Tag: book review

Preptober

PREPTOBER 2022 | Treating Yourself

elizabethannebritton

Let’s chat about the fun part of NaNoWriMo: your reward system. Reward systems are a fantastic way to keep yourself motivated to hit your daily, weekly and monthly word count. It’s the carrot at the end of the stick––the extra oomph that will remind you that you have something waiting for you once you’re finished.

I’ll dive into all things reward systems and treating yourself in this blog post, so if that’s something you’re interested in, just keep reading.

Reward Systems 101

Reward systems for NaNoWriMo are traditionally broken up with bigger word count goals like hitting the 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, 40,000 and 50,000 word count marks. But just like breaking up NaNoWriMo into smaller daily goals, I recommend breaking up your reward system into smaller daily rewards. This way, you’re treating yourself every single day.

The reason is this: let’s say you’re writing the 1,667 words every single day. That means that you won’t reach that first 10,000 word count mark until the end of the first week in November. That’s nearly a week without a single reward. And if you’re someone like me who really enjoys and relishes rewards, then that’s far too long to go without a reward.

I recommend breaking up your reward system into three categories: daily, weekly, and end of the month rewards.

Daily Rewards

Your daily rewards should be things that are easily accessible to you. I’m thinking things like: doing your favorite workout in the morning, grabbing your favorite snack in the afternoon, having your drink of choice at night, and taking bubble baths. I love to take daily bubble baths to reward myself. I usually bring a book, light some candles, and wear a face mask to make it more of a spa-like experience.

I don’t recommend waiting until you’ve hit your word count for the day to reward yourself. Ideally, your rewards are trickled throughout the day as you check off your top ten goals. For example: one of my goals is to workout every single day in the month of November. To reward myself immediately after, I’m planning on eating my favorite breakfast immediately afterward.

These daily rewards should not be expensive or take up too much of your time. They should be quick and easy for you to have immediately. The key for daily rewards is to have that instant dopamine rush and feeling of having accomplished something.

Make things special for yourself and don’t be afraid to romanticize your life as a reward. So when you reward yourself daily, really lean into it and don’t skimp.

Weekly Rewards

Weekly rewards can and should happen at any point in the week––not just the end of the week. I usually like to schedule two to three weekly rewards per week. These rewards only happen when I’ve been hitting my daily goals. So what does that look like?

NaNoWriMo officially starts on Tuesday, November 1st. So I plan on going to my writers group on Thursday as a reward and Saturday I plan on being fully present for my husband’s 31st birthday.

The beauty of going to my writers group on Thursday is not only do I find it rewarding, but it also helps me accomplish one of my support group goals and I get to socialize with other writers. I always have the warm fuzzies after I spend time with my writers group.

On Saturday, I look forward to not only celebrating my husband’s birthday but also spending quality time with friends and family. I consider this a reward because we’re planning on doing some go-kart racing and heading to a brewery which are both fun activities where I can blow off steam.

I might throw in a couple more rewards of getting my nails done, going hiking on Sunday, and purchasing a few new books. The key with weekly rewards is to pick things that you really can’t do on a regular basis. Make these extra special and stand out from your daily rewards.

Your Monthly Rewards

I recommend having multiple monthly rewards. These rewards are for the end of the month when you have accomplished NaNoWriMo. I want you to actually do something big here.

Something big could be having a party with friends to celebrate NaNoWriMo being over or having a staycation at a local bed and breakfast. Are you planning on purchasing champagne? Pop that bubbly and enjoy. By the end of November, you deserve some pampering.

Like your weekly rewards, your monthly rewards should be extraordinarily special to you. These should be things that can only happen once per month because they are so rare. Think about this and really consider how you’re going to celebrate at the end of NaNoWriMo.

Rewards that Align With Your Goals

When you’re planning out your rewards for your month, make sure that they actually align with your top ten goals for NaNoWriMo. For example: I have a goal of exercising every day during NaNoWriMo. That means one of my rewards could be going to a yoga studio or picking up a delicious watermelon smoothie. That does not mean that I am going to reward myself by skipping a workout to watch television instead.

For writing, maybe your reward should be purchasing books that help you become a better writer or signing up for an upcoming writers’ conference you’ve had your eye on for a while. You’re not going to want to skip writing for the day to reward yourself and derail you from your ultimate goal of reaching 50,000 words in the month of November. That won’t be helpful and it doesn’t align with your goal.

Whatever your rewards are, just make sure that they resonate with your goals. You don’t want to go completely off the rails and then lose track of what you’re trying to accomplish.

