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Leaving, Changing, Growing

Lake Ontario – I loved jogging past here when I lived downtown

It’s a fantasy of so many people – to quit your job, do only what you want to do, and start your own thing. I did exactly that. And so far it is everything I hoped for and more.

Of course, planning well in advance of making the final leap is important. Acting impulsively and telling your boss you are quitting without having a plan will make the journey a lot more challenging.

It’s best to be running towards something and not away from something else. I knew what I wanted to do, got the necessary education to be able to do it, and even then I waited until I could wait no longer.

So what does it feel like?

It starts with a sense of excitement. No more obligations, no more having to do what other people tell you to do, only following your heart and chasing your dreams.

But it takes a special kind of discipline to be able to work for yourself, especially in the beginning. Remember, there is no security of a paycheck. Yes there is freedom, yes there is a sense of excitement, but there are also times when fear can creep in.

How will I pay the bills? What am I going to do today? Am I ever going to be successful? These types of questions can undermine your confidence, and make you question whether or not you made the right decision.

The key is to remain focused. Know what you want to accomplish, and then make strides every day to reach those goals.

What To Do Before and After You Make the Leap

1) Have a plan. It’s important to know where you want to go and what you want to achieve. It doesn’t have to be completely mapped out, but having goals is important. 

2) Have some security. You need to have a contingency plan. At least six months to a year of living expenses is crucial. This gives you the first few weeks to figure out which direction you want to move in, while still allowing you lots of time to adjust course or find supplementary income. The worst thing is to be unprepared and to start to panic due to lack of resources.

3) Schedule your time. You don’t need to schedule every minute of every day, but it is important to know what you would like to accomplish. Things don’t get done by themselves. You need to work the plan and plan the work.

4) Be disciplined. It’s easy to fill your days with busywork that doesn’t move you in the direction of your goals. Having coffee with friends, getting tasks done around the house, and other time stealers can make you feel as though you are accomplishing something, when in reality you’re just avoiding what needs to be done. Use your time wisely.

5) Stay focused on exactly what it is that you want. By having a clear image in your mind, it is much simpler to move forward in the direction of those dreams. Stay focused, stay disciplined, and stay motivated.

So far my plan is working exactly as I had hoped. My business is expanding, I am generating income, and I know what I need to accomplish each day to continue moving towards my goals.

By keeping your goal in sight, you will avoid falling into the trap of thinking you have all of the time in the world. If you aren’t using that time wisely, it will disappear and it could take your dream with it.

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Fear

Hiding from life is a crime against yourself!

The mind is an interesting thing. Because it is such a good movie maker, the mind can propel us towards our goals or prevent us from even starting. Fear of change is often to blame for why we stop before we even get started.

In my experience, I can get excited about a new idea or project but within two minutes I can think of multiple ways in which it won’t work. This can sometimes stop me from even trying.

But what if the movie played differently? What if my time was spent thinking about all of the ways it could work and then go from there?

For example, I wanted to write a book. I was excited about the idea, but then I thought about how much work it was going to be, and what was I going to write about, and who was going to read it anyways!

I stopped and looked at what was holding me back, and it was the fear of failure. This tends to be at the root of most of our insecurities. We stop before we even start because we are afraid to fail.

I thought about what my life would look like if I allowed this fear to rule me. I was just going to get older and then eventually die, all without even attempting to pursue something that I really wanted to do.

When you think about it, failure doesn’t even exist. You may produce an unintended result but it doesn’t need to be labelled a failure. It is like following a map. Sometimes you veer off course, but you make adjustments and get back on the path and continue in the direction of your destination.

It doesn’t matter how many times you veer off, as long as you make corrections and continue to steadily advance. That is progress, and that is the way to accomplish anything you desire.

Sometimes as you travel along the path, you find out that the original destination isn’t where you want to go anymore. That’s called life! It’s moving through each day and living and experimenting that is the purpose.

Bring joy and love to everything you do, and continually create and follow your dreams. The doing itself isn’t important, it is the feelings you generate through the act of doing.

We are human beings, after all, not human doings. Enjoy the process, live with joy and bliss in your heart, and move gracefully through the world in every way. Regret nothing and enjoy everything, and see how things unfold!

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Dare to Dream

The sky is the limit!

There is something to be said for the familiar. It’s comfortable, feels safe, and pushing beyond its cozy limitations isn’t fun sometimes.

Without pushing through, though, you can’t advance towards your dreams. Why? Because if your current habits supported the realization of your dreams, then you would have everything you want already.

So unless you can see your dreams ahead and you are following steps every day to reach them, there is room for improvement!

These are the steps I took to get the ball rolling and to start to change who I was, from the decisions I was making to the actions I was taking. The funny thing was – it wasn’t that difficult once I got started!

  1. Where – Be clear about where you want to go. This is the most important step to take. A clear, detailed map will get you on the road and make it much easier to start going forward.
  2. Why – Be clear about why you want to get there. You want to be rich? Why? What will your life look like and how will you feel when you have money? It’s the feeling of having the things that money can buy that is important. Get in touch with those feelings.
  3. How – When your motivation is big enough, you can accomplish anything. Once you know where and why you are going, start to figure out the how. Break the big dream down into actionable steps. 
  4. When – Set time frames. Don’t just say that you want to start your own business, define exactly what the business is going to do, what needs it fills, and what you have to do today to start making it a reality.
  5. Act Now – Finally, do something right now! Read a book, make a phone call, do research on the internet, whatever seems like a logical first step. You won’t have a clue what you are doing, but as you start to learn and keep working at it the steps will begin to unfold before you.

Never lose sight of your dreams! Write out exactly what it is you want and then accept no substitutes. Don’t let regret be a companion of your future when it is within your power to do something today to get to where you want to go.