Each month I create an #intentionplan, because I strongly believe that the key to creating a life you love is to show up every day and make a deliberate, intentional choice about how you want to live.
Hello lovlies! May is finally here and it’s probably my favourite month (maybe because a certain someone you know has a birthday this month? *hint hint*)
But besides that … May always feels like the beginning of something special – you know? I’m sure it has to do with growing up in the Northern Hemisphere (where May means summer is coming) and that feeling has stuck with me even though I now live in Australia and my seasons are all mixed up!
Whatever the cause, I definitely feel some tingles in the air at the moment and I hope you do too.
Now, let’s talk intention!?
April Recap
Let me start with a quick recap of last month. If you recall, my intention plan was all about daily meditation. So what happened?
Well … yet again I didn’t quite pull this off. I didn’t keep track but I think I only remembered to meditate about 40% of the time. (Or more accurately – found the motivation to meditate – because I did think about it quite a lot.)
Still, I feel the month was a success. Why? Because this wasn’t my first attempt at daily meditation and I did better this time than last! Improvement is always a win in my book and slow progress is still progress 🙂
One thing that really helped me stay on track is I found a accountability partner. I definitely now know that having someone to report to on a daily basis motivated me; unfortunately, I didn’t find my partner until the month was nearly over!
But that doesn’t really matter though because I’m not giving up. Moving forward I won’t include meditation in my Intention Plans (we’ve talked about it enough I think!), but I’ll still be working behind the scenes to create a daily habit.
As a reminder, the reason I meditate is because I struggle a lot with how I handle my emotions (mood swings, insecurity, obsessive thinking) and I want to learn how to let go. I’m still a work in progress, but I can already tell that meditation is helping me to slow down and become more mindful in my life.
(On a side note, I watched this documentary last night about Wim Hof. He uses meditation and breathing techniques to do amazing feats, like climb Mount Everest in nothing but shorts! He has actually proven to scientists that he can manipulate his immune system using his own will. It’s a really fascinating watch if you have time!)
Looking forward to May
So onwards to May! This month I want to apply for freelance jobs everyday.
Where did this come from?
I’ve only briefly mentioned it here on the blog, but for years I’ve had this vague pipe dream of being able to earn a living online and being location independent. This is the life I want for two reasons:
1. I’m a restless person – I need to have freedom of movement or I’m unhappy. It’s something I always thought I’d outgrow, but I’ll be 35 this year and I still feel the same as ever, so I’ve decided to stop fighting it and just accept who I am. (I remember being asked in primary school what I wanted to do when I grew up. My answer was to drive to the end of every highway. This still sounds like an awesome dream to me.)
2. I’m an American, living in Australia, married to an Englishman (whose parents live in two different countries.) I want to be able to earn a living online so we can spend more time with our friends and family all over the world.
I’ve been making this lifestyle work so far by working abroad, later borrowing money, and most recently doing the save/travel/save method (more details in this post about how I afford to travel.)
But it’s not really sustainable. I need a better option.
And one of those option is doing freelance work online. I’ve toyed with the idea for awhile now, but I’ve been holding back. (After all, I have no ‘official’ experience or qualifications.)
But then I realised that I’ve learned so much from blogging (copywriting, social media management, basic graphic design.) I have some skills that (hopefully) are worth paying for.
So I’ve decided to start before I’m ready and just put myself out there! It might amount to nothing, but it might amount to something, and I’ll never know unless I try.
So that’s what I’m doing. I’m taking small steps, in the direction of my dreams, even though I have no idea where these steps will take me. That’s intentional living folks, wish me luck!
What are your big dreams? And what little steps are you taking to make them happen? Let me know in the comments! x
photo credit : unsplash.com / used with permission
PS: I wrote this post last week about Intentional Living; it’s worth reading if I do say so myself 😉
I love reading your intention plans Jennifer and that’s so awesome that you are taking some steps into the freelance world! I have the same goals but I haven’t quite put my plan into action yet. Do you have any tips for starting out and where to look for jobs? 🙂 I would really appreciate it!
Thank you again for your support! So far I’ve only taken very small, baby steps – so I’m definitely no expert! But the work I’ve gotten so far is via Fiverr (you can create your own gigs for $5, but then add upgrades so you earn a bit more) and via Freelancer.com (but I’ll warn you, I applied for a LOT of jobs but I’ve only gotten one so far.) It’s hard work but I think once you get going the momentum will build! I’ve also heard good things about http://upwork.com but I haven’t tried it myself yet 🙂
Go, Jennifer! I love how you faced the fact that how you travel now isn’t sustainable and made a daily goal towards your dream. ❤️
Thanks Dasiy! I think if just ‘travel’ was my ultimate goal I could keep hustling the way I have been, but it’s also a quality of life thing. I feel good making small steps (even if they are very, very tiny!)
I love your posts – they are always so motivating! This one reminded me that I should meditate more often. Good luck finding a new job!
Thanks so much Ana! This comment has reminded me to meditate tonight – so you’ve helped me! x
I love this concept of the intention plan! I do something similar every night before I go to bed. I outline my goals for the next day.
Traveling is something I love to do and would like to do more of as well. One thing I’ve learned about traveling is that it actually isn’t that expensive when you have a great resource bank to get good flight deals and vacation packages. Just yesterday, I discovered round trip airfare from LA to New Zealand for $250. That’s just insane!
Love to hear about more of your journey! Beautiful photos too!
Thank so much for your comment Natasha. I LOVE how you take this a step further and think about it nightly. I definitely need to get into this sort of routine.
Yes – travel is definitely getting cheaper and cheaper now! That is an amazing airfare though. Did you buy it? I don’t think I could have passed it up haha! x
Ugh no… but the reason why is because I just bought a flight to Egypt instead. 😉
haha – that’s a good reason then! 🙂
Yeah! May birthdays! Mine’s on the 14th. When’s yours? 😉 Enjoy your special day and the process of pursuing your dream. xxoo
Mine is the 12th of May! I swear so many people are born in May, must be a lucky month! Happy almost birthday to you and thank you for the well wishes xxx
Hey, when’s your birthday? Mine’s the 7th. 🙂
That’s awesome that you’re planning to send out freelance pitches this month! Best of luck!
12 May! Happy almost birthday to you too then! We’ll have to have virtual margaritas 🙂
Thanks heaps! It’s scary and so far not too fruitful, but I’m plugging along!!
I just found this amazing blog today (freelancetofreedomproject.com) and there are so many good resources/courses/blog posts on there! I thought I’d share since you mentioned the freelance stuff! 🙂
Ooh – definitely a lot of resources there! Thanks so much for sharing Catherine x
Location independence FTW! Best of luck with your new venture.
Thanks Lauren! It’s still just a pipe dream, but at least now I’m working on it! ☺️