How to Get Out of a Slump Part 2: Change Things Up

by kathilipp | Aug 30, 2010 | Uncategorized | 2 comments

It was just a few short years ago that Roger and I were shopping at Ikea for bunk beds so that all our kids had a place to, well, sleep.

Now that 2/3s of the chickees have flown the coop, (one moved out the day I married Roger – nothing personal – Amamda at 18 didn’t want to share a room with a  13 year-old,)  Roger and I were back at Ikea with all the other parents who have shipped kids off to college, this time to buy a futon.

You see, Roger has his own room now. (Don’t worry, our marriage is still good.) Now that he is working full time from home, he desperately needed his own office. Both of us working from the desk in our bedroom was, let’s just say, less than marriage enhancing…

So Justen moved into Kimberly’s old room, Roger moved into the boy’s old room, and I have an office to myself.

It was a lot of work, clearing out closets, building new furniture, and clearing out old bunk beds. (BTW, if anyone in the San Jose area needs a wonderful metal bunk bed set, leave me a note in the comments. Free to a good home…)

It was a lot of work, but I also noticed something else. It was pretty inspiring.

There is just something about moving things around, getting out of your rut, that makes you be more creative.

Just as Roger and I were talking about what we wanted to get at Ikea, (an add on to a desk, a bookcase for Justen, a futon for Kimber so she would have a place to stay when she came back home…) I started to think of all sorts of ideas for my ministry. An idea for a new speaking topic. An idea for a series of booklets that I want to create, even an idea for a recipe that I want to try.

All from moving some books around.

If you are a stuck in a rut, here is a question: What could you move around?

I don’t mean on your calendar. I mean physically move around.

Seeing things in a new way will spark creativity in other areas of your life. Rearrange your laundry area – it could spark a thought for a new article, or a new bible study topic.

Could you rearrange your work space, rearrange your books, or rearrange your garden?

Tell me – what could you rearrange to spark your next great idea.

Don’t Read this Post if You’re Trying to Lose Weight

by kathilipp | Aug 25, 2010 | Uncategorized | 8 comments

Because if your trying to lose weight, you don’t need to know that you can make a chocolate cake in about the same time as a commercial break. (“You see kids, when I was growing up, you had six whole minutes right in the middle of TV shows where they showed commercials.” “No, you couldn’t fast-forward through them because THERE WAS NO TIVO.”)

With ingredients you probably already have.

It’s a dangerous thing.

But I, your fearless blogger, took a bullet for you and made this for all the boys at the house (I now live with all boys. Even the dog and cat are both boys. But they didn’t get cake.) We are moving rooms around upstairs so that Roger can have an office and I figured when boys clean their closet, the get chocolate.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.  Add the egg and mix thoroughly before pouring in the milk and oil in.  Keep mixing.  Add the chocolate chips next and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put it in the microwave for 5 minutes.It will bubble up above the rim of the cut. Don’t panic! It will be all good.  Remove with a hotpad.

This is what it looks like if you want to eat it all by yourself (after taking this picture, Roger and I put it in separate bowls. See how vitreous I am…)

How to Get Out of a Slump Part 1: Get in a Room

by kathilipp | Aug 23, 2010 | Uncategorized | 2 comments

Have you been in a slump?

Have you hit a brick wall?

This Saturday, Roger and I taught a conference on Marketing for speakers and writer.  People traveled from all over the country to be there. They wanted to learn about the latest ideas about marketing and social media. They wanted to get inspired about what the next step is.

I would love to think that people wanted to come  because of our brilliant teaching, but the reality was something much simpler: Sometimes you  just need to get in a room.

You need to get in a room with other people who are trying to accomplish the same things you are.

You need to get in a room where there is energy and focus and the exchange of ideas and encouragement.

I love webinars, and recordings and phone conferences and online training. But there is something about being in a room you can’t replicate with a webinar.

So my question for you is this – where do your people hang. If you’re a writer, then it’s at a writers conference. If you are trying to learn to sculpt, it’s an art class?

What are you wanting to accomplish and where do you need to hang out to make it happen?

And this is why I don’t live full time in a yurt

by kathilipp | Aug 16, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 comment

The Food? Fabulous.
The Bed? Super comfy.
The bathroom? A city block away from our yurt.
The number of times I needed said bathroom between 11 PM and 7AM? 3
The ROCKSTAR husband who wouldn’t let me walk alone because of the scary noises? Roger.
That’s true love girlfriend.

Who Do You Work For? And how do you make more time to get your list done.

by kathilipp | Aug 9, 2010 | Uncategorized | 5 comments

I was having a conversation with an acquaintance recently who was convinced that she had a book that was going to change the world. It was a literary masterpiece and was going to turn the publishing industry on it’s ear.

The only problem? She hadn’t written it yet.

You see, she was a stay at home mom (although her kids are in school from 8 – 3 from September through May,) and she is just so busy.

• She volunteers as a room mom.
• She is on the PTA.
• She is on the steering team of her MOMs group.
• All three of her kids are involved in sports.
• Two of her kids are involved in a theater group.
• Her entire family is involved in various church activities.

So the life-changing book is going to have to wait until she has more time.

I hear this almost anytime someone asks me, “So, what do you do for a living?”

Everyone wants to write a book, but nobody has the time.

What I want to tell people who are convinced that they must write a book is that they are never going to see that happen unless they stop working for other people and start working for themselves.

1. Don’t Answer Your E-mail (or at least some of them.) Just because someone sends you a piece of e-mail doesn’t mean you need to read it. When I subscribe to a newsletter or an email group, I don’t use my main e-mail address. I have a free yahoo account for all those things I am interested in reading, but, if the week is busy, I don’t feel bad if I just delete the whole list of e-mails. None of them are waiting for a personal response from me. This saves me time in sorting through my own e-mail box of things I have to respond to. (And hey, If you ever want to change the address of where you receive my e-mail newsletter, or even if you want to -gasp- stop receiving my emails, there is a link at the bottom of each one that tells you how to do that.
   If you receive a lot of the same kind of e-mail, you may want to have a form letter. When people ask me how to become a speaker or author, I have a standard e-mail I send – not because I don’t care about the person, but because if I gave a personal answer to each and every one, I would never respond to anyone.
2. Agree in Advance on What You Say Yes to My husband and I talk an awful lot about what we will say yes to when it comes to time spent outside of pursuing our own goals. Want to take me to coffee to talk about marketing your book? Meet me at Starbucks. Need me to bring you a meal because you broke your ankle? I’m your girl. Want me to help you move? Dude – I’m 43 years old. Be a grown up and hire a mover. Make sure you have someone to hold you accountable so you don’t say yes, when what you really mean is, “I don’t want to, but I don’t want to hurt you feelings by telling you no.” If you can say, “My husband (mom, friend, accountability partner, boss,) and I agreed I wouldn’t say yes to anything that wasn’t (part of my job description, related to photography, discussed in advance).
3. When Your Kids Say Yes, that means You Say Yes You are not a bad parent if you kids are not signed up for every activity that the school, community center, church offers. Just say no.

Question for You: have you done anything recently to create time for yourself and your goals?