I started this journey (for those who are new here, when I say journey, I mean working on setting up this blog and pursuing a life around my passions and dreams) just over two months ago.
If I am honest my journey really started, without me knowing it, when I started traveling towards the end of November 2013.
This journey was started for several reasons:To create something bigger than myself
- To help people and make a positive difference in the world
- To build a business around several of my passions
- To prove to myself that I could start a business on my own (something Ive always wanted to do)
- Be my own boss
- To achieve freedom (one of my values) in being able to work from anywhere in the world – pure location independent lifestyle if you want.
The above is very important to me. It is my why. It is my reason behind starting this all.
Why is it then that with this so clear, at times I feel like just calling it a day? Giving up and going back to work for someone. Going back to the comfortable life. Putting this all on the back burner to be worked on later (or even never).
Going further. Why does the work often feel like a chore? It shouldn’t be right? These are my dreams after all.
Well ill tell you why. Its because the journey I am taking (and perhaps you are taking) is not easy and achieving goals such as being your own boss and a pure location independent lifestyle are not easy.
They require hard work. They require time. And more importantly they require patience. Some things you will need to do will suck. You will get stuck and hit a wall at certain points and wonder ‘How am I going to do this?’.
I am talking from a purely Online perspective right now, but the principles can be applied equally offline. Lets look into this.
There are tasks involved in setting up a site for instance that lets be honest are very technical and when you’re doing it all on your own (due to budget constraints maybe) it can be very arduous and time consuming.
It becomes even harder when you don’t know a line of code (I didn’t and still don’t).
- How do I create a navigation bar that runs across the full length of the page and looks as though its disappearing into the borders of the page? Yes I actually asked this on a forum :).
- How do I set up an RSS feed?
- How do I add this code so that this image pops up and when people click it redirects them to this site?
- How do I…?
The list goes on and on, but I think you get the point.That’s just some of the technical stuff.
You also need to keep managing a whole lot of moving parts, such as writing content, setting up a newsletter, social media aspects, site backups etc etc etc.
It becomes easy to neglect one aspect whilst you become so encapsulated with the other. I for instance spent a lot of time in the build up to the launch of this blog, refining my website design and finalising my logo.
And yes, whilst these things are important, nothing is more important than your content. Without it, your site is nothing. My neglect of my content got to the point where I would think about writing, but not actually do it.
I would procrastinate. I then started thinking I was losing interest in this project. Low and Behold today I started writing and I forget how much I loved it and how important it is to write from your heart and that the hardest thing is to start . Im going off on a rant here, so let me pull the reigns in a little and return to the post at hand.
So where were are? Ah yes, the moving parts. So you will need to juggle lots of moving parts when embarking on such a project. It can be difficult, but no one said it would be easy.
The important things is to be careful of not getting caught up in the nitty-gritty of it all (particularly the technical stuff) to such a degree that you begin to see the project as a total chore, as merely a task that needs to be completed, to the point that you feel as if you are losing interest and become unhappy with your current situation.
The funny thing is that you will probably not even realise you are treating it as a chore. You will just have this unhappy feeling inside, dissatisfaction or resentment at your situation.
It can be difficult, but the best advice I can give you is to take a step back and think ‘Why do I feel like this? What has changed?
You will probably find that you’ve started treating it all as a chore, getting to caught up in the details.In situations like this, i have found its best to take a step back, breathe, go do something else, go for a run, or better yet, take the day off.
You don’t want to burn yourself out after all. Maintaining a balance is healthy. I find it helps to remember why I started in the first place. Its helped me on countless times. And indeed it has actually provided some inspiration for this post.
The same can be said about progress.
It is easy to feel like the progress you are making is slow, as if you aren’t achieving what you want quick enough.
What makes it even worse is that there are people around you who seem to be there already.What often results is unhappiness with your current situation and a feeling as if things just aren’t happening as they should.
Again you just need to take a step back. Remember why you started.Realise that this isn’t a race, its not going to happen overnight. And those people who seem to have ‘made it’ put in a lot of hard work and effort behind the scenes to and probably had to face lots of the challenges you are facing.
Over and above everything remember that whilst working on this project might seem super important (and yes it is:)) don’t forget about living life and enjoying the present.
It can be very difficult when you are so encapsulated with your project and you have this strong desire to get your shit out there.
But sometimes we just get more done by being less into it and caring less. I’m slowly learning this. Its hard. I know.
IN SUMMARY
Keeping your dreams alive is easier said than done. But it’s possible.
Be aware when you feel resentment or dissatisfaction building up.
Assess Why.
It may be because you have started treating the whole project as a chore or that you feel that progress is slow and things aren’t moving along quick enough.
Take a Step Back.
Remember why you started. Take a break. Do something else.
Be Patient.
Remember that it’s not a race. It’s a marathon.
And more Importantly. Don’t be so bloody hard on yourself.
You are putting in lots of hard work and effort, so give yourself a pat on the back and go and have a beer with some mates.
YOUR THOUGHTS?
Is there a dream that you are currently pursuing? What challenges are you facing?
