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Stepping into the next version of ourselves
the ridiculous journey I’m committing to in public
I set a ridiculous goal last month.
Normally, when I set goals like this, I regret them immediately and let them quietly fade away. I have a long history of lofty ideas that never left the edges of my brain. (Tell me I’m not alone?)
But I want to make this one happen.
So I’m going to write it down right here in this email, where you and my mother can see it, and… well, then I guess I have to do the things to make it happen, right? It’d be embarrassing not to, wouldn’t it?
Notice I haven’t said it yet. I’m procrastinating. Not sure I should say it. Because, well, this is a whopper.
OK. Here it goes.
I’m going to save $50,000 and take a one-year sabbatical to work full-time on Healthy Rich.
Oh boy, I can’t believe I said that.
So, there it is. I’m doing this now.
Here’s the deal: By the end of 2023 — or sooner, as soon as possible — I’ll stash $50,000, enough to pay myself a livable salary for a year, so I can hit pause on freelance work and devote 100% of my working hours to building Healthy Rich.
I don’t want to run a passion project on the side for years. I want to build a business. And running an entire freelance business in the meantime is awfully distracting.
I want to see what I can make when making it is all I’m doing.
You’ve probably felt this way
I’ve been on this journey as a writer-cum-entrepreneur for 11 (omgoodness 11?!) years, and this isn’t the first time I’ve thought of a good use for a sabbatical. I’ve thought, if I could just take a year to…
write a book
work on a blog
travel
create a course
design a brand
open a food truck (always have to keep a theme in your back pocket)…
What could I accomplish in that time?
Have you, too? What’s your sabbatical fantasy?
The fantasy isn’t good enough anymore
I’ve always let this idea of total creative freedom be a fantasy. As long as it was a fantasy, I didn’t have to believe it was possible, so I didn’t have to make the moves to make it happen.
That served me for a while. I needed to fantasize, imagine the highest level of impractical joy, let it marinate in the back of my mind while I learned a Very Practical Set of Skills and how it felt to pay rent on time and buy organic vegetables without comparing prices. I needed to let it run wild and take shape, free from the pressure of existing in the real world.
The fantasy isn’t good enough for me anymore.
This time, I believe this creative freedom is possible. I can see the steps it’ll take to get there, and I can imagine myself taking them in concrete ways in this very real world.
This feeling is new, and it’s a bit alarming. But what can I do?
If this goal is possible, I have no choice but to pursue it.
Of course, I’ll write about it
As I do whenever I’ve got a new challenge to untangle, I’ll write about this journey.
I’ll write about the financial challenge of siphoning off about half of my income into a sabbatical savings fund. And I’ll write about the much bigger challenge: learning how to be a founder.
I haven’t run this sort of business full time before; I need to fill that well just as much as I need to fill the savings bucket.
That’s why I’m firing this newsletter up again. I’m going to learn a lot and think a lot, and I’ll put all the good bits right here.
I know not everyone reading is gearing up to launch a business, but I hope there’ll be plenty for you here regardless of what you do next. This is about learning to be the next version of yourself — and that feels the same every time, whether you’re stepping into day one or year 11.
Whether you want to start a blog or open a wacky French toast food truck, keep reading to learn with me about business, productivity, leadership, marketing and life as I make this transition from freelance writer to full-time founder.
Stepping into the next version of ourselves
How wonderfully exciting!!! Love that you are writing about your big, scary goal so we can come along for the ride!
And no, you are not alone. :)
OMG! Dana this is so exciting and I can't wait to see how this journey unfolds for you! Congrats on make this declaration.