Funny, isn’t it, how when you start to make changes in one area of your life, suddenly you want to overhaul the whole kit and kaboodle?
So, on top of starting The Complete Flake around April Fool’s Day and being in the throes of birthing a whole new voice coaching business, I apparently felt the need to go vegan. That was a direct result of a rather alarming episode of high blood pressure and heart palpitations a few weeks ago. Feeling better now, thanks. In fact, that was going so well, I decided a few days ago to get serious about nutrition and start doing green smoothies and eating WAY more veggies than I’ve ever eaten before.
I’m surprised that I’m having so little trouble adjusting to this diet. Not that I’m not running into problems here and there but unlike previous diets, I don’t see them as BIG problems. They’re just problems to be learned from and dealt with. That is a huge mind shift for me. MindSET shift. The book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, which I haven’t even finished yet, is already having an impact.
Used to be, when I ran into trouble on a diet [like the other night when I got too hungry and binged on pancakes and potato salad] I would take that as a sign that I am incapable of sticking to a diet. Then I would give up, go back to my old eating habits, and pack on the pounds.
Now I just think, “Okay, what was my mistake there? What do I need to do to support myself in this?” Huge difference. That’s what Mindset author Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset.
I need to do the same with writing.
Last night, I finally slogged through to the end of my voice coaching sales page. It ain’t pretty and it needs work, but the first draft is finished. How did I do it, in spite of my terminally blank brain? I copied and pasted from Dave Navarro’s Group Mentorship tutorial on short sales pages, then I replaced a few words, then a few more. It’s still just a clone of his page, but I can work with it now; I’ve broken through that mental block at last.
I can go through the list of reasons why this particular block has been so stubborn [afraid of committing to being an actual voice coach, afraid of making mistakes, afraid of being responsible to everyone who clicks the Buy button — all true, btw] but that won’t solve the problem. At least not for me. What seems to be working is brute force — forcing myself to sit down and do the work even though it feels like torture.
I’m not kidding about that [although obviously, I’m exaggerating a LEETLE bit.]
Torture is exactly the way I felt as a teenager about doing homework when the subject was not one that interested me. My family thought I was lazy, and I was, but only in things that didn’t hold my interest. In school, if I liked a subject like history, I would read the whole textbook at the beginning of the school year; I couldn’t get enough. Then, I would coast through the year in that class, occasionally dipping into the textbook for a refresher the night before a test. Too bad I couldn’t make myself do the same in all my classes.
Turns out it wasn’t all laziness.
I didn’t know it then but I had, and still have, all the hallmarks of Attention Deficit Disorder, minus the hyperactivity:
- Inability to focus on boring tasks
- Hyperfocus on activities I enjoy – I literally couldn’t hear people talking to me.
- Fidgety
- Easily distracted
- Impulsive – Um, yeah.
- Constant daydreamer
- Highly creative/imaginative
I like that last one. Creativity is the saving grace of ADD, but you can’t just pull it out of a hat. You have to be interested in order to be creative. And that’s exactly what my problem was with writing that damn sales page. It’s a maddeningly boring task, complicated by the need for a certain amount of creativity — which, sad to say, I did not manage to summon. While I find voice coaching itself to be an enjoyable and interesting process, writing about it is not. Not yet, at least. One can hope. Or hope to earn enough money to pay a genius copywriter next time.
But, like Dave says, sales pages are works in progress. They don’t have to be perfect, and I can always improve mine later. The important thing is to get going. As my new friend Sue Mitchell puts it, Grab some clean underwear and go.
Yep.
Image credit: Al HikesAZ
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Replace “blogging, voice coaching, ebook, vegan diet, ADDs” with “lifestreaming, website design, blog templates, returning to college, bipolar disorder” and you're talking about me. 🙂 So I guess I'm both a Delightful Weirdo and a Complete Flake?
You have been a very busy lady! Good for you on all the progress.
I totally get you on the sales page thing. I wrote my first one last Sun. Isn't that an interesting project?? Parts of it sucked and need to be totally redone. Parts of it are fine. My coach said the first one is always the hardest, and she'd darn well better be right!
I know I can't do the totally vegan thing. But I am considering going more raw.
You are awesome with everything you're doing!
Hugs,
Lori
Way-to-go, LaVonne.
