Tag: Life Planning

Swimming Upstream Is The Hardest Part

Hi All!

Here I am . . .  resurfacing again!

I’ve been working my (now littler) butt off.  I know it’s not over yet, but this year has been especially grueling.  I’ve immersed myself in a career and I’m afraid that I’ve lost sight of my goals.  In fact, I’m in a place right now where they are changing on a daily basis.  I am pulled between what I want and what I have been taught to want.  Teetering between creating my rules and following already set ones.  Don’t get me wrong, I really like my job and I feel extremely fortunate to be working directly in my field, pretty much on the front lines.  And it’s not like the rules I have to follow now are as restrictive as others I’ve encountered.  It’s because of this that I struggle with what to do next.  I feel like decisions are going to be thrown at me in the near future and they are going to be life changing.  You know, the ones that fork the road and require the “what if” reminiscing later on in life.

And then, in a weird twist of life, I came across a manifesto and movement today on one of my favourite blogs, princesslasertron.com.

Chris Guillebeau is the author of The Art of Non Conformity. A book for “for unconventional people who want to do remarkable things.” He is living his dream and has made a commitment to visit every country in the world and so far, has been very successful.  In addition to making your passion your work, he emphasizes helping people and giving back.  So simple.  Pretty impressive.

After reading his manifesto, A Brief Guide to World Domination, I feel better.  Even though going against the grain of the mainstream and doing things a little differently is harder and takes longer to reveal success, it is necessary for change.  If you think about it, our entire world consists of products and services that were created by people who had the cahones to do things differently and succeed.   I think this book  is just what I need to re-strategize where I want to take my life, what I want to be doing and how I want to be doing it.

I’ll let you know how it goes.   ü

Cheers,

Veronica

Attracting the Laws of Attraction

law of attraction

Post Internet drama, Elijah and I have been struggling a bit with thinking positively about our current financial situation.  We do have work coming in, but trying to catch up with all the bill payments we have missed is a daunting task.  Focusing on a plan of action is hard, because we’re trying to do so many things at once.  The chaos is terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time.  Elijah came to me the other night with a potential movie to watch for the evening, “Beyond the Secret“, a motivational film outlining the steps to benefiting from the Laws of Attraction.

The movie itself was kind of corny, but the concept intrigues me.  I’ve heard about the Laws of Attraction before, but never really delved too deeply into the topic.  Eli and I are very big believers in the mind/body/spirit connection, so we’ve decided to make a conscious effort to employ the Laws of Attraction.  We’ve starting meditating twice a day and focusing on positive outcomes.  It hasn’t been easy for me, since I have a tendency to worry and fret.  But I must say that I have been pretty good for the past couple of days.

For anyone else (I’m probably the last.) unaware of the theory, it is that the Laws of Attraction are Universal Laws that are based on the energy of the earth and of us as human beings.  Basically, by focusing your energy on your desires or dreams, you are manifesting them into reality.  But it goes both ways; focusing your energy on negative outcomes or scenarios can attract those as well. By simply knowing what you want, asking the universe for it, visualizing your self with it and allowing change, we can achieve any goal or dream.  In terms of science, there are those who don’t believe it is possible for one to transmit their energies,  yet others argue the laws of Quantum Physics, which teaches that nothing is fixed, we and everything on this planet are vibrating balls of energy have limitless possibilities.

(This is my basic understanding of Quantum Physics and the Laws of Attraction.)

I figure that because we have a lot to turn around, it is easier to focus on smaller, more attainable goals.  Obviously I want to get caught up with our payments, so I envision myself paying the bills and having money left over.  Simple and yet such a happy thought . . . sigh.  We haven’t noticed any dramatic change so far, but that can be expected since we only started talking about this a couple days ago.  (Although Eli did receive a random $25 out of the blue tonight.)

I’m really excited to get my mind and body on the same page, they’ve been at odds with each other for a while now.

There really can’t be any negative outcomes . . .

because I won’t be thinking about them.

Stay Classy,

Veronica

Day One Of Officially Being “athome”

today

Today marks some firsts, my friends.

Today is the first day of my unemployment, and the first day that theathomecouple.com is official.  I am now at home!

Truth be told, the reality probably won’t kick in until next week, because I kind of feel like I’m just on vacation.  Eli has graciously given me this week to adjust, so I spent the day working through a list of things I want to accomplish around the apartment.  Things that have been knawing at me and I just haven’t had the time to do.  So I cleaned up the balcony,planted some flowers and worked on a project for my Uncle’s 50th birthday.  All this between loads of laundry and dishes.  I’m wiped . . .but I feel great.

