Life without an Alarm Clock

Do What You Love

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Mama Cheetah

So far, I’ve written about things that are really selfl-serving: what YOU have to do to make YOUR business grow, how YOU need to change your life, how YOU need to risk it all in order to attain YOUR dreams.

What if there are other people dependent on the choices you make? Is it fair to your spouse or kids or coworkers to go acting like a spoiled brat and running off in pursuit of your destiny?

This ain’t no “looking out for number one” Ayn Rand-style bullshit. This is about making a better life for yourself, and that will benefit everyone in your life. This isn’t selfish: it’s about making yourself into a better provider.

But you have to be a little selfish at first.

This is something that many of us women have a problem doing. We’re nurturers. We’re the “gatherers” in the hunter-gatherer paradigm. We’re supposed to stay home and protect the family and wait for the men to go out and kill something. We’re supposed to give and give and give and selflessly suborn our personal needs and desires to those of our dependents.

Well, I’m going to tell you a little story about Mama Cheetah.

We all know that cheetahs are the fastest land animals. They’ve been clocked going 80 mile per hour flat out after a prey animal.

What you may not know is that cheetahs are single mothers. Male cheetahs participate in mating and then leave. Cheetahs are not pack animals like lions, so there are no other female cheetahs around for support. Mama Cheetah gives birth and raises her cubs for up to a full year on her own.

After giving birth, Mama Cheetah needs to feed to regain her strength. But without a pack or a mate to bring her food, she must hunt for herself. There is an incredibly high mortality rate for cheetah cubs because Mama Cheetah must leave them in order to hunt. But if she does not hunt, all of them — herself and the cubs will die.

You see? At first it looks like a selfish act that she’s leaving them exposed in order to get nourishment for herself. But the underlying fact is that her apparent selfish act is really for the benefit of all of them.

When it comes to your goals and dreams, think of Mama Cheetah. What takes care of you also takes care of the people you take care of. So don’t think it’s selfish to pursue your dreams.

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When It All Goes Wrong

No way out but through.

Do anything just to keep it going.

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The Law of Gravity

What goes up, must come down.

What goes down also much go up again.

Law of Balance.

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No Excuses

To Plagiarize a Megacorp…

Just Do It.

Do or Do Not. There is No Try.

Can’t Means Won’t.

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The Rules — Newton’s Third Law of Motion

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

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The Rules — Newton’s Second Law of Motion

Yup. It’s more Classical Physics. Uncle Issac’s Second Law sez: The bigger the object, the bigger the force needed to move it.

This may sound overly simplistic because it’s a truth we deal with every day of our lives. In more metaphysical terms, it means that making a big change is more difficult than making a small change. Taking a new route to work or changing your lunch hour is much easier than giving up smoking. Starting an exercise plan or changing your diet is difficult because it is so different from what we do everyday. And the majority of people who make these changes don’t make them for long enough for them to become a habit. So they revert to their old behaviour.

It’s simply because the bigger the change, the bigger the force required to make the change.

We’re talking about making sweeping life changes here, so they’re “big objects” in the grand scheme of things. When you step away from the corporate world and strike out on your own, I’m telling you now that the first time the money doesn’t come in on time to pay the bills, you’re going to want to rush back to your old boss and beg for your job back. But if you truly want to make this change, you have to resist.

But no matter how big the change, you can make it! You just need to push harder, try for longer. Just like in physics, when you start to budge this supposedly immovable object, Newton’s good ol’ First Law comes into effect: That puppy is now an object in motion! And what do objects in motion do? That’s right, kids.

Plus there’s a bonus. The bigger the change, the more momentum it will gather as it stays in motion. So that big impossible thing from a few hours/days/weeks ago is now a rocket sled rushing downhill. It’s an avalanche that will sweep with it all the old stale bits of your life. Get ready, darlings, because this is the Real Deal here. Better know what you’re doing before you start pushing because it is about to go WOOSH!

And you’re gonna be AWESOME!

If you’re into sewing, historical stuff, or just would like to support a small business, please visit my store and blog.

Meant To Be

A friend said, “I was meant to be a Ph.D. by now.”

What does this mean?

How do we know?

“Meant to be” means we had some idea in our heads from childhood. Or our parents pushed us in this direction. Or we thought this is what we wanted from life before we really experienced what life is like.

Don’t walk around obsessed with what you were “meant to be”. There are no “meant to be”s. You are who you are right now. And if you don’t like that, start changing it. Today.

If you’re into sewing, historical stuff, or just would like to support a small business, please visit my store and blog.

Meant To Be

A friend said, “I was meant to be a Ph.D. by now.”

What does this mean?

How do we know?

“Meant to be” means we had some idea in our heads from childhood. Or our parents pushed us in this direction. Or we thought this is what we wanted from life before we really experienced what life is like.

Don’t walk around obsessed with what you were “meant to be”. There are no “meant to be”s. You are who you are right now. And if you don’t like that, start changing it. Today.

If you’re into sewing, historical stuff, or just would like to support a small business, please visit my store and blog.

Meant To Be

A friend said, “I was meant to be a Ph.D. by now.”

What does this mean?

How do we know?

“Meant to be” means we had some idea in our heads from childhood. Or our parents pushed us in this direction. Or we thought this is what we wanted from life before we really experienced what life is like.

Don’t walk around obsessed with what you were “meant to be”. There are no “meant to be”s. You are who you are right now. And if you don’t like that, start changing it. Today.

If you’re into sewing, historical stuff, or just would like to support a small business, please visit my store and blog.