I missed writing a 3rd blog post last week.
I have no excuses and I'm not going to use the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew as the reason for my dip in productivity.
Instead, I'm going to say it's okay and continue with the blogs for this week instead. In a previous post, Bucket List ( http://olivia.thechiongs.com/2015/03/18/bucket-list/ ) , I shared about forming habits and how it takes 66 days to form a new habit. I'm happy to find that even though I didn't manage to do 3 posts a week for 66 days in a row, I've already formed my habit. Missing it once due to certain circumstances beyond my control is alright because I am jumping right back into it now.
In the past, I would have probably felt very disappointed when I broke the streak and end up not continuing to write. Thankfully, I've outgrown the silly notion of a "perfect" score and I've learnt to accept that life is never perfect. Shit happens and sometimes you just have to deal with it.
So one of the things that has kept me busy in the past few days is focusing on writing my business book, The UnBusy Entrepreneur - How to unlock your time and use it to make more money. Last Friday was the day I started the 30,000 words in 30 days challenge. This essentially means I am committed to writing 1,000 words per day for the next month. This method of madness is part of the Publish framework from the KPI program ( http://www.keypersonofinfluence.com/kpi40/sg/ ) .
So far I have written 5,284 words in 5 days. The reason why I am doing this is because I know publishing a book will transform my career and help me build a great business. This article ( http://www.keypersonofinfluence.com/publishing-boosts-business-cold-hard-stats/ ) shares the cold hard facts of how publishing a book can boost your business. One of the most interesting facts is that 34% of entrepreneurs double their income simply by publishing a book.
If you are interested in finding out more about the book I am writing, you can download my book synopsis here - THE UNBUSY ENTREPRENEUR SYNOPSIS ( http://olivia.thechiongs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/THE-UNBUSY-ENTREPRENEUR-SYNOPSIS.pdf ) . At the same time, I am interested to speak to small business owners who have the common struggles of being snowed under emails, administrative paperwork and daily operational functions. If this describes you or someone you know, please connect with me so I can try to help.
The other writing challenge that I've taken on this month is something completely out of my comfort zone and I'm not sure I have the writing chops for. However, I'll never know unless I try. So in the month of April, I am also participating in the SingPoWriMo ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/singpowrimo ) which is the Singapore Poetry Writing Month. The challenge is writing 1 poem a day from 1 April 2015 to 30 April 2015. The moderators will help by providing a daily theme or prompt to get you started. Head on over to the Facebook group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/singpowrimo ) if you want to join in the fun.
So yes, this is going to be a writing month. I promise not to neglect this blog although some of the coming posts may be shorter than usual. In the meantime, I'll end this post with this piece I was inspired to write when I happened to drive past Commonwealth Drive on Sunday and saw people lining the streets in the rain, waiting for the funeral cortege to pass by.
29 March 2015
Big Umbrellas,
Wearing ponchos,
Old folks, young kids,
Babies in arms.
Singapore flags,
Volunteer tents,
Traffic wardens,
Cars slowing down.
The roads will clear,
It will begin,
Stand proud, stay strong,
Dear Singapore!
Final journey,
In pouring rain,
Bye, Mr Lee,
A last farewell.