Success is showing up

Be successful...show up.

How do you define success?

• Having lots of money in the bank?

• Being the go-to guru in your specialist field?

• Retiring before legal retirement age?

For me, success is all about the effort and attitude I put into my project. Little effort means not much to show for the time spent on the project. I can't regain time I spend. I can only move forward and choose to use my time to work toward my goal. If I put a ho-hum effort in to write my book each day, it's going to take me a long time to finish the book. If I arrive at the keyboard bursting with energy with the intention of getting lots of words on the screen, I know I've already succeeded. My attitude has gotten me on my way to achieve my goal.

Aiming for success is applying yourself to today's task - now, in this moment.

Some days showing up at the keyboard is difficult. It's usually because I feel distracted by random thoughts about all kinds of subjects demanding my time and wanting to be written. This includes my characters knocking on the door to come inside with me, too. To help me achieve the success on these crazy mind days, I take 30 minutes to an hour of my time to write out my thoughts and then I meditate to still the mind so that the creative process can begin. This hour is time well spent because it makes me more productive. It's better to spend an hour to clear the mind than to fight my way through the hundreds of things I'm trying to remember.

A computer works best with no bugs tripping the process and so our mind works best with fewer random thoughts.

Are you succeeding today? Have you shown up for success this week? I'd love to hear how easy or hard it was for you.

Distractions at Distractions Espresso

Distractions Espresso, Southport.

It's happened...a broken toe! Of all the times I've hit my toes on a bed leg, corner of the wall or chair leg, I have never broken a toe ... until now. I really whacked it this time.

I can be a bit clumsy sometimes. Mainly because I don't always watch where I'm going because I'm caught up in my creative world with all my characters chatting to each other. I can't resist getting in on the action with them. They are usually acting out my story ahead of time and they are unaware of me having a life.  You don't need to be writing a book to whack your toe against the chair leg though. I was clearing the breakfast table when it happened. I yelled and said a couple of words under my breath that will remain unpublished and I shed a few tears. Yes, tears!

It hurt a lot, but I was in denial. My son was staying with me at the time and we were anxious to go out for a coffee at Distractions Espresso in Southport. Great coffee, by the way. I thought it might distract me from my hurting toe. It did!

By the end of the week though it was really painful. My son had returned overseas so there were no more distractions for me. Being sad to be on my own again my thoughts returned to the niggling ache on my left foot. A friend said I really should go and see about it. I did and the result was a broken toe. It is now bound up next to my little toe with a supporting strip of  bandage tape. The doctor told me it's the only way it can be treated. I'm glad because I though I was going to have to wear one of those moon boots.

This little event has taught me a few things:

1.  Slow down when I'm clearing the dishes, or better still, have someone do them for me.

2. Distractions, such as coffee at Distractions Espresso, are definitely good when one has an aching foot.

3.  Take the time to let the toe heal. That means sitting back with the foot up from time to time eating a bit of something sweet, like chocolate.

4.  Too much chocolate is bound to put on weight because I'm not walking my regular 6 ks. per day. When I can walk again, it's going to be agony in a different way.

5.  Waiting three weeks for the pain to settle so that I can do the walk is really, really annoying. I can read great books though, like Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.

6.  I promise my feet I will slow down around all things that are traps for authors who think they live in a world where chair legs don't matter.

Ah, almost three weeks down ... three to go.

Have you ever had a broken toe? I'd like to hear your story and any handy hints that you might have to keep me out of trouble while I'm resting.

Passion, the centre of your life

Let passion be at the centre of your life.

Do you have a passion? A passion to write, to paint, to create something the world needs? Have you followed that passion?

My passion started in year one at school when I opened my first reader. Who were the people on the page and what was their life like? It sparked a curiosity in me that has been with me ever since. In year four I walked into the library and I found rows upon rows of books. Intimidated by seeing so many books, I stepped cautiously into that world of silence. My pulse raced as the different coloured spines drew my attention. The more spines I looked at the more overwhelmed I became. How I was ever going to read all those books? My teacher assured me I only had to read the ones I was interested in and it would be a good idea to read something outside my interest every now and again as I grew older, she said.

