D E B O R A H R E B E R

doable
The Girls Guide to Accomplishing
Just About Anything
Hillsboro, Oregon
Simon Pulse
New York London Toronto Sydney
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This Beyond Words/Simon Pulse edition January 2015
Copyright 2015 by Deborah Reber
Front cover illustration by Karina Granda
Back cover image copyright 2015 by iStockphoto.com
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
SIMON PULSE is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered
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Managing Editor: Lindsay S. Brown
Editors: Nicole Geiger, Ali McCart
Copyeditor: Ashley Van Winkle
Interior design: Sara E. Blum
Cover design: Karina Granda
The text of this book was set in Gotham.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reber, Deborah.
Doable : the girls guide to accomplishing just about anything / Deborah Reber.
pages cm
1. SuccessJuvenile literature. 2. Success in adolescenceJuvenile literature.
3. Motivation (Psychology)Juvenile literature. 4. Teenage girls
PsychologyJuvenile literature. I. Title.
BF724.3.S9R43 2015
158.0835'2dc23
2014005614
ISBN 978-1-58270-467-8 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-58270-466-1 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4814-0330-6 (eBook)
An imprint of Simon & Schuster
Childrens Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
20827 N.W. Cornell Road, Suite 500
Hillsboro, Oregon 97124-9808
503-531-8700 / 503-531-8773 fax
www.beyondword.com
SIMON
PULSE
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CONTENTS
1 The Doable Way 1
2 Step 1: Dene Your To Do 9
3 Step 2: Detail the Little Tasks 29
4 Step 3: Defend Against Obstacles 51
5 Step 4: Develop Support Systems 81
6 Step 5: Determine What Success
Looks Like 107
7 Step 6: Do the Work 125
8 Step 7: Deal with Setbacks 149
9 Step 8: Deliver the Goods 167
10 How Doable Became Doable 191
Acknowledgments 198
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1
THE DOABL E WAY
Alison is a junior in high school. She has a regular volunteer
gig, a slew of babysitting clients, a full load of college prep
classes, a spot on the varsity eld hockey team, and an active
social life. Oh yeah, shes also on the schools environmental
Green Team, has weekly chores at home, dreams of starting
her own nonprot this year to help rescue shelter dogs, and
has her sights set on getting into a small, liberal-arts college in
New England.
Alison is the epitome of a classic overachieversomeone
who outperforms expectations. And even if thats not how
you would describe yourself, my hunch is that you have a lot
in common with her. Like Alison, you have big dreams, things
you need to take care of every day, longer-term goals youre
reaching for, and a busy, busy life. (Am I right?)
Busy Much?
Having a To Do list a mile longwhether
its full of huge aspirations or mundane
little tasksjust seems to be how teens roll
these days. Perhaps more than any other
generation before you, youve got full lives,
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full schedules, and a ton of things to do. So the question is,
how good are you at getting stuff done?
Perhaps some To Dos are a piece of cake for you, while
just the thought of doing others makes you break out in hives.
Perhaps getting just about anything completed is challenging
for you, so much so that youve started doubting your own
ability to tackle and accomplish anything of importance.
Maybe youve come up with your own way of tracking whats
on your plate, be it jotting down your tasks on scraps of paper
or putting them in a memo app on your phone. Wherever
you fall on the continuum, theres no doubt that successfully
tackling To Dos involves a lot more than just writing down
what needs to be done and then doing it. If it were that easy,
wed all be super productive, procrastination wouldnt exist,
our stress levels would be close to zero, and frankly, this book
would never have been published.
One of the things people ask me all the time is how I
manage to get so much done. Because, like you, I have a lot
on my plate. I mean, I have a nine-year-old son who requires
a lot of energy and patience to parent, I volunteer regularly,
I exercise (nearly) every day, I take care of the house (clean,
cook, laundry, and so on), and as of the writing of this
book, I had just relocated to Amsterdam in
the Netherlands with my family. Plus, I coach
writers and creative entrepreneurs, consult
on a number of writing projects including a
website for teens and a television show for
preschoolers, and write books for a living.
So yes, getting it all done is something Ive
become super good at, whether Im shipping a completed
manuscript or clearing out a closet. Some people are experts
at starting businesses, developing computer games, or
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performing life-saving surgeries. Me? I cross things off my To
Do list like nobodys business.
Teen Dr eams
When I rst began researching this book, I
talked to many teen girls just like you and
asked them what they wished they could do
but had trouble doing. As you can imagine, I
got all kinds of answers. Here are just a few:

Get good grades

Make an impact and be known for my passions

Go to school to learn sign language and be an
interpreter for a child

Generate more school spirit on campus

Make a documentary

Become an animator

Get a job at a law rm during high school

Find the funds to do nonprot work without worrying
about where Im going to get money to take care of
myself

Turn things in when theyre due instead of being late all
the time
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Learn how to surf

Tell the guy I like that I like him

Find time for me
Next, I asked these girls what big dreams they would
pursue if they knew with 100 percent certainty that they
would be successful. These were some of my favorite answers:

Go to Harvard

Be an actress

Make my own talk show

Be a professional violinist

Teach photography or writing

Make my own fashion line

Be the best softball player I could be

Apply to Columbia University

Build wells in Africa

Get my wildlife rehabilitation license
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Lastly, I asked these teens what it was that regularly got in
their way and thwarted their attempts to do what they set out
to do. Heres where I discovered what was preventing these
awesome girls from kicking serious booty in their lives:

I lose momentum if I have any setbacks.

