Creating an Inspiring Life (by converting a hobby into a career) with Baby Steps

Hello Single Mom’s & friends,

Last week Steve Jobs passed on, and I cried. Did I know him personally? No, but he profoundly impacted my life nonetheless. I love all things Apple. Everyone agrees that the world lost a great visionary. We also lost a rare kind of leader who lived and spoke directly from his heart. His recommendations for living, given in his well known Stanford commencement address, is just what this weeks’ “single mom talk radio” guest did. Single mother, Diane Halfman, an ex-undercover vice cop didn’t settle. She could have. We all can.

Steve Jobs would have approved.

Here are some excerpts:

Find what you love. Do what you love.

Jobs: “I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

When you know what you love, don’t waste time doing something else.

Jobs: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

But…I hear the excuses, I know the reasons…we moms have a lot of responsibility and carving out the time, energy and resources to do more of the things we love—something different, scary, unknown–often gets placed in the “dream” bucket, not the “to-do” list. This week Diane and Steve inspired me to give up excuses, chunk down my dreams and involve my son. Diane reminded me that it’s not necessary to do it all in a single swoop, but just to start walking towards it.

Blessings!

Julia

with lifestyle organizer and single mom Diane Halfman

Your “to-do” list is waiting. It’s filled with family necessities like going to work, paying bills, cooking dinner, and doing laundry, but with very few—if any—truly inspiring line items. It’s filled with all the things you must do, not what you want to do! Sound familiar? Even worse—what if your job is a total downer, too!?

Research studies show that as many as six in ten people are dissatisfied with what they do. Today’s guest, Diane Halfman, isn’t one of them. Diane found herself a single mother of two girls by day and a San Diego police officer by night. Her job was risky, and she often worked the late-night shift undercover, dressed as a prostitute. One terrifying evening, a man pulled a gun on her. Thanks to her excellent training, she disarmed the gunman—but her life was never the same.

Soul searching questions followed. Was she happy? Was she living the life she wanted? What was she modeling for her daughters—doing a job you dread because you have to? Or doing work that brings you fulfillment and joy? Diane’s answers were clear, and they gave her the courage to leave the police department and build a career she loved. But she did it in baby steps. One step at a time, she traded in an uninspiring life for an inspiring one.

On this show you’ll hear about some of those baby steps that helped her convert her favorite hobby—organization—into a thriving business.  A self-proclaimed “lifestyle organizer,” Diane leads a niche market. “I can whip a person’s life into order,” says Diane. “We start with the closets, the pantry, the family schedule, and then we move into scheduling in activities that inspire you, until your whole life becomes inspiring.” Consistent baby steps can lead to a total life makeover.

Today’s show will help you add more inspiration to your life by taking little steps forward. You’ll hear Diane’s recommendations, including a nighttime goal-setting and celebration exercise that you and your children can do together: an exercise that teaches kids—and Mommy!—how to set and achieve goals. “Inches turn into miles,” says Diane. “Fear of change is lessened when you see yourself making steady progress. The key is acknowledging and celebrating your wins.”  This nightly exercise is just one of the powerful tools Diane will share.

P.S. Leave a comment below, and spread the love! Facebook and tweet this link because many of your friends probably aren’t completely happy with their jobs either. Give them some baby steps they can take.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *