Book review: Maybe You Should Give Up

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I swore I was not going to take on the task of another book review until I had completed my own manuscript and made a valiant effort to get it published. I have become a professional procrastinator when it comes to my own affairs. So when I received an email from Byron Morrison, I became distracted and intrigued. I consider that the mark of a curious person and a procrastinator. The title, Maybe You Should Give Up caught my attention and Byron’s last name is similar to mine. So I replied. We emailed, I looked at his website and I thought, What do I have to lose?

The title of the book is Maybe You Should Give Up and the subtitle is 7 ways to get out of your own way and take control of your life. I need to get back in control of my life and my time and 7 ways to do it seemed quite manageable to me. 50 ways would be way too much. Even 10 might be too many but 7 is a good number. But this isn’t about numerology, although I would love to go there. This is about getting stuff done. The 7 ways are essentially identifying the 7 “mental rocks” we are being weighed down by and removing them to get going again. The book stated, “Stop carrying boulders. Give up on them. Leave them behind.” Sounds simple but can you do it? I wasn’t sure I could. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure I could read the whole book and write a review, let alone learn anything from it. HOWEVER, I decided to read and immediately take action from Byron’s advice. And you know what? It worked! I don’t want to divulge the secret things on my to-do list that I finally pulled the proverbial trigger on but I started acting instead of allowing fear and self-criticism to stop me. In essence, I gave up on trying to be perfect which the book recommends. I had drafts of emails waiting to be sent out until they were perfect. I perused them and hit the send button. I will never be able to be rejected if they are sitting in the drafts folder. Truthfully, I already received a couple of rejections but they felt better than not acting at all.

The book is well-written, easy to read and peppered with anecdotes from Morrison’s life experience and his work as a life coach. I highly recommend this book and you can pre-order your copy here.

I have been promised an autographed copy. I can’t wait!

A new year of potential

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It’s a new year!  It’s a time for new beginnings, releasing old habits and generally, shaking off the dust.  And if you live in my house, there is plenty of that because the way my schedule is set up, there is very little time for “frivolous” chores like dusting.  Something like cleaning a toilet, well, that needs to get done but dust, well, I know that is pretty gross too.  I could make a bunch of excuses as to why I can’t get everything done but just envision yourself working and parenting without 2 people.  As in, all on your own.  I love when friends or people in general complain about how hard it is to be a parent and I see their husband at the ball field, at the grocery store and let’s say, lending 2 additional hands to the parenting role.  I am like a human octopus….truly, all hands on deck.

Now that I think of it, since dust is made up of sloughed-off skin cells (among other vile things like mites and other dead insect parts), I should dust and I could create an assistant to help me multi-task.  My dust assistant could go grocery shopping, while I assist with homework.  That would be a cost-effective way to secure some help.

And I am not complaining.  I am generally happy and I make time every day, no matter what the weather is, to get out for a walk in nature.  The things l don’t like to do – cooking, laundry and scrubbing floors, I would have to do with or without children.  To me, the parenting stuff is easy – challenging, at times, and time consuming for sure but immensely enjoyable.  The daily chore stuff…not so much.

Truth be told, when I looked out my slider today while drinking a coffee, I realized the 5 pumpkins I bought for the fall were rotting beside the “Welcome to the pumpkin patch” placard.  It should say, “Welcome to my world – procrastination sprinkled with exhaustion”.

No dust here. Nothing but blue skies.



Give the valuable gift of reading

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Hello to all you happy holiday shoppers and those reading blogs to avoid shopping!

I want to take a moment to tell you about the amazing company I work for that has been in business for over 25 years, Reading with TLC.  Reading with TLC is a wonderful company dedicated to teaching children the indispensable skills of phonics and reading.  We have an amazing program called ‘Lively Letters’ and if you are a teacher, speech language pathologist or a concerned parent with a child and/or children struggling to read, you will want to click HERE.  This program is vital for anyone with the need to teach a struggling reader of any age!

I have read all the testimonials that we receive and I have witnessed firsthand how fun and successful the program is.  It is fantabulous!  Now sound that out phonetically!  Lol.  Yes, I know it is not a word! I make up words all the time, but that is a story for another day.  I am now a proud affiliate of Lively Letters so if you want to learn all about the program click my affiliate link and let’s get acquainted!  🙂 Happy Shopping!  Happy Holidays!  Happy Reading!