What the heck is a Giant Squid and why I want to become one

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 20 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #1,314 in Me, #150,450 overall

Commitment to becoming a Giant

A Giant Squid is the best of the best, at least that's what I tell myself. "Why would anyone want to work so hard just for a logo with an ugly Squid on it?" is the question I had to ask myself when I decided to make the commitment to become a Giant.

I thought long and hard on if I was ready, if I could really give this challenge the effort needed to succeed. I knew there would be setbacks, and time constraints, but I wanted to do it. But did I want it bad enough to commit......

One week before deadline-September 24th 

It is 8 days before the deadline and I just published my 50th lens! One week ahead of schedule :) The feeling is fantastic, as I have learned so much. Tomorrow I will send in my request to be considered.........the feeling of finishing my goal is hard to explain, just suffice it to say I am pleased.

Update on My Journey: Halfway there! 

Update, today is the half-way point of my Journey to Giant. It has been quite a Journey so far.

I had set a goal to have at least half of my lenses done by today, the half-way mark for the new Giant Deadline. I needed to have 25 done (which really seemed a lot of work), but guess what? I just published my 32nd lens.......YEA! Now I am ahead of schedule, and have learned so much along the way.

One thing I will say is that without the help of so many others taking their time to help people in the Giant Challenge, I doubt I would have learned so much this quickly.

OK, halfway there, I need 18 more, nothing compared to how many I needed a month ago!

The biggest Challenge to my goal is me 

I am passionate about writing, but just not focused. Staying motivated is an issue and writing on demand is a problem, and with this in mind I am challenging myself to the Squidoo Giant's Challenge with only 10 Published lenses at the time I made the commitment. You need 50 quality writings (lenses) so as you can see this is indeed a Challenge!

YIKES.....what was I thinking. Today is the first day of the Challenge, and here I am at 7:21am writing. It looks like I just might overcome my issue with demand writing after all.

From an idea to a plan

Why I wanted to Stress myself out with the Giant's Challenge 

Why I want to become a Giant is a good question, one I have asked myself more than once!

As I sit here at 7:30 in the morning with my coffee, watering the lawn and my laptop perched on my left knee I know the answer......

I want to become a "Giant" because they are supposed to be the best of the best. Everyone I met on Twitter from Squidoo was a Giant, and that was my original motivation. I wanted to have the coveted title of "Giant" and the skills that are necessary to become one. I wanted this, so I signed up, ready to take the challenge.

I am Creative and love to write 

Here is a different challenge I succeed in, writing a Blog


California Real Estate and Life is my work related blog I started last year. Again, I challenged myself to learn the skills necessary to administer my own Word Press Blog about Real Estate.

I am pleased with my progress, and pleased with my writing, but the Squidoo Giant Challenge offers me the opportunity to learn more and varied skills that will help me improve all my writings.

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No time to Waste....lots of learning going on

The path to Giant....have you taken it? 

We all have different things that motivate us, and ways to achieve our goals.

What motivated you to become a Giant and did you make it the first time you tried?

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I tried, but didn't succeed the first time because.....

CleanerLife says:

I guess I rushed through a few of my first 50 Lenses, and they just weren't good enough. I actually deleted two before I tried the next time, and my Lenscrafting skills did improve enough for me to make it on my 2nd try!

Posted August 02, 2009

Mickie_G says:

I wanted to become a Giant because I needed a goal.

I did not make it the first time because I had not studied the other great lenses out there.

Posted August 02, 2009

I made it, and this is what helped me.....

missbat says:

RMS invited me to think about becoming a Giant. I worked hard, pushing myself, and achieved Giant less then a year after joining Squidoo. It can be hard, working alone. I just remained focused and determined. Now I'm going for Giant 100.

Posted August 10, 2009

GrowWear says:

What really solidified my motivation was that I wanted to hit the finish line with a couple of my Squid friends that were going for it: AJ2008 and OhMe. ...We made it!! :D

Posted August 07, 2009

JaguarJulie says:

Interesting that it was the challenge invite from Kimberly and Megan in the Summer of 2007 -- it was stick-to-itve-ness that did it for me. Presented with that initial challenge of 100 quality lenses, I didn't want to let them or myself down despite battling though a hard drive crash near the deadline date!

Posted August 02, 2009

Sojourn says:

I did just become a Giant in the last session. I wasn't sure I could do it either but lensmasters like A-Willow and Drifter kept me motivated and I did it. When I made it, the sense of accomplishment was overwhelming! :)

Posted August 02, 2009

badmsm says:

Just staying focused on the goal, and working through it. I figured out how many lenses I needed to make by the deadline, then made 5 lenses a day until I got to 50. You can do anything in small increments. :)

Make a list of lens ideas and keep it by your computer. Then you always have a source of inspiration for new lenses.

Posted August 01, 2009

 
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Top 10 Things I need to do to reach my Goal 

These are a few of the things I have done, and plan to do to reach my goal.

  • Make the Commitment!

    Join a team, well not any team, but "THE" team of Wiwon with Michelle Willow

    Finish my Rocket Moms commitment which gives me 8 of the 50 I need

    Block a couple hours a day for writing

    Learn about the other team members and read their writings

    Be a good team member with whatever time I have available

    Learn how to improve my writing, and utilize the feedback I receive

    Do not stress, and do the best I can

    Write, write, write and rewrite as needed

    Dream of that coveted Giants Logo to go on my profile!

I want to be a Giant just like them 

These are just a couple of the people that have helped me so far in my journey, whether they know it or not, I look up to, or am thankful for what they have taught me.

Comments and feedback 

Leave your comments here, it helps keep me motivated :)

I would like to thank Soujoun for her Borders (love them, thanks Erica), Trekkiemelissa for the code that allows me to use links,and last but not least Greekgeek for the Squid images.

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