Wow! The response to the blog has been downright overwhelming. I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to publish it, considering that it's pretty personal stuff and I was just looking for a place to let out the rambling thoughts in my head. I had dozens of private responses to the first posting and I'm seeing that it appears to be helpful to people to realize that we are not alone.
We all basically want the same wonderful things for ourselves--financial security and abundance, freedom of time and money, intimacy and close relationships, making a difference or positive contribution to the world, the freedom and ability to express and indulge our creativity, etc. We may differ in how we'd like to express those things, but somewhere along life's magnificent journey, we get bombarded with an onslaught of messages regarding what we should do, how we should live, what we should have, how we should behave, what should be important to us, blah, blah, blah...(You'll notice, I use 'blah, blah, blah' to express the background noise to which we are all subject). Add to that, this era of economic uncertainty, and it's easy to retreat into fear and become paralyzed to do anything at all. Even that, my friends, is a decision, and any decision made out of fear is generally the WRONG decision. So, how do we get out of paralysis and into kinesis? (from the Greek--Kinysei--which means movement—as in, get your ass moving in a hurry. See, the dad in, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," wasn't nuts afterall!)
Just to get the cobwebs clearing and the mind activated, I put together a few resources, listed below to get you started on thinking a bit differently. These resources have been very helpful to me along my many journeys and jumps in life. I hope they'll be inspiring to you as well.
"Do It! Let's Get Off Our Buts."
This is the book that has a ton of introspective exercises to help you figure out what you want to do next. I also love the multitude of inspiring and sometimes funny quotes. If you're not sure what your passion is or where to start, this is the book to help you figure it out. It's amazing the self-discoveries I've made through this book and it keeps me on track with what's really important for me to do next.
The other book I absolutely love is, "The 4-Hour Work Week," by Timothy Ferriss.
Here's a link to Tim’s site: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/
You can seriously spend some time going through the blogs, videos of other people who have incorporated the lifestyle, etc. It's a completely different way of looking at work and life and gives you the blueprint for figuring out how to choose something to promote online and make money from wherever you want to live or travel. He contrasts the ideas of the old rich--work like a donkey so you can save money and retire and then enjoy life, freedom, and travel when you may be too old, sickly, or dead to actually do it; with the new rich--enjoy life, take mini-retirements throughout your career while still earning money while you're young and healthy enough to enjoy it. Internet, social networking, etc. has made it possible to actually live while working, instead of living to work. Trust me, I won't be on my death bed wishing I had worked just one more 14-hour day!!
3) A follow-up to that one, but this guy believes in working around the clock, is, "Crush It," by Gary Vaynerchuck.
In the book, Gary discusses how he blew up sales in his family's business through social networking and blogging. It's a quick read, but packed with practical info you can use right away.
If all this reading and researching seems overwhelming, you seriously need to build a bridge and get over it!! This is your life we're talking about. Turn off the TV, exit out of the online video games, get off the couch and get into your life!
So, to get you motivated to move forward, take a few minutes to watch the following videos:
4) Steve Jobs' 2005 Commencement Speech at Stanford: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&feature=search
5) Jeff Bezos' Interview on how he made the decision to quit his cushy job and start Amazon.com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwG_qR6XmDQ
All the best as you prepare to take your leap, or are just thinking about it, or just want to see what other crazy people are doing, or have no intentions of ever leaping, but maybe you want to start dreaming about it, or... whatever it is for you.
Maria Marinakis