This particular season will only happen one time.
I was working a full morning of writerly things, from my book proposal to writer formation, to finishing up a curriculum project—but when the clock struck noon, I hadn’t yet gotten to the one thing I really needed to get to before stopping for the day: my next blog post.
Everything else I had worked on that Saturday morning was good to work on, and it will bear fruit, but until I grow my platform, most of those things will not see the light of day because for better or for worse, that’s how the industry works—no platform, no contract.
So at 7:00 on Saturday night, when I sat back down at my desk to pick up where I had left off, I felt a little overwhelmed. “I’m so tired,” I thought.
“There’s no way I can get more posts out any time soon, not with the holidays coming up.”
“Why am I even doing this again?”
Then suddenly, a mythical beam of light shone down from heaven and blessed me with a little self-grace.
Okay, there wasn’t really a beam of light.
But there was, suddenly, in the midst of all my negativity and the pressure I was putting on myself, a thought that stood out from the rest. It was gentle, kind, and encouraging.
What a relief it was to give myself permission to take this one step at a time, to follow my own pace, and yes, to do it really well.
“Start small,” it said. “Commit to one blog post per month.”
What a relief it was to give myself permission to take this one step at a time, to follow my own pace, and yes, to do it really well.
Of course, I want to be able to do more—I want to do it all! But the only way I know how to get there, one day, with my soul intact and my heart still burning with love, is to go at my own pace, and to learn how to be gentle with myself along the way. So, for now, yes, that means committing to just one post per month.
That means doing my work when it’s time to work, but also resting when it’s time to rest.
That means drawing a hard and fast boundary between negative self-talk and the encouraging thoughts I need to hear so I can thrive.
That means asking for help when I need help—whether with technology or proofreading or a kind word.
That means settling into one step at a time and absolutely, one hundred percent, enjoying the process.
Because you know what?
This season of learning and growing and believing in myself, this season of being disciplined enough to build my dreams around my full-time job—this particular season—will only happen this one time. And I don’t want to look back at it with regret because I was so mean to myself that it wasn’t even fun.
What to Do to Chase Your Dreams Well:
- Commit to one concrete step at a time (for me, that’s one blog post per month).
- Work when it’s time to work.
- Rest when it’s time to rest.
- Stop killing yourself with negative self-talk. Give yourself the encouraging thoughts you need to thrive.
- Ask for help when you need help.
- Take everything one step at a time. (This bears repeating.)
- Enjoy the process!
So I’ll see you in a month, friend. Now go get some dreams!
