If you don't build your dreams, someone will hire you to help build theirs...

Curtesy of richerthanyourboss.com

I was at dinner two nights ago with two of my very dear friends. Now, when we get together we're always guaranteed to have some insightful, inspiring conversations about love, life and our careers - are we happy? Are we satisfied? What would we be doing now, if we didn't have to do what we were currently doing? *and breathe*

Naturally, having not seen these lovely ladies for quite some time now, we went around the table catching everyone up on our recent accomplishments, if any, and disappointments, if any. When it got round to my turn, I wasn't sure what I had accomplished in the time that we hadn't seen. This always happens. It happens every time I visit the motherland at Christmas, it happens every time I bump into someone from school whom I have had the pleasure of not seeing for a generous amount of time, or just general 'by the way' acquaintances who pop up from time to time: "so what's new? What have you been up to since we last saw, X amount of time ago?" I'm not sure if it's because saying it so often makes it lose it's spark or if there just generally wasn't any spark in my activities to begin with, but when I fill these people in on my accomplishments, I often feel let down by them. They never make me feel that way, in fact I talk such a good game I'm sure they feel like I'm showing off, but in reality, I'm just trying to make myself believe it.

Somewhere in our long catch-up, still talking about our career paths, where we were and really where we wanted to be, we all unanimously agreed that we just didn't want to feel like we were working. In an ideal world, we all wanted to be doing things that we absolutely love, because then, even at it's most challenging, it doesn't feel like a job. We had all these hopes and ideas that we were sharing, getting so excited about, promising to begin working on, but then I thought to myself, it almost always ends here, at the table, in that restaurant, never quite becoming anything. There is this quote I seem to have come across a lot in the last few months, and I think it is a sign about my current situation - of sorts: "if you don't build your dreams, someone will hire you to help build theirs..." For some reason, this scares me, because I think it's currently happening. Even though, that's not necessarily true. Is it possible to simultaneously build your dreams and help build someone else's? Because that's where I think I stand. Naturally, you are more inclined to put more effort into your own interests and not someone else's.

I once wrote a guest blog for a series called 30 Days, 30 Voices, and the title was, What's Your Excuse? and in that post, I talked about my decision to quit my job in Leicester, move to London and work on what makes me happy . I keep going back to that post just to remind myself of what I wanted to achieve when I wrote it, when I made the decision to switch things up. Have I achieved them? No... Am I on the right track... I suppose so. I have had a long and often losing battle with procrastination and laziness for a long time but for some reason I am kicking the habit successfully these days and I do think a small fraction of that is thanks to that quote. A not-so-subtle reminder that faffing about is going to lead me to an unhappy life. Every time I hear or read about someone else's achievements, it's a  reminder that I am not yet where I want to be, they've done it - they're doing it - so why can't I? I battle disappointment constantly, because I feel like I'm not doing enough. But I have promised myself that I will spend more time learning, working and building my own dreams than I will helping to build someone else's... Although the slight awkwardness of that statement is the glaring fact that I kinda, sorta, need this job to learn, to earn and to build so I will not lose sight of what I am building, because it is not a waste of time, it is teaching me so much... The key is not to get so caught up in the routine that you lose sight of the ultimate goal... Getting up, Getting out and Getting yours!

I've been putting my ideas and goals down in a book and, armed with optimism, improved time management skills, and talents that are ever growing  I'm very much on my way to getting to the halfway point. So hopefully I don't bump into anyone for a while, while I build the empire, and then, when I finally get to a point that I can say with confidence, "this is what I'm up to... this is what I've achieved so far and this is where I'm headed..." I bump into them all and inspire someone else to get up and go get theirs!

In the infamous words of Outkast: "you've gotta git up, git out, and git somethin'/don't let the days of your life pass by..."