Following our dreams: the hardest part -

Hey dreamers 🙂

I was reading at what I had written in my page About me, and I realize that it’s been a long time since I did an update. The last time I wrote in that page was almost 2 years ago. That’s a lot of time! Especially since when I wrote it I feel like I was in a more optimistic mood. Don’t get me wrong, I still am very optimist. But when you have your feet right in it, you become let’s say more realistic, as my husband love to say. I felt like talking about something I wrote (in my About me page) that caught my attention.

The hardest part is certainly getting started, but we can’t say that the following days are easier.

I was wrong actually, in the first half of that sentence. I hear it everywhere from a lot of influencers. They say that the hardest part is getting started. Start the project you have in mind. I do not agree. The hardest part is to keep going. Maybe it depends on what kind of project you are doing: write a book, save money, start your company XYZ, start your blog,… And it sure changes if you are doing it alone or with someone. Doing it alone, by ourselves, it’s harder.

There are projects!! … And I do almost all of them :S Sorry not sorry, as they say! 😉

For people like me, starting a project is as easy as saying hello!

I write it down in my notebook, jot it down in my agenda and surf the internet to get as much information as I can.

Then I start…

And then, I procrastinate, I let myself be invaded by doubt, I look at those who are already doing what I want to do, I find myself taking more information from the internet, I freeze in front of the blank page, I tell myself that I have to spend more time with my children, and when I’m free, I find myself going surfing on Amazon to see if the cart for my dog is on special…

That’s my routine when I’m finally free. Because you must not forget that in there I have a job, a house to maintain (especially washing the dishes, folding laundry and vacuuming because my dog is losing a lot of hair…), 2 children with whom I want to forge beautiful memories, a husband with whom I try to spend quality time…

So, for me, the hardest part is to keep going, to find the motivation to put in even 15 minutes a day. I know that many have difficulty starting their project. I want to talk to these people. In fact, sometimes I talk to a few of them. I love encouraging them, motivating them to finally start.

But getting started is easy, right? What is hard is after getting started, you should persevere, take the time necessary to see this project develop. I can’t say that is the same for all my projects: there are some with which it goes very well! Alleluia! I manage to save money, write, make my dog walk by my side during the walk (it’s a real Art, if you have a dog, you’ll understand better ;), plan trips,… But all that said, I’m not a total zero when it comes to persevering with my goals, I have little tricks that certainly help me to keep moving forward, not fast enough for my taste but I’m moving forward the same 😉

Here they are:

Plan your month. You want to add 5000 words to your book, you want to do 2 days of no spend per week, you want to save $100 in your month, you want to put this or that thing up for sale, you want to go cycling 3 times a week, you want to go have a coffee with your friend. Note EVERYTHING. Take it easy, for example. Don’t put too much. It can be discouraging when you can’t do it. We all have weeks when we are busier than other weeks.
Plan your weeks by looking at what you had planned for your month. Here I strongly advise you to go one week at a time. And sit down with your diary and planner on Sunday or Monday (BEFORE the week starts!) Set up your bike days during the week, Set up writing sessions for your book, call your friend and plan your outing.
You also write in your agenda. This point goes with the one above. A agenda is the tool to have on hand at all times. For my part, I write down what I do, even when I go to the park with my children, it allows me to see what I have done during the week, and especially not to forget. I don’t have a great memory. You can note under Monday for example: Write Blog Guitar. And check next when it’s done.
Get up a little earlier or go to bed a little later with the goal of getting on with your project. This point is not that obvious…Sometimes, myself, I get up in the morning with the intention of working at least 1 hour on writing my novel. But in the end, I end up reading, writing my morning pages, having my coffee, play with my dog and that hour goes like BOUM! To end up writing only 15 minutes. I come away frustrated on this side but happy to have taken the time all the same.
15 minutes is GOOD too. We always think that we need more time to get ahead with our projects. But let’s take what we have.Just because we only have half an hour of time doesn’t mean it’s not worth taking it. IT adds up!