“I” am going to have to step up my game in order to keep my focus right where it should be….on me. “I” must think and act in ways that will keep my vision for myself clear for this new year. I’ve got to remind myself of a popular quote that if I do nothing, nothing happens. The key word here is “I” and many times we forget that.
It’s more than a few years ago that I set out to have my own business. I’d made strides in setting up the basics to my plan and moving towards marketing my business. People say that life happens when you’re not looking and wow, was I blind-sided! A wonderful but somewhat unexpected bundle of joy changed the entire landscape of thought, intention and plan. Fast forward to one year later and first-time mommyhood + relationship problems = unpartnered parenthood. My plan for self- employment was now going nowhere, fast.
I looked up from a pile of toddler laundry and realized that my next step had to be full time employment. When I looked up again from my son’s 3rd grade parent-teacher meeting what I saw were others speeding past me on life’s highway.
I felt that I’d lost my place in line so I thought: why bother trying?
I was “other-focused”; more concerned about what others think than what I think. You know, how our thoughts are about what we can’t do rather than what we can! When we’re stuck at the traffic lights of Self-Doubt and Self-Criticism it’ll keep us in Park versus Drive mode. We forget that the “I” is the key in the ignition, the one word that starts everything up….and keeps it moving!
I’d practiced the power of the “I” many times before…formed a teenage dance group, went abroad to college, led committees, gotten married and… gotten divorced. I, like many of us, thought that life just happens. I just never consciously thought that progressing through life had to come with a decision from me! I had to make a decision to put my hands on the wheel and actively steer in the direction I wanted life to go. It’s as simple as that. The new year brings an open road with wide open vistas to travel and explore. We could just stand there staring it down or looking back at what we did or didn’t do last year. OR We could decide to use that fuel called desire for more and better in our lives. Let’s grab hold of our dreams and goals! Power up our imagination and courage. Put the “I” into Drive! Vroom! Vroom!
