Dare to be bold

“Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious.

A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” - Steven Pressfield, Do the Work

The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.

Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.

The only thing left is to, you know, actually go make it happen. What are you waiting for?

(Author: Matt Cheuvront)

These big picture questions are incredibly hard to write daily. I’ve been mulling over this particular one for a while now and I’ve come up with three answers. 

1.)    1.) I’ve always wanted to move to a new city by myself. This doesn’t necessarily mean moving somewhere where I don’t know anyone, but taking a leap of faith in myself. However, I’ve already semi-finished this goal as I moved to Minneapolis without knowing anyone at the University of Minnesota, and have built a great group of friends here. 
  
2.) I’ve always dreamed of traveling to faraway places alone. Challenging myself, learning about my own strengths and weaknesses in the busy streets of some exotic locale. I’ve technically already done this, though. I went to Japan for a summer when I was 16 years old. I didn’t really know the language and I was on my way without a friend. That is, until one Ms. SammiJo showed up in the tiny Sioux Falls airport holding the shirt I was wearing (we were supposed to be wearing particular shirts so at our connecting flights personnel could spot us easily and make sure we knew where we were going. She was much too cool/her shirt was much too big for that to happen. Mine was also an XL (too large for me at the time,) but I was that loser trying to make it work. SammiJo has taught me many things, not the least including how to dress for your body type.) SammiJo and I were hours away from one another once we actually got to our host families’ homes in Japan, but we managed to meet up a few times and wrote letters to one another every week.

3.) The newest dream that I want to accomplish is opening my own business: Sarahnae{d}. It would be a bakery/coffee shop. We would have fantastic treats and I would get to bake every day. Baking makes me calm. Do you have that? Something that you know if you put the time into it, you will be calmer after? Baking is that for me. I bake when I’m bored, I bake when I want to surprise people, I bake because it’s fun. I’m a happy baker. Obstacles to this definitely include money/financing/finding a sugar daddy (kidding), feeling confident enough to leave full-time work with loan payments still looming above my head, location, figuring out how to start my own business, etc. Lots of trial and error. At least we’ve started the baking part. That’s the most important. I’ve also read a few books on starting a business and that is exactly what my camps this summer teach high schoolers to do, so I know I’ll keep picking up tricks!