I took her wise words to heart and I lost myself in the world of words, characters and foreign lands. This passion for reading has led me to write and now writing is as much a need for me as breathing. The simple task of sitting at my keyboard and typing words or using a pen, which I often do, puts me into a different level far away from my everyday life. You could call it escape, but that's what I want to do: help my readers escape from their everyday struggles and take them on an emotional journey where they will become good friends with my characters so that they live in their hearts for a very long time.

My next novel, Mr Bojangles is the sequel to African Hearts. I've been writing this story on and off while I wrote Dusty. Justin and Kizza floated into my mind every now and then reminding me their story wasn't complete. I pushed them back saying I wasn't ready, but they insisted it was time, so here I am enjoying being with them as they take the next step into the future out of their village, Gumboli to Bond University at the Gold Coast.

My process with this novel has been different. I've made notes whenever Justin and Kizza have entered my conscious and taken time to write a few scenes. This week I looked at these scenes in detail and discovered they don't fit the story I want to tell. These young people aren't just learning about medicine, they are learning about themselves and growing in ways they had never thought. They are young people with loving hearts and the desire to be loved by their peers. This need for acceptance challenges them in ways that have surprised me. Their presence is so strong now they have overtaken the story showing me their journey into the future instead of me writing the story.

My passion for writing this story is well and truly on fire and is all consuming so that I now can't not write the book. Has your passion taken hold of you and consumed all of your waking time? Is it a passion or is it something you think you'd like to do because you've seen others doing it? A passion will grab you and it won't let you go no matter how hard you try to push it away. A passion demands attention and you had better give in to it and follow it, otherwise you will be miserable. Are you feeling lost and irritable and unable to focus? I used to be like that when I was in the world of numbers. It has taken me a long time to take that numbers shirt off and put on the words shirt. It feels good in my words shirt. I've come home and I've settled in with Kizza and Justin and I have accepted they have as much to teach me as what they will learn on their journey.

So what's your passion? Are you following it? What's stopping you? Start making small changes toward your project and eventually you will find your passion shirt is just the right fit for you. I'd love to hear how well your shirt fits in the comments below.

Banished to Antarctica

It's been a while since I posted and prior to that my posts have been spasmodic. The reason for this is that I have been on an amazing journey into my writing self. I liken it to being banished to Antarctica. I allowed my writing critic, Drakar, to have control of my head and he did some serious damage to my writing confidence that resulted in me thinking every word I tapped out on the keyboard or scribbled on a page meant nothing. From time to time, every writer has doubts about their work and how it will be received by readers. My doubts overwhelmed me paralysing my writing so that for a long time I couldn't think words at all.

Believing my writing days were over I went back to the accounting world. For the past almost eighteen months I've slogged through the numbers believing I had to hang up my letters and pursue that career and make it into something I would be satisfied with. What I learned was that it was safe and secure with a regular income coming in to pay the bills. What I wasn't prepared for was the war raging within me. The letters and numbers beat against each other creating a potent cauldron of insecurity that left me beaten and confused, alienated and alone, and badly in need of some direction. I let the battle rage believing it would fight itself out and there would be an eventual winner and I would be stronger for the experience.

Anger at the indecision raging within was my constant companion and this affected my relationships to the point of me staying away from family as much as possible and shutting down many of my friendships and terminating friendships before they got started. I was hurting a lot of people and myself. I withdrew from all social contact except the little (my own choice) I received in the work environment and a neighbour who showered me with unconditional love. These shaky relationships is what brought me through the battle and helped me understand my number days are over and I have a clear winner - words!

I am grateful for Kim and my colleagues at Your Wealth Corporation.

This week has started with a new-found confidence in my writing seeing me polish off my manuscript, Dusty, (working title) that I've been working on for two years. It is different to my other books and so needs to go to a different publisher. I wait impatiently for the verdict and while I wait, I place my fingers on the keyboard and work on the long awaited Mr Bojangles (working title), sequel to African Hearts. This story has been in the pressure cooker since African Hearts was finished. It is well-cooked and ready to come out of the oven, so I anticipate it will be written with nimble fingers flying across the keyboard requiring stops only for refuelling and other bodily comforts until the story is out.

