Your Dream

June 12, 2019 | ChangingCourse.com

When you think summer, you probably think picnics, swimming, outdoor games, and other forms of recreation.

The word recreation literally means to “re-create.”

So what better way to spend your summer than recreating your life!

Here’s how you can use this summer to grow your dream of changing course.

Catch a falling star

When I was a kid, my best friend Elaine and I were always busy building forts or skipping rope.

But we also did plenty of nothing… most often lying under a shady tree or a star-filled sky.

These weren’t idle pursuits.

We were flexing our imaginations.

As the most carefree of the four seasons, summers are made for dreaming.

So take time to gaze upward, look inward, and imagine what could be.

Grow a dream garden

Look within and you may find the seeds of a dream planted long ago.

Left untended though, dreams will fail to sprout.

Summer is the ideal time to cultivate our dreams, both old and new.

Start with good soil.

What is it you care deeply about?

What makes you happy?

What do you want your life to look like?

Now get rid of the weeds – the lame excuses, apathy, self-doubt, and fear born from lack of information. Tend to your dreams and watch them grow.

Take advantage of the longer days

Even though those so-called lazy days of summer have gotten a lot busier of late, the additional hours of daylight do seem to add a bit more time to our lives.

Once you’ve engaged in some active reflection, use some of this “found time” to start working toward your goals.

Even if it’s only 20 minutes a day, it’s all forward motion!

Read a real thriller!

As you’re packing for the beach leave the romance novel or who-done-it at home.

Instead, treat your life like the adventure that it is by picking up a real thriller like my friend Carrie Wilkerson’s The Barefoot Executive or Barbara Winter’s Making a Living Without a Job.

Already have a business idea?

Dive into a book on how to start a business.

Have an idea but don’t know where to begin? You don’t need to because someone else has already figured it out for you.

Just go to Amazon or Google and type in: How to start a [fill in the blank]. Then take this time to read up on that exciting new business.

Still trying to figure out what you want to be when you grow up?

Barbara Sher’s first book, Wishcraft, is still my favorite.

Know what you love to do, but no clue how to make money doing it?

Treat yourself to a Work at What You Love session with me.

I’m SO confident I can help you that I offer something unheard of in the coaching world – a money back guarantee!

Invest in your dream

Save both money and time by spending your vacation at home.

Make it a real vacation by doing the kinds of things a tourist on a budget might do – go on a picnic, head to a museum, take a day trip.

Stash the money you would have spent going out of town into a “dream fund.”

Then use your savings to take a class, create your website, buy inventory, or otherwise take steps to launch your dream business.

If your dream includes relocating, hit the road by using your vacation as an exciting research expedition.

Summer is also the ideal time to ease into a new job-job

Are you operating in a toxic job environment?

Do you have a crazy long commute or a job that demands crazy long hours?

If you answered yes to either or both questions, then before you can even think about being your own boss, your first step may be to get a new job-job.

With more time and improved well-being, you’ll be better positioned to build your dream job on the side.

Summer is also the perfect time to take a new job.

The reason? With all the overlapping employee vacation schedules, many organizations operate in a somewhat more relaxed mode in July and August.

As a new hire, that means the trial by fire period is apt to be a little less trying.

If you’ve been putting off a job move until the fall, keep in mind the slower pace makes summer a great time to learn the new job ropes before the workplace once again launches into fall overdrive.

Just because you’re still in a job-job, doesn’t mean you have to lose sight of your dream of being your own boss. In fact, my friend Barbara Sher says to think of your job as your business loan!

The bottom line

Recreating your life is about making choices. And summertime is the perfect time to do it.

What choices are you willing to make to grow your dream?

Whatever you do, have a safe, relaxing, and inspired rest of the summer!