The Voivod household has been a little tweaked out lately. Aside from our maddeningly imperfect sleeping patterns (thanks to our rapacious 7-month old vampire baby), Allen and I are gearing up for another edition of *gulp*: Moving Forward.

In theory, Moving Forward is always the goal, and always a delight. But if you’re a solo professional or small business owner, you know the truth: IT’S SCARY.

Moving Forward requires long-tabled decisions to finally be made. It often involves a financial investment, putting the kibosh on all the distractions we’ve allowed to steal our time and attention, and getting out of our comfort zones for the gazillionth time.

Moving Forward means making commitments to new habits and admitting it’s time to kick the old ones to the curb. For us, it’s pushing ourselves to go after what we want instead of taking what’s handed to us, even though many of those things have been pleasant and lucrative in their own right, and we’re incredibly grateful for the gifts and opportunities they’ve given us.

Maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal, but last time we decided to play the Moving Forward game, we didn’t handle it all that well. We got overwhelmed, stressed out, and let our fears and insecurities dominate. As spousal-preneurs, this is NOT a good thing. We can’t leave our work at the office. When mindset goes sour, it infects our dinner table banter, our family car rides, our pillow talk…everything.

However, hindsight has shown us that the act of Moving Forward was decidedly worth it:

• We’re now a six-figure business and growing consistently, even in this “non-recession” environment
• We’re working less and having way more fun (you should see our “Fun!” calendar for 2008! It’s insane!)
• I’m staying home with our big, beautiful chub of a baby boy while Allen handles virtually all of our client work
• We’re able to go on field trips and t-ball games, gymnastics, and swim lessons for our 5 1/2 year-old son
• Best of all, we’re happier and stronger as a married couple, which makes us happier and stronger individually

I guess this is why I’m posting the following quotes right now, at 3am during an unfortunate bout of insomnia on one of the only nights that healthy-lunged kid of ours is actually sleeping for longer than two hours at a time. I need the reminder of why it’s all worth it; that wise people before me have muttered words that have been so clung to they now sound like chinsy cliches.

I know Allen and I are different people than we were two years ago. We’ve learned a bunch, we’ve grown together, and most importantly, we love our life. Our goal, then, is to make this year’s upcoming leaps of faith and insanity as joyful and thrilling as possible, and to trust the magnificent unfolding to the benevolent Powers That Be.

So…here’s the Moving Forward!

“Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you.”

- Mahatma Gandhi

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams; live the life you’ve imagined.”

- Henry David Thoreau

“Do or do not. There is no try.”

- Yoda

“Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.”

- Napoleon Hill

My best to you and the forward progress of your own business and vision, whatever they may be.

Posted in Entrepreneur Diaries |

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 3:40 am and is filed under Entrepreneur Diaries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.