Want to Do More? Do This First

Whenever New Year’s Eve rolls around, we can be quite sure that at least one news program will send a reporter out on the street to inquire about resolutions for the coming year. I saw such a story several years ago on my local news.

After the reporter heard the usual resolves to lose weight, start exercising, and spend more time with family, he interviewed a smiling woman who said, “I plan to smoke less and walk more.”

The moment I heard that I thought, “She’s the only one who will succeed.” I could imagine that every time the urge to smoke came over her, she’d head for the door and take a spin around the block.

The brilliance of this woman’s plan can be easily adopted by anyone wanting to succeed at creating change or welcoming the new into their lives.

You see, with every change there’s always a tradeoff. If we aren’t willing to make that trade we won’t accomplish what we say we desire. I don’t think that’s pointed out often enough, but it’s an essential step if we’re going to accomplish goals both big and small.

A wonderfully simple way to instigate change or start a new goal-setting project is to create a Do More, Do Less List. It can include simple changes such as “Eat more vegetables, eat less sugar” along with bigger challenges.

In fact, a Do More, Do Less List incorporates the first two steps in my personal goal- setting system: 1. Sharpen Your Focus, 2. Eliminate the Nonessentials. Making room for what you do want by clearing out what’s no longer useful or satisfying, speeds up the process (and avoids unnecessary clutter).

Before you know it, you’ll have created a blueprint for building the life of your dreams.

And while we’re still thinking about resolutions, see what Maria Brophy has to say in her Top Five New Year Resolutions for Creative Entrepreneurs.

You Can’t Build Without Tools

Growing up in a small farming community in southern Minnesota, I didn’t have many role models that I wanted to emulate. I did, however, love to read and books fed my imagination. Early on, I decided I would have a life that was adventurous, one filled with travel and interesting people. I spent hours imagining an adult life that took me around the world.

As I got older, I quickly learned that it was wiser to keep those dreams to myself unless I wanted to endure the scorn of my elders. By the time I was ready to go out on my own, the dreams hadn’t died, but they had dimmed substantially. I took the path of least resistance and followed the popular road. I went to college, taught English in a small high school, got married, became a civil servant, had a baby, was a stay-at-home mom, became an interior decorator. As all of these approved choices were being carried out, my neglected dreams started clamouring for attention. I did my best to ignore their racket, but the longer I did so, the deeper my sadness became. I turned to alcohol to blunt the pain.

That all started to change when someone (an Earth Angel, I now think) introduced me to the exciting world of personal growth and development. At first, I just read self-help books, attended seminars and kept things to myself. As I got bolder, I found others I could share ideas with and the exploration was on. One day I realized that I no longer just had dreams: I now had tools necessary  to build them. My new tool kit contained everything I needed to set goals, focus my attention, access my creative spirit, stay inspired, embrace adventure and start making things happen. 

“In order to live happily and free,” said Richard Bach, “you may have to sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice.” As I gave up boredom, my dreams got bolder and eventually I decided to start a little business. That decision was like enrolling in an advanced personal growth seminar. Not only did I learn about entrepreneurship, I continued to discover new possibilities within myself. There were and are many days when I  am almost giddy with amazement.

 There’s an old poem or story that goes, “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.” Little things add up, it reminds us. That’s how I feel about the tools that took me from being just another dreamer to being a dreambuilder whose life is perpetually under construction. For want of a few simple tools, my dreams were almost lost. 

 What’s profoundly exciting is that these tools are available to anyone who wants to reclaim their dreams and use them.

So we’ll be talking tools this month at Buon Viaggio blog.