Category: The Quest

Previously on Betsy’s Blog…

Betsy has been meeting with Skipper, a chipmunk who happens to be the best goldarned Habit and Goal Implementation Specialist the Muse Council has to offer.  In the last post, Skipper broke the news that just coming up with the fuzzy, overarching objective of “I want to write a lot of books and have people read them” is not good enough.  Betsy is actually going to have to do something about it.

Betsy, of course, would prefer to think rather than act, but Skipper insists.  She has sent Betsy away to come up with her version of a plan.  In the meantime, Skipper has contacted Harry, the white gerbil who is the Guide on Betsy’s Quest to become a successful independent author, and asked for backup.

Now Betsy is ready to meet with Skipper again.  Has she come up with a battle plan?  Does she have any ideas of how to proceed?  Does she even know what “successful” means?

Let’s see…

 

*Betsy enters Skipper’s office in her brain* *Stops*

Skipper?

Yes? *Skipper’s voice comes from somewhere near the floor*

When did your office turn into a jungle? *Betsy pushes aside a large palm branch* *it snaps back and hits her in the face*

It’s symbolic of the obstacles barring your path to the realization of yourself in potential.

Yeah?  How? *Betsy spits out a leaf*

Because the weeds grow up and choke you.  You have to learn how to hack through them.

Awesome. *Betsy slaps at a mosquito*  Um, any chance you can tell me where you are? I don’t want to spend this whole post talking to ferns.

Just keep moving and you’ll find me.

Great. *Betsy pushes her way through the thick undergrowth* *slides on moss* *loses her shoe in quicksand* *gets hit in the head with a mango* *finally breaks through to a small clearing where a fire burns merrily*  There you are! *Betsy claps her hands*  And Harry’s here too?

Hey, doll.  *Harry pulls a stick holding a marshmallow out of the fire*  Skipper kind of, whaddayacallit, ‘reached out’ to me and told me you were getting down to the nitty gritty or whatever.  She thought I should be here in case you went off the rails.

Off the rails? Never.  *Betsy sits at the fire* *looks longingly at marshmallow*  Can I have–

No.  *Skipper settles beside Betsy*  So, now we have to think about how we’re going to get through this underbrush so you can meet your objective to write at least two book-length stories per year.  Then, hopefully, you can work your way up to three or four, or even more.

*Harry snorts* Yeah, good luck with that. Got any chocolate?  I wanna make smores.

*Betsy drools*  Ooooooo….smores…..

None for you.  *Skipper points* There’s stuff in the cabinet hidden behind that Sanchezia Speciosa.

Cool. *Harry rummages behind the plant*

Okay.  *Skipper crosses her ankles*  Talk to me.  How can we make this happen.  *waves at surrounding jungle*  How can we chop through all this?

*Betsy purses lips*  Well, the first thing I think I need to do is establish a concrete work routine.

*Skipper straightens*  Concrete?  Do tell.

Yes. *Betsy pulls out notebook*  *flips pages*  *reads*  I need to work on production writing every day.  In the past, I’ve just said “for as much time as I can fit in,” but that doesn’t seem to work.  I need to shoot for an actual time.  Then I’ll know whether or not I’ve made it.

Because saying ‘as much time as possible’ gives you an easy out. *Harry walks back to the fire with a new pack of marshmallows, chocolate bars, and a box of graham crackers*  If you only work, like, fifteen minutes, then you tell yourself it was all you could do, when you were really wasting time watching cat videos.

Cats are not a waste of time.  *Betsy watches Harry, distracted by chocolate*

They are as far as I’m concerned.  *Harry puts a marshmallow on a stick* *holds stick over fire*

Have you worked out what your daily time goal is going to be?  *Skipper cocks head*

Yes.  I’ve been working on it for a few weeks.

And you’re going to work every day? Seven days a week? *Harry pulls marshmallow back*  *shakes head*  Not burned enough.  *puts it back in the fire*

Yes.  Because when I don’t work on a project for a day or two, it’s easy to let it slide altogether.  So I want to work every day, if possible.

*Skipper pulls out her tablet computer* *taps in a few notes*  And if you work for the hours you’ve determined you can routinely put in, will you be able to write at least two book length works in a year?

*Betsy shifts*  See, that’s part of the problem.  I’m still learning my own process, so I really don’t know how long it takes me to do things when I’m committed to working every day.  But I’ve started a writing log to help me figure it out.  I can’t come up with a schedule until I see how long the different steps take, so I’m trying to track everything.  Once I have more information, I’ll have a better idea.

Good.  *Skipper types*  We like tracking.  And routines.

*Harry looks up* *Chocolate is smeared on his face*  Just make sure you keep writing every day.  That is the key.

*Skipper jumps up* *pumps little fist*  Okay!  First habit time!  Every morning, you’re going to write, and you’re going to try to put in as much as possible of your goal time before you do anything else.  How’s that sound?

*Betsy blinks*  Like I’m probably insane.

No.  *Harry burps*  You’re a writer.

Same thing.

 

To be continued…

 

 

 

When we last left Betsy’s Blog, Betsy was meeting with Skipper – chipmunk extraordinaire and Habit Implementation Specialist.  Skipper has been getting quite impatient waiting for Betsy to get off her butt and move forward (in which Skipper is not alone), and decided a little quality face-time was in order.

Although Skipper seemed to be knocking back margaritas with abandon by the end of the post, she had also managed to lead Betsy through a brain storming session to come up with an fuzzy, overarching, dream-like objective.  Betsy wants to write stories, and have people read them.

Shocking.

Now Betsy is back for her next therapy session, but she seems a little glum.  What’s going on?  And what’s the next step now that she’s identified her overarching objective?

Let’s see….

 

*Skipper bounces into her office in Betsy’s brain*  *Stops short when she sees Betsy is already there, reclining in a recliner, hands folded over her not-so-flat tummy*

Wow, you’re early.  *Skipper skips to the other recliner in the cozy office*  *Pours herself a cup of tea (decaf) from the teapot on a small table*  *Sips*  I thought I was going to have to wait for you to show up.

No.  *Betsy sighs*  I figured I might as well just get here.  *sighs again*

*Skipper tilts head inquisitively*  What’s up, buttercup?  Why so blue?  I thought we made good progress last week.

Yeah, I guess.  *Betsy sighs*

*Skipper puts down teacup*  Seriously, you’re bringing me down.  What’s going on?

*Betsy brings recliner to upright position*  It’s just…I thought my overall life objective would be a little bit more impressive than “write stories and have other people read them.”  I mean, that was hardly worth writing a blog post about.  I’ve known I wanted to do that for a long time.

*Skipper curls legs under her butt*  No, see it was important for you to verbalize it again.  You’d forgotten.  But we needed to know that overarching objective, because we need to know how you define success.

*Betsy blinks*  Success?

Right.  When you say you want to “do your work”, we need to know what YOUR work is.  What YOUR main objective is.  How YOU see success.

*Betsy blinks*

*Skipper draws in a deep breath* *lets it out slowly*  So now that we know what’s going to make you happy and successful is writing a lot of stories and having people read them, we have the starting point we need.

*Betsy scratches head*  We do?

Yes.  *Skipper pushes aside teapot*  *grabs brandy snifter*  *pours healthy amount into a glass*  *sips*  We know you’re not looking to write one story – you want to write a lot of them.  And we know you don’t want to just hide them away – you want other people to read them.  And we know the creating of them is what makes you happy and feel like life is worth living.  These are all good things to know.  Some of the details may change as you move along, but the main point won’t, because that’s what you were born with.

*Betsy blinks*  Okay.

But the overarching objective CAN wither and die or get all twisted up in your head.  You need to bring it into the real world.  You need to make it concrete.

*Betsy frowns*  So, just thinking about it isn’t enough?

