Posts Tagged dreams

If they can do it, so can I

6.15.10

Urgh.

That pretty much sums up my week.

For all the talk I do about self-employment and doing what you love, a huge chunk of my day is spent slaving away at my keyboard for peanuts at an e-commerce data entry/graphics goon job.

Why? Because my income from everything else I do isn’t quite steady yet. And we need to pay bills.

Not to take away from last week’s post. I have ramped up the income from WPChick lately so that’s a good thing I can’t forget to celebrate.

Most days I take these hours and plop myself on the couch and catch up with some shows I like on Hulu or Netflix or listen to the hundreds of hours of teleclasses I haven’t gotten to yet in iTunes.

And I’m OK with that. Because how many of you can honestly say you make money while watching TV?

But some weeks (like this one) everything just seems pointless. The hours I waste for crap pay at this job could be better spent marketing or researching or developing my real work.

Days like today my heart is crushed by the brainless, endless, repetitive work that I know I’m not built to do.

And the boredom…

Oh the boredom! I swear I’d rather poke my own eyes out with sharp pointy things than be bored.

All that aside, I know that lots of people build viable businesses while they still have day jobs, and I’m sure at least 2 of them feel like I do about boredom.

But they do it. They make it happen because they know this current life thing they’re dealing with is only for a short time. Because they know they’re working for something they love and that will get them out of the crud they’re currently in.

If they can do it, so can I.

And that’s what pulls me out of it all. That’s what makes me cuddle up with my MacBook on my couch, turn on the latest episode of Stargate: SGU and tap away at the keyboard.

It’s all up to me.

I know there are at least another 4 hours of the day I can use towards my dreams, and it’s really up to me how I use that time. If I waste it, I can’t get it back, and that’ll just postpone my dreams.

So I’ll just pick up tomorrow and keep going forward.

No use in dwelling on lost time. If I’m going to do this, if I want to do this, I will stop my boredom haze from spilling over into the rest of the day and use that time as best I can. And I’ll start digging up some new shows (and teleclasses!) to fill my brain while my fingers do the walking.

This is something that stops me cold a lot of times. It’s just emotional gunk I find myself sinking in and I finally realize why. And I can do something about it now that I can see what it is.

Is there something that stops you from running after your dreams? How can I help you?

*sorry no links today :( But I found a rockin’ picture of musicians in monster costumes playing in Union Square!

Creative Commons License photo credit: aprilzosia

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Starred Items: The Monsters in My Head Edition

nyaaah.I created a lovely plan that would have helped me accomplish a lot this year and now I don’t even want to look at it.

It’s printed out in fancy type but I have the urge to rip it out of my planner… But I *love* my new planner. It’s pretty. So at least that makes me happy. That spreadsheet at the end, however, may have to go.

I know it’s one of the Monsters in my head saying stuff like:

“Well, now that everything’s planned out, you can’t deviate from the plan because you KNOW what happens when you deviate from the plan… Besides, you have it on paper AND on your computer so it’s set in stone. And you know how you get when things don’t go the way you expect so you better buckle down and do all this stuff now. No room for slacking off and daydreaming.”

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Starred Items: Lemming-ish Year End Roundup

What we did this morning :)It’s the second-to-last day of 2009 and the interwebs have been flooded with year-end blatherings since two weeks ago. So, being the lemming I am…

Here’s a roundup of some posts that have been essential to my year-end review and have given me a few good tools to get moving on my general outline/plan/something that’ll get me to where I want to go sometime in the next year or so.

Lisa Sonora Beam’s Strategic Planner – Goal Setting for Creatives: I’ve read her book, The Creative Entrepreneur*. I’ve taken both classes she offered this year – one on Visual Journaling and another on the Strategic Planner. I’m finally putting some of this stuff to work! The post I linked to is first in a series of 4. By the time this is published, she should have all 4 on her blog.

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The Obligatory End of the Year Post

AthenaAround this time last year was the very first theme I’ve ever claimed for the new year.

In 2009, I decided on “Learning.”

I wanted to learn about things I thought I wanted to do.

I took an intro to Art Therapy class from SCAD.

I wanted to learn more about myself and what it was that I was meant to do. And I think I may have finally got it (at least for now ;) ).

I wanted to learn as much as I could about marketing and business. So I listened and read and signed up for a 6-month-long course.

I could be completely satisfied learning in one setting or another for the rest of my life. But I also learned that there is a time for action.

Out of all this learning came quite a few really good things:

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Starred Items, and a gooey meat hand…

Meat HandWow. I really need to get more non-linky-posts up here. At least I have a regular routine established for Wednesdays. Maybe starting up a regular Monday & Friday post will spice things up a bit.

So… that said, here are the Starred Items for this week:

  1. What U2 Can Teach You About Being Timeless
  2. Planning what’s realistic and doable: I’m not too fond of the word “Realistic” as I think it places too many limits. I prefer just “Doable” instead.
  3. Whattaya Whattaya Whattaya: You have all you need right now to do what you want to do. So why aren’t you doing it?
  4. Taking care of the goose: The goose that lays the golden egg, aka YOU.

    and a super-spooky icky gross link just in time for Halloween

  5. Make A Meat Hand: this would be so perfect for dinner this Saturday… if you can get over the über-gross factor there.

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You Need a Mentor

A LessonLong before university was the “obvious” next step, most young people were apprenticed to a master. They’d learn a trade from someone who’s been doing it for a while and was successful enough to afford to keep and train an apprentice.

