New last Friday of the month tradition: Report back on your Do the thing! activities.
Lately, I’ve been getting some awesome messages on Tumblr where this Do the thing! started. People have gone on job interviews, gotten new gigs, started books, improved their self-care and just pushed themselves a little bit harder to get more of what they want. You can see some of that in the Do the Thing! tag at my very silly and fannish Tumblr.
But let’s make this a formal request. Tell us what you’ve achieved, whether that’s better sleep habits, more positive self-talk, finishing that draft, or scoring a new gig Nothing is too big or too small. If it’s important to you, it’s important.
Anonymous posting is always on. When you tell us what you’ve achieved and why you’re awesome that’s a reminder that you have fantastic building blocks for the next stuff you’re gonna do and it helps other people realize they can Do the Thing! too. Also, you deserve some praise.
Meanwhile, our regularly scheduled Do the Thing! post will be up on Monday.
erincmcrae
Racheline Maltese
Avian30 
I’ve mostly been practicing more — more piano, more voice, and more writing. I don’t know what exactly I’m producing, but that’s ok. I know that I am playing slightly better, and singing slightly better. Less sure what’s going on with the writing, but that’s ok, too.
Today’s “Do the Thing!” needs to also involve cleaning for me. So, that’s up next.
That’s all great. Sometimes stuff comes together without our planning it as long as we keep applying ourselves to it. I also have to clean tonight!
Go you for putting the practice time in, and it’s awesome you’re seeing the results! (And with the writing, it will come — it always comes!)
Auditioned for the summer musical revue at the community theater, after being absent from the stage for about 20 years! Didn’t get a part but now I have the confidence to audition again for the next thing!
Wow! That was seriously brave. Every audition is a chance to perform — it’s hard to feel like they are fun, but they can be, and that’s great that you feel ready to keep going for it.
Amazing! Break a leg on all your future auditions! (And let us know how those go — we’ll be rooting for you!)
I’ve prepared for my exams and already sat 2 (out of 4) and I feel like I did well on them. I’m also like a day away from finishing a massive scrapbook for my mom’s birthday and feel really proud of how it turned out.
Multi-tasking win! And good luck with the rest of your exams.
Congrats! Exams are so damn draining, and having a creative outlet is awesome. Good luck!
I booked my vacation, and felt that I deserved it (convincing myself that I can sometimes be deserving of nice stuff is my eternal Do the Thing, btw).
Also, I am taking more steps to promote and didn’t totally melt down when my sister asked me if I’d want to talk at her LGBT group in the future.
AMAZING! Serious props on the vacation and knowing that you deseve it. Promotion can be so intimidating — go you for taking those opportunities, and good luck!
Awesome! I know talking to groups and promotion freak a lot of people out, but it can be fun, good for you for pressing forward with it (and yeah, I hear you on vacation, but so important to take one!)
I sat down this month and took stock of what needed to happen for my career, my personal life, and my creative projects, made 7 to-do lists, hung them on the front door of my apartment, and have started checking things off, from organization tasks to research to networking. The lists are still scary long, but I’m considering using motivational stickers instead of mere check-marks to make more visible progress.
I am such a fan of the list method. That is SO awesome that you’re getting so many things done. Keep up the amazing work and let us know how it all goes!
I used to laugh at a family member for having the To Do List of Doom, but I think I may have him beat for list making these days. Crossing things off is very satisfying, especially when that includes writing submissions.
I love this idea of putting lists on the door so you can’t avoid them at the start of each day. I also totally support stickers. Because stickers. Go you!
The stickers definitely help! And the list on the front door is surprisingly good at focusing one’s energy for the day.
Made it out of bed every day this week. New record!
For those of us who have been there, we know that your win this week may have been the one that took the most effort. Awesome. Keep going.
GO YOU. Keep it up with all of your awesome things, especially this one.
i began teaching myself a new language so i can move to an other country and i imposed boundaries on a toxic parent for the first time in my life!
Oh man, those are both massive. I feel like people who need to should practice saying ” i imposed boundaries on a toxic parent for the first time in my life!” for how good it feels so they can do that thing too. Congrats and go you!
