![Gerald Murphy's masterpiece, with amazing gears and balance reminds me of setting goals for this fall. At the Dallas Museum of Art.](https://elizabethvantassel.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/img_1609.jpg?w=300)
People keep asking, what can we do to make a difference with our kids, find our dreams, or make plans that actually help? Recently I visited the Dallas Museum of Art and saw this intricate painting by Gerald Murphy, with all the gears and perfect angles. It reminds me of how delicate and tremendous it can be to wind up new goals during a busy season of life. So to celebrate our one-year anniversary next week, I’m giving you Tips For A Resilient Fall.
Here’s a five part, New Beginnings Series, just for you:
Understand your dreams
Have new dreams been nibbling at the fringes of your thinking, but you’ve been pushing them aside? If they won’t go away, maybe it’s time to listen. Next week we’ll have tips for doing just that, and deciding what to do when new ideas bubble forth.
Get infrastructure in place
Sometimes the backlash of dealing with difficulties takes a toll on another area of your life. For us, it’s the need to constantly adjust our organization. But if we want to be in the play, and try new activities, and still give flight to our dreams, we have to change. Don’t let your dreams die because of back-up. I’m looking at travel and several big goals, but if we don’t get organized there will automatically be unnecessary strife, so I’ve scheduled time to address it. I’m aiming for continued improvement—you can too.
Adapt to open doors
The ability to dance and shift to new priorities is going to be key when you’re in a state of change. Accepting this in advance can help you actually be more open minded to new opportunities or even closed doors that come in your path. It’s hard, but with that adaptive mindset, you and your family can better adjust and spend less angst over the what-ifs. Live in the moment, cherish the memories, lessen the feeling that a drone is chasing you down the street by admitting something will need to shift and believing in your own ability to overcome when this happens.
Find your updraft
So now you’re ready to jump, but I’m going to encourage you to watch for an updraft, that current of air just ready to help you push higher than you ever thought possible. Perhaps it’s a new habit, friendship, or mentor’s wisdom, but keep alert to any opportunities to press in and push further. I’ve found at critical junctures that a conversation with a wise person makes me think of an innovation to my stories, or something that looks like a misstep at first can be made over to give further strength, insight, or oomph to your effort. We’ll help you identify the trends to watch for.
Press through the net
You’ve persevered, worked very hard, and are oh, so, close to succeeding. Yet the FUD, fear-uncertainty-doubt factor, suddenly pays you a visit. Or someone in your life needs more attention and it feels like your dreams might be shelved. Or an emergency takes all attention away from the goal for a season. Or your child is making poor decisions and requires more guidance. When you pursue a worthy goal, there will be something, I can almost guarantee it, that shakes you up. But we’ve already planned for this with the infrastructure from step two and the adaptability we’ve been practicing from step three. Go address the higher need, but know you’ve got what it takes to return when a quiet moment arrives, and will press in to complete the goal. I’ve got many ideas for reigning in your dreams after the interrupts and pushing through to the finish line.
So we’re in for a fun fall, and some surprises at the end of the series, too. Check my author Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/elizabethvantassel for updates about starting book two, waiting for the right publisher for the first one, and other exciting surprises coming to you!
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