Saturday 2 March 2013

Challenging Yourself to Push Beyond Your Boundaries

By Georg Dembowski Schoschi [CC-BY-2.5]
The only thing that stops us from achieving success is that we put limitations and obstacles in our own way. Most of the time they are imaginary limitations. When I realized this I had to find a way to overcome this tendency and get down to start my deliberate practice to become a world-class writer.

For many years I have wanted to be a professional writer. The only thing that differentiates an amateur writer from a professional is that the latter writes daily. Having learned about deliberate practice and that it requires 10,000 hours to become world-class in any field, I wondered how I could write for that many hours. I was aware that I lacked the willpower to write daily. This was eight months ago. I had to find a way to challenge myself. I started this blog and another one called The Theosophic Life. I hoped I could find enough to write about for these two topics. However, found that I was floundering and coming up with excuses.

As I waited for inspiration I learned about the HubPages.com Apprentice Program. I had written a few articles, or hubs as they are called, a few years ago and had never continued my writing. I thought this was an opportunity to push my boundaries. Joining the program meant that I would be compelled to write 8 articles each month for six months, to stay on the program.

It was a leap of faith. I had many commitments in my personal, professional and volunteering life. I thought if I was serious about my writing it would be a good idea to join a team of writers who would provide the support and motivation to write regularly.

My initiative to challenge myself and pushing my boundaries has paid off. I completed the Apprentice Program and am still continuing to write regularly. The change in my ability to write has also improved. Earlier I used to take a whole day or half a day to write an article and upload it. Now it takes me only an hour if I have done my research well.

I have written 60 articles since June 2012 and now I am going to be writing regularly in this blog as well. I have found my niche topic, which is living a balanced lifestyle by incorporating yoga asana practice, meditation, pranayama and volunteering. My writing portfolio includes articles like:

Yoga Poses

Yoga Standing Poses
How to Improve Flexibility of Tight Hamstrings with Yoga

Meditation

Meditation Results in Brain Growth
How to Get Started Doing Zazen Style Zen Meditation
Easy Meditation Tips

Pranayama – Yoga Breathing Exercises

Pranayama and Breathing Exercises
Yoga Cooling Breath, Shitali Pranayama
Yoga Alternate Nostril Breathing Exercise, Nadi Sodhana

Volunteering

How to Make a Positive Impact in the World
Easy Knitting Projects for Charity

If you are a writer and are interested in improving your writing, especially for the web, and increasing your writing portfolio then join HubPages.com here.