Happy Tuesday Everybody!
Soooo I was a little MIA this past weekend. I apologize so hard for that. I went to a conference and the hotel it was held in did NOT have free WiFi. *side eye* Like, what? Why? Anyway, that was just more proof and confirmation that I need to PLAN AHEAD and do my due diligence because a little WiFi is never an excuse to not reach out to you guys and put something out there. **and I was already 75% into my 4G, and my billing cycle doesn't start over until the 29th of this month. So as of right now, I do NOT have data to spare :-)**
But anyway, I've had the highest surges of energy and motivation these last few days between the conference, the periscopes I used up all my data for, and the seasoned and new entrepreneurs I've surrounded myself with. It's enough to really start getting my life together and making a SERIOUS PLAN.
I made the decision to make more of a commitment to my dream. My dream, in a few words, is to be OUT LOUD with my intentions, with my advice and with my goals. When I started B_OutLoud, my plan was two-fold: The first is finally start expressing myself and speaking up about important issues without fear. My entire life has been on the sidelines. I was the shy & quiet, smart, black girl in school, afraid to step on anybody's toes or get in anybody's face when confronted. I've had too many conversations in my head that people who NEEDED to hear them, never heard. So I wanted a place to have those conversations. B_OutLoud is me, out loud. The second part of my dream is sharing those conversations with people who need to hear them and encouraging them to do the same. B_OutLoud is encouraging others to BE out loud. When I laid out a loose timeline for my blog late last year, this is what I saw:
Sorry it's a little blurry. I scanned it in because I plan better when I'm writing by hand vs typing. I keep it with me everywhere I go. And though I didn't quite meet these deadlines I set for myself this year, it's still a constant reminder of WHERE I want to go and how I'm going to get there. And it's amazing, looking at this now, I've realized how much I've changed my focus. I started wanting to write about everything, which is probably why the plan has quite worked out, to wanting to encourage people to live the life they want in the most boss, common sense way possible.
So I have decided to make a few vows to my dream. The first vow is making the commitment. And that means INVESTING. All the pros will tell you that you can never go wrong investing in yourself. EVERYTHING in life is not free. For example, earlier this year I signed up for ByRegina's Zero to Blog Online Class and it was awesome! I met some really cool bloggers and people in general. And learned a ton. I also signed up for a few webinars and @mattieologie's Consistency Course, because that seems to be my word for the month. No matter where I am, it keeps popping up, consistency = results.
But it's not just about investing money in courses and webinars, but also investing my TIME. I can throw money at all the courses in the world, in theory lol, to help get my blog to where I want it to be. But if I don't take the TIME to digest and implement what I'm hearing and learning from these courses, I'm just wasting money and I'll keep falling into the trap of course overload. It's like getting so many degrees and not really working in the field of any of them. Remember Lynn from Girlfriends? Multiple degrees, rarely had a job?
Yea, nobody has time for that!
I vow to carry the tools I have with me everywhere I go. I'm talking about throwback pen + notepad. I'll use the Evernote App on my phone, if I'm feeling fancy, but when a good idea hits, I write faster and more clearly if I hand write it vs type it out. Or if I'm driving, I'll just use my voice recorder, like I'm in the 90's. As long as I have a place to jot down whatever comes into my head right at that moment, I'm okay. It sucks to be out and about someplace when the best idea ever strikes, and you have nothing to write on. You would think grand ideas would last in your head long enough to write it down later, but that's not the case for some reason.
I'm also making a vow to utilize my EARS more so than my EYES. I only started watching webinars less than a month ago. I've seen some before, but I never got the value of them or podcasts until recently.There are sooo many informational tools out there that aren't just words on a screen. Sometimes my eyes need a rest. I don't know about you but staring at a LED screen all day sort of drains my energy. So I can listen to something educational or motivational-like a podcast, webinar, or scope-that's not distracting and still break out my handy-dandy paper + pen and get to work.
I'm making a vow to learn my lesson. Anyone and everyone can tell you to avoid doing X, start preparing for Y, in order to help you accomplish Z. But there's nothing like a lessoned learned on your own to really embed it into your system. For example, I mentioned earlier that I couldn't post anything because of the lack of WiFi. I learned my lesson from that, which is plan and schedule posts waaaaay ahead of time so if something like that does happen again, it won't negatively affect me. Yes, I was told that very same thing in the blog course and through various posts, but it didn't really stick until I was sitting there in the hotel with my computer…LOST without connection lol
One of the most important things I think I can do for my dream, is making a vow to shut it down every once in a while. Not the dream, but the surrounding noise. There's only so many 'scopes I can watch, blogs and social media posts I can read in a day. Trying to catch ALL of them is only delaying me from working on my own. And with all the voices we hear in a day, who's to say we're actually being our 100% authentic self, especially if we watch people we aspire to be someday soon? It's a risk because sometimes inspiration becomes imitation. *I don't remember where I read that saying from. I didn't create it, but it's good. So if you know who blogged it first, let me know and I'll give props.* But for ME, I need a few hours to get MY OWN thoughts and life together. So by turning down other voices and tuning into yourself, you'll get to see where you shine brightest and use that brightness towards your dream.
This is just my START…to make that commitment and marriage to MY DREAM work. It may not even be a solid dream, to be honest. But I'm not sure if any dream is truly 100% solid. There needs to be room for fluidity and flexibility. In all honesty, no matter what industry you're in, it's important to commit to being the best you can be. Any real commitment takes time and energy.
So what basic -or non basic- vows are you ready to make to your dream? Leave a comment below and let's hold each other accountable!