The Super "Become Independent" Daily Journal Thread

[Matt Willard]

It's time I took massive action to get out of the massive pit of suck I find myself in. So that's why I'm making this thread: public accountability. You all shall be my witness-I am going to finish college, get a job, learn how to drive, and move out. I will become an independent man.

To this end, I've reformatted my commitments and dropped all the unneccessary crap. Tomorrow I do even more to utterly destroy my failure. And, every day, I will post in this thread to report my progress and my plans for the next day, until I've completed my goal.

But I'm concerned that I might falter. Sure, right now I'm making this thread with a bit of fiery emotion, but even though I know I can easily carry out what I need to do day by day, I'm concerned that I might lose hope and become discouraged. That's why I hope people read this, come to expect me to keep them updated. I hope to have that public accountability so I know that I've got people in my corner.

But either way, it doesn't matter. I'm going to win. This thread is one part of my strategy to do so. Wish me luck.

[alainplus]

You remind me of who I was about 2-3 years ago. In terms of your goals, they're actually quite easy. Just relax and knock 'em out.

[Matt Willard]

Will do. I just wanted to make this thread to give me the extra edge.

[Gaz]

Always useful to have some form of accountability. Otherwise, it's too easy to just let things continue on as normal.

Good Luck. I'm sure you'll get it done.

[Deergirl]

Good luck!

And always look on the bright side of life (du du dudududududu). Stay positive whatever crosses your path.

I'm looking forward to reading your stories.

[nhaasch]

*wishes you luck*
You can do this. You are gong to win.

[Matt Willard]

Thanks for all the well-wishing, everyone. I really appreciate it.


DAY ONE - JUNE 4, 2009

I've made a sweeping start today. Though I didn't find much in the way of online work today, I've made a dent in the "Hire Me" and "Portfolio" pages I plan to throw up on my blog. Writing out the rough stuff makes me jittery. Guess I'm not as confident about it yet. Ah, well. I'll do it anyway and put it up to build a part-time writer's platform. Even while I'm looking for a mainstream job, it'll be nice to have some part-time income coming in.

I looked into the colleges I know are nearby. What luck-Florida Community College offers an IT assosciate's degree with a track dedicated to programming! I'm considering shooting for the Computer Programming technical certificate first, though, so I can get into the workforce quicker. I would've talked it over with Mom earlier, but she was asleep. I'll probably do that later tonight.

I also found out from my aunt that she's going to sign up my cousin to driving classes at the high school I graduated at here in Jacksonville, so I called them up. Nobody was in, so I'll call a bit earlier tomorrow.

As for tomorrow, besides looking for work, I want to rangle together a writing resume so I can apply to more jobs. I also plan to finish up those "Hire Me" and "Portfolio" pages and get them onto my blog. So far, so good!

[Daffy Duck]

Good first day, Matt. Keep it up.

[eruso]

I'll definitely keep an eye on this thread. Good luck

[Talkofthatown919]

i will definitely keep this thread on a close watch. I wrote down my goals and i put a deadline on them and i must say it is working.
Goodluck

[Jaycee]

Hey Matt,

it's really inspiring to see you moving onwards despite minor setbacks. Longterm success is yours, for sure.

Keep going!

[Matt Willard]

Originally Posted by Jaycee

Hey Matt,

it's really inspiring to see you moving onwards despite minor setbacks. Longterm success is yours, for sure.

Keep going!

Thanks for the support! My philosophy is that drawbacks will happen, and that you just gotta keep re-adjusting and shooting for the goal.


DAY 160 - NOVEMBER 10, 2009

I am quite pleased with myself today! I have made another revelation in joke writing that is allowing me to produce quality jokes in the style I want, with far less time invested. I didn't stumble onto this method until I was working on this week's blog entry, but so far, I'm pleased with my increased output. I used it to finish drafting the rough jokes for my video filler as well. I still have to search for the unexpected and out-of-left field comparisons, but this new innovation in technique is helping me do that a lot faster.

Tomorrow I'll finish the rough jokes I need to finish and start revising. I'm not sure if my new joke writing revelation will affect revision, but the revelation is producing MUCH better rough jokes which will cut down on revision time in the future. Also some dedicated networking to seperate the day and change things up.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 161 - NOVEMBER 11, 2009

Very nice. Completed all my work early today. Finished my Christmas article, finished the blog post, finished my video filler script. We're really cookin' now. Most of my junk should be cleared up by Friday in time for the fair.

