New for 2013: Monthly power words to help you accomplish your goals

During a holiday get-together recently (because they can’t meet for a simple lunch without devising some sort of plan), my dear Chicks came up with the plan for 2013. Each month, they will share a power word with blog readers. The power word will be one that you can say (like a mantra) to push you through the month and maybe even the year.  These aren’t your average words of encouragement—they’re a bit more playful than that — designed to inspire you and keep you moving forward all year long.

And, what better word to start off the new year than zoom!

Use this month to focus your creative energy and zero in on those projects that have been gathering dust. Forget perfection, forget self-editing. ZOOM! Ignore that little voice in your head that says, “This could be better.” Instead, punch out that draft, sketch out your designs, zoom along to the finish line and let the self-editor off the hook until your first draft is complete. Let your heart lead you more than your head. Sometimes it’s the only way to finish that project or idea you’ve been sitting on.

How will you zoom! this month?

Happy New Year!

What wishes have you granted yourself this year?

I marked another item off the list!

Call it a ‘wish list’.  Call it a ‘bucket list’.  You have one, don’t you?  If not on paper, then at least in your head?  I have one, or many actually, in various forms.   I’ve created them at a number of times over the past couple years that the Chicks and I have been working through Julia Cameron’s books. 

I wasn’t thinking about those lists yesterday, though, when I met with the Chicks to record our theme song.  I was too nervous! 

All that was going on in my head was:  I’m not a singer!  What are people going to think?  Why did I agree to this? 

I almost pulled out.  But I didn’t.  Instead, I came, I sang, I conquered.  My fear, that is.   What a great feeling! 

Thanks to Tracey for so many things, from writing the song to arranging our recording session to serving us lunch to reminding me that singing for an audience was on my wish list.    It made me realize how many things on my wish list I have ‘granted’ myself in the past year, from singing ‘in public’ to taking a photography class to joining a writing group to finishing a novel (with Vivi).  It’s so empowering.  With this kind of momentum, who knows what’s next?

What wishes on your wish list have you granted yourself this year?