Live What You Love » D.R.E.A.M.

If it’s broken, fix it!

Bob and Mel — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:00:59 +0000

What do you do when something breaks down? Let’s say your car or your computer or your plumbing stops working. What do you do—after you stop cursing? It’s pretty obvious: you either call a repair person or you fix it yourself. And if it’s something important, you do it right away. That’s just common sense. But here’s the point: if you wouldn’t hesitate to fix a lamp, why hesitate to fix your life?

Obviously, the stakes are different but which, in fact, is more important—your stuff or your life? What if it’s your job that needs to be fixed? Or a business that needs to be started? Maybe it’s a relationship that needs to end. Maybe you need to move closer to work or you need to move someplace far away. Whatever. If something in your life is broken, take it upon yourself to fix it.

We know how overwhelming this can seem, and we also know how essential it is to think carefully before making life changes. But just as you sometimes get help repairing your possessions, there’s help available for making life repairs. Our 5-step D.R.E.A.M. guide to changing your course is one place to start.

Remember:
- Decide what you want to change
- Research your options—knowledge always trumps fear
- Evaluate the most feasible option
- Act to make your plan real
- Maintain your dream to make sure it lasts

Benefiting from the bad economy?

Bob and Mel — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:00:57 +0000

The bad economic news just doesn’t seem to end, does it? Food and gas prices are skyrocketing while the housing and job markets are tanking. Everyone’s feeling the pinch—it’s a scary, stressful time. But please don’t use the economy as an excuse to avoid changing your course. A lousy economy could actually be an opportunity in disguise.

Making changes in this climate does take careful thought and planning but nothing good can happen until you move from anxiety to positive action. It’s your choice. You can worry about circumstances that are beyond your control or you can determine which elements of your life are open to change. Maybe it’s your job, maybe it’s where you live or maybe it’s how you spend your spare time. But positive adjustments can always be made.

Here’s your challenge. Find an opportunity to improve some area of your life. Whether the change is big or small, the point is to use the bad economy as a wake-up call. Instead of merely reacting to life’s events as they occur, take charge and create your own circumstances. Each time you make a change, you build the confidence and momentum you need for the next step.

You’re smart. Use your brain and your talents to your advantage. Do more than just survive the bad economy—benefit from it. Take control and make some changes!

To read more about this in the Washington Post, please click here.

What if change seems impossible?

Bob and Mel — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:37:39 +0000

Deadlines are probably the last thing on your mind if you’re looking to add more passion and joy to your life. You’ve dealt with deadlines in school and in jobs, and they’re not a lot of fun, right? But here’s what we’ve learned: if there’s some part of your life that you’d like to change or improve, give yourself a deadline.

Does the thought of changing your life seem impossible and overwhelming? Give yourself a deadline. Make it reasonable and fair but make it firm. Write it down.

For instance, what would you like to accomplish this year? Or in the next six months? Or maybe in the next three years? Whatever time frame feels right for your particular goal is fine. Just come up with a realistic deadline.

Once you have an end date, work backwards in time to fill in the blanks. You can create a real action plan by using the 5-step D.R.E.A.M. guide that we discuss in our new book Changing Your Course. Step by step, chapter by chapter, you can figure out what you need to do to accomplish your goal.

And don’t just read the book! Instead, try this: assign yourself a time frame for each chapter and each step. Practice saying, “I’m going to start Step 1 on July 1st and complete everything that needs to be done to move on to Step 2 by September 1st.” And then mark your calendar with actual dates and times that you’ll set aside within those two months to work on that chapter. Keep true to those appointments. Don’t cancel them. They are important!

How can we help?

Bob and Mel — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:00:58 +0000

We’d like to do everything we possibly can to help you Live What You Love. We know that change is not easy and we have lots of ideas about how to help, but we want to make sure we give you what you want – and what you need most. Please tell us which of the following you would find most helpful and feel free to choose as many as you like.

- Interactive tools to help you track your personal D.R.E.A.M. progress online
- An easy way to connect with others who are committed to following the 5 D.R.E.A.M. steps
- An online Changing Your Course Mentorship Program
- D.R.E.A.M. workbook
- Private Coaching Program
- Quizzes and tests to help you determine which part of your life you’d like to improve
- Strategies for dealing with difficult situations
- Advice and information from other people who live what they love
- Format for creating your own personalized goals

Please tell us if you have any other thoughts or ideas about how we could help.

Send us your questions, requests and suggestions!

Just let us know your thoughts by sending a comment to this blog entry. If you are new to blogging and don’t know how to post a comment, please drop us a line at blanchards@lwyl.com and we’ll help guide you along. It’s really easy!

LWYL,
Bob and Mel

Why you should run away from home

Bob and Mel — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:10:58 +0000

When did you last allow yourself time to dream?

We’ve come up with a tactic that helps us focus on what’s important in our lives and what can wait until later: We run away from home. Not for long, of course – just long enough to give us perspective. For us, that means driving over to the coast of Maine for lunch. It’s a two-hour trip and we accomplish more in that time than we ever would during the same two hours at home. We take turns driving along the back roads and it’s amazing how the peaceful ride away from all distractions can get our creative juices going.

We head for Barnacle Billy’s in Ogunquit and sit on the deck overlooking the harbor. Often we end up talking about our lives. We think about what’s working and what’s not. We make lists of pros and cons about what we might want to change. Dreaming about how to improve the quality of our life is how we ended up spending summers in Vermont and winters in Anguilla. We gave ourselves the luxury of time to think about what we really wanted to do.

Figure out where you could go for a day of dreaming. Think about having a great lunch in a casual place where you can linger. (Good food really does help the process!) Take some time getting there, too. Let your mind wander around the thought of what really makes you happy. Allow yourself to think about change. If some aspect of your life was modified, how would that affect you?

You’ll find that if you indulge yourself with a day of dreaming, it won’t be time wasted. It’s the first step to a life filled with passion and enthusiasm – not to mention some memorable meals along the way.

Trust it or adjust it

Bob and Mel — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:36:40 +0000

Sharing music and s’mores with some of our closest friends

In our commitment to living a life we love, we’ve found that it’s important – no, it’s essential – that we continually question what is and what isn’t working. And that’s our challenge to you. Right now, ask yourself:

Am I still passionate about what I’m doing?
Do I enjoy the people I spend time with?
Do I love where I live?

If the answer to each of these questions isn’t an enthusiastic “yes,” then you need to make an adjustment.

Time and again, we’ve been offered opportunities that seem to offer overwhelming advantages but often enough, we’ve turned those opportunities down. Why? Because they didn’t feel right. We’ve learned to trust our instincts and we take our feelings seriously enough to use them as our guides.

Of course we all need to take practical considerations into account but sometimes, the more logical choices just don’t feel right. And we’ve found that those feelings are what make the difference between a life that’s good enough and a life that’s vital, passionate, meaningful.

Whether you call it instinct or intuition, whether it comes from your heart or your gut, you need to trust your feelings and use them to determine your choices. That’s how you create a life you can love.