No!  *Skipper sips brandy*  No.  You actually have to DO something about it.  Otherwise it’s only a thought and doesn’t really mean anything.

Oh.  *Betsy scratches head*  Okay.

*Skipper sighs*  Soooo, what do you think you should do to make this fuzzy objective a reality?

*Betsy blinks*  Write stuff?

Right!  *Skipper puts down glass* *claps paws together*  We’ll start there.  You say you want to, and I quote, “write a lot of stories.”

Yes.

So, what do you consider to be “a lot?”  Five?  Five hundred?

*Betsy scratches her head*  Well, I have enough ISBNs for at least fifty stories.  I’d kind of like to use them all up.

Okay, let’s start with fifty.  *Skipper pulls out her tablet computer and makes a note*  And what kind of a time frame are we talking about here?

*Betsy shrugs*  Before I die.

*Skipper rolls eyes*  Let’s try to get a little more specific.  How many stories do you want to write in a year?

*Betsy chews bottom lip*  I don’t know how many I can–

Eh!  *Skipper slashes air with her paw*  There is no “can” there is only “do”

I don’t think that’s what Yoda said.

Whatever.  How many do you WANT to write in a year?

I don’t know.  *Betsy considers*  Two?  Three?

Okay, two a year to start.  At least two with the idea of moving to three.  *Skipper looks at Betsy*  See?  That gives us something concrete to work with.  We’ve taken the overall fuzzy objective of “write a lot of stories” and narrowed it down to “write two-three stories a year”.  Now we can set up some goals and habits to reach that objective and get really specific.

But I’m not sure I can–

Eh!  *Skipper slashes with her paw again*  You can if you think you can.  That’s what we’re going to do next.  We’ll iron out some specifics and see what we need to do to structure your life to meet this goal.  I’ll reach out to Harry and pull him into the next brainstorming session.  *Skipper taps on tablet*

*Betsy frowns*  I’m not sure my brain can handle too many more storms.

*Skipper shrugs*  It’s got to be better than what you’ve been doing.

True.

 

To be continued…

 

 

 

As you may (or may not) know (or care), Betsy is once again striving to set goals and develop habits that will at long last move her life forward.  But in order to do this, she first needs to identify her overall objective.  Her Big Picture, if you will.  The thing towards which the goals and habits will lead.  The horizon towards which she will steer.

Because Betsy is, well, Betsy, this is much easier said than done.

In a last ditch effort to chart a course through the perilous waters of sloth and distraction, Betsy is meeting with Skipper, a chipmunk who is one of the best Habit Implementation Specialists the Muse Council has to offer.  Skipper will be asking the council for a raise after this assignment.

Will Skipper be able to help?  Or will Betsy finally push her over the edge of insanity?

Let’s find out…..

 

*Betsy knocks on a synapse in her brain*

Come on in.

*Synapse opens* *Betsy enters a small office*  *There’s low, peaceful lighting and some smooth jazz music playing*  *Water bubbles in a fountain*  *Fish swim*

Who knew I had fish in my brain?  That explains a lot.

*Turns and sees two comfortable recliners*  *Skipper is lounging in one of them*

Come on, sit down.  *Skipper waves a paw toward the empty recliner*  Let’s chat.

*Betsy settles into recliner*  Why did you want to see me?

*Skipper curls her back legs underneath her*  We need to get focused here.  You aren’t getting any younger.

*Betsy sticks out her bottom lip*  Everyone keeps saying that.

Think of me as your Goals, Objectives, and Habits Therapist.  You are now officially in consultation.

*Betsy looks worried*  I guess that’s okay.  The doctors want me to go to therapy anyway.

*Skipper settles back*  *Picks up margarita suddenly on the table next to her and sips deeply*  Okay.  Let’s start at the foundation level.  Again.

What does that mean?

It means that before we get to concrete goals, we have to look at the Big Picture.

*Betsy gulps*  That sounds scary.

