Are You Too Busy to Achieve Your Dreams?
I’m ankle-deep into Tony Schwartz’s book, The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, and he drops this bomb on me:
We are so busy getting things done that we don’t stop very often to consider what it is we really want or where to invest our time and energy to achieve those goals.
Does this strike you as profoundly as it does me? I believe this is wisdom.
I mean, how many of us can honestly say that we’ve taken time in the past month to ask the question, “What do I really want to do with this life I’ve been given?” And if you have asked that question, were you able to ask without injecting religious-sounding language (‘God, if it be Your will…’)?
Ask yourself that question, “What do I want to do in life?”
When you get an answer, drop everything you’re doing and take steps to make that happen. I’ll even help you, if you want.
Too many people sit idly in Cubicle Land, wasting away, while their God-breathed dreams remain shelved and shrink-wrapped for another day.
Does that idea make you sad? The idea of your dreams wasting away? If it does, think about how it makes the one who gave them to you feel.
Good stuff. It’s so important to continue to ask “Why”. Asking hard questions and looking at reality keeps me in check and focused.
Preach it, J! This has been my main focus over the past few months. Cubicle Land doesn’t work for me, but right now, (hopefully the season is SHORT) it’s where I am. Baby to feed, baby mama to provide for
So…for me, my next step is calculating my escape velocity (from @chrisbrogan) – what will it take to get me into living (read: profiting) from my dream? That’s my goal right now. Oh yeah, and trying to finish a book, which I may take you up on your offer to help soon
Great post!!
Thanks buddy. I have no doubt you will get there. Truly. I don’t see anything in you that says “complacent”.
Can’t wait to watch it all unfold!
To amplify on this, my wife found herself a single mother to 5 kids. Ideally, she wanted to go school, get a degree in public administration, and work in government management. Instead, that got tossed aside, as the immediate overriding goal was to feed, clothe, house and keep healthy 5 young children.
Question for you, Justin. What should my wife have done, instead of concentrating on the immediate needs of her children as a single parent, who was working 2, 3, and sometimes 4 jobs, just to keep Child Protective Services from seizing them, sending them off to foster care, and charhing her with child neglect and abandonment?
Hey jrandom42 … I sense that this post hit a nerve with you. While I always hope to gently challenge here at BeDeviant, I never want to belittle or ostracize people. I’m sorry if that’s how this post made you feel.
That being said, I’m not sure what you’re asking. Are you saying that your wife, before she was your wife, was left to be a single mom with five kids? If so, than certainly that is her first priority.
That being said, this post was written to the people who are simply biding their time in life. Certainly not single mothers of five kids. Sometimes life gives us what it gives us, you know?
Most people aren’t waiting to pursue their dreams. They’re far too busy with working harder and longer just to make ends meet. They’re more preoccupied by questions on how to make what money they have stretch to next paycheck, praying thzt the noise in the car’s rear end isn’t serious, that the toothache goes away, that the hot water heater holds together another month, or if they’re gonna get laid off next week.
So, again, the question is: For those people who have dreams of a dream job, but are too consumed by immediate crises to just drop everything and “go for it”, what advice would you have for them?
And yes, long before we were married, she was a single mother with 5 kids ranging in age from 7 to 9 months. That all of them graduated high school and most have gone on to college, is a testament to her strengtgh of mind, will and character, as well as her hard work, dedication, intelligence, and sacrifice.
I just hope they can someday appreciate what she gave up and sacrificed of herself for their sake.
You asked: “So, again, the question is: For those people who have dreams of a dream job, but are too consumed by immediate crises to just drop everything and “go for itâ€Â, what advice would you have for them?”
I don’t think it has to be an “all or nothing.” What are some small steps you can take towards finding the gig that you’ve always wanted to have?
Is it writing one or two blog posts a week?
Watching one less hour of TV per week to research how to start a small business?
Volunteering in the career field that you want to move to?
I’m not saying it’s easy, but it can be done. It may not happen overnight, but it can be done. How do I know? I watched my 50-year-old dad transition successfully out of the corporate world into elementary school teaching. He would be the first to tell you it wasn’t easy, but it can be done!
Does that help at all?
Another great post Justin. (Busy catching up on my Google Reader today)
I have been living this for a while. Trying to figure out where I want to be and where I should be and see how that relates to where I am. This is always a good exercise. But as jrandom42 points out, taking care of our responsibilities – especially family – is always at the top of the list. Living well below our means is essential. I think most people are held hostage by their debt so they can’t even entertain such thoughts. The “American Dream” has caused a lot of people a lot of bondage.
Scott … I think you’re spot on with the debt thing. We “imbibe” financially to the point where we walk around in a drunken debt stupor!
Dave Ramsey has had a HUGE influence on how my wife and I approach money. Living well below your means, as you point out, is so crucial. We became debt free a few years ago and haven’t looked back since. It has made all the difference in the world!
If I could ask, where do you want to be?