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Abstract

er things, as well — things we would never intentionally put in jeopardy.</p><p id="c31f">And that’s my not-so-subtle way of introducing what is usually the most overlooked yet critical component in most goal-setting presentations — the conscious act of recognizing what’s already working in your life, especially the people, places, and things you should never put at risk.</p><h1 id="48b4">I’m talking about the very real possibility of paying too much to achieve a goal.</h1><p id="ccf8">The symptoms are most obvious in those who are <i>goal-obsessed</i> — consumed with uncommon dedication to their life’s objectives.</p><p id="a0c7">These are the people who compete with sheer drive and overwhelming determination. They always arrive early and work late. They forego vacations in favor of “catching up on the paperwork.” They watch their kids grow up as strangers, and their wives become little more than someone they plan to grow old with.</p><h2 id="19bd">Granted, real accomplishment is seldom achieved without sacrifice.</h2><p id="f58d">And every goal, whether realized or not, <a href="https://readmedium.com/roger-reid-live-an-extraordinary-life-a4df07356a74">comes with a price</a>. Most of us understand that pursuing the things we want often means re-prioritizing other facets of our life — including those having intrinsic or emotional value that’s easy and often convenient to overlook.</p><p id="30f5">We even promise ourselves we’ll make it up in the future, as if we’re putting that part of our life on hold — just temporarily — until we’ve arrived at our desired destination. At least that’s what we tell ourselves.</p><p id="4cbd">The result?</p><h1 id="b659">Without realizing it, we put the most important touchstones of our lives at risk.</h1><p id="fd8a">Those touchstones can be your spouse, your kids, or family members. It can also be your existing degree of financial security, or your health, or your ability to recognize the needs of others who are counting on you.</p><h2 id="3965">Think you’re immune?</h2><p id="4912">Think again. Those destined to become the most accomplished are the most susceptible.</p><p id="39e4">Our natural tendency is to prioritize our time and attention in favor of the new and compelling. But never allow an obsessive preoccupation with any of your goals to result in the most important facets of your life becoming an expendable part of your future.</p><p id="5d4f">The danger comes from being so caught up in the day-to-day striving for success, we never consider the possibility that, with less attention, devotion, or commitment, our most important touchstones <a href="https://taylorstracks.com/reaching-your-goal-wont-make-you-happier/">can easily be lost</a> to neglect and indifference.</p><h1 id="0703">So, how do we avoid letting those vital touchstones slip through the crack?</h1><p id="6831">The key is to identify the <a href="https://readmedium.com/roger-reid-6-timeless-traits-of-family-leadership-b8cc2e102d12">non-negotiable fundamentals</a> in your life, and protect them with a commitment to keep them whole and healthy for the long term.</p><p id="f171"><b>Why go to such lengths to formally identify the parts of our lives we already acknowledge as important?</b> Because it’s part of our nature to discount the stable, nurturing, and comfortable aspects of our lives when those things are an established part of our experience. The fact that they already exist — as opposed to being something we don’t have and are longing for — makes them ideal candidates to take for granted.</p><p id="1f79">It’s seldom our plan to intentionally damage our relationship with our spouse or family. We don’t deliberately set out to destroy long-held friendships or neglect the parts of our lives that give us comfort. But unfortunately, it happens a little at a time — a missed birthday here, a forgotten anniversary there — and over the years, it adds up.</p><h2 id="615a">Unintentional indifference can extract a heavy toll, especially on primary relationships.</h2><p id="6c9e">After decades of neglect, the fire goes out — because it wasn’t tended, fed, or supported. In essence, it was allowed to die. And now, each partner finds themselves living with a stranger of convenience.</p><p id="dacb">If you want to avoid this destructive side-effect of pursuing career and life goals with a single-minded obsession, the process is simple:</p><h1 id="7031">Make a list of all the things in your life that are important to you.</h1><p id="a744">Include the things that are positive, make a difference in your attitude, give you pleasure, and motivate you. Bottom line, you’re identifying the things you enjoy, appreciate, and fill you with gratitude.</p><p id="00ab">If you don’t want to call them touchstones, call them foundational elements, or your base support system. But regardless of what you call them, these are your reasons for getting up in the morning, for going to work, for coming home — because you know those things are waiting for you.</p><p id="4ac2">This list is your personal reminder of <a href="https://readmedium.com/roger-reid-the-secret-to-living-a-happy-life-509f789e5766">what must come first</a>, <i>and what must always be protected</i> as you continue to work toward a more rewarding life.</p><h2 id="7138">They’re also the things you don’t gamble with.</h2><p id="10be">Because without them — even th

