Ideas

I don’t know where my ideas come from. They just come, usually when I’m mowing the lawn, driving to work, or walking my hound ~ Ron Kofron

Sometimes my greatest ideas come not when I’m sitting down and working but doing a million other things. Now that I always have my cell phone with me, I have a place to capture notes and ideas and review them later. It wasn’t always that easy before cell phones.

The best ideas I have for my romance novels come from church. There I have the bulletin make notes and then I have info about Bible verses, hymns, etc.

I’d love to hear about the craziest place and best idea you’ve come up with on your dream journey?



__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Creating a Vision

Setting Goals

Develop and Follow Routines

Define Boundaries 

Dream Buddy

Timing

Life is all about timing…the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable…attainable. Have the patience, wait it out. It’s all about timing ~ Stacey Charter

Patience. It’s something I don’t have any more.

I developed my patience as a corporate trainer back in the early 2000’s. I was able to empathize with new employees trying to learn about, in some instances, the banking industry, and, in may instances, how the system worked. For some, it was the first time they worked on a computer ever. (Yes, that was 2001.)

But when it comes to my dream goals, I am very impatient. I remember being two weeks in a January Big Weeks month while selling Tupperware. I had not recruited any new consultants and even my own party schedule was lacking. My director (distributor at the time) told me as long as I was doing the work each day/week to date parties and recruit consultants, in time my  team and my sales would grow. I’d achieve my goals, but it takes…TIME.

Same thing with my writing. I wished I could sit down and pound out 10,000 words per day. Sometimes my daily 500 word goal takes me longer than I really want. Although I won’t get more than two novels published a year, my writing is goal is what I can handle right now.

Be patient with yourself, be patient with your goals. As long as your completing your daily and weekly routines to reach your goals, you’ll get there when the time is right.

I’d love to hear about time when you were impatient with the process?



__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Creating a Vision

Setting Goals

Develop and Follow Routines

Define Boundaries 

Dream Buddy

Humorous Wisdom

Here’s to wisdom that can be framed humorously ~ Jill Badonsky

The best friends can help you find humor in everything! My friend Cindee and I laugh about so many good memories that are more than ten years old.

Don’t fall asleep when tanning because you might end up in the shade.

Traffic isn’t really that bad if you’re going 55 mph (or the posted speed limit) during rush hour.

Don’t lock your keys in the van because someone might have to drive 50 miles to unlock the vehicle.

Our dream paths have diverged, but we’re still the best of friends. What are some funny memories you have with your dream buddy?



__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Dream Buddy

LIberating, Transporting, and Restoring

Here’s to being liberated, transported, and restored, all for free in our imagination ~ Jill Badonsky

The awesome thing about figuring out your dream goal is that your imagination really is your limit. Once you figure out your goal, it really is liberating, restorative and transporting.

Did you feel this when you found your dream journey?



__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Creating a Vision

Setting Goals

Develop and Follow Routines

Define Boundaries 

Dream Buddy

A Lack of Sel-Realization

Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread ~ Richard Wright

For those of you following me, you might know I became separated from my husband of eight and a half years in May and then he passed away suddenly last month. Throughout the last year, I’ve learned to take care of myself first.

I learned that lesson a long time ago. Right after I graduated from high school, I got involved with Amway and started reading self help books. Those type of non-fiction books propelled my reading for the next fifteen years. It was those books about improving myself that got me through my first break up.

I stopped reading to improve myself when I started writing fiction. I’ve read a few books about the craft of writing, but they got in the way of reading genre fiction to improve my writing. Now I understand the importance of keeping the self help books in the mix. I created a reading schedule that has worked well and I have been able to read a fiction book and keep up on my self improvement reading as well.

Although the events in my fiction writing do not mirror the events in the my life right now, keeping up on my writing has been been cathartic for me. In retrospect, writing has probably been my savior for the a long time.

I blogged a week or so ago about letting life get in the way. Now that the memorial service is over, I am back to my business of writing and helping others to achieve their dreams.

Tell me about a time when working on your dream goals helped you in a time of great stress or grief in your life.



__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Creating a Vision

Setting Goals

Develop and Follow Routines

Define Boundaries 

Dream Buddy

The Relatives You Make for Yourself

Friends are the relatives you make for yourself ~ Eustache Deschamps

Thanks goodness for friends in my biological family, church family, writer community, and on-line community. The last year has been crazy and thank goodness for people looking out for me and letting me know they care.

That’s the thing about dream buddies. The very best ones grow to love not only your dream, but you as well. They become concerned when other parts of your life aren’t going right. The best friends understand that when things aren’t right in the other parts of your life, they know you can’t devote the energy needed to make your dreams come true if other parts of your life are out of order.

The best dream buddies know when to push you and when to support you. I’m so happy that I’ve found a community of folks who understand that the last year has been about support and not pushing.

