world domination summit

Intention (or: telling the universe how this thing is going down)

December 13, 2011 by Jessica Leave a Comment

I’ll be the first to admit that there are certain ways of looking at life that seem a bit… well, over the top. I don’t believe that you can pray to a deity for a new car, wish your way to success or otherwise get things without putting in the work.

However, I do believe that the way you approach things, and the way that you set your attitude, can have an amazing impact on the outcome of anything you attempt.

It’s all about your intention.

Think about it: if you walk out the door prepared for it to be a crappy day, chances are that it’s going to be a crappy day.

What if, instead of setting yourself up for failure, you take a deep breath and set your intention for the day before you walk out that door? If you plan for things to go well, you start the day with a positive attitude. I’m not sure how much it will actually change the way that things go, but you’re sure as heck starting out with a much better chance.

I looked around to try to find a quote that I love, but couldn’t find the exact quote or attribution. It goes something like “it’s not about what you have in life, it’s what you think about it that makes the difference.”

It’s kind of like the old adage, when life hands you lemons…

When I was out at WDS earlier this year, we had an amazing session with Andrea Scher and Jen Lemen that was a mini- Mondo Beyondo session. They had us write down our craziest, wildest, biggest dreams – and then put our intent out to the universe.

What was my biggest dream? To save the planet. And, I put that intent out – stated it, loud and clear for the universe to hear.

Since then, I’ve become the chair of the board for an environmental nonprofit, been arrested for environmental civil disobedience, been part of planning some amazing environmental action, and met some amazing people who are trying to do the exact same thing.

Do I think that the universe just magically caused these things to happen? Not so much.

But… I do think that by putting my intention out, I was suddenly more open to the opportunities that would arise, more positive in my thinking, more likely to go ahead and do the things that would lead to starting to reach my goal.

So, what do I want you to do, dear readers?

I want you to stop before the next time you walk out the door. I want you to reset your attitude, throw some intention out to the universe, and then go kick some ass.

Momentum (and why the first step is the hardest)

November 29, 2011 by Jessica Leave a Comment

I’m just going to get this out of the way – say it out loud for the world to hear: I am a procrastinator.

The first step is admitting that you have a problem, right?

One good example: the five blog posts I was supposed to write prior to November, so that I could get through NaNoWriMo without having to worry about writing blog posts on top of my 1667 words per day – yeah, that didn’t so much happen.

Or, the fact that it’s Tuesday and I’m just sitting down to write this post.

I could go on, regaling you with tales of the times that I slipped in just under the wire, but I’ll spare you the gory details. Instead, I want to focus on how I intend to change this, and share another lesson from my mentor.

One of the things that he taught me is that momentum is the key to success.

We can hide behind large to-do lists and complain about all the things that are keeping us from doing what we really want to do…

or, we can stop bitching and take the first step.

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits is one of my favorite bloggers. I met him in Portland this year at the World Domination Summit, and in one of his sessions he talked about habits – how by doing one thing for even just a few minutes a day, repeated every day, you can easily build or break them.

So often we sit down and look at the project that we just agreed to, or the fun thing that we want to accomplish, and we get overwhelmed. As we look at the big picture or at the desired end result, we can’t figure out how in the world we’re going to get there.

Here’s where it all goes downhill: if you’re like me, you put the project down and tell yourself that you’ll pick it back up later when you’re feeling more motivated. And then it’s tomorrow and life gets in the way. And then it’s next week. And then you have a deadline bearing down on you; you leap into action and run yourself ragged as you sprint for the finish. Or, worse yet, you give up on the project altogether.

Ah, procrastination.

Here’s how I propose we fix this:

Stop. Take a deep breath. Look at the project ahead of you. Pick one step that you can take right now (it doesn’t even have to be the first step – start somewhere in the middle if that’s what motivates you to get started), and do it. Right now.

Tomorrow, take another step. Repeat.

Before long, with each small step that you take in the right direction, you will be gaining momentum. If you stumble in the middle, get back up and keep going. Hold on to that momentum, and let it push you toward completing that project.

And maybe, just maybe, when that deadline starts to loom large and previous versions of you would be pulling out your hair and losing sleep… the new and improved you will be able to sail on through to the finish line without breaking a sweat.

Who’s with me? I have a whole laundry list of things that I want to accomplish before the end of the year. Let’s take that first step, kick our procrastination habit, and gain some momentum!

Location Independence (and how I’m shaking loose)

October 11, 2011 by Jessica Leave a Comment

One of the great realizations that came out of the World Domination Summit this past June (future posts pending about that amazing experience) was the concept of creating your own life, writing your own story. The idea of not really being tied to any one place has always been a bit foreign to me given my deep roots in the mountains of Virginia, but as I examined my life direction, I came to a realization. Much of what I have attempted to do recently has been to shape a life that I want to live, to do the things that make me happy and to do some good along the way.

It wasn’t until recently that the pieces fell together – what I really want is location independence.

I had never put the term together with what it would actually mean for me. While some digital nomads focus on how to spend most of their time traveling, my real goal was to structure my work life so that it could be modified to fit what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

When I moved to Asheville this past summer, it provided the perfect opportunity to leap into a fairly unstructured work schedule, working from where and when I chose. It was my first real step into self employment, and the opportunity for which I had been waiting.

Now, in the name of full disclosure, let me say that a large portion of what made the transition more plausible and less scary was that I was able to keep about 15 hours of steady work a week for a current employer. Having that financial safety net has been what has allowed me to squeak by during my transition. Some people swear by keeping a 40 hour a week job until you’ve saved enough to make a clean transition, some say you should just leap – I fall somewhere in the middle, leaping with a small safety net under me.

Now that I’ve made the break from a traditional work schedule and my divorce is close to being finalized, I stand at what is perhaps the perfect moment to launch into my version of location independence. While I’m dealing with all the legal matters of a divorce, changes and paperwork and all that comes with it, I am taking the opportunity to make some preparations for my impending location independence.

Moving forward, I will “legally” reside in a rural mountain county in Virginia – I’m transferring legal address, voting records and the like to my parents’ address. (I was planning to do the same with car registration and insurance, but I’ve decided that it’s time to try being car-free for a while as well. I’ll let you know how that goes!)

For the time being, I’ll be living close to downtown Charlottesville while I continue to solidify some projects and income streams. If I had to guess, I’ll stick around for another year or so. Then, who knows? I’ve thought a lot about traveling and working my way around Europe or the US, or moving to the west coast for a while. I’ll know when I get there. For the time being, I’m looking forward to laying out the groundwork that will allow me to head whatever direction I choose when the time comes.

I’ll document my progress as I go, writing about any challenges I run into as I try to disconnect from place. I hope that maybe I can inspire someone else to think outside what they foresee as possible or plausible, and start out on a journey of their own making. Will it be you?