Like I said… something can be important to you, and you still struggle with periods of fear, block, inaction, etc.

And I use the word “struggle” advisedly – because we are constantly working to overcome those periods, and DO overcome them, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come back again and again.

Here’s a great TED talk from Elizabeth Gilbert that touches on this fear…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA

Oh, and you might think that your patients can’t tell what you are thinking, but I can assure you that your contempt is NOT going unnoticed. I am going to strongly encourage some soul-searching on your part before you go work your next shift. You might want to ask some of your coworkers to see if they notice your attitude. Ask more than your best friend, too.

You might also want to learn what constitutes a good study and realize that there are almost no good medical studies out there. What you think you know isn’t necessarily so.

My brother the Latin teacher (high school) would be delighted to tutor you for a fairly small fee.

I’ve taken to keeping a list of “This might be interesting someday or not” projects so I don’t forget them and can think about them when I want, but don’t have to pursue them. Sher recommends a blank book to capture these and binders to collect information. I may try the blank book idea.

In the last two weeks I went through my wool stash, I have committed to knitting/using the wool or it’s out the door to someone or group that can put it to use.

When my mother was receiving chemo treatments she spent the time knitting a baby blanket for my oldest child. I am sure she knew that she would not live to know that child so much thoughts and prayers were woven with the stitches:)

Lesson learned.

Re weight: losing weight by going on a diet is almost always a mistake. Most very obese people have lost and regained tons of weight, sometimes literally. Just staying where you are and not yo-yoing is important. For an authoritative expert who uses sound science search for “Sharma obesity” and subscribe to his blog. It will change how you look at weight.

This brings up a good point though. My doctor once asked me if I could lose weight if I knew that I would get $1,000,000 as a reward. It does fit in with incentive for changing bad habits as well as the recent article about being in good health to prevent medical costs.

I noticed a few people mentioned language as well, and there are some really great free resources (especially if you’ve already had Spanish lessons and are just working toward fluency). The first is BBC Languages. Some of the material might not be accessible outside of the UK, but if you can access it, it’s really high quality. The second is Anki, which is a daily flashcard program that remembers how difficult you find a particular word and schedules it accordingly (if you’re remembering most of the words, you’ll get mostly new vocab without any repetition.) It’s available on PC and Android at least, and perhaps other platforms.

i have a vague interest in going to grad school for art. the last time i looked at it though, it seemed like the principle goal was to create a brand-new portfolio of whatever you wanted. the school provided the deadlines and professors to keep you motivated and working- for a tidy sum of course. well i don’t have the cash and am not suicidal enough to go to art grad school on loans, so i figured heck, i’ll just make a new portfolio HERE AND NOW. and i did. AND IT’S AWESOME!

Finishing writing a book is another animal.

Nonsense! I think that thousands of writers who struggle with fear/writer’s block/lack of time/etc would strenuously disagree with this!

Sometimes, (often) there are psychological reasons why we’re not doing something that might be really, really important to us.

Having just failed NaNoWriMo (or, as I’m *about* to fail it), I am glad to read your rubric. In particular, the idea of scheduling specific time to work on your project. I wish I’d thought of that, rather than saying “I’ll write 1,000 words whenever I have the time.”

I’ll definitely adopt that in December. Also, I was really glad to see your first point – if you’re not serious about it, then stop. I have been picking up my guitar on and off for the past decade, and always feel guilty about not practicing. I’m definitely not serious about, so I will now give myself permission to just stop!