Being an adult is tricky, especially when trying to be a responsible adult. There are often times when I’d love to completely change my life, but because of my pre-existing responsibilities, I have to be more strategic with the moves I make. While I don’t think dreams always have to be put on the backburner, it’s important to learn the beauty of timing that makes sense. 

Over the past month and a half, I’ve worked on learning and studying a bookkeeping basics course and I’m gearing up to take the final exam to become certified. For the longest, I questioned what direction I wanted my career to take, and instead of setting down a path I wasn’t fully sure I wanted to traverse, I decided to just be open to opportunities that came my way to dip my toe into different experience pools. 

Life truly is a culmination of all the events and people we’re able to experience. The craziest thing is that the simplest experience can actually turn into a pivotal point or skill in the future and there’s no way to predict just how beneficial a memory will become. 

I carry with me my love of reading and writing from early adolescence, my perfectionism from always wanting to get assignments 100% correct, my standoffishness from feeling ignored during group conversations, and my adaptability from never truly belonging to one particular group or subgroup. All of those characteristics combine to shape my view of my current world and my future goals and aspirations. 

I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason and every season in our life brings new lessons, blessings, opportunities for growth, and growing pains. Sometimes my aspirations and inner musings seem too big to become reality. Random thoughts of growing clientele for Adaptive Marketing, gaining more YouTube subscribers, completely changing my typical clothing style, moving to a different city, building a forever home from the ground up, and jumping headfirst into a totally different professional field all seem unattainable from the face value, but can actually become reality if I put my mind to it.

Of course, that’s always the hardest part to overcome. Most of the time, we defeat ourselves before the world even has a chance to get a few licks in simply due to our negative self-talk. The notion of getting an accounting or bookkeeping certification and landing a new job seemed far-fetched a year or even six months ago. Now that I’m finally making progress to turn the idea into a reality, I feel closer than ever and a new spark of motivation is fueling me towards the finish line. The only difference is that I actually believe it can happen. 

While it would be improbable and probably a little delusional to expect things to happen quickly, I have faith in my heart that my hard work will pay off one day when I least expect it. The victory will be worth all the headache, stress, and drama and as a great bonus, I’ll have the lessons, revelations, and “Come to Jesus” moments to fortify myself going forward. 

Imposter syndrome is real. Self defeating thoughts are also very real. It’s so easy to just shrug off ideas and assume that they are just wild concepts that will never see the light of day. Staying full of energy, hope, creativity, and zeal for the struggle known as daily life is difficult with all the distractions, bills, and other responsibilities vying for our attention. It’s hard balancing the desire to take a risk with the requirement to be responsible. 

Over time, I’ve learned that nothing is impossible unless we already have that thought in our minds. Unfortunately, there’s nothing in this life worth having that will come easy. If you truly want to accomplish, experience, or change something, more than likely you’ll have to fight through some adversity or tough times to achieve it. 

Building a business is difficult. Having a happy family where everyone gets along is difficult. Learning a new skill to grow professionally is difficult. Complacency tells us lies that difficult things should be avoided for the comfort of familiarity. However, we have to question if that’s what’s actually best for our lives and individual situations. 

Sometimes, a new challenge is just the thing you need to see your life in a new lens. For me, I’m excited about the possibility of a future bookkeeping position. Of course, it’ll come with a learning curve, many denied job applications, trepidation, and change, but I think it’s the best path for my family and I long term. 

One of my biggest five year goals is to find a remote job, or at least one that’s hybrid and closer to my home, that has better PTO, healthcare, and pay benefits. I’m creating the building blocks now to make that future dream come true. It’s definitely difficult and requires a lot of focus and consistency, but it will be so worth it in the end. 

If you enjoyed this post, let me know by leaving a comment and subscribing to the newsletter. I’ll see you in the next episode! 

Signed, 

Jessica Marie