January is a little misleading, because I decided some time last year that I was going to do a major overhaul on my life. But, new years are a good time for new beginnings, so officially, 2010 is the year I will reinvent myself – for the third time.
During January, I made my first move toward change. I made a pact with myself that if I had to take money from my savings to reach my goals, I would do so.
Interestingly enough, once that agreement was made, the universe has provided nicely for me ever since.
I began by setting aside two days at the first of each week. On those days I take my teleconference courses in coaching, and I work with my partner Betsey as we discover our path in our new business – In Your Wildest Dreams.
At first Betsey was worried about me, because she had some ideas she wanted to pursue and she was afraid I was rudderless.
In fact, I had made a commitment to go with what comes naturally. My pact was to get up each day, devote as much time as necessary to completing my tasks in my existing business, then take the rest of the time and devote it to pleasing myself.
My thought here was that my natural tendencies would take over, given a little encouragement, and I would begin to see a productive path for the future.
When I meet my financial goals for the month – enough to pay my overhead – I then turn over any additional business to my partner, subbing it out to her for a percentage of the income. This has worked out beautifully. It inspires me to work hard to reach that break even point.
Of course, I realize that other people don’t have the same luxury of being self employed that I do. But, for those who are unemployed, this technique could also work.
As a matter of fact, job search is stressful, so rewarding oneself with play time could be very productive.
Now that I have established luscious blocks of FREE time during each month, I allow myself to do exactly as I please. If that means wandering out to the garden to prep it for the coming spring, that’s what I do. If it means trying out a free download of Adobe Illustrator, I do that.
