Thursday, June 20, 2013

One of 52

For about the the last year and a half I have been doing a lot of reading, in books and online, about personal development, happiness, motivation, goals, etc. (Brene' Brown- love her TED talk and website, her books are great too -Gretchen Rubin - really loved The Happiness Project, wasn't as excited about Happier at Home-, The Bloggess-Jenny Lawson, Mighty Girl-Maggie Mason, TEDtalks, the books START and Secrets of Happy Families). 

One of the websites I joined is Go Mighty, it is a networking/goal setting website. The problem was, I knew I wanted to accomplish SOMETHING, but I couldn't figure out what. I couldn't thing of anything that felt authentic, challenging, reasonable or noteworthy. I realized that I want/need a cheerleader - someone who would be on my side, whatever I wanted to do - someone to tell me, "Yes, you can totally do this. What do you need? How can I help?" So, I decided to put in the universe what I wanted. I completely get a rush being a part of someone else's excitement. I'm a good problem-solver, kind of a jack of most trades, like to learn new things, so this seemed right up my alley. I decided to help 52 people reach their goals. I picked 52 because I like lists, it seems challenging, but not overwhelming, and since there are 52 weeks in a year, it felt right!

On Wednesday, I sent to a friend a first round edit, done pro-bono, to help her reach her goal of publishing her book.  This experience was work, no doubt, but fun, too.  It felt great to reach out to someone and help propel them toward their dream.  It was a fulfilling experience to give someone a piece of my work.  I was hesitant, at first, because we are friends.  I didn't want to hurt her feelings or discourage her in some manner.  I decided to lean into the discomfort and give my best, honest opinion and trust that she would take the work in the spirit it was given - love and excitement and encouragement to reach her dreams.  


I am looking forward to the next person I can help and hope that somewhere along the way, I find what I am meant to do.