of animals on the streets and in shelters through an extensive educational campaign.
I also created a marketing concept that raised over $10K in prizes and donations for shelters across the country in “Zee & Zoey’s Cat Ruler of the World Contest and Campaign for a Cause” that was a nationwide sensation and I had my first national published article in the April issue of Cat Fancy magazine. My point, much as I want to cry from exhaustion and frustration sometimes, I don’t think I will actually ever give up, because I truly believe anything is possible if you really want it…. Why it has to take so long, or why it comes so easily for some, that I don’t know the answer to!
It sounds like you are on an amazing path. If someone told you about your incredible accomplishments before you began your journey, you would have been in disbelief over the great things you have achieved. Sometimes as you gain success, the things that once impressed don’t do so as much anymore. Take a moment and celebrate all of your greatness!!
Wendy,
Are you sure your dream hasn’t been realized right now? From here, I see a successful blogger, writer, inspiration. I can tell you the lengths I’ll go, but not when I’ll throw in the towel. I’ve never defined what failure looks like. Only what goal I want next. Soon the “I want to flooded with work.” will become, “how much should I charge to make it worth my while.” So start with I want to be flooded with work and go from there!
Sounds good to me. 🙂
I think what you are experiencing is so NORMAL! Taking on any new challenge, whether it’s a dream or just a new thing you have to do, is full of highs and lows. The excitement, the fear, the anxiety, the ease, the difficulty. I think it all feels so HUGE right now because it’s still so new. In a few months time you will have more experience under your belt the the highs will be less high and the lows will be less low. You’ll have a new normal against which to measure things. Just keep on pushing on, girl. Continue to keep your eye on the prize: your goal. But be open to changing course as often as possible to get there.
Vicky
Thanks Vicky, I’ll let you know in a few months. 🙂
Good topic.Obtaining a PhD in Psychology, seemed too farfetched for me. It was as if I had been relegated the task of climbing the highest peak in the world. Many times I thought about throwing in the towel. It was a struggle, but I prevailed, due in part to the challenge confronting me.
I persisted, but now I was challenged again. I needed to write, “The Dreaded Dissertation.” I did it, even though it took me five years. That experience led me to believe that I could write. That’s why I’m witing today. There have been many challenges, but I continue. Blessings.
Thanks so much for sharing this experience. I really appreciate hearing another view on the subject.
A very wise mentor told me that people will be guided to my blog if we share the same vibrational level or if that particular vibration is something they are looking for. This awareness confirms my desire to simply write what I have a deep desire to share.
Thanks for your thoughts on this topic.
All I know is that you have to continually market yourself. We all have a tendency to back off when we get one or two pieces to do. We “rest” while we do the work and then don’t do marketing again until the desk is clear and we have nothing new to write. It’s tedious, I know, but it’s the only way to keep going full time as a freelance writer. Marketing my skills is the one thing I hate to do. What I do well is write. I’m not a sales person and don’t enjoy it. But it’s the only way to keep the work pipeline full. Good luck.
Thanks so much. I appreciate it.