I took the picture above right before leaving the Aiming Low Non-Conference Saturday evening. When I left there I had mixed emotions. Ree Drummond, blogging superstar of the Pioneer Woman, was the closing keynote speaker. She shared with us her life story starting at birth then traveling through her childhood, teen years, adulthood, and then finally wife and motherhood. She did such a wonderful job chronicling her life with her words and of course, her beautiful photographs. She talked us through her first blog posts, amateur photos, to how she gets those amazing photographs of her dog, children, and food. Her hard work has paid off to several best selling books and her TV show on The Food Network.
When Ree brought us to the part of her story where she started blogging and why, it brought me back to why I started blogging. I started first with MamaLaw where the initial goal was to share our journey through motherhood. Later it turned into a hugely successful business. But before the business, Ree had me asking myself what goals I had then and where I am with those goals now?
What exactly do I want from all the writing and sharing that I’m doing? And where am I going with it? After doing this for seven years, there is no question that I do it because I love it. I love sharing my stories, feelings, tips, and of course, challenges. (The therapeutic component of blogging is definitely a bonus!) I blog because I want to, and like most of us, not because we are making bags full of money. I do not write as often as I want to simply because of work and my other writing obligations, but that does not stop me.
Driving through Georgia country, I had a chance to focus. I reevaluated my goals and defined some new ones. I’ve always wanted to write a memoir. In fact, in high school I started mine. I read many published memoirs some written anonymously, others written by key figures or every day individuals. I loved reading the stories of perfect strangers and figured someone may enjoy my story too one day. It was worth a shot. So I kept journals. I filled up notebook after notebook of my stories. I poured my heart out from high school to college through law school and motherhood. I put all the good, bad, and ugly on paper sometimes crying or laughing as I rewrote what happened. At some point in the process, I rewrote the first three chapters of where my life would begin. My plan was to turn it into a publisher.
Then my journaling turned into pouring over law books and measuring breast milk. I eventually picked it back up with a filtered version landing on my first URL and now this one. There is so much more to share that I have not been able to for one reason or another.
Ree’s talk gave me that much needed motivation to identify what, if anything, was left of my vision to write a memoir. It also led me to ask what my other goals were, if anything. What do I hope to accomplish through my writing, and where do I want to go next? When I got home, I wrote down my goals and my five-year plan. The next thing left to do is to start. Rip that band-aid off and get to it. Setting my goals and stay on track will likely be the real challenge for me.
How do you set your goals and stay on track?
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