Finding your amazing work is overwhelming at first. You just sorted through all those old ideas, those old dreams in storage, and piled them up in plain view.
You’ll wonder: Where do I start? What next?
First things first: Grab whatever momentum you have going. Use the fire – the sparks-billowing-to-the-sky kind – to light the path ahead.
Chances are, you found your amazing while doing work that isn’t that amazing – yet. The prospect of doing amazing work for a living someday or even just on the side for your own enjoyment is all fine and dandy now … but give it a week or less. The more you get back into your cushy routine, the more your amazing work will start to feel like a joke.
Stop that. Amazing work isn’t a joke. Your dreams are not a joke. Stamp out that voice and anytime she surfaces, slap her face. “Be gone.”
Here are some habits to help keep your fire burning strong.
Set a goal. Then, set some more. Where do you want to go with this new discovery? Will you start small or go all out? It could be a goal like, “Start a blog” or “Create a mosaic stepping stone for mom’s birthday.” It could be 10 pairs of earrings, a new wedding cake design or getting up the nerve to contact a really big art gallery. It could even be something to weave into your current job – a revised job title or work environment. Set a goal and commit to working toward it.
Work on it a little bit everyday. Even for just 5 minutes. Even just sitting there, thinking. The more you pick up your amazing work, the more it becomes part of your life, part of who you are and what you stand for. It starts to feel normal and routine, in a good way.
Embrace this: Work when tired, quit when sloppy. Its dead on and you won’t regret it.
Give something up. Get up a half-hour early next week and do amazing work first thing. Give up a reality show. Spend lunch breaks at a cafe with your laptop doing research. Go to the library and learn.
If you’re reading this thinking, “Wow, this sounds like so much work. I already do enough of that. I don’t have enough free time as it is.” You’re wrong. Amazing Work isn’t work. It’s dreams at work. It’s time to dust them off and try – you’re already halfway there. When you let yourself experience the feeling, you’ll begin to understand.
Personally: I’m addicted.
Photo by jamelah
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Melissa, thank you for this great post. I think we all get caught up in wanting to do amazing things, but thinking we just don’t have the time. If only we’d start small and put in that 15 minutes, or 1/2 hour a day we soon see progress toward accomplishing that great thing! Thank you for reminding us to be gentle with ourselves.
“Amazing work isn’t a joke. Your dreams are not a joke.”
It’s always good to be reminded of this! So often it’s easy to fall into a “normal” routine and start believing that big dreams are just silly things to think about, then put away … but you can’t do great things if you don’t take them seriously to begin with.
“Give something up” – Absolutely. Great work needs room! The difficult part, at least for me, is being disciplined enough to fill that space with something worthwhile, instead of letting time- and energy-wasters creep in again.
I took the first step today….trying to get my scrap tiles back
I think the trick is to take bigger tasks and break them down into smaller ones. Then, take the sense of accomplishment (the victory) from each one to fuel your momentum forward.
This works for me anyway
@ Angela – Be gentle with ourselves … I like how you put that!
@ Jeffrey – It is so easy to get stuck on Twitter and Facebook, isn’t it?? I have been limiting my time lately and its really helped bring down my stress level. Putting first things first is definitely the key.
@ Lynn – I saw that! I liked that note to Heather. AWESOME. You inspire me, so thank you.
@ Ricardo – There is a method to the madness, right? Small victories really help. Even getting a post written in 20 minutes when you thought you’d blow it – those are the victories that keep me going.
Thanks for stopping by, once again!
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