By R. Shalendra
Come on, you’ve all had that thought, ‘If I only had the time I’d _______’……. . What? What would YOU do if you only had the time?
As a husband, father, and businessman I know how easy it is to make the excuse that you’re too busy to chase personal goals. Life gets in the way. We spend the majority of our time working to pay bills, always on the go with errands and kids and commitments. Well, life also goes by very quickly – one day you’re planning your dreams and before you know it you’re ten years older and still dreaming.
I’ve always believed in my passion to write, yet it constantly took second place to my daily life. Writing a book was just a thought three years ago; I never went to college and my full time job and new baby took much of my time.
But like most people I was surrounded by technology I took for granted. For example, I carry my phone everywhere – house, gym, to work – you name it my phone has been there with me. I bought apps for things just to play around with, check my email and surf the net. One day I had an epiphany: I spend so much time on my phone playing games, could I use that time to write? And is there an app that I can write with? I soon discovered I could and there was.
Self-motivation, some good old fashioned imagination combined with today’s technology slowly helped the story ideas in my head move into readable words on my phone. It went from a few sentences to pages until I had a full novel written. It was then I realized how technology has opened a whole new world of imagination and enabled us to carve out the time to act on our creativity:
Set your goal – Technology has the world at your fingertips, use it! Identify your dream, create a plan, research it and make your move.
Believe in yourself – Although I wasn’t an A student in school and never had the grammar or spelling skills to impress my teachers, I knew I had a good story in me. Even if my papers came back marked up in red pen, my question to the teacher was always, “But, did you like the story?” Get some online inspiration from goal-oriented sites and use it as an empowering tool.
Make the time – Nothing happens overnight, it took me two years to write my first book. If it was ten minutes at work, half hour before bed, fifteen minutes while watching TV, I wrote using nothing more than my phone and I still had time for work and family. When I saw something while walking down the street I just pulled out my phone , added it to my story and never stopped walking.
Seek (and use!) new technology – Who would have ever thought that one day we would be walking around with tiny computers in our hands? Don’t let technology be a barrier to your success. You’re never too old or too young to learn new tricks. Keep an open mind and don’t be afraid to explore all the new gadgets out there.
If at first you don’t succeed…. Dust yourself off and try again. Let losing be a stepping stone to winning. 50 rejections propelled me to successfully getting published. Again, go online and reach out to others who have been there. See what worked for them, brainstorm, get some fresh ideas and go back at your goal with renewed energy and inspiration.
We’re heading into a brand new year with brand new goals and a wide spectrum of brand new technology to help us master our creativity. So think about it… what would YOU do if you only had the time?
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R. Shalendra is the author of Nathan Dee: Search for the Tree of Life. He currently resides near Vancouver, BC and can be contacted at: www.rshalendra.com