Tomorrow I'm beginning work on my next article to sell, because I doubt this current one's ability to sell so close to Christmas. Speaking of that article, I'll also be hunting for the right market to fire it off to, on the off chance it's usuable right now. I'll also be continuining work on my video filler.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 162 - NOVEMBER 12, 2009

Hrm. Don't think this article will be sellable so close to Christmas, but at least now I have an idea on how to write a cover letter for it. With that, I continued work on an article I can actually sell, as well as finishing off my blog post and working on my video filler.

I'm not making a list for tomorrow, because I'm going to the fair early in the morning. I'm really looking forward to it.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 163 - NOVEMBER 13, 2009

Went to St. Augustine instead of the fair. (Surprisingly, it's only an hour away. Who knew.) Had fun, got tired. Tomorrow I clean like a madman.

[Athena Arianna]

Though your positive spirit is great, I'm concerned, after having read so many of your posts, that you've possibly lost sight of the original goals you stated:

"So that's why I'm making this thread: public accountability. You all shall be my witness-I am going to finish college, get a job, learn how to drive, and move out."

Those are 4 nice solid concrete goals. You've posted a lot about writing success which is super!

But have you any progress to report on the 4 main goals?

Mind, not trying to cause you stress, just writing to help focus -you did ask for public accountablitity when you started this, so here is the public (lol) putting you on the spot -

1-College degree finished? If not yet, status & plan?
2-Got a job meeting your needs/goals?
3-Driving yet? Drivers license acquired when? If not, plan of action?
4-Moved out yet? If not yet, what's the plan and timeframe?

Closing in on the end of another calendar year, this is a great time to refocus goals and make commitments! You had the courage to post yours here, so c'mon let's hear the progress report on those 4 goals! (Or, if the priorties have changed, great time to announce that and state the new committments, eh?!)

Kudos on your perseverance buddy.

[Matt Willard]

Well, I'll admit that my focus has changed somewhat, though the original intention still stands. Here's basically how those goals are turning out:

1. I want to say I'm in my new college now, but I'm not. It's been a LONG, ARDUOUS annoyance of a trip. I'm constantly tripped up by bureaucracy and having to get these documents or fill out these forms. I always leave the place angry and frustrated, it's SUCH a ****ing pain. Even NOW, the damn debt collectors are harping on me while I'm waiting for the forms I need to defer my loans while I'm trying to get into college. And now I have to swing BACK up to my old college and high school to get my transcripts because, ALL OF A SUDDEN, I need the offical ones. And transport is still limited to me due to driving issues which I will explain in a bit.

This is still going, that's for sure. By the end of next year I'll be making good headway towards a degree. But it hasn't been fun so far.

2. I've tasted some success in my freelance writing "job". I can't live off of it by any means, but I did earn enough money to buy Christmas presents this year, which I'm quite pleased about. I'm still worrying about where my next client is coming from, though. I've been working hard to build a platform through my blog and videos and guest posts, and while a big priority is to make sure I'm having a good time, I still worry about it.

When I do eventually get into college and develop some programming proficency, I'll naturally be using that to shop around for a job as well. Even so, I'm going to keep hammering away at this. I want to stay in that "create and deliver value" mindset.

3. As for driving, that's a goal I haven't returned to since my little auto accident. There are several reasons or excuses or whatever as to why I haven't come back to this. Fear is one of them. (Spare me the tirade, please.) Then there's my increased focus on trying to create a living off of my passion, as well as getting into college. So this goal's fallen off the radar.

I don't know what to do about this one. I know I should get back to it, but I'm concerned it's going to take a chunk of focus away from what I'm already trying to do. Also the whole fear thing.

4. And moving out is simply not going to be possible in a desirable format until I have that consistent income and driving ability, so this is definitely getting ignored until the time is right.


Looking back now, I'm frustrated that I haven't come as far as I'd like. Though, since I've been re-reading some of Steve's stuff about creating an enjoyable, fulfilling present moment, I've been implementing some of that to keep me happy and low-stress. (Er, to a point.) I want to keep doing that, focusing on creating and delivering value in the most enjoyable way I can. But I still want to make some progress, you know?

I'm guessing what I'll do for next year is work on the college and writing stuff. I'm also planning to make my present reality even more enjoyable, and I'm working on setting a habit about thinking what I want and attracting financial abundance. I guess next year's theme is "making a living off my passion". If I can nail that, I'm gold.

