Dreams are For Busy Folks, Too!

“I’m just trying to survive.” It was my mantra. The only way that I could get through to the next day. It was as easy to say as breathing. It was my auto-response to any question of “can you do just a little more?” 

I was managing a full-time job where 9-5 easily turned into 7 to 7 on any given day. Before I could get off the clock, I had to balance that while switching into Mommy Survival Mode just to keep the offspring alive. I would count it a miracle to even tell my honey goodnight before my heavy snoring lulled me into tomorrow. Just to do it all over again. 

I’ll get it done tomorrow, I always thought. Days turned into weeks and before I even realized what was happening, it was February 2021. I looked for any progress that I had made. Searched for any signs of life that the creator was still in there and was doing something, only to find blank pages, empty canvases, and well-organized zombies thinly disguised as my family. 

It finally broke me. Snotty nose. Ugly girl cry. “Tore up from the floor up!” It was not a pretty sight! This was not the life that I desired for myself. Working long hours. Keeping my kids alive. And just trying to make it to the next day. Where were my dreams? Where were all of the #Goals that I had set up for myself and my family?

Every light of hope was extinguished with, “but where will you find the time?” My dream was hopelessly buried under piles of “I just need to survive” and heaps of “I will get to it tomorrow… I hope.” 

Took a holiday to celebrate my birthday and got away from everything. That’s when it hit me! I can be EXACTLY who I want to be even with my busy lifestyle! Dreams are for busy folks, too! 

I came home refreshed and rejuvenated. Within a week, there was an obvious change in me. My work life began to balance – standing firm on set hours. My kids started asking me if I was okay and if something was wrong – guess I had been Zombie Mommy for so long that seeing a functioning human being was a shock! (My bad, kiddos.) And, you guessed it, my writing and art drive was reawakened. 

Here’s what I did to jump-start this change and realign my life. 

# 1. Take a Break!

My Girl! My Guy! Take a vacation! Do you have kids? Give them to grandma who’s been waiting impatiently for the pandemic to be over just to see them. Before you scream “I can’t afford it,” let me remind you… You can’t afford NOT to take a break! Give yourself time away from every day responsibilities to simply enjoy the day. We cannot see the forest for the tree that is still blocking the path, so give yourself time to remember you’re a human. When the break is done, you can see that dreams are still tangible. You’ve just motivated yourself to do what you’ve always wanted to do!

# 2. Change happens…

Change can be frightening, but you don’t have to be paralyzed into inaction. This is what happened to me. I had been talking about doing this “tomorrow” for so long that when it came time to begin, I FROZE. Immediately my mind went into self-preservation mode. We all have personal responsibilities and many things that demand our time, so when it is time to make a change, take the step in stride!

# 3. Know where you’re going!

It is almost a thing that no one “has” to say, but it is often the thing that is “always” forgotten. Where are you going? I’m a full-time mother and wife that has a full-time job becoming a full-time entrepreneur without losing myself in what I am doing. The key is having a plan in place. This is often called the business plan. 

# 4. Do the work!

It is common to feel unsure of where to start, but allow me to break it to you. Your idea is not new, it just hasn’t been done the way only YOU can do it. So when it comes to starting, someone has already done the hard part of figuring out the ends and outs, you simply have to figure out what model works for what you’re trying to do. Don’t re-invent the wheel – takes too long, too many resources, and way too many unnecessary headaches. Take the wheel and evolve it to fit your needs. Get it all written out and treat this plan like the HOLY GRAIL of your life’s work. Who else is going to care about this as much as you are? Nobody. Then act like it. Creating a plan with target goals gives you a road map. Executing the plan is what makes you successful.

# 5. Get yourself a Support Squad.

Honestly, there are 3 key reasons for a support squad:

1. Not everyone gets it. People tend to karate chop your dreams and ideas before you’ve even had enough time to have it – it’s just a cruel reality. Having a crew, squad, or even a single person in your corner will motivate you when you feel that the dream is too big and there’s no way you can reach it.

2. There is always a need for a cheerleader. Let’s be honest, we need someone to pat our backs and say, “Girl, you did that!” We need someone to let us cry and pout and shout to the rooftop only to give us a tissue for our eyes, a Big Bang Theory’s comforting “There. There.” and a throat lozenge for loss of voice. 

3. Once you make it through to the finish line, the support squad will be there to even help you tell the world. The support squad becomes the marketing team leads because they believed in you just that much! It is not always that your supporters fully buy into the product. They are buying into YOU. YOU are the product that they are willing to sell. YOU can do this!

The worst thing for me was looking back at what I’d accomplished only to find emptiness. Nothing made me feel worse than the feeling of not even trying. 

What have you done to get yourself out of a slump? Comment below, let’s chat!