Sometimes I stalk authors. If an author posts a particularly intriguing article on a blog, or if an author interacts with me on a social media platform, I might get curious about the author’s work. I want to find out more about their books. I might even want to buy one of their novels. If I’m already on an author’s blog, I expect to see their books either listed on the sidebar or on a separate page. If I don’t see their books listed on their blog, I’ll go to Amazon and search for the author’s name.

I’m pretty persistent. If I really want to find a book, I’ll find it.

Unfortunately, some readers aren’t that persistent. There are lots of demands on our time. It’s easy to get distracted. Kids demand our attention. Cats knock over a potted plant. The phone rings. By the time we return to our computer, we…

Original image courtesy of flowcomm, via Flickr Commons

Happy New Year! 2015 is now here and it is up to us what we will do with the time each of us is allotted. We all have heard the saying, “DaVinci had the same 7 days and 24 hours.” I would actually make a different point. Folks like DaVinci, Mozart, Shakespeare actually had LESS time.

There was no electric lighting and pulling all-nighters was a good way to go blind by candlelight. Thus, I’d say the difference is that these artists lived intentionally.

We all want to know the secret to “success.” First of all, I am going to add a caveat. “Success” is a very personal thing. What is “success” for you isn’t “success” for me. Yet, study after study shows that people who write down their goals are far more likely to reach them.

Why?

We have forced our…