[Athena Arianna]

Originally Posted by Matt Willard

Well, I'll admit that my focus has changed somewhat, though the original intention still stands. Here's basically how those goals are turning out:

Sounds like a good plan, focusing on writing and college for now, hey that should be enough! Just wanted to ask you, as you listed your goals so clearly, and they did seem to be shifting - which in my experience happens all the time, but the important thing is to realize the goals have shifted, and refocus! And listing the new goals is a great way to do that.

Did you set yourself a timeframe for concrete accomplishments in the college & writing arena? (Forgive me if you did, I didn't read all your posts, just enough to be inspired ) In my experience setting a time frame helps make things happen.

Also, have you explored the resources on Writer's Market? It costs money to have access to all the online markets, but I found it to be well worth it when I was freelancing. Oh, and a great motivating book I love and return to again and again for my writing is "Writing To Sell" by Scott Meredith. It may be out of print but his advice is classic, and very motivating!

Good luck in the next year!

[Matt Willard]

I haven't set any time frame. It'd make sense for college, but for writing off my passion...that's a bit tougher. I can set a definite time frame for college once I actually get in.

As for Writer's Market, I do have a subscription there right now. Haven't really used it, though - my efforts have mostly been online. Though I should definitely go back and see what online stuff they have available.


DAY 186 - DECEMBER 6, 2009

Today kinda went nowhere. I got so frustrated by all the distractions that my discipline just crapped out. I didn't really like that, so tomorrow I'll be doing what I set out to do today.

At least I finished the Weekly Progress Report, though. I also finished my plans for my 30 day visualization trial, and I even did a bit of that as well. Not too long ago I got some synchronicities about the topic, which was pretty interesting to see. I know I'm on the right track now.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 187 - DECEMBER 7, 2009

Finished blog revising, made a chunk of effort in one of my guest posts. Rest kinda fell from there. I've been concerned as to the direction of my writing business as of late, and I think it's time to look deeply at it and see what needs to be changed around. I'll muse about that in NotePad after I finish roughing out these jokes and getting started on the other guest post I've got in the works.

[bonlife]

I think that's really great and remember that the only failure in life is the failure to try - so well done!

I remember feeling the same way a while back and just wanted to throw in some extra support and offer a tip that really helped me. As well as the Steve Pavlina forum which is a great environment to assist positive changes, its great to surround yourself with as much practical tips and tools to help you maintain this journey. Besides this one another really great site that helped me was This Is Your Time

Let me know how you get on, best of luck

[Matt Willard]

DAY 207 - DECEMBER 27, 2009

Did good today. After settling on a primary subgoal ("I attend programming classes at Florida State College") I revised my goal plans and Weekly Progress Report appropriate. Now I'll be focusing the majority of my energies towards taking care of that single goal until it's complete. I think this should really help with my feelings about my lack of progress. I also set up a blog post to go up later this week.

Tomorrow I'm gonna be spending my newly acquired Christmas money, but I'll also be spraying some bug poison to clear up some nuisances in here. I'll also be finding out what days Mom is off so I can move forward with my goal on those days.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 208 - DECEMBER 28, 2009

Sprayed some bug poison and went on a grand mall adventure today. Picked up some MUCH NEEDED jeans as well as a copy of "Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventure", which is very foppish, I assure you. Tomorrow I must do some heavy cleaning, but I'm also going to find out what days Mom is off in January in order to commence with my goal. Still, I've got the feeling I want to do some writing on Wednesday.

[billionairekid]

Hey, I've just skimmed through some of your posts and it looks like you have a problem with self discipline. You continually state you are going to do things but fail to follow up on accomplishing goals. Do you have a job?

What is a typical day for you? I would recommend that you go through Steve's blog and find the series on self discipline. Being that I used to have a lot of trouble with getting things accomplished, I think this could greatly benefit you.

[Matt Willard]

I don't have trouble getting things done, I just think my goal setting abilities needed some work. Now that I've adopted the whole "one single goal" mindset, I think that should help keep my energies focused. Time will tell.


