A big thank you to everyone who took my survey last week! I really appreciate your taking the time to do that.
I sometimes feel like I’m writing into the void—my stats programs tell me there are people out there, but I don’t always feel it. Reading your responses, I felt you out there as a warm, supportive community of generous and amazing people. I feel so lucky to be part of this!
People shared your biggest dreams and what you want to change most in your lives. You also helped me decide where to go with my upcoming projects. I want to share the results with you.
One question I asked was “What one thing do you most want to change about your life right now?” I tried to categorize your answers to get a big-picture view. It’s not an exact science, because some things fell into more than one category, and some were hard to categorize at all, but here’s a snapshot of the answers:
What one thing do you most want to change about your life right now?
- Self/life approach 20
- Job/school 13
- Productivity/motivation 8
- Finances 7
- Stuckness 5
- Living situation 5
- Health 4
I think it’s very cool that so many people want to change things about themselves. It’s not easy to change yourself, but out of everything in our lives, our selves are the one thing we have most control over. It is totally within your power to change yourself–you can do it. In fact, all of these things are within your power to change, with the possible exception of health. (While we can do things to support our health, there are a lot of health problems we can’t cure.)
It may sound strange, but I find this the most hopeful list of problems I’ve ever seen.
Even better is your dreams. Again, I’ve tried to capture a snapshot summary, with many responses falling into more than one category. The individual responses were super inspiring.
What’s your biggest dream?
- Self-employment/love business 19
- Art/writing/creative pursuits 15
- Financial independence 14
- Help others 9
- Love 8
- Travel 7
- Peace/self/freedom 6
- Happiness 5
- Country life 4
- Finding a good fit career 3
I hadn’t realized how much I’m not only living my own dream, but also yours since I quit my job. I feel honored and humbled by this.
I also feel compelled to say, go for it! Whatever your dream is, it doesn’t have to remain an unreachable pie in the sky. I encourage you with all my heart to look for one tiny way to make your life just a little bit closer to the life of your dreams, and take that small step. Then look for another and another, and keep taking them.
When you do this, two things happen.
- You make your life more like you want it to be. (That’s huge!)
- You feel the power you have to change your life.
Most big changes are really made by the cumulative effect of a whole lot of small changes. If you keep that in mind, pursuing your dreams is within your reach. If you want an example of the power of lots and lots of small actions, just look where I was a year ago: Big Dreams, circa 2010.
Here’s one of my favorite quotes on this:
“If you only do two things–take consistent action and lose your fear of
failure–you’ll already have a 95% chance of success.”
–Jonathan Mead, Reclaim Your Dreams
When I was working on the blog and taking the first steps to build my business, this quote gave me hope that I would someday get where I wanted to be. It kept me going when it seemed like I was never going to get there. And he was right!
What’s next?
I asked for input on my next project. Among a few ideas I’ve been considering, the clear favorite was how to get unstuck in life as a whole. Now I can let you in on a little secret: I was kind of hoping you’d pick that one, because it’s my favorite, too.
I’ve started working on it, and I’m really excited about it. I love this material, and I’m deeply enjoying working on an ebook again. The Beyond Fear workshop is going great, but what I really envisioned myself doing when I dreamed of working for myself is writing books. I’m delighted to be doing that.
More importantly, this is great stuff! Writing about how to break your bonds and get rolling on what you want to do, and envisioning all of you reading it and using it to accomplish your goals and achieve your dreams–what could be better?
Besides the ideas I suggested, a few people shared what they’d like me to write about. Here’s my favorite: “I would like to read about your life more! I am nosy!!”
I think that’s hilarious. You asked for it, you got it. More about my life, coming soon.
I was also pleased to see a lot of interest in Clarity + What To Do Next sessions. I’ll set those up soon as well.
And, for the folks who want to find a way to make money through what I call a love business–working for yourself doing what you love–I’ll be teaming up with Jonathan Mead, the awesome coach who facilitated my liberation, to offer you something that will give you a huge leg up. That’s coming at the end of the month.
Y’all are amazing. Thanks again for all of your support! You rock beyond my wildest dreams.
I think it’s very cool that so many people want to change things about themselves. It’s not easy to change yourself, but out of everything in our lives, our selves are the one thing we have most control over. It is totally within your power to change yourself–you can do it. In fact, all of these things are within your power to change, with the possible exception of health. (While we can do things to support our health, there are a lot of health problems we can’t cure.)
+1
Thanks, Paula!
For Paula,
I would say that the only thing we have control over is ourselves. So many people forget that, and think that happiness will just happen when the world ‘gets it right’. Getting unstuck is about letting go of what we can’t change or control, and taking ownership of what we can change. And then doing it!
Good call, Dave! Thanks for weighing in!