Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind ?

Nah!

Lots to learn and fondly remember about those days gone by.

BUT…

Let’s not dwell on it people. We’ve got a new year full of promise just waiting in the wings. So incredibly exciting. I love bringing new goals into focus.

Here’s some of the things I’m setting my sights on in 2014…

New Year’s Resolutions

*MOVING! I can not wait for this for a multitude of reasons. I’m super excited about our new home!!! I LOVE it and I’ll be sharing more of that with you as it happens. But I’m also stoked for the arrival of the day when I’m NOT MOVING ANYMORE! This process has officially eaten up most of 2013 and I’m ready to be done with it. Settled. Focusing on my other goals.

*Writing goals aplenty this year. I’m planning on selling book two, finishing book three and brainstorming book four. I’ve also got a little project that I’m dabbling with that I’d love to make more headway on. Getting all tingly for this writing year. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) showed me what I’m made of and I can’t wait to broaden my own horizons.

*I want to keep running. Last month I logged 49 miles of running and today I should break that number for the month of Dec. I’m pretty excited to be running more regularly. By doing that, I’m seeing my running improve and if I can run like that after the holiday season of gluttony is over, perhaps there will be a little less of my in 2014 LOL!

*Back to Workshop in 2014. This is my dance class and it’s way more than dancing, although we do plenty of that. My Tuesday nights are the BEST and I can’t wait to get back to our regular routine. I love my Yanni girls. <3 But why this gets a resolution shout-out is that, for the moment, the inflammation in my hamstrings isn’t bothering me as much as it has the last year, so perhaps I can get some of that lost flexibility back. *crosses fingers*

*I talked about the move, but deep within the move, is the opportunity for me to do a wee bit of clutter purging. As every year kicks off, I always clean and organize, but I am REALLY trying my best to straighten up, fly right and take advantage of this opportunity. I’m sure I’ll be writing more about this in the future too. Such a personal struggle. I blame my father for passing down his unorganized genes. *points accusing finger skyward*

*And lastly,  I want to continue my journey of doing things that scare and challenge me. I’ve found that I LOVE what’s on the other side of the hard things I’ve faced. I am a happier and better person for tackling my fears. The only regrets I have are for the things I’m still too afraid to do. So, in 2014 I’ll continue to challenge myself to be brave and we shall see how that’s working for me a year from now.

Your turn. Tell me what you’re focusing on in 2014.

Happy New Year my friends <3

Tags: 2014, Bravery, courage, dancing, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, New Year's Resolutions, Publishing, running, Success, writing

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I try very hard to stay attentive to the “coincidences” in my life. I’ve come to believe that the people and things that cross my path on a regular basis are there for a reason. And my life has changed for the better since I’ve started to accept that there is a bigger purpose for all things–even the little ones.

I can’t remember what blog or conversation sent me to purchase a copy of FAILING FORWARD: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success by John C. Maxwell  but it ended up on my Kindle. I also don’t know why I had the sudden urge to pull it out the other night and begin reading it, but WOW! It was exactly what I needed. A reminder that success is not a product of avoiding mistakes, it’s the ability to pick yourself up and use the experience to move forward.

This got me thinking about a poem that I had hanging in my locker all throughout high school. I even used part of it as my senior quote…

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned
too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Author Unknown

You might be wondering why the universe is sending me these messages, but I’m not. (I told you–I pay a lot more attention than I used to LOL!) It’s because I’m finishing a revision, working on a draft and playing with a secret little writing project in the middle of a lot of other big changes in my life. And this translates into…I’M SCARED. Unknowns are kinda frightening. At least they scare the heck out of me. I have big dreams and what if I can’t reach them? I want to be amaze-balls. Yup, I said it. I’ve never wanted to be ordinary. I’ve wanted to be extraordinary. I’ve always wanted to change the world. And the reason I haven’t really done it up until now is not because of the million and one excuses I can drum up at the tip of my tongue. (I’ve used them often.) It’s because I haven’t always been listening to the universal memo…

EVERYONE FAILS. THERE IS NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT IT.

