Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I’ve already put up a blog and website about my offerings at HappyFit Coaching. My goal is to help people like me — people with anxiety, depression, or other mood disorders — and also busy people who sometimes feel down, stressed, or demotivated — become fitter, happier, and more energetic through exercise, self care, and healthy habits.

I don’t think this change in direction will hurt my writing career…in fact, becoming an expert in these health and fitness areas should make me even more attractive to the health and wellness magazines and websites I love writing for. I’ll also continue my e-courses and mentoring; I enjoy teaching so much that it’s part of what inspired me to become a fitness trainer and wellness coach in the first place. And a lot of what I do for my mentoring clients — help them get motivated, overcome fear of failure, set and reach goals — will transfer to my work with wellness coaching clients.

Also, if you’re in Cary (NC), Apex, or surrounding towns, I’ll be giving away 90 free personal training sessions in 90 days, starting in August. Included in the session will be a free packet of materials that will help you build a healthy daily routine. If you take me up on this offer, you’ll be a beta tester for my personal training/coaching services and all I ask for is your feedback on how I can do better.

I’m still working out the details on where exactly I’ll be doing this training (looking into renting my own space) and will post more when I have them. In the meantime, if you may be interested in a free personal training session, please e-mail me at lindaformichelli@gmail.com. And please let your Cary/Apex/etc. friends know! Thanks!

Here’s to a healthy life and happy writing! [lf]

* My readers. It’s no fun writing into the void, so I’m grateful that you keep coming back to read the Renegade Writer blog. It’s my mission to help writers reach their goals, whether your dream is to get started or to quit your 9-5 job or to boost your writing income. It’s so gratifying when I hear from a reader that my advice helped her in some way.

* My mentors. I’m not afraid to ask for help, and even to pay for it. My life coach, the instructor of the Yoga of Writing retreat, my close writer friends, my goal buddy, and the writers who answer my questions on Twitter and Facebook have been instrumental to my success. They give me advice, listen to my rants, help me find sources and markets, and help me brainstorm new and better ways to do things.

* My editors and copywriting clients. Thank you for continuing to hire me for your writing projects. I love working with every one of you. Without you, well, I wouldn’t have a writing career. I’ll always work my hardest to make your jobs easier.

* My clients and students. I always recommend diversifying, not only to keep your income secure but also because writing, writing, writing can be a grind. Teaching my e-course and doing phone mentoring have been so much fun. Teaching lends variety to my career, and of course I really enjoy interacting with writers at all different stages of their careers. That people actually pay me for my advice is like some wonderful dream!

* My sources. I so appreciate that sources take the time to participate in my articles. Even when my editors ask me to go back to them with a dozen additional questions during the revise phase or when fact checkers call them with lengthy checks, they’re always gracious.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! What are you grateful for this year? [lf]

I love this. It makes a lot of sense for the freelance writer: If you’re not getting the work you want, then you need to tweak what you’re doing.

The statement also resonated with me personally. Lately I’d been wanting to attract new magazine clients and mentoring/e-course clients, but felt stuck. How could I expand my business? My usual M.O. wasn’t working as well as I would have liked.

I had been viewing social media as a distraction to be used as little as possible, but by chance Eric got me a book called The Zen of Social Media Marketing from the library. As I read it, I realized that this is what I’d been missing. I can connect with people through this blog, but the way to bring people to the blog is to actually, you know, get out there and build my expertise on other platforms. I definitely need to keep tabs on the amount of time I spend on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, but I’m excited about this change in direction and look forward to connecting with writers in new ways.

I call situations like this, where you suddenly take a leap into a new way of thinking and working, mind shifts. It was a mind shift in the summer of 2009 when I decided to cut my workweek down to two days (while maintaining the same income), and it was a mind shift two years ago when a coach talked me into offering phone mentoring (when I was previously scared of the idea).

Sometimes mind shifts come on of their own accord, but there are ways to help spur a mind shift when you feel stuck. So if you’re having trouble finding article ideas, thinking up new markets, or dreaming up new ways to sell your writing, here are some ways to force a mind shift.

Meditate. Sometimes we get stuck because we spend so much time running around putting out fires that we have no time or mental space to tackle the big issues. When this happens, I force myself to take a few minutes to lie on the floor and meditate. I often come up with fresh new ideas as, ironically, I’m trying to not attach to random floating thoughts.