When thinking of rewards for NaNoWriMo, just make sure that they are actual rewards for you. They should be things you really look forward to. Don’t reward yourself with things that don’t make you happy. Remember: these are rewards for your hard work, so treat yourself accordingly.

Let me know in the comment section below if this blog was helpful!

Self-Help

Book Review: You are a Bad*ss

elizabethannebritton

Book Summary

You are a Bad*ss is a self-help book for those who are looking to improve their lives and be their best selves. In this book, Jen Sincero (world-traveling success coach) shares her own experiences, offers up real advice, and provides simple exercises to help you change your views.

The book consists of 27 chapters, broken up into five sections covering:

  • How You Got This Way
  • How to Embrace Your Inner Bad*ss
  • How to Tap into the Motherlode
  • How to Get Over Your B.S. Already
  • How to Kick Some *ss

By the end of You Are a Bad*ss, you’ll learn the tools you need to embrace who you are and how you can cultivate your potential to kick some *ss.

My Thoughts

I’ve recently been reading a lot of self-help books about goal setting and moving past fear to create a more meaningful life for yourself. This book is a pretty quick read with less than 260 pages and a quippy author that carries you through to the end.

My favorite part of the book had to be the end of some of the chapters with a note saying, “Love Yourself.” Each chapter that had it was followed with an action or a phrase you needed to show yourself you love yourself. I found it was such a positive way to end those specific chapters.

Surprisingly, the chapter that resonated with me the most is chapter 24: Money, Your New Best Friend. Sincero directly challenges the notion of disliking needing money––something that I didn’t even realize I was doing. I mean, if you think about everything that we as a society consume, a general notion is that the rich are bad and the poor are good. Look at Robinhood.

I had to stop working with the equation that wanting/having money = greedy scumbag. And I had to get a freakin’ plan.

Sincero, Jen (2013). You are a Bad*ss. Running Press.

She is absolutely right. Wanting or having money does not mean that you are automatically a villain in a book or a movie.

I hadn’t even realized I had been limiting my own earning potential by writing off other avenues of income because of that fear of being labeled as selfish. I had limited myself to the belief that only my 9-5 job would provide me sufficient income and that any more earnings would be a detriment to my moral well-being.

After reading this book, I am more consciously working on growing my wealth and manifesting money in new and exciting ways.

In Conclusion

Overall, I give this self-help book an 8/10 rating. It was pretty repetitive at times but the overall message was clear: get over your fears and start living your life.

romance

“The Jane Austen Book Club” Romance Book Review

elizabethannebritton

Five women and one man create a Jane Austen book club where they pour over her works. During the six months it takes to read all of Austen’s books, each of the club members faces challenges and excitement in their day-to-day lives. Marriages are put to the test, love affairs take flight, and love happens. In this book, Karen Joy Fowler takes her readers into the world of these six people and shows the ups and downs of modern relationships.

Okay. Here’s my honest opinion: I couldn’t stand this book. giphy

The book was written like an old maid was at the typewriter with some dusty parchment and typing with one finger at a time. It was as if Fowler was trying to imitate Jane Austen’s timeless narration style and completely failed in her attempt to do so.

I get it: the women of the book club are in their 30’s to 60’s and that type of writing voice is what Fowler was trying for. Someone seasoned and wise…But, quite frankly, the tone just annoyed me until no end. It was condescending, old, and outdated. Like moldy, yellowed lace from a wooden trunk in a dusty attic. Ick.

And what was with her using the words “we” and “us” all the time? None of the six people were our narrators. None of them. Instead of reading a hard copy, I listened to the audio version of the book, so when Fowler used “we” and “us,” I had to look up who, exactly, was narrating the story. Turns out, it was just her narrator’s voice.

It made me feel like one of those men in that old children’s book, “Six Foolish Fishermen.”

Essentially, the six fishermen count everyone at the end of the day to make sure everyone is safe. Well, each time they count and re-count, they forget to count themselves, so they assume there are only five people there instead of six, and therefore: someone must have drowned.

That feeling of annoyance and foolishness at the fact that they forget to count themselves is exactly how I felt every time Fowler used the words “us” or “we.” As I read, I kept thinking to myself, “Who is ‘us’ or ‘we?'” and “Am I forgetting someone in the book club?”

In addition to this poor choice of writing style, the story itself was severely lacking. Since there were six people to follow, I found it difficult to invest in any of the characters. None of them were developed properly and each was more and more dislikable as the story went on.

The question I now ask myself is this: how was this a New York Times bestseller?