Fellow podcaster and writer Stephen Hackett wrote about how he’d love to take his work at 512pixels and turn it into his full time gig.

And he also wrote about how scared he is to just go for it.

I was too.

Back when I was working for the Victoria Film Festival, I was putting in my time (not to mention and energy and effort) for 40 hours a week there, and then plugging away for an additional 20–30 hours working for Envato from home. That meant a lot of evenings and weekends taken up by what I really wanted to do for work rather than spending those same evenings and weekends doing what I really wanted to do in general, which was have more time with my wife and kids.

Not just more time, though. More time where I was happy and fulfilled. Because any other time would have been perceived as putting in the time rather than spending it.

My wife was understandably frustrated. She wanted me to be happy and fulfilled, but was tired of the hours being spent trying to get there. She also knew the 40 hours working for the festival weren’t fulfilling anything other than keeping one foot in a seemingly stable job. I was only staying there because I was afraid – afraid that I’d not be able to provide for my family if I went out on my own with this “whole blogging thing” that not many even understood could pay the bills.

When I was faced with a fear far greater – the possibility of losing the person who stood by me for every risk I’d taken – I chose to face the fear of forging out on my own as a writer (now speaker, podcaster and editor as well) and quit the full time job at the festival. I put both feet into my new career, and then started putting one foot in front of the other…moving forward as I went.

There have been ups and downs – including losing my steady job as editor at WorkAwesome when the site sold not one month after taking the leap – but they have been worth it. I get to make choices instead of facing dilemmas. I get to spend quality time with my family instead of just checking in with them in between working hours. I get to work hard for myself and others…instead of the other way around.

Marco Arment also commented on Stephen’s post:

“When you work for yourself, it’s all just you. You take all of the risk, you handle all of the bullshit and paperwork, you get to (but need to) make every decision, and you reap all of the rewards.”

That’s ultimately why I went for it.

There’s no better era to take the leap and carve your own path than now, especially if you’ve got the support of friends and “fans” to help propel your efforts and keep you on course.

(Having an incredibly supportive partner is always helpful, of course.)

If you’re thinking about making the move, then you’re ready.

If you’ve already got the foundation in place to make the move, then you’re set.

There’s nothing left to do now except go for it. So do that.

And then just keep going.

Photo credit: Alan L. (CC BY 2.0)

I’ve only been in The Yukon for a little over two days, and I’m already noticing a difference.

The main difference is that I’m noticing more.

This is how stillness works. It provides you with a more acute sense of awareness because nothing - including yourself - is moving as fast as it usually does.

I’m noticing that I’m thinking more longview and less “little view”. I’m noticing the small things in a big space more than usual, such as the misspelling of a sign (as seen in the photo above) that neither my wife or mother-in-law had noticed in over 20 years of seeing it. I’m noticing that I’m a bit more transformed with every passing moment because I get to spend more time within each moment.

The past couple of months have been a whirlwind. Right now, the days feel like a breeze. Not necessarily easy, but something I dwell in rather than trudge through.

Often when you plow through something that you go into with he best of intentions, you make mistakes that are less obvious to some and yet are very clear to others. Sometimes it doesn’t matter, as long as the message is clear (like in the sign above).

But more often than not, it does.

That’s why we all need moments of stillness. They help us truly live in the moment. In those moments, we forget about the clutter on our lists and remember why we made the lists in the first place.

One of the big things about traveling across several time zones – and then coming back after only a short period of time – is that the attempts to stick to your own time zone becomes all the more necessary. I find it takes at least two days to get used to the new time zone, and then another two days to get reacquainted with my own once I return. Imagine taking a six-day trip across four time zones…and trying to time shift in he process.

I don’t think it’s all that wise.

But in my case, I’m traveling with a toddler who is used to getting up nice and early. Like 5 a.m. early. This wouldn’t be a problem normally, as my wife is a morning person and usually gets him in the early hours while I’m still sleeping from another evening of “night owlism”. However, she’s not here with me on this trip, so I’m up to bat.

Now this “5 a.m. early” for my son is actually 8 a.m. here because of the time zone difference, but if I stuck to my own time zone I’d be getting up at 11 a.m. and going to bed at 4 a.m. during my stay based on my usual sleeping and waking habits. The boy has altered my sleep due to his pattern, meaning I’m now getting up at the equivalent of 5 a.m. in my own time zone and hitting the sack at around 10 p.m. instead. This goes against all of my night owl instincts, but it’s happening.

And you know…I’m actually quite glad that it is, and I’m going to stick with it when I get home. Why?

Because my lifestyle has changed to the point where being a night owl no longer works for me or my family. In order to get the most out of my day (and my life), I need to get up earlier. So I will.

This week I’m visiting my old stomping grounds of Southern Ontario with my son on a brief (yet much-needed) trip.

So if you’re located in the Hamilton-Brantford-Toronto area and want to hang out sometime before Sunday, I’m game to do so. I’m currently plotting out my week, so drop me a line and let me add you to the plotting.

My brain is kind of messed up from flying through two time zones and into a third (from Pacific all the way to Eastern) – although usually it’s going west that causes problems. Then again, with a toddler along with me and my whole night owl thing in full effect, I shouldn’t be surprised.

Oh…and if you haven’t listened to the latest Mikes on Mics, we chat once again with C.J. Chilvers (although we don’t dive into what’s on his Mac this time around).¹ It’s a great little chat, and you can get it over at the 70Decibels podcast network site right now. (And you might as well)

Now…to bed.

Photo credit: I like (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

It was an awfully nice day yesterday. Sunny, warm(ish) and the type of day where you just want to be outside. My kids played outside, my wife took some time to do some outdoorsy stuff and I…well, I stayed in. ¹

Why did I stay in? Because I had a lot of writing (and editing) to get done…and Sunday is a work day for me. It was really a no-brainer.

I gave up one sunny day now, but by doing so I won’t have to give up many more sunny days that are going to come later.

With a book in the works, editing duties for Lifehack that I needed to get ahead on (due to a day in the skies happening today) and packing for my trip all needing to be worked on, spending time outside yesterday wasn’t in the cards. The sunny days in Victoria are rare at this time of year (although they are becoming less rare as we get into May), but I simply couldn’t justify going outside for the bulk of the day so I could catch some scarce rays.

I decided to power through instead.

I know that June is around the corner. I’d like to have the time then to go outside, enjoy the weather and have some much-deserved free time. July isn’t too far off either. With my daughter out of school then, I’d rather power through now to get stuff done so I can spend more time doing less work then. Same goes for August and September. By doing a lot of front-end work now, I’m setting myself up for free time later.

Having the foresight to power through now will allow me to power down later.

Photo credit: Quinn Dombrowski (CC BY-SA 2.0)