Thriving, Serving and Exciting Opportunities for 2017

Are you poised to make the most of opportunities when they arise in your life? Or do you simply watch them pass you by and kick yourself for not taking the chance when you could? I've lost count of the number of opportunities I've missed along this crazy 44 year journey. I still miss them, sometimes I'm still not prepared or willing to take on the risks, but for the most part they are calculated losses now. What's more, I'm actually creating opportunities for myself, which is even more amazing in my world.There is a number of reasons for choosing Structure, Serve and Write as my three words for 2017, but part of it comes from the groundwork of 2016.

Thriving

Did you know Arianna Huffington has a new venture? It's called Thrive Global, and this is the first sentence in their About Us:

Thrive Global’s mission is to end the stress and burnout epidemic by offering companies and individuals sustainable, science-based solutions to enhance both well-being and performance.

You should check it out, if you haven't already. There have been some wonderful articles published in the Journal already (they are using Medium as they blog/journal platform) - and one of the most exciting things to happen this year is mine has been one of them. It's titled Healing Your Broken Confidence, and I'm pretty happy with it being the first post for them.I was accepted as a writer in November, and it took me far too long to produce a first article (over-thinking things is not a great trait to have), but you can see why I need the three words I've chosen. I'm taking on writing blog posts for yet another site, and I want to write for them fairly regularly. Most importantly I want those posts to really serve the audience needs.

Serving

That is one aspect of serving that I'm already working on, an opportunity I created my daring to ask and put myself out there - I am getting better at that. The other opportunity I created for myself last year was helping people achieve their self-publishing dreams. When I wrote Write to Launch, it was really designed as the resource I wish I'd when starting all of this about 4-5 years ago for myself. When I was publishing it I thought I might do a short online course on the topic - and that would be that.Putting myself forward as a knowledgeable person on this topic (still can't say expert), and speaking to a room of editors and writers in Hobart about it shifted that. I've helped a friend self-publish, the book has helped a couple of people, and I've had some coffee conversations to give others some more targeted advice. I helped a refugee publish a collection of his poems, and recently also helped a doctor publish books on skin health.But the opportunity came with the Tasmanian Writers' Centre, and suggesting that I could run a workshop for them on the topic. That one workshop has actually turned into three, grouped under The Business of Self-Publishing (if you're in Tassie and are interested in the topic).

Maybe I am an expert (of sorts)

The thing is, I want to empower people to do this on their own, rather than having to pay people like me to do it for them. I know that there are some people who won't be capable of that, and some who are too busy to look after it - in which case the best way I can serve them is doing it for them. But ideally, I like to serve my educating and empowering people, not having them beholden to me (or anyone else) to do the work. Then it is their choice to have someone else do it, but it's an informed choice that isn't borne from helplessness.And yes, that means these workshops will be turned into an online course, no maybe about it now! I need to stop shirking that 'expert' title on the things I can train others to do - I need to remember that I don't have to be perfect, and holding onto my knowledge and skills serves nobody. Okay, I'm petrified just writing that here in the blog, but I'm owning it this year. I'm so tired of playing small, this year will be different!

So while we're talking about creating opportunities...

What would you like from me this year? How can I serve you with content, webinars, support etc. in 2017? What can I do to help you create the life you truly want for yourself?It is not lip service when I say I want you to live the life you want for yourself - I completely understand what it's like to not be doing that thing that makes you whole; to not even know what that this is. It is truly my greatest wish that you all work that out for yourselves, and start making the decisions that will get you there.Let me help you - let me empower you to help yourself :-) it might only be something little you need, or it might be something more significant.Chuck an comment below (anonymous if you want), email me or go to the Facebook page. I'd love to hear from you. And if you haven't already signed up for all the FREE resources I already give people, you can do that below.