I  think my new routine is starting to work for me, while it’s hard to get focused so early and stay focused after a full day of doing other things, knowing that there are limits on it helps.  I’ve put pen to paper or rather fingers to keyboard on the travel book – not much and I doubt any of those sentences will survive to the final draft but it’s a start. And I’ve sent follow-up emails to setup appointments for jewelry and kept up some basic blogging tasks.  There is always more to do!

While I haven’t been watching the Olympics, living so close to where they’re happening means I can’t avoid all the local stories and news features.  It seems like there is always at least one young athlete profile with a kid at the top of her game who also manages straight A’s and is or will be going to an ivy league school while continuing to compete internationally. You can be envious of what they have achieved or critical of what they’re missing but pretty much everyone agrees it requires great focus.  Focus seems to come up everywhere there is talk of great goals that are clearly defined. My two hours a day is giving me focus but it’s also creating space in the remainder of my free time for something equally valuable – observation and daydreaming and everything that is at the opposite extreme.

That’s what I realized as I contemplated the life of said young athlete – she probably isn’t missing out on the big stuff; graduation, birthdays, Disney World but I’m pretty sure anyone that focused all the time is missing out on being unfocused – noticing that a neighbor two blocks down has unusual crocuses blooming or just spending an afternoon on the porch with a romance novel.  Those things were important to me as a teenager and they’re important to me now. If they’re that much a part of my essential self I’d better figure out how to work them in to the schedule…

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, living your dreams, staying focused

This is one of the sneaky excuses – few people will blatantly say they aren’t going to do something because no one will help them, but many of us have said that we aren’t ‘ready’ to do whatever it is that feels like putting on a backpack and heading off solo into the wilderness without a compass or a cell phone.  Most of us will never be ready for that kind of experience! I can’t prove that help will show up, but if you look back I’m guessing that it always has in the past especially if you allow for a liberal definition of help to include finding that useful book on Amazon, or an inspiring website, or a friendly ear on an airplane. Heck, help even shows up sometimes as rejection which can either strengthen our resolve or show us that an alternate path might yield the goal more effectively.

Subconsciously I have used this one a lot. Not being particularly good at asking for help, as well as being more inclined to work alone (as opposed to teams) I have a tendency to feel like I’m supposed to be able to figure it all out on my own.  But most people with big dreams have been in the same position as those of us still dreaming.  So while they may not have travelled the same path or have a specific answer, they remember the feeling and aren’t inclined to stomp all over people.  They will show up in your life.  As will the books and anything else that you need to move forward, it just may not be at the exact moment you think they should!

I have gotten better in the last few years about asking questions with positive results so like any other new habit or thought process this one takes some getting used to.  I’m simply resolving not to use the excuse going forward, to make sure that I’m not subconsciously stopping myself with the belief that help will not show up.  It will, my job is to be open to it.

Next week: ‘The past still has hold of me’

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, asking for help, living your dreams

I’ve been used to thinking of excuses as something offered to someone else, usually with the intent of escaping something you’d rather not do e.g. I’m too tired to do the dishes or the all-time classic, the dog ate my homework.  In adulthood I’ve been more accustomed to thinking of them as lies for the same purpose; a former friend was always either late or a no-show to agreed arrangements because of having to pick up the dry cleaning. Since she wore jeans to work, it wasn’t all that plausible as often as she used it.  I’ve always made an effort to be honest with others, but somehow overlooked being just as honest with myself.

I finished up reading Wayne Dyer’s Excuses Begone! last week and am starting to face how good I am at excuses. These are the ones that you use against yourself to keep safe and keep the status quo even when you don’t want it. From ‘I can’t afford it’ to ‘It’s never happened successfully before’ I’ve used almost all of them and they’ve been holding me back from what I want in my life. It’s time to stop.

As I’ve been thinking about what kind of year-long project would be significant for me and interesting to write about, I’ve been drawing something of a blank except for wondering if there was something I could do where I could emerge as a latin dancer at the end of it (fantasy more than true desire on that one!)  I think this is it – a year without excuses. No saying ‘I can’t afford it’ but not running up the credit card either; instead finding a way to make it happen. It’s not quite as delicious as the Julia Child project but it feels much more critical for where and who I am.  So here goes – no more excuses, not even the one about how it would be nice to wait until I’ve got this figured out as to how I’m going to do it and wouldn’t it be better to wait for the first of the month or something that is a clearer starting point.  Yesterday was the anniversary of the moon landing so maybe that’s significant enough…

Technorati Tags: living your dreams, no excuses, year-long projects

It doesn’t feel like it but the porch is getting done.  I put the primer on this morning.  If I stick with my plan it will be done by Sunday. It should improve my overall mood, feng shui, and possibly be instrumental in world peace. Okay, that last might be a bit of a stretch but if I can forget about it for a few years it will feel that good.  Nothing much else has gone on all week – I didn’t get as much gardening done as I’d hoped or fixed the dishwasher yet. However, there are no rules that it can’t happen next week.

Now that the second half of the year has commenced I feel like earlier efforts should start paying off soon.  That’s ‘should’ as in it would only be fair, not as in ‘very likely’.  I think that gap between cause and effect has to be the hardest in any new venture but giving up would be like putting down a really good book three chapters before the end. When I look over the last six months it’s amazing how much I’ve learned, gotten done, and put off. It reminds me of the old Chinese fortune curse ‘may you live in interesting times!’

I’m looking forward to a quiet 4th in the backyard with a book and a drink.  There are all kinds of independence to celebrate! Next week will be back to work on the other projects and the garden while I think about what kind of year-long project I could initiate and if I really want to. I keep seeing news stories on similar projects so some part of me is keen on the idea…

Technorati Tags: getting things done, learning new things, living your dreams, Personal Growth, solopreneur, starting a new business, the way to happiness