Category Archives: Self Development

Article by Yax
Published on February 28, 2011
Categories: Entrepreneurship, Self Development, Writing & Publishing
Tags: goals, RPG

10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting Your RPG Project

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series RPG Publishing For Fun And Profit

New projects are fun and exciting, but wait! Don’t plow ahead without thinking about the project as a whole. Here are some questions you should try to answer. Continue reading →

Article by Joe
Published on December 30, 2010
Categories: Self Development
Tags: Gamer Lifestyle Coaching Program, goals, planning, RPG, writing

Gamer Lifestyle Goal Setting for 2011 (Part One)

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Gamer Lifestyle Goal Setting

Each year in late December I spend a bit of time reviewing my goals for the past year and planning new goals for the year ahead. I’m a big believer in the idea that writing something down makes it more “real,” so to speak, and I always find I do a better job staying on target with my goals if I make a point of planning what I want to accomplish for the year ahead.

I’m going to use the … Continue reading →

Article by Yax
Published on December 18, 2010
Categories: Self Development, Writing & Publishing
Tags: freelance, writing

Why freelancers struggle financially

Johnn and I had a conversation triggered by this article: Freelancers make 25k – 30k. Someone at the Yahoo RPG Freelance group jested that all freelancers are in the same underpaid boat.

To me, it’s proof that if you just look for work without working on your personal brand/name/portfolio, you’re coming out of every job with nothing more than you had coming in. It’s a recipe for disaster. Freelancers work for themselves. A freelancer spending 100% of his work … Continue reading →

Article by Joe
Published on November 19, 2010
Categories: Self Development
Tags: Gamer Lifestyle Coaching Program, RPG, RPG development, RPG publishing

The Value of Coaching

While talking to a friend the other day, the subject of personal one-on-one coaching came up. My friend, we’ll call him Steve, happens to be both a writer and a gamer, so the subject of the Game Lifestyle Coaching Program naturally arose. What do people really get from having a coach? Steve wanted to know.

Excellent question and one I thought was worth taking a few minutes to talk about here.

Let’s start with a few recent quotes from the … Continue reading →

Article by Yax
Published on September 20, 2010
Categories: Self Development, Writing & Publishing
Tags: newsletter, PDF, writing

Article by Yax
Published on October 30, 2009
Categories: Self Development, Writing & Publishing
Tags: Dungeon Mastering, RPG, RPG industry, writing

How do I get noticed in the gaming industry?

This is a response I wrote to a Dungeon Mastering reader who was wondering how to get noticed in the RPG industry.

How do you compete with free?

Here’s the thing about working in the gaming and creative writing fields: people do it for free. With a little effort, WOTC could get free content for almost all their magazine articles. I know I get enough free articles sent my way to have 10 decent articles per month for free on … Continue reading →

Article by Yax
Published on September 30, 2009
Categories: Self Development
Tags: productivity

Vanquish the Dream Killer

Self-doubt is a dream killer. This is food for thought – no actionable to-do list here! But hopefully it can keep you going when you experience self-doubt (we all do)

Hard work

When you feel like working on your project, leverage that energy. Can you free up your schedule to ride that wave of motivation? Can you tivo your favorite program or postpone dinner by an hour? When you get in a groove, milk it for all it’s worth!

Willpower… Continue reading →

Article by Yax
Published on August 28, 2009
Categories: Self Development
Tags:

GenCon for the aspiring professional

Jess Hartley wrote a series of articles: GenCon for the aspiring professional.

My take on GenCon networking

It can work. But you have to network the right way. A great first step is to read Jess’ articles. And here’s my advice for the RPG GenCon networker:

1. Know your goal(s)

It’s hard to justify the trip to Indianapolis or measure its success if you don’t have an objective to start with.

2. Be professional (don’t be a fanboy)

When … Continue reading →

Article by Yax
Published on July 24, 2009
Categories: Self Development
Tags: RPG

Everything you wants lies just outside your comfort zone

I was listening to an interview with Maria Andros and she said something that rang very true to me: “everything you wants lies outside your comfort zone”. What it means to me is that the status quo is detrimental to my personal and business lives.

Having a routine is great… But it doesn’t get you anywhere.

Personally, I love having a routine. A routine is low on stress, it’s comfortable. Heck, it might even be profitable! Unfortunately, we live in … Continue reading →

Article by Yax
Published on July 2, 2009
Categories: Self Development
Tags: Motivation

Stay upbeat when you get beat up

I started 3 businesses. The first one led me to bankruptcy. The second one merely failed. The third is doing great.

I built boring game worlds, created linear stories, and ran campaigns that bombed after one session. But my players only seem to remember the 3 timeless campaigns we played in.

I gave advice to people who didn’t want it and refused to listen to advice I needed, yet I picked up just enough to become a better person (almost) … Continue reading →