Deborah Woehr

I asked both of my sons this question last month, particularly my oldest. He’s a freshman in high school and has a strong interest in becoming an architect. Back in October, I posted a picture of the replica he made of our house. For Christmas, my husband got him some home designing software. He signed up for sculpture and multimedia for next year. I was hoping that the Beginning Drawing class would be available to him, but I guess it wasn’t. So, I’ll have to sit him down and teach him myself, which is not a big deal because I need to brush up on my drawing skills anyway.

We’ve talked about college, although both my husband and I have serious doubts that he’ll go to college. Ron is his father’s son. He’s a very hands-on, visual learner. I’m still encouraging him go, despite our family history. My late brother was the only man in our immediate families that attended college. But in the event that he doesn’t, I talked to him about a back-up plan. If he isn’t able to realize his dream of becoming an architect, he would like to be a contractor.

I can definitely see him doing that. After watching him plan and execute the building of that replica, I think he would be very successful in this field.

“Every step I take brings me closer to the realization of my dreams.” Judi Moreno, author of You Are More Than Enough Dream Journal

As 2006 came to a close, I set one goal for myself: to finish that book. While I didn’t write that goal down, I kept it planted firmly inside my head until I bought the ISBN and hit “approve” for that book. About a month or so ago, I began giving some serious thoughts about my achievements for this year. I decided to write down a To-Do list of the things I wanted to achieve this year, knowing that this list would change before 2007 ended. Here’s my original list.

1. Master Photoshop and InDesign
2. Master copywriting
3. Build a strong portfolio
4. Experiment with screenplays
5. Experiment with Revolution programming
6. Start a new book??

Not bad for a rough draft, but I thought it needed some fine tuning and a realistic mindset. While I would love to accomplish everything on this list, I have to take in consideration that I have a full-time job and a family to take care of. I asked myself what are the most important goals I want to achieve this year.

1. Sell at least 50 copies of Prosperity via friends, family, the virtual blog tour, etc. Deadline: December 2008
2. Gain a strong working knowledge of Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Corel Painter X by June 30.
3. Build a strong portfolio, containing illustrations, book cover designs, and book interior designs by June 30.
4. Build a solid outline for my new book (which I started writing) by April 30.
5. Practice writing web copy, each day for one hour, starting January 1.
6. Practice writing focused, high-quality articles, each day for one hour, starting January 1.

Compared to the rough, this list is more organized. Setting deadlines for myself also helps me because I tend to either procrastinate or veer off in another direction, should something catch my eye. Each of these steps was set to help me reach my ultimate goal: to become a full-time freelance writer/designer.

I discovered Hindsights when I clicked onto my WP Dashboard earlier this evening. It is a graduation commencement speech, given by Guy Kawasaki, who gives advice to students based on his own experience. Although this speech was addressed to the young, the not-so-young can also glean something from his wisdom.

Enjoy!

The first two posts covered my desire to quit smoking and my fears in relation to doing so. I feel like I’m getting closer to the quitting mindset because I didn’t race to the convenience store for a new pack when I ran out yesterday.

Perhaps it was exhaustion from my youngest’s sleepover party. As they lay there giggling and talking boy-stuff, I researched hypnosis as an alernative to going cold turkey. The best hypnotist I found online offers a CD program that costs $129.00.

I also found a laser remedy company that uses a form of accupuncture to help ease the withdrawal symptoms. That costs $300 (rounding up). Last but not least, I found that book that Lee Carlon suggested, which I’ve put in my Amazon shopping cart. Thanks, Lee!

When I do set a date, I’m going to try the cold turkey method. If I can save money, I will.

I think the hardest part of breaking any habit/addiction is to overcome the fears that keep you addicted. The old saying, “It’s all in your head.” is quite true. Quitting smoking is 95% psychological.

I started for psychological reasons. First it was peer pressure (which didn’t get me started right away). Boredom and my desire to keep my father off of me about my weight were the biggest factors of why I started. As a teenager in the 80’s, I had the pressure coming from him and from society.

Looking back, I was the thinnest I’d ever been in my adult life–5′5/115 lbs. He still thought that I was too fat. I took up smoking to replace eating. Eventually, I got down to 108 pounds. I hadn’t been that light since I was in the fifth grade. My hips jutted through my jeans, but I was so happy that I could fit into a Size 7.

Smoking seemed to be the perfect diet remedy. Two years later, I was smoking almost two packs a day and was 20 lbs overweight. Just like every diet fad, smoking failed to keep my weight under control.

Today, I’m down to under one pack per day. Having to smoke outside helps a great deal. Not having to commute to work everyday also helps.

Once I decide to go for this, I’ll need to exercise regularly, which is something I’ve neglected over the past 20 years. I won’t be just quitting smoking, but changing a lifestyle that hasn’t been good for me.

I’m on my last pack of cigarettes and am seriously thinking about quitting again. I tried around four years ago with the patch and managed to stay clean (god, I sound like a junkie) for a solid week. At the time, I was having my husband proofread my chapters. One night, he came to me, smiled, and said, “Maybe you should set aside your writing until you feel better. All of your characters are attacking each other.”

My house smelled better, and my meals seemed to have more flavor. But I was in a bad funk–what’s termed a biological depression. I finally caved when I went out to dinner with my sister and her family. Actually, I caved the following day, when she couldn’t see me.

I started smoking about two months before my eighteenth birthday and have been a heavy smoker ever since. I come from a family of heavy smokers. Ironically, alcoholism has gotten the men in my family and not cigarettes. Surprisingly, I went the other way on that (a very good thing).

My husband also smokes. He set the nonsmoking rule in our new house. When I went to our rental to collect the rest of our belongings, I was appalled at the smell in that house. It wasn’t as bad as the pet smell that we had to get rid of before we moved in, but it was still bad. I was very surprised when our landlord gave us our full deposit back because I thought we’d get dinged for the smoke damage.

Backtracking a bit: I was one of the tens of thousands of people who came down with that nasty recurring flu last year. While most people shrugged it off within a couple of months, I had it for six. It finally developed into a nasty case of bronchitis, which kept me home from work for a solid week.

I’m still sick with the cold I came down with on Sunday, although I’m up and about and able to do my normal routine. My husband is fighting a sinus infection, which has become chronic due to his smoking. The kids have bounced back and are doing fine. Doesn’t that say something?

We’ve been talking about quitting for several months now. I dread the withdrawals and the subsequent depression. I’ve voiced this concern to my doctor when I had the bronchitis. She prescribed me some Welbutrin, but I’ve yet to fill it. I don’t know if I can anymore because it’s been months since she wrote that prescription.

I think the patch and the pills are just bandaids. The patch did nothing to cure the craving. So I’ll have to devise my own plan.