Are you required to pay USE Tax? If you work online (internet) and receive payment for products, you are required to pay USE Tax in most states. This is a surprising fact to most entrepreneurs. Due to the track record the IRS has on monitoring internet sales, it is common for people ignore their obligation to pay.

I know we are taxed to death! I totally agree that the USE Tax is ridiculous, but the question isn’t whether or not “I think it is required” rather “are we required” and we are required to pay. And…if you profess that you operate a honest and ethical business, you better not shuffle your responsibility aside.

Want to finish your writing project? Then you need to make writing a habit. That involves making a commitment, planning small steps, leveraging your personal strengths, and celebrating your small successes.

Alas, many of us allow killer thoughts such as the ones below to stop us in our tracks. Replace them with healthy thoughts based on positive psychology, and before you know it, you’ll have that manuscript finished!

1. Killer Thought: First, I’ll check my email.
Healthy thought: First, I will honor my goal by doing my “Single Daily Action” around writing. It could be to make a list of the topics or ideas or get the resources arranged on the desk or the computer open to the Word document, etc. I will pick one small easy-to-do thing that will move me one step forward on my project every day for 20 minutes, first thing in the morning if possible. (20 minutes per day for 300 days would be 100 hours—which would really get me somewhere!)

2. Killer Thought: I am not in the mood to write just yet. I will wait until inspiration strikes me
Healthy thought: Even though I am not in flow now, I can get there if I sit down and start writing. I will keep inspirational books, photos, or other objects that prompt me to think about my topic. I will be mindful of what adds to my concentration and inspiration (be it coffee or loud music or a window with a view) and leverage that.
Inspiration will come as I write. I have had moments of creativity and I will have more. I can use my top strengths to get me started and invite my muse to visit and my inner critic to take a hike.

3. Killer Thought: I don’t work well with schedules. I prefer spontaneity.
Healthy thought: I am choosing to write this because it matters to me. No one is making me do this but me. When I put time in my schedule for me, I am realizing my best self. (My inner critic would like me to stop, but I am not going to listen to it!). The hard truth is that writing projects take time. I am willing to make time for the things to which I am committed.

4. Killer Thought: I need to do more research. I don’t know enough.
Healthy thought: First, I will write out what I already have in my head and at hand. Then I will review it to see where I may need to do research to fill in the gaps. I will aim for “good enough” rather than “perfect.” I will remind my inner critic that I am not writing an encyclopedia; I am writing about what I know.

5. Killer Thought: I need to relax (or energize myself) first.
Healthy thought: When I sit down and allow myself to write long enough, I can eventually get into flow, especially if I am leveraging my own personal strengths. The ideas stream out in an effortless way and putting them down on paper or screen renews my energy. At the end of the day, I feel more peaceful and satisfied that if I had just whiled away the time (watching TV, surfing the net, and all those things my inner critic would like me to do instead of write).


6. Killer Thought: I don’t have time right now. I’ll wait until I have a lot of time.
Healthy thought: I will use the time I have now even if it is just 15 minutes. I can do some small thing now (read two pages, write down three ideas, check a book out of the library). This will help keep me incubating my ideas so that when I have more time I will be ready to write. I can also take the time now to plan how to carve out larger chunks of time on a regular basis. From now on, I will make a point of saying “no” to some things that come up that matter less so that I can say “yes” to this project more. When I do that, I experience more satisfaction in my day.

7. Killer Thought: I have no place to work. I need to have [whatever I don’t have].
Healthy thought: I can work wherever I can sit down with a pen and paper or my computer. I can create a small nook in my home or find a table at a café or a library or even a convent. There are many published authors who wrote under more difficult conditions than these. (Poet Wendell Berry said he even used the back of an envelope!) I will be grateful that I have the time, the means, and the place at hand without waiting for my inner critic’s idea of the perfect writer’s studio.

8. Killer Thought: I don’t know where to start writing
Healthy thought: I can start anywhere, even writing about how I do not know what I want to write. I do not need to start with a clear idea. My ideas will take shape as I work with them. I will write for 30 minutes and then see where I am. I will give myself permission to not know, to be curious, to incubate, as ideas begin to form.

9. Killer Thought: I tried it and my writing was awful.
Healthy thought: I can give myself permission to write badly. The important thing is to keep writing. Some days my writing will be better than it is on others. I am honoring my best self when I spend time doing what matters to me. Even in baseball, the homerun kings are often the strikeout kings. I can only make a run if I get up to bat. My writing project will only be finished if I spend time doing it.

10. I tried all of the above and still cannot get going. I’m a total failure as a writer.
Healthy thought: Sometimes a “positivity” break is a good idea. I will put the project away for just one week and build my resilience and positivity by taking concrete steps to increase the pleasure, flow, and meaning in my day in other ways. I will take care of my body, mind, and spirit while letting ideas incubate. On [set date] I will sit down and follow through, renewed and eager to start writing.


When you really want to make optimal progress on your book, consider partnering with a positive psychology coach who can help you identify your strengths for writing, create a plan, and enjoy the process. If you would like a free consultation about how I can help you as I have helped others, contact me at gayle@essencecoaching.com. Leverage the best of positive psychology to achieve your goals in an authentic, life-enhancing way.