3 Steps you have to take
I wanted to take a break from the Blog Series I've been writing the past several weeks, sharing my story, and switch it up this week. As we've traveled across North America connecting with new people, reaching out to old friends, and staying tight with close friends I've been reminded over and over of something so many people have in common. What can so many different people from so many different backgrounds and cultures have in common?
A desire to chase a dream! to do the thing!
As Kaila and I navigated all the pandemic hooplah, we did what many people did. We started evaluating our lives. What were we investing our time, money, talents, and energy into? We really started seeing that we weren't doing nearly enough of the things we wanted to do. We weren't using our gifts and talents the way we sensed God leading us to. We were feeling a bit stuck in a rut that wasn't going to take us to the life of our dreams.
Step #1 Figure out your dream life
You may think that sounds obvious, but we know from experience that it's not. In truth, most of us are experts in knowing what we don't want. The things we don't like about our current lives. The jobs we don't want. The places we don't want to live. The things we don't want to spend our time and money on. But (and this is surprising!) very few people have a clear idea of what they DO WANT.
So, it starts with a mindset shift. You have to STOP thinking negatively. Thinking about what you don't want. Instead, start thinking positively. WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Depending on your personality, this may be a process of covering your fridge with post-it notes, cutting out pictures to make an old-school collage, or writing it out in your journal. How you get to the picture of your dream life is not nearly as important as the result - actually figuring it out!
If you need help with step #1 shoot us a message. my wife, Kaila, is amazing at helping people through this process!
Step #2 START MAKING ADJUSTMENTS
Once you get a picture of the life you want to live now you have something to evaluate your current life against. Are the things you are currently spending your time and money on going to help or hurt your ability to achieve your dream life?
When Kaila and I went through this process, we quickly realized that we were spending money and lots of time on things that would not help us achieve our dream life. For us, those things were a boat and a house. Both had substantial monthly costs associated with buying and maintaining them. They both took a tremendous amount of time to maintain as well. Next, we realized that the only reason we needed a large SUV, which we also owed money on, was to pull the large boat.
You can probably see where this is all headed. Once we realized these things were not helping us achieve our dream life the decision to take action was easy. In fact, prior to really determining the life we wanted, the thought of selling the boat was a sad one. It brought me a lot of joy. It also cost me a lot of time and money. Once Kaila and I were synced up about the life we wanted to live, selling the boat became a no-brainer. And instead of a sad day, it was invigorating and exciting when it sold. From there, the SUV was an easy sell. And last but not least... the house. We got laser focused on getting the house sold. We brought in a local realtor for advice on what to do to get the most bang for our buck within our time frame. With that knowledge, we buckled down and spent every waking minute working toward finishing the house to sell it for the most profit possible to help fund our dream life.
If you have a good idea of your dream life but feel stuck in terms of what adjustments to begin making, please feel free to reach out. We're happy to help. This is a conversation we have had with lots of people. In fact, being available to help others people is a big part of our dream life!
Step #3 SHARE YOUR DREAM, ignore the critics and find some fans
It's important that you practice sharing about your dream life. That may sound kind of silly, but you need to be honest with yourself, you've been an expert at achieving the life you currently have. You have to start talking about the life you want. Beware, you're going to encounter plenty of people (Usually family and friends) who will not share your excitement for your dream life. Some will be confused. Many will be negative. Then there are those that will tear down your dreams and take shots at you personally as they do. Listen, you need to hear this. You have permission to politely ignore people who are negative about the dream life you sense God is calling you to. If someone is throwing crap - move out of range.
Find some fans! Who's for you? Who's encouraging you? Who's going to cheer for you? Who's checking on you when you're tired or feeling defeated?
When Kaila and I started selling everything and making some major life adjustments it raised a lot of questions from our family and friends. Those questions led to opportunities to share about the dream life we sensed God leading us to pursue. Many of them were supportive, but we definitely encountered a lot of negativity as well. People questioned our motives. People talked our plans down. People pointed out the things they saw that could go wrong. But we pushed past the negative and kept talking about our dream life and eventually, we started to learn who are fans were. The people we can trust to share our dreams, ideas, and worries with. The goal of finding your fans isn't to find people who will only agree with you. Finding fans is about connecting with people who care about you and your dream life. This means they'll ask questions, share concerns, and offer alternative ideas along the way.
If you need help finding some fans please reach out! We have a pretty amazing network and we're happy to invite other dream chasers into the fold!
YOU MAY BE WONDERING.
What's our dream life?
Click the link and read about it here:
We're doing it!
6 months in, over 6,000 miles,2 countries, 7 states, 5 provinces, 100's of amazing people along the way, and 1 BIG DREAM LIFE ACHIEVED!!! We're living it.
Traveling all over North America. Exploring. Hiking. Kayaking. Mountain Biking. Fishing. Napping. Connecting. Walking with Jesus. Creating amazing content to help people get to know and follow Jesus. Building an amazing team. Making a million memories along the way.
DID YOU catch our first episode?
Check it out and let us know what you think! info@jointhejourneychurch.com
New episode comes out tomorrow! You can find it at: jointhejourneychurch.com
As you look over our stuff is it getting you excited? Does it look like something you would want to be a part of? Do you have gifts and talents that you think would be a great fit with our team? BY ALL MEANS - PLEASE - REACH OUT AND LETS CONNECT.
You can reach Kaila or me, Thad, at info@jointhejourneychurch.com
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