All you need is 15 minutes, a shitty draft and 2 questions

Day 2 into the #90Braverdays

One of the realizations was that... yes, 15 minutes is absolutely enough to show up and get the ball rolling.

On July 11,  I was reviewing my answered workbooks and the modules when I felt the urge to write on my beloved Final Fantasy 8 fanfiction.

My last update was on May 2016, before I traveled to South Korea.

I learned from Arriane Serafico that 15 minutes is enough. It's enough time to start. 

Everyone has 15 minutes.

At 10:30 PM, I sat down and switched on my laptop. I encoded the draft paragraphs I wrote on my trusty yellow-pad. After 15 minutes, I saved the file and switched off my laptop.

The next day, I faced my the draft and asked myself the following questions:

"What's right?"

"What's not right?"

Those two questions, which I learned from Edward Burger and Michael Starbird's
"The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking", helped me overcome my writer's block.

I killed some sentences. I killed some paragraphs. I breathed life into new sentences and paragraphs.

For the first time since May 2016, I felt a huge burden lift from my shoulders.

I had finally written the ending for the chapter I procrastinated for 2 months.

But the battle is far from over.

I still have to face that Chapter one more time and ask myself the following questions:

"What's right?" and "What's not right?" , then proceed to kill and breathe life accordingly.

I'm part of the Courage Club. Now what?

This is it.

I'm finally a member of the Courage Club.

Okay, now what?

I'm starting to feel somewhat anxious.

How do I talk to them? 

How do I relate to them? 

What if they won't respond? 

I suck at conversations with strangers. 

Okay, calm down. The best thing to do is to calm down.

These strangers... they won't bite. Just remember the purpose why I joined.

To meet like-minded people who want to meet people pursuing their goals.

Talk about that first.

Calm down. Whew.

Think of the purpose before you let go

I didn't notice I had a lot of "Drafts".....so I deleted them.

I could feel the struggle inside me. Those could have been your future posts!

I know. 

And I also know they have been sitting in this account, unpublished. 

I believe it's better to put them to rest.

To quote what I learned from Marie Kondo in my own words,

"To learn how to let go, one must look at the purpose that the object brought and whether it fulfilled it or not."

I learned that those posts were meant to serve as soundboards for my ideas.

I also learned that I was not willing to post them for the world to read.

I think in this matter when I struggle to let go of my possessions.

In Six Days

I did it. I actually submitted my Title Proposal in 6 days.

It took me six (6) days to finish what I procrastinated for almost 5 months!

My God, I could hear the Panic Monster running in my head.

But I did it!

I feel a thorn has been removed from my neck.

I'm now free to deal with my issues with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and my Final Fantasy 8 Fanfiction.

I don't want to procrastinate, as much as possible. But I can't deny the urgency it creates in me.

Can you imagine?

6 days?

I enrolled in Arriane Serafico's The Braver Goals Bootcamp!

Holy cow!

I can't believe that I actually decided to purchase Arriane Serafico's The Braver Goals Bootcamp.

I was adamant in purchasing another online course. I had blown away 22,000 pesos to purchase Jon Orana's online course on publishing and selling ebooks.

While I learned a lot from his course, I didn't execute them. I respect Jon's wisdom and experience.

Then came Arriane. I discovered Arriane Serafico through my officemate, Leanna.

I subscribed to her mailing list, and admittedly, I would "read and forget" what she wrote.

One day, I decided to respond to her email, and she replied back!

She sounds nice!

...and then I forgot about her.

Then one day, something marvelous happened. I began to take the action steps on the emails she sent. She responded to one of my emails. Then the next day, I received another email.

The Braver Goals Bootcamp.

and it wasn't free.

Uh, no thanks.

I was determined not to enroll. I mean, I had blown 22K. I wasn't interested anymore. And I vowed I would find a way to realize my goals.

I reread the email again when the idea suddenly struck me.

I had always complained and envied people who had a group of like-minded friends.

I knew I wanted one. I knew if I continued to do the things I'm doing, I would never find them.

Could this be the answer to my prayers?

I don't know and I'll found out in 90 days time.

What is  Php 3,999.00?

I withdrew it from my sacred emergency fund, which has been badly depleted for the past two months. 

This is a sacrifice. A sacrifice I'm willing to go through. A happy sacrifice (is there such a word?)

Let me end this post with what I learned from Napoleon Hill, in my own understanding:

"There is no such thing as something for nothing" 

The ghosts of abandoned projects

I have crazy ideas.  I have bad ideas.
I have ideas which I implemented but eventually abandoned.

I wanted to have a webcomic, so I made one. But then, I abandoned it.

I wanted to have a visual novel, so I wrote the story. But then, I abandoned it.

I wanted to write a book to sell, so I enrolled myself in a 22,000 peso worth of online course to know the trade. But then, I abandoned the drive to push through.

I have abandoned a lot of projects, and their ghosts are haunting me.

How does one deal with a ghost?

Listen to your market

I talked about cultivating the entrepreneurial spirit in yesterday's post.

I have a little sari-sari store-in-a-box beside my desk at the office. My market buys from me because they're hungry for coffee and biscuits, or any food to satiate their hunger.

Recently, my market has been asking me whether I sell cellphone load. I have officemates who sell load, but when they're not around, they ask me.

I'm rather shy in endeavors I'm not familiar with. Like, how do I tell people that I sell load? I don't want to rub it into their faces.

But now... hm. I'm decided to buy retailer sim cards.

Lessons learned?

Listen to your market. They will tell you the opportunities you can pursue.