EXTRAORDINARY IS WHAT HAPPENS AFTER FAILURE.

Why have I fought this concept so hard for so long? Why do I forget it sometimes, even when I know it? I have no freaking idea. My guess is that being scared is a pretty big, life defining thing. But I’m seeing steady growth and change in myself. I find the beauty of failure quicker and hold it longer than I ever have. And I’m appreciative of all the little reminders that cross my path and help me to keep failing with style. And because I like to share, it would make me feel good to be your push in the right direction today…

Fail forwards.

Don’t quit.

Don’t forget how far you’ve come by picking yourself up and dusting yourself off. Think about your most epic failure that turned into something amazing. Define your biggest loss that turned out to be your silver lining. You all know mine–when I lost my dad I woke up and decided to stop failing myself. The most beautiful, bittersweet, epic moment ever.

Success ahead…if you want it.

And it’s never to late to turn it inside out.

Tags: Dad, Fail Forward, Failing Forward, John C Maxwell, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Success

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Yesterday I was keeping my promise to myself and focusing on revisions. I even hauled my laptop and marked-up manuscript to the lobby of the dance studio. I was kinda pumped because I was able to focus and move through my notes while sitting in the middle of three classrooms that were blaring different sets of music and instructions. I was in the zone. How could that be? There have been days when I’ve had the perfect work conditions and get less done. *head thunk* I sound like I’m asking for an answer from you, but I’m not. I know the truth. For me its a combination of being ready and being determined.

READINESS: The truth is there are times when I just don’t know what to write. And for some of those times, it’s good for me to take a moment or two or however long it is, to mull over what I’m doing. I know I need to let the thoughts that sit in my finger tips, tumble around in my deeper places. I believe there is more to me than I’m capable of understanding and sometimes I just have to trust myself. I’m learning and changing and growing constantly and all of that takes time. But in all fairness, there are moments when I’m just scared that I suck and I think I’m not ready. Book 2 is kinda hard folks. It’s not unlovable, but it’s kind of like the second time you get pregnant and you realize it’s not going to be anything like the first time where you got to sleep when you were tired and people pampered you and stuff. Book 2 is like…Hey–I know you’re tired but you have a two year old with a fever and you need to get up every 45 minutes because they are crying and uncomfortable. And I know you have a sensitive stomach right now, but the baby just vomited across six rooms. And to top that all off, don’t expect a baby shower either or time for a spa day… Yeah, Book 2 is kind of like that, but different. Word vomit is a little milder on the stomach. LOL!

DETERMINATION: I’m absolutely a person who loves to work from home with my own schedule–I like my creative freedom. I like to be able to juggle my family life. I like to run. I like to have less stress. I like to avoid laundry by doing social media. BUT–I benefit from having some manageable deadlines. The people pleaser in me responds to that. Give me too much, too quickly and I will get it done (I’m one determined and competitive person on the inside) but I’ll be reduced to sludge. I’ll burn out like a shooting star. I’m not a race horse who responds well to spurs in my side, but lead me to the starting line and tell me that I’m not as good as the other horses and I’ll run my ass off to prove it isn’t true. There is a kernel of strength within me that gets me over that finish line. I need a little push, but not a beating. That’s when determination works best for me.

So what happens when readiness and determination collide in a perfect storm? Well, I get stuff done. I mean–I’m still scared. I’m pissing in my shoes every time I stop to think about it all too closely. BOOK 2!!!!!! Failure is such a bigger target than success. But I’m at that point where I know one thing for sure. There is something that scares me more than writing a bad book–it’s writing no book at all. It’s that simple and THAT just makes me laugh and revise. Ready and determined.

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
Bill Cosby

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”
Michael Jordan

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill

“The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.”

Buddha

Now I’m totally inspired for another day of revisions!!! What calms your fear of failure? What gets in your head and keeps you from moving forward? What’s your best overcoming failure story? Got another good failure/success quote to share? Have you been pregnant a second time????

Tags: Book 2, Failure, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Pregnancy, revision, Success, The Opposite of Gravity, writing

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