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ough you achieve your most ambitious goals — your life won’t have the same meaning.</p><p id="6ef7">Your achievements won’t bring you the same level of satisfaction and pleasure you’d hoped to receive. And you’ll realize — too late — that the people closest to you, the ones you’d assumed would always be there to celebrate with you, to share in your victories, and enjoy your success, are no longer a part of your life.</p><h1 id="c902">Not sure what to put on your list?</h1><p id="9b90">I’ll give you a peek at mine.</p><ul><li><b>The first thing on my list is my wife</b>. She’s smart, takes care of her health, and works with a sense of dedication and persistence that gives her the advantage of being successful at whatever she chooses to do. And most importantly, she puts up with me. I would never consider pursuing any objective that would put my relationship with her at risk.</li><li><b>My second touchstone is maintaining control over my time and personal schedule</b>. I was never a “good” employee. I failed miserably at “normalizing” my personality, behavior, and disposition to fit into a corporate bureaucracy.</li><li><b>My third touchstone is where I live.</b> For the last ten years, my wife and I have lived on the gulf coast of Florida. I’ve become accustomed to 75 degree winters and tolerable summers. I wouldn’t consider moving to a climate with below-freezing winters. Nor would I entertain the idea of moving to somewhere like Phoenix, where the summers reach 118 degrees. So where I live is important, because I’ve learned I’m happier and more productive in milder climates.</li></ul><h2 id="05ed">Your list will no doubt be different.</h2><p id="d188">But the fact that you make one will put you far ahead of those who set goals without first identifying the important, non-negotiable people, places, and things that make them happy.</p><p id="403a">So as our world begins to return to normal and you find yourself reconsidering your priorities and re-evaluating your current and future professional objectives, I encourage you to include the important relationships, the core values, and the personal interests that are paramount in your life. Give them the importance they deserve by imagining what your life would be like without them.</p><h1 id="7b13">I’ll leave you with this</h1><p id="3b2e">Socrates argued that the unexamined life isn’t worth living. I’ll offer the counterpoint that subjecting every part of your life to evaluation, measurement, and control can kill spontaneity, shackle creativity, and <a href="https://readmedium.com/roger-reid-buzz-aldrin-on-the-moon-ec9ddf441d41">blind you </a>to the things of value and importance already present in your life.</p><h2 id="ce11">Certainly, use goals to qualify your time and resources and keep you focused on the highest priority activities.</h2><p id="31be">Just make sure any process used to increase your effectiveness doesn’t prevent you from experiencing — and appreciating — the excitement and satisfaction that can come from simply living in the here-and-now, one day at a time.</p><p id="4c49"><a href="https://www.successpoint360.com/episode-7-transcript/"><i>Listen to the Podcast of this article at Success Point 360</i></a></p><p id="3fcc"><i>© 2021 <a href="https://successpoint360.com/">Roger A. Reid</a>. All Rights Reserved.</i></p><p id="d849"><b>Roger A. Reid</b> is the author of <a href="https://amzn.to/33lLOZo"><b><i>Better Mondays</i></b></a><b><i> </i></b>and <a href="https://amzn.to/3hn6V5G"><b><i>Speak Up</i></b></a>.</p><div id="13c1" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/roger-reid-live-your-best-life-now-1e9337541727"> <div> <div> <h2>Live Your Best Life Now, Because the Future Doesn’t Look So Great</h2> <div><h3>How a friend’s predictions of the future changed my mind about getting older</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*b3S1pZ_3EJjvGi8YwVko0A.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="1ac5" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/roger-reid-the-secret-to-aging-without-apology-or-regret-7a117b509b54"> <div> <div> <h2>Discover the Secret to Aging Without Apology or Regret</h2> <div><h3>10 ways to become the exception to the myth of aging</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*7OpYKiQig5iXHyI4nY0SwQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="60c8"><a href="https://successpoint360.com/about"><b>Roger A. Reid, Ph.D.</b></a> is the host of <a href="https://www.successpoint360.com/"><b>Success Point 360 Podcast</b> </a>and author of <a href="https://amzn.to/33lLOZo"><b><i>Better Mondays</i></b></a><b><i> </i></b>and <a href="https://amzn.to/3hn6V5G"><b><i>Speak Up</i></b></a>. A certified NLP trainer with degrees in engineering and business, Roger offers tips and strategies for achieving higher levels of career success and personal fulfillment in the real world.</p></article></body>

8 Magazines That Pay Fiction Writers $300+ For Short Stories

Get paid to write fiction — short stories, poetry, and creative essays

Last week, I binge-watched Season 4 of Stranger Things, a dark, thrilling, mind-blowing series that left me teary-eyed and waiting impatiently for the next part. And a day later, I found that my own creative senses were tingling with ideas for a brilliant fiction piece.

I set out to find the best magazines and websites that pay for short stories and fiction(and also compile the ones I already know of). So if you’re also a fiction writer looking for magazines that pay $300 or more for submissions, here’s a list.

1. One Story

One Story is a magazine available on print and Kindle. They publish short stories and aim to unite people through reading, writing, and short fiction.

They seek literary fiction stories of length 3000 to 8000 words. The subject and style can be anything as long as it matches the quality they’re looking for.

‘We are looking for stories that leave readers feeling satisfied and are strong enough to stand alone.’

The stories submitted should be previously unpublished(with some exceptions).

Authors of accepted stories get paid $500(plus 25 contributor copies) and all rights revert to the authors after publication.

One Story receives around 200 submissions every week, so they don’t have the time to comment on each individual story. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, as long as the story is withdrawn in case it is accepted elsewhere.

You can read more of their submission guidelines here.

