One
of the challenges in life is finding the motivation you need to
accomplish the projects that you desire. As I have traveled the
world, I always come home and know that in the USA we are blessed
with so many resources all the way from taking classes to reaching
out and learning from resources in our communities.
The
internet has leveled the field as far as learning is concerned. I
used to write books and go on TV to share my ideas with great numbers
of people. That was how people learned if they didn’t go to
the library or purchase books — they got their information from
the radio or from watching informational shows on television.
Now
a quick trip to the internet will give you more than you can do in a
year. The next step is learning how to motivate oneself to
accomplish all the ideas that come through. You definitely have to
sort through the great amount of available projects and then select
and focus on what you want to do. Therein is the challenge.
Writing
a book is a massive project. It is not something that most people
wake up and say, “Oh, I think I will start writing a book
today.” For me the motivation came when I had a deadline to
meet. Most often that deadline came from a publisher.
I
also used to presell books. When I did, I would give the people who
bought them a discounted price and a date when I had to have the
project done. This was another great motivator for me to write my
books.
About
six months ago a good friend that hired me to do several projects for
Kraft Foods years ago called. I told her about the Timpanogos
Storytelling Festival
that will take place on August 29th and 30th in Orem, Utah. I told
her that this was a world-class event and that she should come.
She
took me up on the offer and now she is coming from Illinois to spend
the week exploring Utah and all the amazing things that go on here.
Jae
Hezlop will arrive on Friday, and I have been going like a busy bee
to get my home in order to have a guest. The idea of having a good
friend in my home for a week has been a great motivator.
One
of my all-time projects got done in this frenzy of activity. About
three years ago I decided that I wanted to create a wall grouping of
some of my favorite photos. I was so proud that day that I went to
the store and selected the frames and brought them home.
I
asked another of my friends who is good at decorating to come and
help me hang the frames. I taped a few photos to the squares that
were set out for photos. Then the frames hung there, with the sample
pictures that came in them from the store, waiting for me to get the
motivation to finish the project.
I
took wildflower photos to put in each of the nine boxes in one frame.
They sat on my computer waiting for me to get the motivation to go
to the next step. As I would travel I would pull photos that I
thought would go well on the wall. I would add them to my file of
“wall photos.”
Finally
Jea’s trip to Utah became my motivator. I made an appointment
twice at the Apple store where I have lessons to teach me how to use
my computer. The young men helping could not have been better. I
learned how to crop, how to enhance, and most of all how to order the
photos from Costco.
Once they were ordered from Costco, they looked beautiful in their frames.
Soon
my little roadblocks were all gone and one of my favorite projects I
have ever done in my home is finished. It is a wall of memories, and
as the morning light comes into the window I love to lie in bed and
go down memory lane.
This
project became possible to accomplish when I put it as a priority in
my life and broke down the steps to accomplish it. If you have a
project you want to accomplish, find a motivator and get started, as
it will bring you great joy when it is done.
The frames look so much nicer with my pictures in them, rather than the pictures that came in them from the store.
Dian
Thomas has spent her life writing books and being in the media
demonstrating her creative ideas. Now she is a tour leader, leading
adventure trips to such fun places as South Africa, Peru, China, and
Europe.
Dian’s
books are on special at www.dianthomas.com.
She is also a professional speaker and shares her creative ideas
with audiences throughout the USA and Canada.
Dian Thomas was blessed with the good fortune to be born near and raised in
the remote, breathtaking Manti-La Sal National Forest in southeastern Utah,
where her father was the forest ranger. She took the skills she learned in the
outdoors and turned them into a New York Times best-selling book, Roughing It
Easy. Her appearance on the NBC's "Tonight" show with Johnny Carson
boosted her into the national media scene, where she became a regular on
NBC's "Today" show for eight years and then ABC's "Home Show" for six years.
After more than 25 years of media exposure and 19 books, she now shares her
practical insights and wisdom with audiences who want to savor life.
A former Relief Society president, Dian is currently serving as a visiting
teacher. Visit her website at www.DianThomas.com