Each week on his show, Bob painted a mesmerizing landscape in just half an hour. He was known for his soft-spoken style, his signature permed hair, and his uncanny ability to make you believe that just like him, you could paint a masterpiece.

Most of Bob’s viewers didn’t know that he meticulously planned out his paintings in advance. He would create the original, memorize every brushstroke, then paint the scene a second time during the taping of the show.

Every once in a while, Bob would make a tiny mistake and then repeat his signature phrase, “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” Then, he would either paint over the mistake or find a way to blend it into the scene.

There is a good lesson here not only for painters, but for writers as well. We like to beat ourselves up for mistakes. We are disappointed when we mess up or don’t perform perfectly.

But remember, you’re human. You’re imperfect. You won’t get it right every time.

There are times when you will flat-out bomb. That book, that blog post, that article, that lesson or speech won’t go as planned. In those moments, the last thing you want to do is celebrate your mistakes.

But what if you did this instead: rather than painting over those flaws and imperfections, you accepted them as a part of the picture? And not only accepted them… but celebrated them?

It doesn’t mean you should compromise your standards. You can still reach for excellence while also accepting your humanity. Those happy little accidents, if you learn from them, can be the pathway to a life that is more beautiful and scenic than all the perfect paintings in the world.

Today’s Challenge: What is the last mistake you made? What if, instead of trying to cover it up, you accepted it as part of your picture and used it as a learning experience?

The post Happy Little Accidents appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

My guest today is Mary Click. She is the National Intergenerational Tutoring Director for the Oasis Institute, a nonprofit educational organization that promotes healthy aging through lifelong learning, active lifestyles, and service.

Oasis Intergenerational Tutoring has positively impacted over 525,000 children since its inception in 1989, and has been implemented in more than 100 school districts across the country. The award-winning volunteer program pairs older adults with children in grades K-3 to work one-on-one each week not only as tutors, but as mentors and positive role models.

In her role with Oasis, Mary is responsible for developing resources to support the tutoring program in nine Oasis centers and independent sites in twenty cities. Mary collaborates closely with school district administrators, school district facilitators, and the Oasis network tutoring staff to serve volunteer tutors participating in the program. She previously served as the St. Louis Tutoring Manager and held other project management roles during her 15-year tenure at The Oasis Institute.

In this conversation, Mary and I talk about the importance of childhood literacy, how schools have changed over the last few decades, how reading impacts kids in many different ways, and how you can get involved as a tutor.

To explore how to get involved as a tutor, visit https://oasis.net/tutoring.

The post Tutoring Director Mary Click on Childhood Literacy and Changing Kids’ Lives Through Mentoring appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Why? Because I knew it was a lot of work to put together a great live event. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to invest the time or energy to host a retreat when I felt there were so many other important things to do. Client work, my podcast, my own writing, and the endless administrative details necessary to run a business all require my attention. Hosting a retreat for a select few people was pretty far down that list.

However, I’ve been to a lot of retreats and other small events in the last couple of years. I knew the incredible power a retreat or live event can have to impact people’s lives. There is magic when people come together in person—a magic that you simply can’t duplicate online.

Despite my best intentions to put off a retreat until next year or beyond, I decided to go ahead and give it a shot. Several of our Daily Writer Club members had been asking about a retreat, so I knew it was something they wanted to do.

We made plans to have a smaller retreat of ten people. I had a lot of help planning the event, and we decided on the following schedule:

On Tuesday evening, we met at a great BBQ restaurant for dinner.

On Wednesday, I kicked off the day by having everyone share what a successful retreat looked like for them. In other words, what did they most want to get out of our time together? This was helpful for me to know so I could adjust as needed in order for everyone to get the most value out of it. We spent the rest of the day in two small groups, helping everyone get clear on their business goals.

On Thursday, we had a similar schedule, except that we focused on how to write a short book. I’m a big proponent of crafting short books, especially if you’re a first-time author. I did a teaching session on three ways to organize a short book, then we spent the rest of the day in two small groups working on their book concepts, outline, and their next steps for writing and publishing.

Now that you have a basic idea of how we structured this retreat, I’ll share the ten most important lessons I’m taking away from this experience.

1. People are hungry for live events.

After two years of dealing with COVID, people have been ready to get back to live events. Not everyone, of course—some people are still cautious, and everyone has to choose for themselves whether they want to attend live events.