*Skipper takes another drink*  Look.  The Big Picture is kind of like the overall canvas of the painting of your life, right?  It’s what the map of your life looks like when you’re looking at it from ten feet away  It’s where you’re steering your ship.  Remember?

*Betsy blinks*  Okay.

*Skipper drinks*  When you get closer to the Big Picture, you see details.  Those are the the things that make up the painting.  Goals let you build those things.  Understand?

*Betsy nods uncertainly*  Okay.

When you get even closer, you can see brush strokes.  Those are the individual habits that give you the basis for achieving the goals, building the details, and painting the Big Picture.

*Betsy waves hands*  You make it sound so organized!  But I don’t think I have just ONE Big Picture!  I think I have LOTS of Big Pictures!

Don’t worry.  *Skipper pats her knee*  The real Big Picture is Big enough to include all of the different areas of your life.  It ties them together.  Kind of like a Big Mural, if you will.

*Betsy blinks*  Really?

Yes. *Skipper smiles encouragingly*  So what do you think your Big Picture is?  We don’t need specifics.  Just a sketch.

I don’t know!  *Betsy wails*  *Pulls at her hair*  I just don’t know!  To get the next hit of ice cream? *starts drooling*  Mmmmmm…..ice cream…..Help me, man.  I’m jonesing here.  Give me the cream…

Easy…easy… *Skipper pats her arm*  Relax….Recline….

*Betsy reclines*  *Listens to the fountain*  Sorry….I feel….better.

Good. *Skipper pushes aside empty margarita glass*  *grabs a new, full one*  So, we’re going to brainstorm a little here.

*Betsy blinks*  *Brings recliner back to an upright position*  We are?

Yes.  We are.  *Skipper drinks*  We need to nail down the Big Picture before we can go any further.

*Betsy chews lip* Okay.

*Skipper leans forward*  *Focuses on Betsy with big, dark eyes*  What makes you happy?

Telling stories makes me happy.

Telling stories?

Stories in general.  Reading them.  Writing them.  Telling them.

What else?

Creating things makes me happy.

Why?

Creating things lets me express myself.  Creating things lets me be who I really am.

Creating all things?

Well, stories.  Creating stories. That’s my thing.

*Skipper stands on her hind paws*  *Throws arms wide*  Now tell me!  What is your Big Picture?  Let it out! Shout it to the world!

*Betsy jumps to feet*  I want to create!  I want to write stories!  *Raises fists to sky*  And I want to let other people read them!

Whew.  *Skipper sinks back into her recliner*  *Takes a long sip of her margarita*  I cannot believe it took you that long to get to there, but at least we have a starting point now.  Will you kindly write it down this time and paste it on your wall or something?  Don’t forget it again.

Okay.  *Betsy collapses, panting, into her own recliner*  Golly, I feel like I just gave birth.

You did.  *Skipper drinks*  To a Big Picture.

Oh.  No wonder it hurt.

 

Next on Betsy’s Blog….”Getting Concrete.”

 

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen!  Welcome to… Betsy’s! Got! Objectives!  Part 2. (here’s part 1) *thunderous applause*  First, let’s meet our cast of characters.  *music starts playing*

He’s a white gerbil trying to climb the Quest Guide ladder and he needs Betsy to get moving towards becoming a successful independent author.  He’s… Harry! *music swells* *applause*  Next, she’s the Muse and she’s the…Muse!  *music swells* *roars of applause*  She’s a chipmunk who knows how to get things done and is one of the best Habit Implementation Specialists in the land.  She’s…Skipper!  *applause* *cheers*  He’s THE caffeinated beverage of champions and responsible for most of Betsy’s waking moments.  He’s…Coffee!  *screams of adoration*  Now, now.  Don’t mob the coffee, ladies and gentlemen. *laughter*  Finally, meet our contestant.  She’s an author of dubious talent and so-so perseverance.  She is, of course…Betsy! *music stops* *silence* *crickets*

When last we left Betsy’s blog, Habit Implementation Specialist, Skipper, had given Betsy the assignment to think about objectives.  She’s supposed to be presenting them for us tonight.  But has Betsy given any thought whatsoever to objectives?  Will she be able to dance her way through the explanations?  Or will she go down in flames.  The judges are waiting to find out!

