. . . added to my happiness.
I’m often reminded about the necessity of pressing on with our plans and resolutions in spite of our inability to fulfill them perfectly. What keeps us going, though? Where does the motivation come from? We often think that bawling ourselves out and heaping on the blame will work, but those methods are counter-productive. What does work? Inspiration. “I have to do this or else” has to become “I get to do this. I want to do this.” Last night I attended a two-hour class at Colorado Free University about the creation and marketing of e-books. I was late getting dinner started. It was dark and sort of cold. I hate trying to find a new place at night. The only thing that got me going was that I had already paid for the course. (There’s my Obliger personality coming to the fore.) So I went. And boy, was I glad! Talk about inspiration! I got it in spades.
The teacher, Salvatore Michael Trento, has written several books about mysterious but little- known places to visit in the United States. He’s extremely savvy and enthusiastic, and his books are doing quite well from the sound of things. There was no compelling financial reason for him to drive all the way from Boulder to the Lowry area for a class of four people, but he obviously loves to teach and finds the world of publishing to be fascinating. I left feeling completely charged up, with lots of new ideas buzzing in my head. He was even willing to take a look at this website, giving praise and advice in about equal measure. It’s pretty clear that there’s a lot more I can and should be doing to promote my book and accompanying speaking engagements. I’m energized, engaged, and happy. Isn’t that great? Now I need to do the things he talked about–but the road ahead has some more streetlights.
(His website is www.FieldGuideToMysteriousPlaces.com. He’s careful to point out that the “mystery” of the “mysterious places” is all based on science. I plan to buy his book on places in the West.)