First, let me just say, I can read a calendar. I was all proud of myself for pre-writing this post. It was prepared for all to read first thing Friday. Then I got so caught up watching the last episode of Sherlock that pushing the publish button fell away from my mind completely. So my apologies, and here is your Friday post.
I am an over-planner. At least in some cases. I didn’t really realize it until I got to college and it’s something I am still battling with now. That sounds strange to say because planning is supposed to be a good thing. Thinking about different outcomes a situation may have and planning for them. Then, no matter what happens you have a plan and are prepared. All those premises are fine as long as you actually end up putting your plans into action at some point. Ever since graduating college, I have always had one plan or another to do something fun or important or at least make some money. I would do the research, reading articles about how best to approach running a business. I get all inspired…and then I get scared.
It took me five years to go from wanted to sell my work to taking the first, most basic step to really doing it. I set up my Etsy shop last December, and it only took an afternoon. And it’s not because I had planned so well and been so prepared. It’s because I finally do it. We are told over and over again that you learn from experience, but sometimes hearing wisdom doesn’t mean you understand and apply it. Before anyone can get to being the experienced person in any field, they have to take action. That is only one way to see if your goals will ever work out.
The funny part is, I haven’t been sitting still in those five years. I have been continually drawing, creating and getting my ideas out of my head. I have just been doing it on a really small-scale and for close family and friends. And for free. There is no real reason I could not have taken this same action years ago. But I always had reasons I imagined were very real.
“I am working full-time.”
“I have a baby.”
“My husband is traveling.”
“I have another baby.”
The last one actually ended up being the push I needed out of making excuses. I finally realized that I could always come up with a new reason that I needed to spend my time planning and not taking any action. There is no way I want to waste more time planning and pretending it’s productive. I could have done things different earlier, but it’s not too late to see where my goals take me now.
daydreamhouse 