I really enjoy writing this blog.  It makes me a little reflective and enables me to consider other possibilities and somehow arrange my thoughts in a way that allows me to think about my past as well as my current situation.  At the moment I am in a work situation that I don’t actually like.  This is not ideal but it gives me a chance to decide what I like and don’t like and assess the reasons why.  It is also an opportunity to observe the way businesses are run and gives me ideas of what to do and what not to do.

If writing is your job or career there are some aspects of business that will inevitably have to be considered.  From what I have seen you need to be able to invest in your business in order to make it successful.  This investment could be many things.  Not only money but you need to make a personal investment of time, effort and energy.

The other thing to consider is that if you want people to invest in you, whether it be their time or money, you have to be able to invest in yourself first.  Make time for yourself.  Invest money in yourself.  My writing so far has cost me $6 700 for my Postgraduate certificate.  Thank you to the Australian Government that allows me to extend my education and enables me to pay for it later.

I have also paid for the URLs for each of my blogs at $18 each and recently I put down $300 for a Writers Retreat which I also am going to have to pay for transport to get there.  I have had less time to put into writing lately due to my current situation but I am in the process of changing that.  I’m one of those people that believe that time is more important than money, so if I lose a little in wages it really makes no difference to me if I get to spend more time doing what I want.

I don’t imagine I am going to recoup these monetary costs anytime soon.  For the next two years I am making an effort to gain experience.  I’ve always maintained the best way to get experience is to offer your services for free or join a volunteer organisation.  Though, I still need to eat, travel and live, so there is a balance to maintain, just like there is with anything else.  Once again Newton’s third law comes into play.  For those of you who haven’t caught on yet, “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”, so if I earn less money I eat less food.  You see what I mean?

Personal investments also come down to personal choice.  You need to invest wisely with as much information as you have access to.  You need to make informed choices based on what you want to gain.  I want experience, this I am willing to gain anyway I can and it may cost me.  But the benefits need to outweigh those costs.

I am also at the point where I need to take that next step.  That leap of faith where you don’t know where all this hard work may just land you.  The possibilities are endless but you don’t get anywhere unless you try.  I’m sure I am bound to land right on my arse, many times.  But I have to start somewhere and learn along the way.

So thank you to those that invest their time reading this blog.  Sorry that this post is a day late.  My work situation has been getting in the way of what I want to be doing lately.  I just need to take a step back, change a few things around and invest more of my time and effort and energy.