Take control of your destiny

Setting in place milestones and goals not only helps to motivate you as an individual, but it also helps to show potential investors that you are serious about the undertaking. Now, while I may not have to worry about investors, something I learned early on is that business plans are the difference between success and failure.

Everyone has ideas. That's human nature. Humans are inquisitive creatures, always striving towards the next level. And while not everyone out there is motivated to the same level as the next person in line, the difference between most successful people and those who are not is a simple plan.

Setting goals for oneself allows you to aspire to the next level. Aspiration drives you to succeed. Success breeds confidence, and with confidence comes the ability to tackle your projects head-on without reservations. Even if it's something as simple as, say, quitting smoking, or losing weight, having a series of goals to accomplish along the way to your finish line can help you achieve that feeling of success along the way, and each goal that you succeed in will give you greater confidence to overcome the next set of challenges along your path.

This probably sounds like some cheesy spiel from a life-coach, but it's a way of living that I really believe in. I honestly believe that the only person standing between you and success is you. And if you are timid about life, timid about opportunities, and have doubts in your own abilities, then you will never succeed. It's important to set goals for yourself, goals that are obtainable, but allow you to constantly better yourself. Call it motivation, if you like. Every little victory inspires you to the next, and gives you the morale to keep going.

Sometimes your plan might not look like wisdom to others, but whose life are you living? Yours or theirs? My mother-in-law, for example. She thought it was ludicrous to embark on a career with no previous experience, no education, and no prior contacts in the field. She still doesn't really see what I do as "real" work, despite the paychecks I bring in for her daughter and me. But people often fail to consider the motivation of a person who has the will to succeed. Back in January of 2008 I set a plan on paper. I set a series of goals. I started small, and I worked my way up. Every little success boosted my confidence, and I've met one of the major milestones along my initial plan, which was breaking the 4k a month mark in terms of income.

I'm a high school drop out. I have no college education. What I do have is a strong will and the desire to succeed at everything I put my mind to. Bill Gates, one of the most powerful men in the world, never finished college. He was busted for weed on occasion, a true pot-head nerd, and went on to be one of the richest men on the planet.

My goals are much less sinister. I have no desire for worldwide domination. The only thing I care about is providing for Evy and myself in such a way that we can live life the way we want. To travel anywhere, anytime, anyplace. To have a home that is comfortable, decorative, ours. To have my work read and enjoyed. It's happening. My fiction is selling, my content is being read, and appreciated. I'm on a roll.

This post is to toot my own horn. I decided to transition to full time freelancing for the next couple of months, just to prove to myself and to others just how real this job is, and just how capable I am. I landed a job last week writing for an MMORPG company, as my last blog post dictated. I am extremely happy about that. Then, today, I had a three thousand dollar project land in my lap, on top of the 1500 dollars worth of work I already had lined up. My hard work and diligence has paid off. I'm 17 months into this new career and I'm close to making what I used to make in construction, which was 6-7k a month, or 75k a year on the gross end. Only now, instead of getting up at the ass crack of dawn to be on a jobsite regardless of the weather or my health, I get to sit in the comfort of my home. I get to use my mind. I can drink a beer while I work if I so choose, take a day off when I want, take a break when I want, and work whenever I choose to work.

I am grateful, and I give credit where it is due. My wife has been extremely supportive of me since day one when we first moved here and she literally said to me, "You took care of me while we were in the States, now it's my turn. Let me worry about the bills while you work on getting your career as a writer going". It was because of her support that I am where I am today, and I owe her a debt of gratitude. She continues to be supportive, even when other people are not.

I recently pulled a short story that I was going to write for a publication because the owner of the magazine came onto an open forum and launched a hate-filled tirade against me because she disagreed with my opinion when I was giving another writer some advice on the life of a writer. Some aspiring writer asked a couple of questions, and I gave him my particular experiences. The owner of that particular publication happens to be a hate-filled femi-nazi who has had limited success in her career and believes that her version of reality is the only version that is allowed to exist, and everyone else is incorrect. I'm making enough money and I'm not so desperate for credits that I have to subject myself to editors and employers who are douche-bags. I chose to pull the story, and Evy gave me a hug and told me "No matter what other people think, you have always followed through on every thing you have ever put your mind to, and you have always succeeded at your goals."

Failure is not an option. It never has been. When I set a goal down, I do whatever it takes to meet and exceed those goals. So far I've met and exceeded every goal I set down, save one: I said I would have the draft of my first novel completed and sold sometime in 2010. It's the only one I haven't yet finished, but I'm still 6 months out, and I'm rocking and rolling in the other departments, so I'm really not worried.

To all those people out there who struggle in their daily grind: don't give up. If you honestly want to find success at what you do, then you will. It is as simple as that.