Back To Our Previously Scheduled Dreaming
The Sloth has left the building.
While the Week Of Sloth wasn’t quite as slothful as planned, it was a restful, restorative time, and I’m thankful to Mark, the girls, and God for aligning things to make it all work for my good. I needed it.
But now it’s time to hustle again.
It would be easy to settle into a routine of sleeping in, spending a nice long quiet time with a cup (or three) of coffee, watch the squirrels for a while, then putter around the house, root around on facebook, and spend a couple hours editing and staying connected with the world before the girls get home from school. Really easy.
But if I do that, I’m like the guy who buried his master’s bag of money in the field. I won’t grow. My dream won’t grow.
And that’s “wicked.”
Not just a mistake, not just lazy…
Wicked.
And if there’s something that’s the total opposite of what I want for my life and what God wants for my life (which is what this little life is all about anyway…) it’s “wicked.”
After a year and a half of hustling and growing and working on the side to use my gift of writing to grow my passion for helping others and making a difference in the lives of the fatherless, I’m taking a big step away from security and comfort and into the world of writing for a living. And I plan to take it seriously.
So…this week, I get strategic and schedule out the new normal.
The alarm will still ring at 5AM (and the family is not thrilled). Because that’s the time that works well for my personal writing.
Then I will exercise, and get a shower, and put clothes on…not just more pajamas (I am not thrilled). Side note: I love my pajamas and have lived all day in them for several years now, but this was the tradeoff I agreed to. Let’s see how long it lasts.
Then I will hustle. eBook. Sermon project. Missions work. Platform-building. Blog-overhauling. Editing. Educating.
I’ll be spending some of my time doing some editing and project facilitation for a great missions organization, working on freelance writing projects, building a portfolio, and developing a new project management resource for churches and small Christian business leaders. And probably picking up some short project management contract work along the way to keep the savings account topped up.
My days are still going to be really full y’all.
But they’ll be filled with the things I love about my dream and the things I realize I have to do to move it forward, even if I don’t love them quite as much.
Here we go!!
What would your days look like if you could be a full-time dreamer? Leave a comment…
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About Christine
I’m a writer, a recovering project manager, and a corporate refugee with a passion to share the lessons I've learned. I've worked with bestselling authors to launch nearly a million dollars' worth of books and online courses. I've seen what works (and what doesn't), and I know what it takes for a growing writer to get your work out and grow as you go.
woo hoo! what an inspiration, christine! trust god fully and follow that dream!
Thanks, Tim…hard work, but it’s worth it!
Love it! I love your drive and passion. Can’t wait to hear more about the project resource management piece. I have been thinking about something similar and would love to brainstorm! Can’t wait to see you later this week!! 🙂
We can definitely talk about it this weekend!!
Hmmmm. Well a work out in the morning. Then maybe a little yard work if the weather is nice. Then ride my horse (that I don’t actually have but this is the dream right?). Next would be to visit a hospital or similar with my therapy dog (don’t have a therapy dog either right now but Buck would love to do the car ride and get the attention). Wait – maybe I’m talking about retirement vs a dream “job” . . . 🙂
Could be your dream job if your job is to be a landscaping rancher who trains therapy dogs!
Why can’t I be a full-time dreamer from the comfort of my pajamas and pillow?
But in all seriousness, it would involve a lot less time on social media and a lot more time in Word documents.
Katie
it’s the pillow part that makes it a dream… 🙂
So proud of my awesome wife!
If you loved me, you’d let me wear pajamas and eat bon-bons all day. 😉
Christine,
Your post is the double shot of espresso in my already strong Grande Starbucks Dark roast coffee that is the Quitter Conference. (a “black eye”, in case you were so inclined to order).
Really uplifting post!
My day would consist of writing 4-6 in a quiet room. AND get paid for it. The part of getting paid seems more easily obtainable than does the ‘quiet room’!
Sold! We’re meeting up for one of those on Friday morning before I run to pick Adam up at the airport. 🙂
Awesome! I’m blessed that I don’t need to quit my job to live my dream…but there are still changes that I can make to live my dream full-time. For me it would be spending a LOT less time in the “details” of pastoral work and more time with students, building our leadership team, and preaching/teaching.
Praying for you as you live your dream full-time! Yes! Jennifer and I were talking yesterday about how cool it is what you’re doing.
I’ll confess…I’m not looking forward to things like billing and expense tracking. Every dream has it’s necessary evils, right?!
Thanks for your prayers…I’d be nowhere without them!
I would have to be really diligent about making a schedule too. I will just piddle around and waste my time and not accomplish anything.
I think my day would involve getting up early (though probably not 5), getting a cup of coffee in my system, taking a walk to get the blood flowing, then sitting down to write. Lunch break, then maybe some songwriting, followed by more writing. This is just my dreaming, cause as of right now, I have no idea what my dream job would involve. I hope it may involve staying home though. 🙂
Dreaming is a wonderful thing, Jamie!
I’m still working out the details of my schedule (I made it to the treadmill the first two days!!), but “diligent” is certainly the right word!