Sometimes, opening yourself up this way brings on benefits without your even trying. The other day I was feeling harried and worried about not having enough work, so I shut my laptop and lay down on the floor. When I got up a little while later and checked my e-mail, there was a message from one of my favorite editors asking if I’d like to write a column for her magazine! That night before bed, I did a guided meditation from The Meditation Podcast. When I woke up in the morning, there was an e-mail from a custom publishing company I had written to weeks before, saying they were looking for freelance writers and would be in touch. I checked the time stamp and realized the e-mail had been sent at 10:30 pm the night before — the exact time I was doing the meditation.

Ask a coach. Whenever I feel like I’m stuck in low gear and need a mind shift, I set a session with my life coach. She’s the one who talked me into teaching e-courses even though my initial market research was less than positive. And it was a coach at The Yoga of Writing retreat who finally convinced me to start phone mentoring even though the very idea scared me out of my wits. These were two pivotal points in my career. Sometimes you need an outside perspective on how you can get unstuck, and coaches are trained to spot sticking points and help you work through them.

Get crazy. As fast as you can, make a list of every idea you have on how to fix whatever problem is bugging you — for example, say you’re looking for new ways to sell articles. Don’t censor your ideas…just let them flow. Then go through them one by one and seriously consider what would happen if you gave these ideas a try. The ones that sound crazy could be just the game-changing tactics you need to get out of your rut. Maybe you decide to start pitching editors by phone, build relationships with editors on Twitter, or find out which editors went to the college you attended or hail from your area and use that connection to break the ice. Those ideas sound crazy at first, but are they really? (My take: No.)

Like my wise source said, you can’t get radical new results using the same old tactics. Have you ever had a mind shift related to freelancing? Did it come on naturally or did you need to force it? [lf]

However, I DO “honor the season” on a day-by-day basis. We all have days when we feel down and dragged out, and we just can’t bring ourselves to work. We haul our butts into our ergonomically-correct chairs and try to will ourselves to write, but all that happens is that we spend the day in front of the computer surfing the web. Then, at the end of the day, we still feel down and dragged out — only now we feel guilty, too.

I’ve learned that when I have a day like this, it’s best to just go with it. Here are my tips for “honoring the day” so that tomorrow, you can feel rejuvenated and ready to get back to work.

Get an Early Start

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, as soon as I get an article assignment I start lining up interviews and doing research. That way, I’m not knocked off track if a key source is unavailable or some snag crops up; I have plenty of time to deal with the snafu. There’s another reason to start early, though: If I have a down day, I can take the day off and it won’t affect my current deadlines. Unless it’s the actual day before deadline and my article isn’t done, I can usually take off a day and pick up the thread again the day after.

Make a List

It’s hard to honor the day if you’re feeling guilty and frantic about all the to-dos that are running through your brain. Yesterday, which was a down day for me, I took a few minutes to make a list of all the things I needed to get done the next day. Then I was able to relax.

Ban the Computer

If you have a down day, use it to really relax and rejuvenate. Don’t veg in front of the computer all day trying to work and not succeeding, or Facebooking other people who aren’t working. Turn the computer off. The e-mails can wait until tomorrow. Instead, read a book, call a friend, watch a movie, or do some light exercise (more on that below).

Get Moving — Slowly

I always find that light exercise helps me relax, take my mind off the work I’m not doing, and feel more positive. I prefer yoga. A local yoga studio offers gentle yoga classes, so that’s what I opt for when I’m feeling down. Also, if I have personal training scheduled that day, I ask my trainer, who’s also a certified yoga instructor, if we can do yoga instead of weight training that day. Another option is to get outside for a casual walk (no power walking!).

Sleep

Okay, I’ll be brief with this one: If you need to sleep, sleep!

Meditate

At the end of a down day, I like to do a guided meditation from my iPod. The Meditation Podcast offers free — guess what? — meditation podcasts. My favorite is the one titled “Positive Thinking.” Another good source for free podcasts is Meditation Oasis. When I do my favorite guided meditations right before bed, I usually wake up feeling refreshed.

Ditch the Guilt

We all have down days. The good news is that as a freelancer, you have the flexible schedule to turn a down day into a relaxing day that helps you feel more motivated and positive. You’re your own boss, so as long as you’re turning your work in on time, no one can stop you from honoring the day! Taking an occasional day off will help you be more productive and do better work in the long run — so don’t feel guilty about it. [lf]