Hope you take time to pat yourself on the back between smoothies. 😉
Heh, if I can reach that far. Oh, I'm starting up yoga again too. Probably too much too soon, huh? I can't seem to take half measures. Thanks for the way-to-go!
Thanks so much, Lori – and welcome! I'm so glad I'm not the only one, and I hope your coach is right!
About the vegan thing: this has been an on-again, off-again process over several years. I've been gradually transitioning toward it for a long time, so it's not as drastic as it sounds. The green smoothies, and all the veggie prep time, that's drastic for me. But I really hope I can stick with it.
OMG, we could be twins, if twins could be born 30 years apart! Love your blog, your dragon and especially YOUR twins. So adorable. I love 12-year-old boys, had two of my own, 22 years apart, lol.
Thanks so much for visiting and commenting!
I am rolling on the floor over the Greek husband story…and it fits perfectly with the grabbing clean underwear metaphor! A perfect example of not allowing your second-guessing to hold you back from an adventure.
It's great to draw on those times from our pasts when we had less to lose and were more willing to roll the dice. I'll have to remember that! It's so easy to lose the ability to take risks.
As for the ADD, in my lengthy career in gifted education, my favorite students have been the ones that drove their regular teachers nuts, those highly distractible and on-the-go creatives. I like to think of them as selective, not defective (as the term “disorder” implies).
Awesome. I was wondering if anyone would click that link, heh. I like to hide a little Easter egg once in a while, just for fun. 🙂
I'm so glad to hear there are teachers out there who consider ADD kids selective rather than defective. I like that line. Thank you.
LaVonne, congrats on actually getting work done on your sales page! For me, it's not boring work – I love thinking about how people can market their services, including my own – but it's intimidating as hell. Love the “clean underwear and go” thing. Seth Godin wrote about putting out a product as promised, regardless, as “shipping” in his book Linchpin. Whatever you call it, taking action is key and you've done that. Way to go!
Sounds like you're having much better luck on the vegan thing than I have lately. I've tried to get back on the wagon for months now, but keep falling under the damn thing and getting smushed into the mud. Oh well, keep trying I guess. Keep up the great work – it's inspiring to those of us who are struggling!
Thank you, Wendy! It was a big 'lurch' forward, heh. Now I'm working
on formatting it, etc. Dave Navarro is going to critique it. I want it
to be as good as I can get it so he can tell me how to make it even
better. But can't even wait for that because I've committed to having
the site ready for visitors by Tuesday for an interview w/me that's
coming out then – yikes. [I wonder if that's U.S. time or Australia
time? Uh-oh. Better find out!]
Seems like you're getting a lot done. That's awesome 🙂
We've been trying to eat less meat too, but it's become a habit since eating it from childhood. Do you make up your own recipes?
Looks like you've chosen a new theme for your voice coaching business. Good luck with it all – and the sales page too.
I actually wrote this and my Father's Day post all in one 2500 words
session, so it's definitely working out. 🙂
I've been gradually eating less meat over several years, and then with
the blood pressure problems, I was motivated at last to go the rest of
the way. It's more work, for sure, but not really complicated. Just
LOADS more veggies. I was already used to making beans from scratch
and had found a few recipes I like. But mostly, I like to cook very
plain food without many ingredients. Garlic, onions, salt & pepper
seem to go with almost anything.
Thank you so much for the good wishes on the voice coaching site. 🙂
Yes, I went back to my original theme choice. Looks more professional,
I think. I did an interview for a post that's coming out on Tuesday,
so now I HAVE to get it done. Deadlines are good. 🙂
Forgot to ask: when is your site launching? Do you need a deadline?
'Cause we can arrange that. 🙂
Hmm.. I thought I replied to this … but here goes 2nd try 🙂
Not sure when the site is launching, but we're going to head on one more photo trip to get a few more photos. The website is pretty near finished, minus the photos and content.
Sounds like you're pushing pretty hard at the moment. I can't wait until we launch.
Sounds awesome – I can hardly wait to see your finished site, and
watch all the hoopla!
Hmm.. I thought I replied to this … but here goes 2nd try 🙂
Not sure when the site is launching, but we're going to head on one more photo trip to get a few more photos. The website is pretty near finished, minus the photos and content.
Sounds like you're pushing pretty hard at the moment. I can't wait until we launch.
Sounds awesome – I can hardly wait to see your finished site, and
watch all the hoopla!