 

*Betsy enters her brain, holding a folder of papers* *Looks around nervously* *Heads down a corridor to a section of her brain she has not visited since giving oral reports in college*  *Pauses outside a ganglion* *Tries to go through papers in the folder*

*Ganglion opens* *Coffee peers out*  Ma cherie, are you coming in?  Ze are waiting.

I, um, sure.  I’m coming in.  *Betsy puts papers back in folder*  I’m just a little nervous, you know?   Skipper was really serious about the whole objective thing the last time I saw her.

Need a sip?

Oh, yes, please.

*Coffee extends arm* *Betsy sips from his wrist*

Thank you soooo much.  *Betsy straightens her shoulders*  Okay, let’s get this over with.

Magnifique! Come along.

*Betsy and Coffee walk past ganglion and enter a big empty space* *Spotlights hit them as they walk across a stage* *Betsy holds up her hand to shield her eyes as Coffee leads her forward*

Ladies, Harry, she is here.

We can see that.  *Harry sounds bored*

Harry?  *Betsy blinks to clear her vision* *Harry, Skipper and The Muse are sitting at the edge of the stage behind a long desk* *They have notepads in front of them and are all wearing severe expressions* *Betsy gulps*

I will see you later when we have ze scores, yes?  On with the show!  *Coffee exits, stage right*

Wait!  *Betsy tries to stop him, but he eludes her*  What am I supposed to do now?

Tell us your first objective.

*Betsy blinks*  Muse?  Is that you?

Who do you think it is?  Some other little voice giving you ideas?  Come on, spill.

You did work on your objectives, didn’t you?  *Skipper sounds severe*  I know you were sick last week, but there are no excuses.

Yeah  *Harry lounges behind the desk*  Hit us with an objective and make it a big one.  Go.

Stop pressuring me!  *Betsy fumbles with papers* Everyone just wait a minute!  Okay.  *clears throat*  My objective is….I want to write stories.  Thank you.  I’ll be here all week.  Don’t forget to tip your servers.  *Betsy turns to run away*

Wait!  *Skipper jumps up on top of desk*  That’s it?  That’s your big objective?

*Betsy hunches her shoulders*  Yes?

Wow.  *Skipper shakes head*  I’ve worked with some stubborn clients, but….wow.  Did you even think about objectives since the last time we talked?  Did you even read the blog posts you wrote the last time we talked about goals?

*Betsy traces a circle with her sneaker*  I really was sick, you know.

In other words, no.  She didn’t do nuthin’  *Harry spits out a sunflower seed*  I need some orange juice.

*Skipper sits on the edge of the desk*  *Little legs swing*  And this is why you have trouble getting anywhere.  You don’t know where you want to end up.

*Betsy ducks head*  Do, too.

*Muse stretches*  This is going to be a long one.  We need to be comfortable.  *snaps fingers* *they are back in Harry’s office*  *Coffee turns around, surprised*

Why do you have a little umbrella stuck in your head? *Harry studies him*  And is that a lemon slice?

*Coffee draws self up with a wounded air*  I was trying for a tropical flavor, if you must know.

Right. *Muse settles onto old, comfortable sofa*  I think I’m going to need another sort of a drink with a little umbrella before this is over.

Could we possibly get back to the objectives now? *Skipper stands with hands on hips*  This is important.

Oh, we don’t have to–  *Betsy shuts up when Skipper glares at her*

We do have to, and it looks like we have to start at the beginning.  Again.  And maybe, just maybe, the concepts will sink in this time.

*Betsy hangs head in shame*  I’ll do better.  I promise.

Okay.  *Skipper shakes shoulders, hands, rolls head*  Let’s start.

*Betsy sighs*  Hooray?

 

To be continued…