I have a really hard time starting and nishing things,
and since I expect I wont be able to do it, I dont even
bother trying.

I dont know whether Ill be successful or not.

A lot of times, goals just end up being so big or intense
that I literally dont believe I have what it takes.

I get distracted and lose interest.

Im uncomfortable taking risks.

I dont have enough time to do it on top of everything
else I have going on.

I dont actually have a strategy for goal setting and goal
pursuing.
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Im so overtired I dont have any energy left to
accomplish my goals.

I have low self-esteem.

I dont have enough information to begin.
Any of these answers ring a bell? Good. Because this
book youre holding in your hot little hands contains my best
secrets and tips for addressing all these problems and more.
My goal? To help you be as productive as you want to be. To
turn any goal or pursuit into a doable venture.
Dont worry . . . Im not going to tell you that you have to
stick to some intimidating, intricate plan for my approach to
work. And Doable isnt about guring out everything youre
doing wrong and xing that. (That doesnt sound like a very
good read!) In fact, I believe you already have absolutely
everything you need to be successful at getting things done.
Its true. You have what it takesyour unique strengths,
your gifts, your talents . . . your essence. Doable is about
discovering, unlocking, and ultimately harnessing all of these
by plugging them into a framework that can be applied to
any (seriously . . . any) To Do. By exploring and consequently
understanding your own beliefs, thoughts, experiences, and
style, you get to know your biggest asset . . . you! Thats the
benet of self-knowledge, and its the key to success on any
leveljust ask the queen of self-discovery, Oprah, who has
built a global media empire rooted in helping people learn
how to be their best selves. When you know how you best
operate in any circumstance, you can gure out what you
need in order to get anything done.
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Doabl e i n Ei ght St eps
Over the following chapters, Ill share with you my eight-step
approach for making anything doable, but heres a sneak
peak:
Step 1: Dene Your To Do: Get crystal clear on exactly what
you want to do and why you want to do it.
Step 2: Detail the Little Tasks: Break your goal down into the
smallest possible parts.
Step 3: Defend against Obstacles: Recognize the obstacles
that often get in your way and plan for them ahead of time.
Step 4: Develop Support Systems: Harness all available
resourcestangible, emotional, and otherwiseto support
you.
Step 5: Determine What Success Looks Like: Know exactly
what it will feel and look like to have achieved your goal.
Step 6: Do the Work: Dive in and get down to the business of
doing.
Step 7: Deal with Setbacks: Expect, embrace, and learn from
the failures and setbacks you experience along the way.
Step 8: Deliver the Goods: See your goal pursuit through to
completion, and then acknowledge, celebrate, and reect on
the journey.
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See what I mean? This isnt brain science. Its
straightforward. Its practical. And best of all, it works. Apply
these steps in your own unique way to anything on your To
Do list and youll be on your way to getting it done. Boom.
Oh, that reminds me: everyone who reads this book will
be working toward different things. Some will be chasing
huge dreams, like earning a pilots license or auditioning for a
Broadway play. Others might have straightforward goals like
landing an internship. And some might want to tackle day-to-
day To Dos, like emptying the cat litter or feeding Fido, with
more ease. But heres the thing: it doesnt matter what were
talking aboutTo Dos, goals, or dreamstheyre all doable. So
Ill interchange these terms freely throughout this book.
To get the most out of Doable, go through it chapter by
chapter, as each step builds on the previous and contributes
to the overall goal of accomplishing anything you set out
to do. To take it a step further, go to www.debbiereber.com
and download the free accompanying Doable workbook so
you can put the steps to the test by applying them to your
own life and To Dos. Or if youre more of a journal girl, that
works too. Whatever your method, jot your ideas down, work
through the questions and exercises honestly, and spend
some time thinking about how youll apply each step to your
own life.
One more thing: I encourage you to turn the page ready
to explore and discover who you are and how you approach
things. Be curious. Be willing to learn. Be willing to suck at
some things. And be willing to stretch yourself at every step
in the pursuit of self-discovery. Remembertheres no right or
wrong here . . . just useful information and self-knowledge that
will undoubtedly make your life run much more smoothly. And
what could be better than that?
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