This writer's life.

Drakar, meanwhile ... heh, heh ... I'm pleased to say has been sent on a holiday to the lovely Antarctica where he will be for the duration of this summer and hopefully lost in an unseasonal blizzard. As for the numbers, they continue to be, but not with me. They are left in the hands of young vibrant people who want to make a difference to the bottom line of businesses and help them achieve their goals while at the same time working toward their own dreams.

As Mr Bojangles unfolds, I'll keep you posted...

It's tax time...

By the end of this week you should have received your payment summary from your work. It's time to get some of that hard earned cash back from the tax man. It's easy to prepare your tax online these days, but are you getting all the deductions you're entitled to? Going to a tax agent will be helpful if going online isn't a good fit for you. Here are some tips on what to take with you to make your visit with your agent that much easier:

• If you've had more than one job this year, wait until you have all the payment summaries from all your employers. Yesterday was the deadline for businesses to have the annual summaries lodged with the tax office. If you haven't received all your summaries, you might have to chase your employer.
• Have you earned interest on savings and interest bearing deposit accounts. You will have to declare this. The tax office now has a matching data facility with all financial institutions. Be aware also that the tax office and Centrelink are good buddies and rely on each other for information. If you have a debt with Centrelink, they will get your refund before you.
• Have you earned dividends from shares or other managed investments? Annual tax statements for the managed investments usually come out early August.
• ABN: if you earned income under your ABN you will need to gross it up and gather all your expenses to write-off against this income. The more expenses you find the less tax you pay.
• Rental property: If you receive income from a rental property, you must declare that rental income, however any expenses in relation to renting that property are deductible against the income. Your real estate agent can provide you with a yearly statement of rent received and expenses paid by them. Ask them for one.
• DEDUCTIONS: these are expenses incurred directly with earning your income. They include the tools of your trade that you buy to do your job.
• Uniforms and protective wear. Uniforms must be compulsory. A deduction of up to $150 for laundry can be claimed. You cannot claim for ordinary clothes and footwear, for example, if you are in an office job. The uniform must be work specific.
• Motor vehicle expenses: Claiming motor vehicle expenses can be a bit tricky. Ideally, keeping a log book of all car travel is recommended. Some people don't know that you can't claim for car expenses incurred in getting to and from work. However, you can claim your motor vehicle expenses from one work place to another. Drive to work and back home: no claim; boss asks you to drive to another job location: yes, you can claim from the office/depot to the work/job site. Claiming for car expenses is a highly emotive claim and it should be understood what you can and can't claim in this area.
• Union fees: if you are a member of a union and pay fees, claim them.
• Self-education expenses: this is an area that is also full of hot coals. The education expenses must be relevant to the job you are doing now, not the new career you are hoping to take on in the future.
• Income protection insurance: This one is often overlooked. If you pay monthly premiums  to cover against the loss of your job, you are entitled to a claim.
• Tax agent fee: This is claimable. Make sure you get your deduction.
• Private health insurance: Most health insurance providers have the annual statements online for you to download. You will need this to complete your tax return.

There are many tax agents offering same day refunds. Usually, there are conditions attached to these refunds. Before seeking this option, you might like to consider the following:

• Do you have a debt with any of the government departments including the tax office and Centrelink? If so, you won't get  a same day refund. You must be squeaky clean in these areas to get one. Why? Because all or part of your refund will be taken to pay your debt first. The agent has to safe guard against this happening otherwise they will be out of pocket. Be aware tax agents have access to the tax office portal so they are able to check if you have any outstanding debt. Usually, you won't get the full amount of your refund. They have a limit to the amount you can receive and they also take their fee.

If you want some great financial and tax advice. You might like to tap into this resource: https://www.yourwealthcorp.com.au  They offer same day refunds, too.

June 30 tax time in Australia

Getting your tax return completed can be a stressful time. Take the stress out of your return this year and seek advice from a tax agent. Any questions? Ask in the comments below.