Fill Your Page

Doing what you love does not come without sacrifices somehow. Whether it is a drastic reduction in income or reduced family time, they are there. To many, those are worth it, but to many more, it is not in the cards. So how do we do accomplish or reach the goals that stoke the fires of our passions?

It’s in the margins.

Copyright Pink Sherbet Photography

Picture a piece of lined paper. Personally I prefer college ruled, but you roll with your image. Imagine jotting down everything you have to do in the body of the page. Those things we all have to do. Now, instead of doodling on the side of the page, write down all those things you’d like to do.

There are moments every day when those things can be worked on. It is possible that you will lose sleep along the way, so be prepared for that. That’s one of those sacrifices I mentioned. That being said, if this is something that drives you and you can’t imagine not doing, you will enjoy every moment of it by using every moment.

Living in the Now can seem like some mystical BS attainable only to the enlightened. Not so. It is as simple as being exactly where you are, doing precisely what you are doing. No hoity-toity, no wishy-washy, just here. Now.

No thinking about 5 o’clock on a Friday (unless it is of course). No pining away for some other activity that you are not doing (unless that is what you can focus fully on without distractions of what you really should be doing). If you are going to daydream, then give it your full attention. Otherwise, you are missing out on what is right in front of you that demands your attention. Not living in the moment can best be compared to texting while driving. Driving is a demanding effort that commands your attention. Doing something that takes away from that puts you at risk.

So in chasing passions one must have goals to strive for, but balance that with working on what one can right now. Remember Frogger? That arcade game where the goal was to navigate various obstacles to make it across to your goal is quite apt. There will be moments where we may take the eye off the short-term goal (the next hop) and falter. Knowing when to leap takes understanding what is around you, thus being aware of Now. Set the long-term goal, move toward it, do what you can now.

Give yourself freely, meaning be honest about what and who you are. Be genuine. Giving yourself can also be putting yourself completely into your passion. Living it, breathing it, and doing everything to make it happen. If it is some sort of business, then you will have expectations. You put your heart and most likely money into something and will be looking for some return.

Interpersonal relationships are a way to give yourself without expecting a return. It will come about most likely, but going into it thinking, “what can I get out of this,” is only placating some internal fantasy of how you see yourself. Be good for goodness sake without thinking of how it may make you appear to others.

I get it!

My aha moment.

It was well edited for length I am sure and to be honest I did flub a few moments. I also should say my aha moment did help me meet over the course of years many people who I would have never met and I am grateful to know all of them and call many of them friends.

Be well.

What is the condiment?

"Where do these stairs go?"

When Ray asks that question, Peter replies, “They go up.”

I have always loved that scene from Ghostbusters. The pure audaciousness of the answer in its obviousness gets me every time.

Answers require effort to be found, however. Climbing stairs is apt, insomuch as we tend to look up to goals. Reaching them takes some determination (step by step) on our part but the reward is well worth it.

Will it be easy? Depends on the staircase. A straight run has the next floor in sight. Some stairs have landings where we can take a break before turning and heading up again. Spiral stairs hide the goal as well as the steps a few strides ahead of us and can make us dizzy from the climb.

So let’s call it challenging. Each step has distinct rewards. Every one is a little accomplishment raising you up. You have the goal in mind but you can’t take focus off the steps happening right now. You may catch a toe on the tread and stumble. When that happens you have the handrail to help you keep your balance.

What lies at the top of your staircase?

Brew Night

Thanks to Pete, Horton, Trevor, Cristi, Tod, Beth, Rod, Adrian, Norma, and Jason for attending Brew Night in Omaha! There were some good conversations and information exchanged!

Jumping the Line

A lot of us toil away doing things that hold us down. What is it you really want to be doing? What’s stopping you from doing it? We are in a great time to reach out for those dreams and catch them.

There is no reason you should not be fulfilling your passions. None. You don’t have to quit your day job. Yet. And no, you can’t just add water and expect it to happen. It takes effort and time for anything to grow. But if you love it, that doesn’t matter. Imagine when you look back and see what you nurtured and created.

That’s where I come in. I assess where you are and what you want to accomplish. Together we establish the path with lines in the sand for you to leap over to reach your goal, and I hold you to jump them. I am going to push you too. You will know what you want, and I want you to have it. This is about creating a great time, relishing life, and doing what you love.

Shoot me an email, and we can set up a time for a chat, on me. Or if you know of someone that could use that kick in the butt to get moving, have her or him drop me a line.

Ride The Wild Wind

Spun around by the chaos of the every day, we can lose that sense of direction from time to time. That’s okay. Enjoy it.

Waitaminute! Enjoy it? Really?

Yep.

The character that shines through when you hold your head up and smile at the craziness all around will relax you and those near you to an extent. It can also give you a clearer picture of what is happening so you can do what needs to be done.

When you are really not sure of what is going on or where it may lead, trust your gut. Do what feels right.

Too often we can overanalyze the moment, listing off the various things that may happen, good or bad. On occasion, the louder voice beats down the one that should be heard or followed. These are the times when you need to improvise. Improvise in the sense that you have your experience and faith in your ability to tap into and do what needs to go down.

Let me tell ya, it ain’t easy, but it can be done! The way you do it is you get out of the way and let things unfold and what you do will come naturally, and you will relish in it.

I have worked in a couple of industries that gave me that “deadline rush.” That sense of just making it in the nick of time, pushed up to the last moment, can take it out of you but leave you energized as well.

When you are focused on the task, you and the moment are one. You flow through the tasks to reach the final goal.

When have you trusted your gut and did what felt right?