Yesterday was a random Thursday in March, and the kids were home from school due to a strike. We spent the day playing, having fun, and then in the afternoon when my husband got home I sat down to work.
And it hit me.
THIS is happening, because 14 years ago we found a vision, made a decision, and stuck with it.
Grab your coffee and I’ll tell you the story.
A little after we got married I had already gone through a couple of jobs and I was SO FRUSTRATED because I hated going in to the office every day. It was fun and new for a while and then I just got bored, and tired, and annoyed at having to do that. I had no problem with working hard, I just didn’t want to go somewhere to do it!
I remember as if it were yesterday, sitting on the bed in tears one day, and I rambled and cried and in a nutshell said that I wanted to work from home! I wanted to be my own boss! I wanted to have work that meant that one day, when we had kids, I could be home for them. And then I cried some more and said something to the effect of “I swear, I’m not lazy! I want to work, I just want to do it at home!” {sobbing}
He let me cry on his shoulder and then… he simply told me to do that. Start a business, work from home, because then when the kids came I wouldn’t be starting something new, I’d have an established business and could fit it in our lives.
And just like that, he gave me in a hug and some words what people are paying good money for all around the world: THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE A VISION.
And we did. We have a vision for our marriage, our parenting, or finances, and for work. My vision for my work was always simple, where I work is more important to me than what I do. So I found something I enjoyed and had experience in and went for it.
It was HARD. Building a business is no joke, but we did it and later on I was itching for something new, so I took some classes and started business #2. And it was HARD. But we did it.
Then came the kids, and I was able to be there the way I always wanted to, while still working.
Years later we moved to Canada and I had been my own boss for so long that it was like rediscovering myself. I HAD TO START OVER.
And here’s the thing, I’m not stay-at-home-mom material, it’s just not me, I did it for a year after moving to Canada and I went CRAZY. I need something that is not the house and the daily repetition of SO MANY things that we do as parents and I just needed an out.
I worked a few jobs in Canada and guess what? I liked them fine, but… you guessed it! I wanted to work from home. I was so frustrated for a while because rebuilding took a few years, but one thing kept constantly going through my mind: “what if your utopia is God’s plan A after all”, and I kept on making the best decisions I could to do what we had to do, but also clear the path for my VISION to come true.
So I rolled up my sleeves and went for it. It’s HARD. Less than a year later I added another business to the mix. It kind of feels like having a baby when you’re first baby is 1yo.
I’m tired, I work the craziest hours you can imagine, sometimes I’ll go a few months without a single day off, there is no such thing as office hours. But I wouldn’t change ANY of it.
VISION.
The power of having a vision is that it clears you up to say yes to all the things that fit in to that vision, and to say no to all the things that don’t.
14 years ago we made a choice. 14 years ago we started something. Because of THAT moment, because of that vision we made specific choices that align with it, and I get to live the life I dreamed of, which for me includes things like…
taking my kids to and from the bus stop every day
volunteering at school and at church events
meeting friends for a lunch
eating in my own kitchen, cooking my own food every day
a simple adjustment to my day if a kid needs to stay home
no stress over when an appointment can be scheduled
yeah, I can travel, I’ll just take a computer and I’m good to go
etc etc etc
VISION
It’s about figuring out what life you want and making it happen. It’s about figuring out what you want in the future and making decisions based on that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can have vision boards, inspirational quotes, books, classes… and all that can work. But it only works if YOU work, you need to choose what your vision is, get up and DO IT. That right there will change EVERYTHING.
Keeping it simple,
AK