DAY 209 - DECEMBER 29, 2009

Got home a bit late, but I did have a successful day beforehand. Found out what days Mom is off in January, cleaned up my room and my bathroom, wrote and recorded a script for a short video, put up a new blog post...good stuff. Tomorrow I'm going to begin prepping for a new monologue and do a lot of video editing, but in terms of my primary goal, I'm going to be making plans with Mom about heading out the next time she's available and getting stuff I need.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 269 - FEBURARY 27, 2010

You didn't miss anything yesterday, really. Just worked on a bunch of stuff and switched around. Today, though, I did something different - I devoted most of my entire day to finishing up the script for Space Quest V, Part 4. When that was done, I finally finished up my college monologue video and I began work on writing jokes for this next blog post, with a lot of forward progress. I'm quite pleased with this, and I'm gonna try the "sit down until it's done" for the rest of the week.

Tomorrow I'll be attending to the blog post until it's done. I'm excited about this one because it's different from what I normally do, so I can't wait to see what other people think about it. After that it's finishing off the monologue, then this article I'm going to shop around as a guest post. Oh, and later this week I'm going to also prep for another 30 day visualization trial, since I'm interested in keeping my power on the reality I want. Though I'm not sure visualization is for me. Just repeating my (hopefully) clear intent in my head is actually more energizing. Well, we'll see.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 270 - FEBURARY 28, 2010

Finished and uploaded my blog post, exported my college monologue video (it's FINALLY DONE) and wrote out a bunch of details for the new reality I'm working to imagine. (I considered that an important task since I'm shooting to create financial and career abundance.) Kinda wish the post didn't take so long, but it's one I'm very proud of, since I went beyond what I normally do and I think it's a great effort.

Kinda burned out near the end of the day, though. I do like spending more than two hours on a task and really polishing it off as opposed to leaving it hanging, but that doesn't mean I need to do EVERY SINGLE THING I need to do right then and there. I still want to divide them into big chunks, but not HUGE chunks. This way I can clear out more tasks and save the easy stuff for the end of the day when I start powering down.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to work on finishing off this post I plan to ship around as a guest post, these jokes I want to send in to Reader's Digest, and my 30 day trial plan for visualizing my new reality.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 271 - FEBURARY 29, 2010

Okay, I couldn't make the whole week. Today I felt totally burned out and unmotivated. Even so, I'm glad at how productive I was, and I'm glad I tried the experiment out. Here's what I'm going to do now. I'm going to take a few days off, then I'm going to alternate on and off DAYS for a while and see how that works. And during these off days, I'm going to make other plans to do a "feeling grateful" 30 day trial, since that and visualizing my new reality are key in creating that abundance I want.

I dunno when I'm going to jump back in action, though. I estimate two-three days off before I get back in. Maybe I'll do the whole four in order to keep things balanced. We'll see.

[Matt Willard]

DAY 272 - MARCH 1, 2010

I think I've finally gotten the picture. I think it's all clicked in place for me.

See, this whole thing started because I was acting out of desperation, out of a need to improve my lot in life to feel better about myself. That's why I've gone on and off in a variety of money-making schemes during the time I've been at this. I've been looking for happiness in the future and never really got past that.

But now I've been thinking about how lucky I have it now. How to be grateful for everything I need. And I've truly realized that by focusing on what I don't have, I haven't been able to get anywhere. But by focusing on what I've got now, I'm much better off.

I know I've said before that I want to focus on creating and delivering value, but I think I had to really internalize the idea of being grateful for what I have before I can do this. Now that I've got a handle on that, I can better focus on creating better value and delivering it more efficently, because I don't HAVE to be driven by what I don't have.

I'm planning a 30 day trial to further ingrain the habit of being grateful for what I have, but I've been doing it for a few days now and I feel SO MUCH BETTER about everything.

With that, the focus now needs to be on creating better value and delivering it to more and more people. Today I've got an idea that I really want to follow towards that end. After this entry, I'm going to apply for a popular video site - if I get in, I can deliver my value to more and more people. Of course, there's always the possibility that I won't succeed, but I'm prepared to accept those consequences. Even so, tomorrow I want to finish off this new video I'm working on and upload one I finished, doing all I can to get it into people's hands.

I'm genuinely excited for tomorrow!

[Matt Willard]

DAY 273 - MARCH 2, 2010

During my off days, I definitely gotta find more options to do than "watch this" or "play this". However, I've been in a pretty good mood otherwise. Dwelling on what I'm grateful for has been quite helpful, and after tomorrow, I'm eager to get back to work and really create and deliver some value. Hopefully by then I'll have the footage I need...

Speaking of that, tomorrow's when I need to record lines for the next installment of my playthrough, so I'll do that.