2. The Sun Magazine

The Sun is a reader-supported magazine, free of ads. Publishing here puts your words in front of thousands of engaged readers and pays handsomely for each piece.

They publish personal essays, poetry, and fiction. Personal stories about cultural and political issues are welcome here. They don’t have a specific word count — there is no minimum length and the maximum is usually 7000 words.

As their submission page says,

‘Surprise us; we often don’t know what we’ll like until we read it.’

The pay is as follows —

Personal Essays: $300 to $2000

Fiction: $300 to $2000

Poetry: $100 to $250

You can read sample essays and more on how to submit here.

3. The Threepenny Review

The Threepenny Review is a general literary publication that accepts submissions from Jan 1st to April 30th. Their response times can range from 2 days to 2 months. They accept —

Critical articles [1200 to 2500 words] — Topics should be books, films, theatre performances, and art exhibits. The pay is $400 for an accepted piece.
Stories and memoirs[4000 words or less] — $400 per story
Poetry[100 lines or less] — $200 per poem

‘Remember that The Threepenny Review is quarterly and national (and in some respects international); therefore each “review” should actually be an essay, broader than the specific event it covers and of interest to people who cannot see the event.’

Read more of their submission guidelines here.

4. AGNI

AGNI is a literary magazine looking for writing that “catches experience before the crusts of habit form”.

‘….poetry and prose that resist ideas about what a certain kind of writing “should do.” We seek out writers who tell their truths in their own words and convince us as we read that we’ve found something no one else could have written.’

Their submissions are open from September 1st to December 15th and again from February 15th to May 31st. AGNI magazine encourages submissions from writers of all identities and locations, whether they’ve been published before or not.

The pay for accepted pieces is $20 per printed page for prose and $40 per page for poetry, with a maximum of $300.

You can read more about submitting to AGNI here.

5. Clarkesworld Magazine

Clarkesworld Magazine is an award-winning Sci-Fi magazine that publishes short stories, articles, and audio fiction. Your short story submissions must be in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. Horror is not accepted, but dark Sci-Fi is. The word limit is 1000 to 22,000 words, with no exceptions.

They pay 12 cents per word and the payment is via Paypal, checks, or wire transfers.

The main guidelines are that stories must be —

Well-written with a good command of the English language.
Convenient for on-screen reading with adequate white spaces and paragraph breaks.
Suitable for audio

Read more about Clarkesworld submission guidelines here.

6. CRICKET Magazine

CRICKET(by Cricket Media) is a magazine for enthusiastic young readers(ages 9 to 14) and they look for high-quality fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction. They are particularly interested in stories that explore the themes of identity(gender, ethnicity, beliefs, and traditions), culture, and the creative spirit.

General submissions are always open, but they have themed submission calls on their website as well. When it comes to fiction, CRICKET welcomes realistic contemporary fiction, historical fiction, Sci-Fi, humor, and more. Similarly, they publish both serious and humorous poetry.

Here are their rates —

Stories and articles: up to 25¢ per word

Poems: up to $3.00 per line; $25.00 minimum

Activities and recipes: $75.00 flat rate

Go through their detailed submission guidelines before writing your story for CRICKET Magazine.

7. Strange Horizons

Strange Horizons is a weekly magazine about speculative fiction. They publish fiction, poetry, essays, and interviews.

[As of 29/5/22, they are closed for submissions, but as mentioned on the site, they will reopen soon and update their page.]

They typically look for good speculative fiction(broadly defined), up to 10,000 words(below 5000 preferred). They love stories about diverse perspectives and/or from underrepresented groups.

They pay 10 cents per word, which means you could get paid up to $1000 for an accepted 10,000-word story.

You can read more about their acceptance criteria and samples here.

8. Fantasy & Science Fiction

As you already get from the name, Fantasy & Science Fiction is a major magazine in the Sci-Fi genre.

‘Fantasy & Science Fiction has no formula for fiction, but we like to be surprised by stories, either by the character insights, ideas, plots, or prose.’

They prefer character-oriented stories in all accepted genres — fantasy, science fiction, horror, humor, or any other. Writes are asked to submit their entire manuscripts[up to 25,000 words in length].

This magazine pays 8 to 12 cents per word for an accepted story and takes up to 8 weeks for a response.

You can read more of their crisp submission guidelines here.

I hope this list helps you in your journey as a fiction writer. A couple of points to remember —

Read each magazine’s submission guidelines thoroughly before submitting a story. This way, you maximize your chances of acceptance and your efforts pay off.
Study other stories in the magazines to get a stronger understanding of the stories they publish — the style, tone, themes, and dialect.

Whether you’re writing a ‘Stranger Things’-inspired series or a one-page poem, there are plenty of ways to make money from your words — from magazines, platforms, and direct audiences.

Get Paid to Write: 26+ Ways to Make Money Writing Online [2022]

Unlock the power of monetizing your writing skills on the internet

writingcooperative.com

Experiment with your creativity and have fun writing!

My newsletter ‘Create with Bertilla’ is about the latest trends, resources, and insights into the creator economy. I share exclusive interviews and takeaways from my creative projects, so if you’d like a free front-row seat to watch my journey, you’re welcome to sign up here.