Do The Next Thing

Last weekend I found myself with time on my hands (something I'm sure I won't have as much of once we pick up our 5 kids this summer!), and a brand new book on my nightstand. The timing of it was perfect, and I consumed Living Forward by Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy.

If you haven't read it - you should.
If you haven't ordered it - you should.
If you haven't reserved it at your local library - you should.

If you're tired of waiting for life to slow down so you can make a plan, then you definitely need to read this book! Don't get me wrong - most of it wasn't what I would call "groundbreaking" (at least for me), but it was the kick in the pants that I needed to stop dreaming and start doing.

If you want things to change, then you need to take action. If you have dreams and goals floating around out there, then you need to make a plan and take steps to make them happen. As the title of this post suggests...

If you want to change your life, you have to do the next thing. 

So what is your next thing? Would you travel the world, start your own business, stop being afraid of failure? Would you write a book, change careers, go back to school, or finally lose those extra pounds? It could be career-related, it could be personal, it could involve your family, or it could be something others would call "crazy." Believe me - "crazy" is a word I hear thrown around a lot following my name these days, but when you're pursuing a dream - or (as in our case) something bigger than yourself - it doesn't matter what others think.

Crazy only becomes a problem when you don't have a plan. And that's where Living Forward comes into play. Hyatt and Harkavy walk their readers through a Life Plan process, focusing on long-term goals, and then providing the steps to get you there. The Hubs happened to be sick on Sunday, so while he recovered on the couch, I grabbed a notebook and pen and worked my way through long-buried dreams.

While reading through the steps, I realized that I had once again tabled my long-term professional goals with the thought of, "Now is not the time - we're doing this adoption, bringing home 5 kids, trying to save/raise money for that. Later... once we're home, and the kids are settled, and life has calmed down. THEN. Then I'll think about what I'd like to do. Then I'll try to branch out and do my thing." Do you know what I realized as I heard all the excuses in my head?

THEN never happens. 

There's never a perfect time to jump. Never a perfect moment to take the leap, write the post, promote the book, plan ahead, network, or try new things. If you don't seize the opportunities of TODAY, all you'll have at the end of your life is a list of regrets. A list of moments when you wish that you had taken the risk, had that conversation, followed a prompting, or listened to that still small voice telling you to let go. THEN is NOW.

So go ahead, call me crazy, but as I stand on the cusp of being a mom to 5, I'm revisiting - and re-envisioning - my dreams. The plan is created, the forward movement has begun, and it's exhilarating.

What's your next step?