We have a lot on the go right now, and a lot that we want to work on.  We are in the process of launching a new content service called WordBoo.com.  And I’m going to be putting together presentation material to market my design services.  So hopefully soon I’ll be busy with work stuff, which makes getting all these little chores out of the way all the more important.

Throughout the day today I found myself thinking about what I would have been doing at work if I was there, and thinking a lot about my friends.  I had a pretty rough day on Friday because I realized that I wouldn’t see these people anymore.  They have helped me  through a lot, whether they’re aware of it or not.  In the past year and a half I have done so much growing, and each one of them is responsible for helping me through it.  I almost started to second guess my decision because I realized that working from home with Eli doesn’t really allow for any other social interaction.  But that is just one of the challenges we face.  Finding that balance and recognizing when it’s time to be apart.

There will be many other challenges and that is what excites me and motivates me.  I need the unknown to keep me moving forward, otherwise I become too comfortable and I get lazy.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, this is just day one.  And on day one I feel great.  I’ve accomplished a lot today and I am so proud of myself for making the commitment and taking that leap.  Tomorrow is another day, and I’ll deal with it when it gets here.

Until then,

Veronica

From College To Cubicle – The Orthodox Blueprint

From College To Cubicle - The Orthodox BlueprintLet me start off with a story…

For those of you who don’t know, I’m a mildly respected Music Producer here in Toronto’s local Hip Hop scene, under the stage name MrBlue.  I’ve developed artists and produced several albums over the last 8 years – and during this time I’ve been fortunate to share creative exchange with many ambitious, and uber-talented individuals and I want to tell you about one in particular; Lets call him “Steve”.

I’ve been collaborating with Steve for roughly 5 years, and out of all the artists I’ve ever worked with, he has the most potential for greatness without a doubt.  Steve has been signed to a label, had his record in stores, and has performed with some major recording artists during his artistic career and yet he’s never seemed to have his musical endeavors flourish.

Steve has been in school for as long as I’ve known him – bouncing from one major to the next.  It feels like every September he is starting a new course, or academic path, and what really stirs me up about his whole situation is that all he talks about is music and how he wouldn’t be where he is without it – but where is he really? Rather than pursuing his passion to the full extent, he has remained shackled to this cycle of call center jobs and tuition deadlines, and his governmental debt from education alone surpasses mine and Veronica’s debts combined – including our tuition repayments, credit cards, etc.

On numerous occasions I’ve said to him, “You should be going to school for what you’re passionate about.  Why aren’t you taking music or recording arts?”  His answer’s usually “I know, but I’ve already gone this far.  I can’t just change course now, it wouldn’t be worth it.”

Wouldn’t it?

Unfortunately Steve is a victim to what I refer to as The Orthodox Blueprint.  Now before you start bombing me with religious questions and moral script, let me elaborate.  Dictionary.com defines the word Orthodox as:

Adhering to beliefs or practices approved by authority or tradition.

The word Blueprint is defined as:

A method for making, doing, or accomplishing something.

String these two words together and we have the 9-5, 40 hours a week until your 65, then retire and die life-plan.  It’s been accepted by society that we are not to find enjoyment in our working lives, but rather stability and a maniacal sense of economic and social responsibility.  It is our duty to contribute as citizens.  It is our responsibility to work in a factory or office and pay taxes, because that’s how the system works – and the system is proven.  The only career advancement worth pursuing is within the corporate ladder, because that ladder is sturdy and will provide you with a spending account and company car – and these are true signs of success.

As people, we’re so afraid to take the fork in the road, and face possible consequence, because a sign has been put there to warn us of the dangers in doing so.  Just keep going straight and you’ll be fine.  Finish school, get a job that will provide you with benefits, a steady paycheck, and you will eventually develop your method for tolerating with this blueprint.  Adhere long enough and you’ll be rewarded with a mental notebook full of I wish I could have’s, a pension that will barely sustain your mortgage and minimum credit card payments, one trip to Florida every winter, and a deposit on your coffin.

This is what we should be afraid of.

In today’s world we are provided with more options than ever to lead a life of choice, passion and excitement.  There are academic diplomas and degrees for everything from holistic medicine to audio engineering – and even e-business marketing.  Technology provides us with the tools to be global entrepreneurs from the comfort of our living rooms and home offices.  The Internet presents us with an abundance of resources and self-learning mediums in order to further develop and discover skills based on areas of personal interest.  In 2008 you can be whatever you want to be, but ultimately it’s up to one person –  You.

So don’t let yourself down.

I want to thank Alan from AffiliateConfession.com for inspiring this post by his use of the term “from college to cubicle.”  I’m not sure if he is the originator, but it was the first time I’ve heard the saying used, and It inspired me to share my translation with you.

Cheers,

Elijah