The unexpected stress of success

July 1, 7:46 AMWriting ExaminerTiffany Colter

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Already many of you are likely groaning inwardly “I’d love to have some stress from success”.

Really? Would you?

     In the last article on examiner I talked about being prepared for opportunities. One part of that preparation is the discipline to complete a task before its deadline and to do it with excellence. Are you up to that challenge? Could you be successful if it meant getting up 2 hrs earlier and skipping your favorite television program in the evening? Would you moan and groan about all you had to do or would you recognize the feast/famine nature of writing and take advantage of every opportunity?

     How would you avoid the trap of over committing? Do you know how much you can reasonably accomplish without losing quality in your work? Can you keep up on your other obligations?

     The good news is there doesn’t HAVE to be stress with success. Don’t buy in to the lie that success means a fast-paced lifestyle where you must continually ignore your family in order to reach your success goals. In fact, I have learned that we waste far more time PURSUING success through unproductive channels. Innovation is wonderful, but you need to examine results at set intervals [I do it quarterly] and be sure the results match the effort.

     If you take the time to create reasonable expectations and a system for your writing, you will find you no longer need to worry about the stress of success. You’ll be too busy enjoying the fruits of it.