Letting go of Dreams
I love this recent blog (portion below) from Danielle LaPorte on letting go of a dream. Being a type A, run my life off a checklist kind of person – I sometimes find I am working on checklist items that I don’t really need to complete – just to check them off. That is why I love this article – life changes, and dreams should change along with it. I think we tend to feel that letting go of a dream is somehow an act of failing – that we could not accomplish it. Nothing is further from the truth, if you are letting go for the right reasons. Letting go of a dream can be freeing, allowing you space to have new dreams.
Keep the Power of your Idea
Repurpose your brilliance
The Future is more exciting than the past
Creative Freedom is messy, daring, and real
It’s ok to lose money on your dreams
Remember why you do what you do
Thank those people that helped you work towards your dream
Then MOVE ON…..
The other reason I love this blog, is that it makes me ask myself the question – what are my dreams? Living life to the fullest, means having dreams. I set goals regularily, mainly annual goals about finances, family, trips, but are these really dreams?
(Blog from Danielle Laporte that was about her letting go of her dream to start a magazine)
HOW TO LET GO OF A DREAM
1. Don’t denigrate your dream in order to justify letting it go. Someone said to me, “Look at all the magazines that are failing. It’s a good idea to let this go.” Hold up. I’m not letting this go because of market place trends. My decision has zero to do with industry factors. I’m convinced — as convinced as one can be in the realm of possibility — that we would have made something both meaningful and profitable, and we would have positively disrupted our corner of the publishing scene. So, I’m not backing down on the power of the idea to make it easier to let it go -- that would be a 'dis to my creativity.
2. Juice the dream. I’m squeezing the brilliance out of every idea, concept, and page we created and looking for how it can be repurposed to elevate in what I’m up to now. We had 9000+ great ideas, and now they will live on my site, my new programs, my next book, my new sound project (eeep!). Repurpose your brilliance.
3. Dramatic decisions don't have to be high drama. You might need a mopey walk around the park, or a good cry in the tub when you decide to call it quits. I’ve been there on past projects. But for this, I was just really quiet for an afternoon and kept the decision to myself for a few days. And then, I spoke it out loud and I did some kitchen disco to celebrate. Stillness and … dance! One of the strongest characteristics of Team D as a whole is that we're really drama free. The future is always more exciting than the past. Next.
4. Never mind your ego. When someone on an airplane asks you what you do and you say "writer" they don't know what to make of you. When you say you're "starting your own magazine," well, they pay attention. That was fun for a minute. I’m always very public about what I’m working on. I told EVERYONE that we were creating a print magazine. Because we were. Now we're not. This is what creative freedom looks like. It’s messy, it’s daring, it’s real.
5. Losing money is part of making money. Fact. It comes, it goes. It’s never a good idea to see something through solely because you sunk money into it. I always think of "lost" money as funding for even better ideas.
6. Remember why you make art.
Art is about self expression. Sharing art is about being of service. There's always more where that came from. You will get the chance to express and serve again...and again.
7. Thank people before you move on.
Thank you! Thanks to every writer for submitting work — the good, the so-so, the totally brilliant. Thank you to the thousands of people who expressed their excitement on Facebook and Twitter. That was so encouraging. And encouragement + creativity = rocket fuel.
Check her out
http://www.daniellelaporte.com