Holy shit, those are both amazing! Well done and best of luck with both of those going forward (and with your move!)
High fives internet stranger, from someone who has done those things! They are hard. Good job on doing the thing!
After going through a pretty exhausting and unsuccesful application phase which almost made me give up on my life goals, I sent in a last minute application and got in! (Full ride grad program) Super exciting, super insane and quite a bit scary, because I have to uproot my life in a few months and start a new life on the other side of the world. But yes – I did the thing. 🙂
AWESOME. Grad school is hard (says the grad school adjacent only person), so keep on doing the thing! But I’m so glad you kept pressing on and did the thing and got the thing!
SO amazing! You are brave and awesome. Grad school IS hard, but a massive move is so damn exciting — good luck with all logistics, and go you!!
I went to the gym. Even though I worked today and I usually do the “oh I carried a lot of espresso machines around I don’t have to go to the gym” excuse. Then I ate a salad that involved multiple vegetables.
I ate salad today too! I salute you! And go on gym! I’m always like “well the subway has stairs.”
Yay gymness!! And multiple vegetableness.
I managed to land an awesome job that I didn’t even know was available a week ago. Found out about it on Tuesday, talked to the nurse manager that day, got an email telling me she wanted to interview me on Wednesday, scheduled said interview for today. Went to said interview, got offered the position on the spot, was done with paperwork and drug screening in less than 3 hours from when I started the interview. Got myself out of a less-than-stellar work situation and into one that I think I will really, really love, AND managed to stay in my area of expertise. All in 4 days. And the scariest part of the Thing – I went and told my current manager about the Thing and gave her my notice. DONE. All of it. ROCKED the Thing!!!
I know we talked about this a little in private, but I am so glad you made this leap and then it worked out, and you got to say goodbye to what was a toxic situation for you. I am so glad you decided to do this process!
Congratulations!! That is an amazing turnaround to have, and so glad you’ve got a new gig that looks like such a good fit. Win all around!!
Since I grew up as a Smart Girl, I learned early and often to never brag, because no one likes to hear about how Smart a Girl you are. As a result, it’s hard to claim credit when I should. So, my Do The Thing is this: taking credit. I completed a huge, complicated, multi-year project at work, the final step of which was the actual president of the United States signing an actual executive order. Which he did, last week. I was one of hundreds of people who worked on this, but it’s actually true that without my work, it wouldn’t have happened. So this week, I said “thank you” when people congratulated me, instead of the many dodges I’ve learned over the decades to avoid bragging. ‘Cause damn it, I got the president to sign a piece of paper.
You did the thing and made the president do the thing! I feel like you should get a special sticker for that. AWESOME. And you should totally take the accolades that come with this. Time, hard work, expertise, and change. It all matters.
Agree on the special sticker. This is incredibly awesome, and you deserve all the credit you’re getting — and that you’re giving yourself. Things making things happen!
I was majorly procrastinating on a freelance job, so less than a week before the deadline I sat my ass down and chanted “do the thing” to myself for nearly half an hour before finally opening the document and starting. It took four more nights (very sweaty nights, I might add– because of course this would fall the same week as a record-breaking heatwave) of coming home from work and locking myself in my room to do even more work, but I made my deadline! And that little success has motivated me to start looking for jobs in my dream field again, because I really do love the work and lord knows I’ll never get to do it if I stay in my current job. So hopefully I’ll have more accomplishments to post soon!
AMAZING. Sometimes the hardest Thing to Do is just to start — and you have completely rocked that. Congratulations, and let us know what you stay up to!
Super awesome! Keep on plugging away at it.
This is a little late, I answered the ad last month but it wasn’t confirmed until yesterday. I started looking at the ‘creative gigs’ on craigslist every day, and now I’m doing the costumes for a feminist retelling of the Oresteia.
That’s utterly fantastic! (Also, I’m pretty excited to know there are still some legit creative opportunities on Craigslist!)
Pingback: Torquere Twitter takeover tonight (and other news) | Avian30