Personally, I never stopped going to events. But it’s clear that people simply want to be together. This retreat showed me the power of getting together in person, particularly for writers who are often isolated.

2. Food and location make a big difference.

I splurged on a nice, large, historic home in St. Charles, Missouri. We were only a couple of blocks away from the historic Main Street, where there are dozens of quaint little shops and many coffee shops and restaurants. It’s also right next to the Missouri River.

Catering was provided by my friend Stephanie Hill, who owns the catering company Nibble & Nosh. The food and the home were a little more upscale, which set a tone that I wasn’t trying to get away with a budget retreat.

3. Introverted writers need a different type of retreat.

I designed this 2-day retreat as sort of a “retreat for introverted writers.” I’ve been to retreats before where people are going from the early morning until late at night, and it’s exhausting for introverts who need personal space and downtime.

So, we went into this retreat with the plan of having a long lunch break, and being finished around 3:00pm both days, with an afternoon break so people could take a walk or get coffee.

What I didn’t take into account, though, was that writers love to talk and talk when they’re around other writers. Even introverts open up a lot when they’re surrounded by others who “get them” and have similar goals and interests. We ended up not having much downtime because people wanted to talk!

4. The main value of a retreat is not information, it’s relationships.

As a result of being together, everyone there made new connections, expanded their goals, made a lot of progress on their book outline or project, or had some other type of breakthrough (myself included).

Everything is SO MUCH EASIER (and more fun) when you surround yourself with great people. A retreat is a great setting to build those relationships and collaborate with people.

5. You need help planning a great retreat.

I had a lot of help planning and running the Daily Writer retreat. My wife, Melanie, helped choose the venue and prep some of the food. Two of our Daily Writer Club members, M.J. James and Lynn Smargis, were a big help in planning the retreat and leading groups.

It’s not just about “having help” and offloading things you could do yourself. Having other people’s help and input actually multiplies the impact of the event. They bring ideas and energy you can’t bring yourself. I’m so grateful to these people for making it so much better than I could have done on my own.

6. A retreat or live event can have a powerful impact on someone’s business or life direction.

One of the people who came had been trying to build their ghostwriting business, but they have been stalled out for a while. However, in one of our group sessions, he discovered he had a real gift and love for editing. Now he is working with another editor in the group to build his editing business, which will be a quicker way to gain some income than ghostwriting.

This insight and a new direction for his business only happened because he attended the retreat. Being in a live setting with people who want to assist you can help you make radical progress in a short time.

In fact, it was a Total Life Freedom retreat where I was challenged to start the Daily Writer Club! I didn’t feel ready, yet I made the decision to do it two years ago in the context of a retreat.

7. A retreat is a great setting for people to look at the big picture.

At this retreat, we did a lot of book planning, but the most powerful question we talked about was “What do you really want from all this?”

We writers love books, but the book needs to be connected to your bigger goals. A lot of writers get stuck—not because they don’t have ideas, but because they’re not sure which idea to pursue. When you get clear about your goals and what you want, everything is a lot easier.

A retreat gives you the time and space to get away from the details of your business and life, and instead focus on the bigger picture.

8. People love swag!

We have all been to events where the organizers gave you merchandise that wasn’t high quality. I didn’t want to give away cheap pens or other items that weren’t first-class.

I went through VistaPrint and had high-quality tumblers, pens, notebooks, and stickers designed. They were not cheap, but they made a great impression. We put all of these items in gift bags for attendees.

Just a side note: when you are designing merchandise for your business, make sure it’s items people will actually use. Nobody wants another coffee mug. High-quality tumblers are a great option. I chose one with a white background so the green Daily Writer logo really stands out… especially when you’re using it on Zoom calls.

9. You’re never too old to chase your writing dreams.

We had several people in their 60’s or 70’s at the retreat. It was so fun and inspiring to see them taking action and making progress! Don’t ever think you’re too old (or too young) to try something new or take the next step.

10. The role of a retreat leader is not to be the guru, but a catalyst.

People in your group or community come to your retreat because they respect you and you have a certain breadth of knowledge they want to learn from. However, I don’t believe a retreat is the time to focus on the knowledge you have as a leader.

A retreat is not about gaining information. It’s about life change. And the best way life change happens is through conversations, application of knowledge, good questions, and discussion… all in a safe and welcoming environment.

