CAN-DO WILL-DO SPIRIT By : Alice Orr
CAN-DO WILL-DO SPIRIT By : Alice Orr
Can-Do Will-Do Spirit is the source of everything we accomplish in life , close second to loving one another and ourselves and whatever faith we follow . Choosing the Can-Do Will-Do Spirit must be our New Year ’ s resolution , and our evaluation of the year passed . Ask yourself , “ How did I and did I not employ my Can-Do Will- Do Spirit in 2017 ? Your answer will be a blueprint for what you must do in 2018 , to build your personal version of success .
An author-friend poses this question . “ Is it impossible to be successful AND happy ?” and inspires me to think about success itself , especially how we measure it in our lives . I search the motivational talks I ’ ve given , listening for words I need to speak again . I hear , “ The strongest strategy for success is to nurture your Can-Do Will-Do Spirit , first , by fighting back fear .”
Many of those motivational talks were to romance writers like myself , who tell stories of women behaving heroically ,
not because they ’ re unafraid , but because they do what must be done , despite fear . We must do the same in our real-life stories . We cannot escape the scary things in life . They ’ ll always be with us , like they must be in our stories . Who wants to read about characters whose lives run smooth as glass ? Readers want to see the glass shatter and hear it crash to the ground .
Sharp shards at every turn make a page-turner read , but we don ’ t want them in our real lives . We want the edges we encounter to be dull , so we can pass them unscathed . But , this isn ’ t how life goes , and you must struggle against fear of the sharp , shattering places , like your heroines struggle in your stories . Fight back that fear by rethinking the goals you set for yourself , by no longer seeing your goals as far away , or your progress toward them as painfully slow .
Thinking of success as far away and painfully slow is discouraging . It drains us , and we lose our power of enthusiasm . Never relinquish your powerful enthusiasm . It ’ s the energy that fuels you , through testing times , to maintain your
Can-Do Will-Do Spirit . One day at a time .
See your goal as right here , right now . Know what you want to accomplish today . Be realistic . Don ’ t defeat yourself by piling your plate impossibly high . See yourself as progressing toward your goal today . At day ’ s end , if you don ’ t think you ’ ve succeeded , look again . First , how are you not at the same place as yesterday ? Second , have you done what you undertook today as well as you could , factoring in the obstacles you encountered ? If you ’ ve taken a single wellexecuted step forward , despite obstacles , this was a successful day .
Think of each day as a jewel on the thread of your life , and the thread of your career . Never underestimate its worth , or forget to admire its beauty . Which smells like sweet success to me , and feels like happiness . So , I say to my author-friend , “ It ’ s definitely possible to be successful AND happy .” Now , I need to remember those words myself , because I have trouble doing that sometimes too . Oh , rats . We must be human .
Biography :
Alice Orr is the author of sixteen novels , three novellas , a memoir and No More Rejections : 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells . A former book editor and literary agent , Alice now lives her dream as a full-time writer . She has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and resides with her husband Jonathan in New York City .
Alice ’ s latest book , A Time of Fear & Loving — Riverton Romantic Suspense Book Five is available HERE . Website & Blog Facebook Twitter Amazon Author Page
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