Last week I wrote a post called “Dreams don’t have a shelf-life.” The idea of the post was to encourage people who had put some of their dreams on the shelf to take them off the metaphorical shelf and dust them off. I am writing these posts from overseas and in my haste forgot to make two really important points in that post.
1.) Even though I used examples of different ages to achieve lifelong dreams in that post the post wasn’t really talking about age so much as talking about your dream. If you started dreaming about doing something at the age of 4-being a doctor for example and were now 24 years old and hadn’t begun working towards that dream-are you too old to start?
The point of the post was to GET STARTED working towards whatever you want for yourself. I was fortunate enough to read Jon Acuff’s newest book entitled “Start” that talks about the process of thinking about what your dreams are and what you want for yourself. If you are feeling stuck. READ THAT BOOK! It is now 5 months into 2013 and for some reason this year is flying by. But, you still have plenty of time to get started on a number of your goals and even to achieve some of your goals depending on what they are.
2.) The second and important point that I forgot to bring up was thinking about where your Starting Point is. Where do you stand? Personal Finance bloggers talk a lot about making an assessment of where your finances stand in order to work on a plan and so that you can move forward. It works the same with your life. You have to figure out where you’re starting from and what state of being you would like to move towards.
Obvious examples include the following:
- Debt: Do you have debt? How much is it? How are you paying it off? Have you created a game plan?
- Single/divorced to Married: What is your game plan? I have met too many single people who have met amazing partners via: the internet, bowling leagues, at athletic events, volunteer-you get the picture. Their success shows me what I can do to reach my goal of meeting someone. Schedule some time into your week and do things that you enjoy. You will have fun and start meeting people. I had to do this as I was rapidly becoming a shut-in. Really. I am an only child and enjoy my time quite a bit because only children spend a lot of time on their own. If you don’t schedule the time-it’s not going to happen and it’s not a priority.
- Lonely? Not enough friends? Or, feeling disconnected from the ones you have? Make sure to hang out with them and “show up” for the moments that are important to them. Practice being the type of friend you want to attract.
- Unhappily married to separated or divorced-Try hard if it’s a situation where you feel like you can try. Speak to a therapist or someone who is not emotionally invested in the outcome of your personal situation. Do what you feel is best for your situation.
- Changing from overweight to healthy sized. Talk to a doctor about your concerns. Start exercising, eat less, put the time into making your weight change. Use http://sparkpeople.com a free website that you can use to track your weight/exercise/ and food. There is no judgment on this website because it has no personal opinion on your situation. It’s a computer model.
- Underweight to gaining some weight. Maybe you’re too thin and need a strategy on gaining weight. Go to your doctor and see what they
- Indifferent/Unhappy with work to changing your work. Start looking at the work that you’ve done through out the years. What have you liked? Disliked? What are your strengths? Weaknesses? Are there opportunities in your current position to develop a skill set to add to your resume? What do you really want to do?
- Love your work but need a raise or promotion and haven’t had one for years. What’s your strategy? I am a state employee and we haven’t received a raise since 2008. We will receive a raise July 1, 2013. That is almost 6 years without a raise. I received a substantial raise last year of 15%. How did I do it? I worked my a@@ off, did everything asked of me, wrote down everything that I did that contributed to the organization, and kept asking for my position to be reviewed. The review process is how a the organization determines how much the position had changed. In my case, it had changed and grew quite a bit so I had a good end result.
- Travel to a new place-Used to travel all the time/never have-don’t care/ never have traveled-dream of going somewhere/have gone sometimes and am ok with the amount that I currently travel. Are you into going to new places? Is this important to you?
So, here is an example of a My Starting Points Page…
Name: Michelle
Debt: Yup! I have debt and I finally have thought of a sustainable and realistic plan on taking care of it. I know the exact amount that I owe and have prioritized these bills. I have also decided on a time frame because that’s where I went wrong before and nothing got done. Last time I was overwhelmed and quit.
Weight: I know what it is! I am over what my ideal weight is and feel self-conscious about it. I am finding ways to incorporate more exercise into my life and I am actively tracking my food so that I am aware of my calorie intake.
Status: Single and looking. I am actively scheduling events to go to that will be fun and enable me to meet people with similar interests. I am being honest about my intentions. I also am enjoying the opportunity to expand my circle of friends. Instead of wondering is this guy The One? Freaking me out and making the date stressful, I am thinking- I love meeting new people let’s see what happens!
Friends/Family: Am actively making sure that I schedule time to spend with my friends. I have a fantastic number of people in my life, but I don’t feel that we spend enough time together so I am working to change that. Also, I am letting my family and friends know what I’m trying to do so that they know they are a priority to me and that we are all on the same page.
Job: Would like to work online in the future. I like my current colleagues and clientele. Will continue to work hard and make things happen while setting up my online work situation. When I return from my trips in May I will be accelerating my online work project and aggressively finding clientele for the online services I will be launching.
Travel: I love traveling! I used to resist going on quick trips (2 weeks abroad) because I don’t like rushing and felt like by the time you arrived, it would be time to go. When I travel I want to walk around. Take some pictures, find a nice cafe, eat and watch the world go by. I have just visited London for 13 days (including travel time) and I have realized that I can take shorter trips and enjoy them just as much as a longer trip. I will be thinking about this as I plan my travel in the future
On my way to London
Showing up for myself!
Traveling
Showing up for a dear friend
Walking A LOT (working on weight)
All cash trip-didn’t take out money once
Did charge $240 for gifts that I needed to keep track of later
Starting
Dreaming big
Let’s see where the momentum takes me!
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Love this! I need to assess my own starting points. I think for me focusing on a better career/job and meeting a significant other need to take more of a priority.
I was sitting there with my dear friends as they were gearing up for the “Big day” and realized that a lot of people would think about where they weren’t instead of where they want to be. It’s a shift in perspective and I think I’ve been working on that shift for awhile. Will be back Stateside by Wednesday!
I definitely need to take another look at my starting points. Like you, I’m working on my weight (getting healthier), my friends/family (making time for them), and my career (trying to find out exactly where I want to go with work in the future). I’ve been hearing a lot about Jon’s book and definitely want to borrow a copy from our library once it comes in.
KK, I think you will really enjoy Jon’s book. It’s really well done and a fairly quick read. Once you read it let me know what you think!
This is an excellent inventory! I agree 100% with the idea of just getting started and that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. The sky is the limit, baby 🙂
That’s right! Working hard and taking no prisoners. Nothing is getting in my way of what I dream for myself…unless it’s myself!
Great point! As we move forward, we have new starting points!
Sometimes I have to actively remind myself that I can start fresh!