The Arsonist’s 90 Day Challenge
I’ll be honest. I’ve gotten a little comfortable. Fine, fine, a lot comfortable. Sheesh, people!
- I’ve moved into my very own love bungalow with my very own amazing husband.
- I have finished “The Woman’s Relationship Bible: How I Converted a Romantic Atheist” and am only waiting to hear back from the publishers. (Cross my fingers.)
- PersistentIllusion – soon to be NgageLife – is becoming moderately successful. (You may not comment, my love muffins, but my stats do not lie. In fact, today I will be hitting a major milestone – the kind with a bunch of zeros at the end.)
- And, bestliest of all, I have made some amazing friends, e-met some incredibly open and caring people.
Can it get any better?
YES. I read the guide to world domination by Chris Guillebeau and it was a reminder. Well, more like it was a slap in the face. What am I doing?
I got so focused on the little changes, that I lost track of the big picture! How can I possibly remind you to ‘live your passion’ and do ‘whatever it takes’ when I just got stuck in a new, though slightly larger, comfort zone!
I am giving myself 90 days. 90 days of changes. 90 days to radically change my life. 90 days to take a leap of faith. 90 days to get it together. 90 days to live my dream.
What does my dream look like?
- Quitting this job. I am too smart to work live like this.
- Obliterating my debt.
- Writing for a living.
- Touching the inner passion of others.
- Transforming PersistentIllusion into something that does more than passively motivate people.
- Overcome my aversion to the centerstage. No more living from the sidelines. Life is centerstage!
My Mistake
I started PersistentIllusion with the idea of helping others, of inspiring people to take the leap of their lifetime. To share what I’ve learned about relationships, marriage, passion, and purpose. Subconsciously, it turns out, I may have been trying to motivate myself.
Where I am has been amazing. I have learned so much and lived each moment with passion and pure happiness. But I mastered these little moments, these daily pieces of my life where I chose to be happy regardless of the circumstances, where I fully engaged with the people around me, where I consciously tried to uplift the people that life has put in my path.
I transcended my childhood, the pain of my past. I mastered being happy at a mindless, unfulfilling job. I excelled at bringing sunshine to the days of others. I, literally, wrote the book on finding the perfect man. And I aced living my passion without making a living at my passion.
My mistake was in thinking I was finished.
Join Me
What have you been putting off? What have you been afraid of facing?
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.”
-Carl Jung
The truth of what you are meant to do is down the road that scares the [*] out of you. What road scares the bejesus out of you? What would set you free? How would you live if you were free?
I’ll be honest. I’m terrified.
9 comments
Comments feed for this article
June 25, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Connie
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.”
-Carl Jung
I am definitely adding this to my pile of great quotes! Hey when you are rich and famous will you remember the little people?
You will/are amazing!
The Great Big Dreams Retreat I attended is all about stepping out and pursuing the dream! One quote I saw recently that I love is ” I came into this world to live out loud” Emile Zolas
hayden tompkins says:
What a fabulous idea!
June 25, 2008 at 11:44 pm
dreemwhrld
we fear the unknown, only because we do not know it. once we have reached it, it is no longer the unknown, and therefore we have nothing to be afraid of any longer.
hayden tompkins says:
You are so very right.
June 26, 2008 at 1:34 am
Corey
Oh the leap of faith. I think what you’re doing is great! Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty. Take the risk and reach for more. I’m off to read about world domination.
hayden tompkins says:
I’ll be honest. Chris isn’t totally enthused, I can tell he is thinking “Mortgage!”
June 26, 2008 at 7:17 am
Robert
Like you say, the comfort zone truly sucks. It is a drug! First we struggle for decades with life and pain and wounds, than we finally reach a zone with little or no pain and a lot of comfort. And we just do not want to face the deeper reality that emerges; that living within this comfort zone is like travelling around in a private jet. It’s cool, it’s comfortable, no stress… But there’s no life in it. Life is out there, travelling barefoot in the wilderness, that’s where the beauty in the depth and the inner fulfilment waits.
I feel I have been thinking and writing about the questions in your last paragraph all the time, so I won’t add much.
Just that it is so good and warm to read about people having similar dilemmas and urges. So, my dear sister-in-arms, go, go, go…
hayden tompkins says:
“than we finally reach a zone with little or no pain and a lot of comfort”
YES. That is exactly how I feel.
June 26, 2008 at 11:05 am
Kip de Moll
Love your posts of inspiration, there’s enough here to keep me busy thinking and responding all day (talk about comofrt!) Hand in hand in hand in hand, a lot of people are jumping and blog after blog relates the changes, the inspirations, the challenges overcome. It’s so exciting to know we’re not alone.
I too am cherishing E-friendships and count you as one.
hayden tompkins says:
And I am thrilled that like minded people can find each other and inspire each other to make these changes together.
June 26, 2008 at 5:33 pm
thedailydish
Hayden, I don’t know how you’d GET better than this.. Is Chris worried??
Strive to be your very best, but don’t go insane. You’re only human. (Hard to admit, I know)
hayden tompkins says:
We’ll talk more in depth tonight. It isn’t about getting it ‘perfect’ right off the bat, more like getting away from something that I consider completely ‘temporary’. I mean, I can’t tell you how MINDLESS what I do is. I think my brain is dying!!
June 26, 2008 at 7:17 pm
SanityFound
All I can really say is that I am proud, no easy thing you’ve done and from experience I know just how terrifying and freeing it can be at the same time. Wows *bows*
hayden tompkins says:
I know I can handle whatever life throws at me, but it is a completely different prospect to be in part responsible for a partnership.
June 26, 2008 at 7:43 pm
marlajayne
Another quote…though I can’t remember its author: “Life’s too short to be little.” Good one, huh?
hayden tompkins says:
Love it!
September 5, 2008 at 5:00 pm
5 Secrets to Setting Your Intention « Persistent Illusion
[...] totally oblivious. You see, I’d completely forgotten about an intention that I set. A ‘90 Day Challenge‘ to quit my job and change my life. (An intention that I ’tweaked’ to 180 [...]