mastermind group – Live Cheap Dream Big

Tag: mastermind group

Novel Update: Scenes 1-3

On June 23, 2020

I joined Jeff Goins 500 Words a Day challenge on Monday. The goal is to write 500 words a day for 31 days. Just writing, no editing. I only discovered this challenge a few days ago but it has been going on for several years already. When a good thing starts it’s hard to stop it!

I use Scrivener for writing novels, and there is a handy tool that tracks my writing progress each day. Yesterday it showed about 1,000 words written. I probably deleted that many too! Anyway, I can say I made progress and met the challenge of 500 words.

I’m not sure how this will play out, as my novel is in the second draft stage. A lot of my work is editing and rewriting. I can write 500 words every day even if it isn’t exactly according to the challenge. One thing that the challenge does is motivate me to work on the novel every day. I have not been doing that for the last year, even though I want to finish this story and move on to the next story in the series.

When I wrote the first draft of Live Cheap Dream Big, I was really focused on the 50,000 word count to meet the NaNoWriMo challenge. I did well with the first half of the story and then it went off at such a crazy tangent that I gave up in disgust. I did meet the NaNoWriMo challenge though!

This book sat in a corner for several years. When I dusted it off and reread it, I decided it still had potential. I spent a few days considering how I could salvage the initial story and eventually it landed in the corner again.

Elsie taps me on the shoulder every now and then asking if I’m ready to try again. Yesterday I was. I have the first two scenes edited. Yay! The first pass through the novel this time is to pull the story line together. Once I have that done I will go through it again to polish it. Then, hopefully, it will be ready for a professional editor to take a crack at it.

Excerpt From Live Cheap, Dream Big

This is a short excerpt from the novel. Post in the comments and let me know what you think. Be constructive and kind please!

Scene Three

Today I move on to the third scene.

Scene three originated from a short story I wrote about an actual event. I added it to the novel about a year ago. It’s written in first person. Today I will rewrite it, so it becomes Elsie’s experience. I hope it will be as effective as it was originally.

I’m blogging about this novel partly to keep me motivated and not let my fears and doubts get in the way of finishing.

I also want to track my progress as I go, so I can repeat the process with the next novel in this series. Repetition makes learning new skills easier. Repetition also shows me where I can improve and maybe the next novel won’t take quite so long.

Finally, I’m blogging about the novel so that anyone following my progress will see that it doesn’t require perfection along the way to reach your dreams.

If you’re struggling to bring your creative dreams to life, pop over to my Facebook group. It’s an informal mastermind/accountability group for people who create.

Do You Need a Mastermind Group?

By bonnietw

On June 7, 2020

In Live Cheap, Marketing, Resources

What is a mastermind group?

Imagine meeting a group of people who freely share ideas, techniques, and resources to help you succeed.
Imagine a group of people who cheer you on as you work towards your goals.
Imagine a group of people who support you when your idea fails, and who help you re-imagine an idea that will succeed.

That’s the essence of a mastermind group. A small group of people who are invested in your success, and who depend on you to do the same for them.

I have been a member of several mastermind groups. Without exception, I have succeeded – and exceeded – in my goals more easily than if I had done it all on my own.

There is safety in numbers. There is also more opportunity. The image on this post shows how animals gather in a group. Each animal looks in a different direction, on the lookout for dangers as well as opportunities.

When people gather with a common constructive goal, the results have been proven. People are more successful.

Mastermind groups are successful for businesses, but they are also used for all types of groups.

Want to Join a Mastermind Group?

I created a private Facebook group that will be an informal mastermind group. Hop on over and check it out.

You can get my Guide to Creating a Mastermind Group as a free welcome gift when you subscribe to my email list. On the right side of your screen you’ll see where you can enter you name and email. Make sure you click the option to receive my email updates. Your guide will be on its way to you immediately by email. Use it to create your own mastermind group tailored specifically to your goals.

I belong to a fiber art group that meets twice a month. I have increased my skills and artistic expression as a result. I have been encouraged to try new techniques – and even when my results are laughable, they see and validate my progress.

Why I Love Mastermind Groups

This is a paper pieced house that is intended to become a wall hanging (the pattern is from https://www.quilterscache.com/). It started as a project with my fiber art group, but it turned out to be a major learning opportunity for me.

I was new to paper piecing. I printed the patterns at the wrong sizes – so the pieces didn’t fit together. Eventually I started over with this project. Then I lost it. It is somewhere in my quilting studio, but who knows when I will find it again!

My point is that I never would have pushed on with this project if it hadn’t been for my fiber art group. They encouraged me even when they saw my mismatched sizes – and provided tips for how to print patterns correctly. Now they remind me to keep looking for it so I can finish it.

Regardless of your goals, having a cheering section is going to make your work a lot more fun.

Why I Blog

By bonnietw

On May 26, 2020

In Dream Big, Thinking Out Loud

There’s something special about turning 50. For me, it was like flipping a switch. I suddenly felt I had permission to let go of all the restrictive behaviours I learned in the previous four decades.

I have been waiting for this decade all my life!

Turning 50 also had a few surprises. At 49 I ended up in the hospital with necrotizing pneumonia. If you know your Latin, you know that anything with “necrotizing” in the diagnosis is bad.

Nine days in the hospital, over 2 liters of fluid drained from my lungs, massive amounts of antibiotics, and then I was released. I was weak as a kitten. Walking more than a dozen steps was exhausting. Stay tuned, I have a story about this day that will likely end up in a novel!

Less than a month out of hospital I began experiencing stroke-like symptoms. Freaked me out. Freaked my husband out. Back to the emergency department. It turned out to be a benign meningioma and my neurosurgeon successfully removed it. Thank goodness it wasn’t cancer, but brain surgery is still no picnic.

While my health scares were treated quickly, the after effects have been a little hard to deal with. I also experienced childhood trauma, which didn’t make my more recent recovery any easier. I’m still healing.

Now here I am in my 50s. I am alive in the “me too” age, and I’m so grateful to see that trauma recovery resources are available to people of every age now.

Turning 50 was a turning point for me. After two health scares, and decades of fear around my childhood experience, I decided that enough is enough. Fear, I have realized, is the backside of excitement. Those butterflies in my stomach can stop me, or they can lift me up to new heights.

Today I give myself permission

To speak out when I have something to say.
To seek help when I need it.
To help others when I can.
To follow my dreams.

Even when it is scary. Maybe ESPECIALLY when it is scary.

So why this blog?

When I retired my business in 2018, I expected to be happily retired with my husband. I expected to keep myself busy with new hobbies, like quilting and sewing. I expected to keep learning. And I have done all of that.

One thing I want to do in retirement is to write my novels. I’m not doing that. So this blog is my outside influence to help me stay on course.

I also created a private Facebook group. If you’ve ever felt you could achieve your big dreams if you only had a little support and encouragement, come on over and join me there. It’s an informal mastermind group, with “get-it-done” days, and opportunities to share ideas.

What would you create in your life if you didn’t let fear get in the way?

Live Cheap Dream Big

Living the dream on a shoestring budget