goals

Take Your First Intentional Step

Lynette M Burrows

Did you make resolutions this year? Or, after reading that so many resolutions go unfulfilled, did you not make any resolutions? Perhaps, there’s a different way to think about it. A way to take an intentional step toward a goal or desire. Perhaps, instead of resolutions you set Intentions. Thanks to Orna Ross for that term. (See Orna’s explanation of Creative Intentions.) Her Creative Intentions are directed toward people striving toward creative endeavors but I believe anyone can use intentions instead of resolutions. Intentions are positive and nonjudgmental. If you say it is my intention to lose twenty pounds. The goal is there but you’re also recognizing that it’s a process. There will be times of forward progress, slow progress, and perhaps no progress and backward progress. But if it’s your intention to do something and you have no progress, you have not failed. It’s still your intention. Perhaps you need to re-think the steps it takes to get there. Setting your goals high doesn’t mean aim for the impossible. It means stretch yourself. And keep stretching yourself and you will reach farther than you thought you could reach. Life, especially creative life, is not a race. As Confucius says, […]

Be the Master of Your Time

Lynette M Burrows

In today’s society, Time is counted as our most precious commodity. But is it? Time is a construct. We created the way we measure minutes, hours, days, months, and years. We also create the way we measure success. Are we using Time to beat ourselves up? I know sometimes I am. Here are five tips on how you can be the master of your time.  1. Align your goals with your values. If you work toward goals you don’t value, you will never feel accomplished or successful. The key is in not spending time, but in investing it. Stephen Covey 2. Be purposeful. List your long term and short term goals and keep them posted where you see them. Each morning, make a list of things to do. Choose one or two that are the things that will make you feel successful for that day. Make those your priority. Plan your day or your day will evaporate in doing. Time is what we want most, but we use worst. William Penn 3. Details count. In planning, remember the details so you plan accordingly. In assessing your day, appreciate the details that you accomplished. Don’t spend time beating on a wall, […]

Practice Makes Perfect is Full of Baloney

Lynette M Burrows

Practice makes perfect is full of baloney. Some people who practice may reach perfection, but not most. Yet, practice is vital no matter what you’re doing. So how do we manage? When you Google “Fun Facts About Practice” you get a bunch of “fun with math” links. Um. That’s not what I had in mind. But, isn’t it interesting? We’re desperate to prove that mathematics can be fun, but not one word about practice as a thing to do. I believe we do a disservice to everyone with the practice makes perfect phrase. Practice becomes the thing that we focus on. We kill our enthusiasm with forced practice. As a child, I took piano lessons. I loved playing piano but I grew to hate it. The rule at my house was thirty minutes of practice after homework and before anything else. I hated to practice. It was drudgery. The seconds ticked as if mired in molasses when I sat at the piano. We improve with practice, without a doubt. And there are times when rote practice is what we have to do. But as Mary Buckham says it’s when our practice becomes a game that your progress will explode. And […]