Tell me about a time when you had a supportive community.



__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Dream Buddy

Rejoice, for Your Soul is Alive!

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive ~ Eleonora Duse

The amazing thing about working on a dream journey is how much I enjoy the simplest and some of the most mundane things in life. Granted, being a writer, I am looking for ways to make the routine tasks of life more interesting in my writing, I still look for the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Even when I was finishing my degree and working full time, I enjoyed the weekends more and time with our extended family at the time. When I am the busiest, I seek to do more in less time and relish the downtime even more.

For instance…just today, I was up at 4:45 am, wrote my 500 words per day, and took my walk before work. After working all day, I came home and put together a promotional blog post then ran off to dinner with friends from work. I came home, took care of the chores and threw up a couple of blog posts. I still would like to watch some tv (actually watch a program, not have it on in the background) and get some reading done. Again, I am back into my routines, getting a lot accomplished including some socializing.

How does keeping busy help you on your dream journey?





__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Creating a Vision

Setting Goals

Develop and Follow Routines

Define Boundaries 

Dream Buddy

Freedom

Here’s to freedom in all of its forms ~ Jill Badonsky

Freedom.

For me, attainment of my current dreams and means freedom. In addition to financial security, I hope to attain control of my own time. I hope to work less and make more money.

I have always dreamed of the work from home job where if I decided to take the day off, I could. Last year after the Royals won the World Series and the city threw them a parade and a party, I wondered, “What jobs do those people have that allows them to just drop what their doing in two days to attend the parade?” Even my bosses are small business owners and they weren’t able to leave work that day.

It’s this vision of work that attracted me to direct sales. That dream has come full circle as I develop my coconut oil skin care line.  What I didn’t understand then that I know now is that it takes many years of hard work to attain that level of achievement and freedom. I wasn’t prepared to do the work fifteen years ago. I’m ready to do that now.

What does freedom mean to you and your dream journey?



__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Creating a Vision

Setting Goals

Develop and Follow Routines

Define Boundaries 

Dream Buddy

Scotch and Ginger Ale

Here’s to a ginger ale and scotch with a twist of lime on the rocks on a summer evening ~ Dean Frech

Sometimes the best thing to do with a dream buddy is go have a drink. Don’t talk about your dream journeys, just relax, and unwind. I can’t tell you how fun that can be and how much stress it can lift off of either of your shoulders. Even if you make a pact not to talk about your goals, the conversation almost always goes there. If you are successful in sticking to your boundaries, then maybe a part of the conversation will inspire you later.

PSA - if a drink is problematic, for whatever reason, you can substitute coffee, soda, or a meal. The point is, enjoy yourself and your dream buddy’s time together.



__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Dream Buddy

Happy Independece Day!

Give what you have. To someone it may be better than what you dare to think ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Have you ever thought, “I’m too new at this, there’s nothing I can contribute?”



__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Creating a Vision

Setting Goals

Develop and Follow Routines

Define Boundaries 

Dream Buddy

Give What You Have

Give what you have. To someone it may be better than what you dare to think ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Have you ever thought, “I’m too new at this, there’s nothing I can contribute?”

I want to challenge that thinking! No matter where you are on your dream journey, you can add your experiences when collaborating with others on the journey. Each one of us has our own set of experiences that can lend some light to the situation at hand.

If you’re reading this because you’re still in the discovery phase of your dream, maybe you’re having second thoughts. I tell you, GO FOR IT! We all have something to share with the world. To someone else, it will probably make all the difference in their lives.

I’d love to hear about time when you thought a small piece of advice turned out to be much bigger than you realized?



__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Creating a Vision

Setting Goals

Develop and Follow Routines

Define Boundaries 

Dream Buddy

Celebrating with Your Dream Buddy

Here’s to the festive occasion of having a an ice cream soda in the summertime ~ Jill Badonsky

I’d love to add “with your dream buddy” to the end of this quote. I find myself working with my dream buddy, sharing what I am working on, asking for their advice, listening to what they are working on. In the past when my dream buddies lived in the same city, I rarely got together with them just to celebrate. Reading this quote and working on this blog post made me realize what an opportunity I have missed out on.

Celebrations are so important to our continued success on our dream journeys. Who better to share those feelings of accomplishment than with your dream buddy? There may be times when you meet a goal and they don’t, but I am sure that with change on the next big goal. Celebrate with each other and lift up your business buddy even when you don’t meet the goal.

Now, many of my dream buddies are all over the country. But even so, I could have phone conversation where we all we talk about is our successes. That would even work through text and chatting apps. Snapchat is my new favorite social media app, just think of the fun celebrating we could have Snapchatting each other!

How do you celebrate with your Dream Buddy?



__________________________________


Can't get enough of the 5 Steps? Look at the archives in my original blog:

Dream Buddy