The leader’s job is to be a catalyst and to make sure everyone is supported and included. This means having a high degree of emotional intelligence and social awareness. You need to be able to see when others aren’t participating and take steps to draw the best out of them.

Bonus lesson: Focus on adding value at a retreat, not making it highly profitable.

For this first retreat, my goal was not to make money. In fact, I planned on losing money. I wanted to get a good group together and have an awesome event. Therefore, I priced it really low and did everything I could to make it worthwhile.

I ended up losing money, but it wasn’t really a “loss.” I considered this an investment into my training as a retreat host. Events can be expensive, and my goal will never be to make this the most profitable part of my Daily Writer business. But it’s an important part because nothing can match the energy and relational value of a live event. You can’t replicate it any other way.

Those are my major takeaways from this retreat. I learned a lot and saw this as an opportunity for me to get my feet wet as a retreat leader. I suspect this will become a bigger part of my Daily Writer business as time goes on.

If you have ever considered leading a retreat for writers, I hope you’ll take these lessons to heart. And I certainly want to invite you to participate in our next Daily Writer Retreat, which is coming up at the end of February! More details to come…

The post 10 Lessons from Hosting the First Daily Writer Retreat appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

It’s a blessing and a curse to live in the internet age. It’s a blessing, of course, because we have access to unlimited knowledge and connections. There are a million options for where you want to take your writing business or creativity.

This also represents a curse because, well, too many options is overwhelming. It’s easy to get paralyzed by all the different models of a writing career. Should you do fiction? Should you do courses or a podcast? What about public speaking? Should you start or join a mastermind? What about putting together a community? How many books should you write a year?

For any conceivable model of a writing career, there exists someone out there who is doing it. Here is my best advice: Choose one person who represents the kind of career you want to build and then consume everything they put out. Subscribe to their email newsletter. Read their books and listen to their podcast if they have one. Follow and interact with them on social media.

Then you can see what you like or don’t like about what they do, and adjust accordingly. Don’t follow a dozen people because you will only get confused and frustrated. Just pick one person who is a few steps ahead of you, then figure out how they built their platform or business.

By the way, a little secret that helps is to reply occasionally to that person’s email newsletter and ask a question. They will appreciate the interaction and get to know you. It’s a great way to engage with an influencer.

Daily Question: Who is the writer you want to be like, and what do you like about their writing or business?

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The writer Matthew Kelly said, “It is important to understand that you are not writing a story or a book, or a sentence or a paragraph. You are writing a body of work. Whatever you are writing today is just one small part of that body of work.”

This helps take the pressure off because we can easily get stressed out by feeling like we have to create a perfect article, social media post, email, or book chapter every time we sit down to write. But no single thing we write is the defining element of our body of work. It’s part of a much larger whole.

If you’re writing a book, don’t think of it as one book, but many. What if you thought about writing a dozen books over the next ten years? How would that change your point of view? It takes the pressure off.

Whatever you’re writing, it’s just a snapshot of where you are right now in your learning and life. There is no end to your knowledge and learning. So just write it now and move on. Your legacy isn’t just one book. The one book doesn’t represent the end all, be all of your learning.

At the Taylor Guitars company, they said, “The best guitar we make is the one we make tomorrow.” In the same vein, the best book you write is the one you write tomorrow. Always be improving and adding a bit each day to your body of work.

Daily Question: Does thinking about your writing as a larger body of work help take the pressure off what you are working on now?

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There are many advantages to being an introverted writer. You enjoy being alone, which is a big benefit when trying to get your writing done. You’d mostly rather spend your time with books than with people, which can help you dive deeply into literature and learning. You’d rather observe than participate, which can help you approach life like a journalist or researcher.

Those same tendencies can backfire sometimes, though. The very strengths that help you become a great writer can make it hard for you to build an audience—which is something every writer must do.

Here are five quick tips for introverted writers on building an audience.