These days the most we get from our normal path of schooling & work are a boatload of advisors (teachers, parents, relatives…). They sort of know how to get where you’re going (if they know at all) and can sort of steer you in the right direction. But more often than not, they’ve not been where you want to go. That is, unless you want to be a teacher or get into the family business.

In order to succeed as a bit of an unconventional person (self-employed, non-traditional jobs, etc) you need a mentor. Someone who has been where you want to go.

Of course you need to figure out where you want to go first, but once you have that nailed down, you need to find a mentor to help you on your way.

So how do you go about finding a mentor?

Jared Matthew Kessler’s book “Your Uncommon Guide to Finding the Ultimate Mentor” is the place to start.

Jared takes you through exercises and steps that help you find your mentor. This book also explains what a mentor is, why you need one, what the mentor/apprentice relationship looks like, how to find your mentor and how to cultivate that relationship.

And  how is Jared such an expert?

As I’m living proof, let the compass guide you along in finding the path worth creating in living the life you choose to lead (not what someone else sold you to believe). The difference? Having a mentor instead of an advisor.

He found a mentor around 10 years ago, lifted himself out of his crummy circumstances and is now helping others find their own way with his books, blog & the Black Sheep Project.

Off to complete the exercises & find my mentor (although I have a few in mind…). How about you?

Sign up on Jared’s email list to get in on the pre-sale event going on October 22-24. You’ll be able to get the eBook before it’s released to everyone else and get it at a lower price.

*none of these are affiliate links… I just like what Jared’s doing & want to help!

Creative Commons License photo credit: eddidit

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Someone who shares my views on Passion…

Finally!

I found someone who articulates my views on passion. After floundering with my last few posts on passion and seemingly getting nowhere, Derek Sivers of CD Baby fame comes along and says exactly what I want to say:

It’s dangerous to think in terms of “passion” and “purpose” because they sound like such huge overwhelming things.  If you think love needs to look like “Romeo and Juliet”, you’ll overlook a great relationship that grows slowly.

He goes on to say instead of doing something as big as finding your “passion,” notice what excites you.

Notice what scares but intrigues you.

There is where your “passion” lies.

Then go for it.

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Starred Items: Because You Need a Kick in the Butt

1129312_karate_3

Enjoy this week’s links & go do something

You’ll feel better. I promise.

*Photo by Kriss Szkurlatowski

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Starred Items: Goals Edition

4916As you’re reading this I’m probably on a plane back home from visiting my parents and sister for a week. Good times & I got some fantastic clothes, shoes & a new haircut! Love you mom :) .

Today I wanted to highlight some helpful goal-achieving posts. Some are more on-topic than others, but generally these are some ideas and concepts that are slowly seeping into my own life.

I’m aware that I have 2 links from Ittybiz.com, but they’re definitely not the same author.

What goals are you working on these days?

Me? I’m working on a new business that incorporates more than just my tech side, keeping the 25 pounds I recently lost OFF, and formulating a plan to declutter and finally decorate my house.

Creative Commons License photo credit: sakura_chihaya+

And one last link… Wanna win a MacBook Air? :) Yes, it’s related to goals… how? A great computer can help you achieve some goals…

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My Personal Manifesto

Marcus Whitman's Compass - EditedI’m still working through Johnathan Mead’s Reclaim Your Dreams: An Uncommon Guide to Living on Your Own Terms and I promised last time that I’d post the results of the personal manifesto exercise.

I’d do the rest of the fun & creative exercises but as I’m out of town at my parents’ and flying with all my art supplies & huge poster board is unwieldy at best, I’ll have to hold off on vision boarding until I get back home.

Creating a personal manifesto is something new for me. I’ve always held certain values but I’ve never articulated them. This was my chance to make it real.

I ended up writing two versions. One that explains every word I’m about to list – that one’s for me only and clarifies what I mean by each one.

Below is the short version of my personal manifesto. And yes. I’ve capitalized words for a reason.

I am strong, creative, empathic*, sensitive.

I empower, impart, instruct, create.

I live for family, Love, beauty, myself.

I strive for Truth, freedom, sovereignty, authenticity.

This short version of my personal manifesto is easy to remember. Something I can write on a small 3×5 card and memorize easily.

I think a manifesto is a living document and I will revisit this after a while. But I think it’s a good start.

Do you have a personal manifesto? What does it look like?

*Empathic… well, I struggled with whether to use empathic or empathetic since both are equally acceptable in modern English. Being a sci-fi buff, it feels a little odd to use empathic, since I’m clearly not an Empath but empathetic just sounds well… pathetic. Enough geeking out for now.

Creative Commons License photo credit: jc.westbrook

p.s. You can get the eBook for 1/2 off! Jonathan is celebrating his bday by giving everyone else a gift. Get the book already!

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