Category Archives: Reach Your Goals

Y is for: Your Charisma is Powerful!

heatherericksonauthor2019 A to Z Challenge, Authenticity, Reach Your GoalsApril 29, 2019

My daughter Sam has charisma. When I asked her when she first knew she had charisma, she said, “It’s like knowing the color of your skin. You might not know what to call it, but you know you’ve got it.” She has always known how to get what she wants. At the age of 8, she struck up a conversation with a comedian who was selling CDs of his Christian comedy act. She asked him about one of the CDs that had a scratch on the cover. She convinced him (with very little effort) to give her the CD. Then, Read more…

V is for: Visualize Success for Confidence

heatherericksonauthor2019 A to Z Challenge, Reach Your GoalsApril 25, 2019

When my daughter Summer was about a semester into her college experience at the age of 16, she knew what field she wanted to work in. With great confidence, she asked her professor, “How do I get your job?” The professor told her. Since then, she has been on track to work as an art historian.Visualizing success can you the confidence you need to reach your goals.In 2012, social psychologist, Amy Cuddy gave the TED Talk, Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are.[1] In it, she hypothesizes that your body language not only affects the way you interact with Read more…

T is for Trust Your Intuition

heatherericksonauthor2019 A to Z Challenge, Get Creative!, Reach Your GoalsApril 23, 2019

About 12 years ago, I was in the market for a new vehicle. I was newly separated from my ex-husband and a little overwhelmed by the car-buying process. I had done my research, though, and found a few candidates online. One of them was advertised wrong. When I called the number in the ad, I got a New Hampshire car dealership rather than the dealership right down the road in our Twin Cities suburb. Hmmm. My intuition told me I could get good deal on this van.I quickly went down to the local dealer who actually had the minivan. When Read more…

R is for: Reframe the problem

heatherericksonauthor2019 A to Z Challenge, Cancer Information, Reach Your GoalsApril 20, 2019

I recently decided to reframe the problem of explaining what it’s like to live with cancer, by creating a complicated graph. In January, we had a crazy week, down at the Mayo Clinic. We had gone thinking my husband would be in a new trial. Then, the doctors discovered what they thought were more brain metastases. These would disqualify him from the trial. So, they cancelled his biopsy and other testing appointments.Meanwhile, the polar vortex hit Minnesota plunging temperatures to record lows. It was so cold that a man died in the very town where we were staying because he Read more…

Q is for: Question Everything

heatherericksonauthor2019 A to Z Challenge, Get Creative!, Reach Your GoalsApril 19, 2019

Many years ago I ended up being the president of the homeschool support group at our church. I say, “ended up,” because after attending only 1 meeting, I agreed to become the vice president and then the president resigned 2 weeks later. So my unexpected rise to power left me feeling pretty overwhelmed. I had to question everything in order to come up with a plan to improve the way we dd things.There were some problemsAs we began to question everything, we started with the attendance. It was really low. There were only about 5 of us. Yet, we had Read more…

O is for: Consider Opposing Viewpoints

heatherericksonauthor2019 A to Z Challenge, Reach Your GoalsApril 17, 2019

Anyone raising teenagers knows the challenge of overcoming opposing viewpoints. They want things one way, but you have rules which say they have to be another. Sometimes it can feel like you are banging your head against a brick wall. Why does she insist on wearing shoes without socks in the winter? Why does he consistently come home 10 minutes later than he was supposed to? What is behind her failing grades or his bad attitude? Likewise, they probably view your rules as restrictive and think you just don’t understand what it’s like to be in their shoes (even if Read more…

N is for: Let Go of What’s Not Needed

heatherericksonauthor2019 A to Z Challenge, Reach Your GoalsApril 16, 2019

Today we took one of our frequent trips to the Mayo Clinic. We sit in waiting rooms for long stretches of time each day. And each trip can take 2-3 (sometimes 4) days. So, I filled a bag with my kindle, my phone, charging cords, my purse, a sleep mask (in case I was able to catch some zzzzs in the quiet lounge), some snacks, a book to read to Dan on the drive down, another book that I’m preparing to review, and even more things that I later learned were not needed.I often overpack, as if I’m afraid I’ll Read more…

L is for: Listen to Feedback

heatherericksonauthor2019 A to Z Challenge, Get Creative!, Reach Your GoalsApril 13, 2019

I love getting feedback on my projects, whether they are blog posts or books I’m writing. The first people I turn to are my family members. Countless times, their feedback has saved me public embarrassment and ridicule (primarily from them).Another valuable source of feedback is my group of beta readers. As I was writing Facing Cancer as a Parent: How to Help Your Children Cope with Your Cancer, my beta readers gave me feedback that made a big difference in the quality of the book.Trends in FeedbackThe benefit of getting feedback from several people is that you can see trends Read more…

I is for: Imagine the Ideal Scenario

heatherericksonauthor2019 A to Z Challenge, Get Creative!, Reach Your GoalsApril 10, 2019

Today’s prompt asks, “What’s your ideal scenario? Bring your vision to life by creating a drawing or collage of pictures.”I’m a little bit uncomfortable with things that don’t line up neatly, and a collage definitely falls into that category, so I’ve made it a practice to never put together a collage…ever. But, I can definitely get into visualization as I imagine the ideal scenario for my future.What I see and feel in my ideal scenarioIt’s 5 years from now. A treatment has been formulated to cure lung cancer and reverse the negative effects that living with and treating cancer have Read more…

H is for: Helicopter View

heatherericksonauthor2019 A to Z Challenge, Reach Your GoalsApril 9, 2019

Do you remember the OJ Simpson Bronco Chase? On June 17, 1994, most of America got to see a low-speed chase from a helicopter view. OJ Simpson, driven by his friend Al Cowlings in a white Bronco, led police, lights and sirens blazing, down the highway. Detective Tom Lange was able to contact Simpson on his cell phone to try to reason with him. Simpson had a gun and was refusing to toss the gun out the Bronco. He was obviously under distress because he knew he was about to be arrested. He was going to lose it all and Read more…