1. Don’t be afraid to put yourself and your writing out there. Life is not all about observing others or writing about other people’s experiences. We want to hear what YOU have experienced and what YOU have to say about your topic.
2. Remember, writing is all about serving people. Don’t get hung up on what you think others think about you. Keep in the forefront of your mind the idea that your writing is helping people.
3. Get out and have real conversations with people. As introverts, we often live in our heads and avoid life in the real world. But this is where the action happens. Don’t think of people as “exhausting”—think of them as your best teachers and the reason you do what you do.
4. Test out material by blogging, podcasting, guest posting, and writing for other websites. The only way to get better is to write consistently. Don’t worry about trying to build a perfect system. Just start writing, test out material in as many places as you can, and then get better by learning from these experiences.
5. Don’t over-analyze this process. Just start writing and course-correct as you go. You have to let go of the need to be perfect and to have it all figured out. Just relax, get to work, and know that you are intelligent and will figure it out as you go along.

Your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness. Don’t get sucked into the lie that people are the enemy. You’re there to serve them, enjoy them, and learn from them.

Daily Question: Which of these 5 tips do you need to put into practice the most?

The post The Introverted Writer’s Dilemma appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

One of the most fascinating aspects of being a writer is that lots of people are eager to give you advice. In fact, there is a giant industry of books, conferences, retreats, coaching, and podcasts (this being one of them!) devoted to giving you writing advice.

However, be careful who you’re listening to. There is a whole group of people who are eager to give advice about writing and book marketing but have not actually accomplished much.

So, before you take anyone’s advice about how you should approach your writing or your business, make sure to ask yourself whether they have done what they are teaching. Look at the results they have gotten for themselves or others.

It’s easy to have opinions about writing, but it’s much harder to actually produce something successful. Make sure those are the people you’re listening to.

Daily Writer: Who are the top 3 people you take writing advice from? Have they accomplished something worthwhile?

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In the previous two entries in this series, we have taken a look at the destructive nature of jealousy, and why you should focus on what you can do to make yourself successful rather than spending your emotional energy being envious.

Let’s dive into three questions that will help you focus on attitudes and actions that will spur your writing success. We’ll tackle the first one here today. Also, notice that each one begins with “what.”

The first question is: What can I learn from this person?

When you think of another writer who is successful, and if you’re honest, you’re jealous of them, they have something you want. They might have better name recognition, more income, more people’s attention, or more of something else. I can easily tick off two dozen writers in my own orbit who fit this category.

When we’re jealous of someone, we begin to think of them in a negative light. At our worst, we wish they weren’t so successful. That’s why jealousy is so insidious and destructive. At its worst, jealousy is less about wanting someone’s success and more about wanting their failure.

We need to flip this scenario around. Instead of wanting to take away someone else’s success, we should figure out how we can get to their level. What people, books, habits, and experiences helped them be successful?

If they have a blog, subscribe to it. If they wrote a book, read it. If they have a Facebook group, join it. If they are on Twitter, ask them questions.

That person has done some things that can help you be more successful. So set aside your own ego for a moment and humbly ask, “What can I learn from this person?” It will change your own attitude and also help you focus on tangible activities that produce results for you.

Daily Question: Think of another writer more successful than you. What are three things they have done that you can start doing in your own writing or business as well?

The post What Can You Learn from a Successful Writer? appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

I’m thrilled to feature this conversation with my good friend Ken Hannaman. Ken is a Possibility Mindset Coach who has a never-ending thirst for knowledge and personal self-discovery. Ken is an executive in the corporate space and has just written and published his first book, which is titled Ungraduated: Finding Your Why and Dropping Out of Outdated Belief Systems.

Ken is also the host of the excellent podcast, Ungraduated Living & Learning, which I highly recommend!

Ken is one of the most driven, thoughtful, yet kind and curious people I know. Through his leadership experience as well as his personal learning, he has gained the perspective that while formal education is necessary for some basic life skills, what we all really need is personal & self-driven learning. He believes we often need to “ungraduate” from the old school of thought that has been socially programmed into our mindsets. (I love his thinking!)

Ken is part of our Daily Writer Community, and it has been a blast seeing his book come together over the last year or so. In this conversation, Ken shares why he wrote his book, the biggest challenges he faced, how he formed his launch team, and some advice for authors. As a bonus, we also get into some topics from his book, including labels, personal abundance, and growth.

Ken is a master thinker, and I highly encourage you to get his book if you want to be challenged in your thinking.

You can connect with Ken, listen to his podcast, and pick up his books through the links below:

Ungraduated.com

Ungraduated Living & Learning Podcast

Ungraduated: Finding Your Why and Dropping Out of Outdated Belief Systems

Connect with Ken on LinkedIn

Connect with Ken on Facebook

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