How do you stay motivation to achieve your goals? A few of our Blink authors share what inspires them to achieve their goals as well as offer some encouragement to help you reach yours!
What’s been inspiring you to reach your goals this year?
Ashley Royer: My main goal is to finish high school in the top 10! I’ve been working hard to maintain good grades and do well in all my classes.
Evangeline Denmark: My friends. I have a close group of women writer friends who know what struggling with daily word count and family life and various health issues is like. We believe in each other and support each other and it makes all the difference. Really. I have to add my husband to the list as well. Writing is not easy, and it comes with regular doses of doubt. Without question, my husband is the reason I’m still doing it. That’s why CURIO is dedicated to him.
Lorie Langdon: I’m inspired to become a better writer with every story I tell. My readers are also a huge motivation—I want to write books they will fall in love with and that will encourage and inspire them!
McCall Hoyle: This one’s easy. I’m a high school teacher. My students inspire me to be a better teacher, to be a better human being, and to reach for the stars. I can’t expect them to follow their dreams if I don’t follow my own. Many of them have been following me on the road to publication for several years. They’ve watched me experience highs and lows. They’ve seen that hard work and perseverance pay off in the long run, and I think they’re more likely to pursue what they love because they’ve watched their teacher do it.
Stephanie Morrill: When I see those first fruits from the goals. A few days ago, my son asked all of us what our favorite meal of the day was. Then he answered first (because he’s six) and said, “Mine is breakfast, because we have it as a family.” And my nine-year-old said, “Mine too.” While we’ve always prioritized family dinners, my resolution to have breakfast as a family has been new this year. Knowing that the kids love it so much makes it easier to get myself out bed in the mornings!
What encouragement do you have for Blink readers to reach their goals / New Year’s resolutions this year?
Evangeline Denmark: Do a little bit every day toward your goal. Get the support of your friends. But know that there are days, months, sometimes years, when you are in survival mode. When things are really, really hard, whether it’s with school stuff or family, just getting through each day is an amazing accomplishment and worth celebrating. Your dreams and goals can seem far away in hard times, but they really aren’t. They’ll wait for you. You just hang on.
Lorie Langdon: Never compare yourselves to anyone but the person you were the day before. Comparison will steal your creativity and your joy. God created you for a specific purpose and you are the only one who can fulfill that calling on your life!
McCall Hoyle: I try to surround myself with optimistic and enthusiastic people. I have a favorite Ralph Waldo Emerson quotation I try to live by. He said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” And I agree, which is one of the things I love so much about Blink. I know when readers open a Blink book, they’ll find inspiring and heartening stories. When we feel inspired and encouraged, we’re more likely to achieve our goals and resolutions.
Stephanie Morrill: For me what’s helped is to think not so much about my big goals, but to think about next steps and habits that will build up over time. Because I have several books I want to write this year, that means that I’ve set aside specific writing time five days a week. Or this year I wanted to start taking better care of my body, and I decided that I could probably be faithful to running on the treadmill for 20-30 minutes 1-2 times a week. Eventually I would like to run 3-4 times most weeks, but I knew that was too high of a place to start. I needed to work creating a smaller habit first.
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