Last week, I had a brief conversation with S, my riding instructor/ranch owner, about his ideas for growing the business. Earlier this month, he had expressed interest in having me help with some marketing and business development, so this was our first discussion. We were in a truck full of other people, and I wanted to mull it all over a bit, so I agreed to give it some thought and get back to him.

The following week, I was continuing with my Coursera Intro to Marketing class, and it’s kinda uncanny but the class got my juices flowing, and I started brainstorming all kinds of ideas. I emailed S a rather lengthy list of considerations unsure if it would be too intense this early on, but heck, I decided to be unabashed. This whole notion of envisioning my future and of dreaming big has got me hooked. I mean, when S first mentioned the possibility of working together, I was really taken aback. Despite what my Lean In group had been telling me, I still wasn’t expecting anything. And thinking back, I see now that, if I were my former hesitant self, I probably would have just shot down the suggestion immediately without giving it any consideration. Thankfully, this time, I’m trying to be open. I’m getting better at being comfortable with being uncomfortable, and so I’m trying hard to really believe in my heart of hearts that anything is possible.

So anyhow, the class got my brain churning, and I sent S the email. What do you know? A few days later, he replied that he was thrilled with my points. I had really impressed him (and surprised myself). Pretty damn cool. So again, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about living this “unconventional” life… by that, I guess I just mean a life kinda different from what I, my family, and my close friends currently live. Sure, I read blogs all the time about people who left their lucrative corporate jobs to start a business or to become a professional blogger… But I don’t really know people like that personally. It’s not that the stories I read aren’t truthful or credible, it’s just hard to see that situation apply to me, you know?

A few days ago, I read a tweet asserting that people who know entrepreneurs are more likely to become entrepreneurs themselves. Hmm, so this idea of exposure and of witnessing real-life examples is a powerful force. It also reminds me of another tweet I saw recently from the CEO of Evernote: Don’t bother making friends with people you can’t start a company with… It’s sounds harsh, but I think it’s so true. Being around positive, motivated, high-caliber people has a way of encouraging you to push and challenge yourself. Enthusiasm and momentum kinda stack and amplify in these surprising ways… I am feeling pretty darn optimistic and energized these days. Let’s hope this wave lasts a long while!

Last week, I reunited with the ladies from the book club/career coaching class I’d taken at the end of August. Over a period of six weeks, the four of us had met weekly to discuss Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In and to share our insights and personal experiences. The class talked a lot about dreams and what we envision for our futures. As with my earlier “Uncover your Calling” class, I struggled a lot with the concept of starting with a big, standalone dream and not having ANY of the details on how to build towards it. I remember feeling frustrated when the class wrapped in September: I didn’t seem to have any more clarity than before. I grew discouraged and impatient: I was reading all these books, doing all these exercises, taking all these classes, and when? When was the answer going to appear? I started to wonder if maybe I was just being unrealistic, impractical, immature, naive. Maybe I needed to just go back to job hunting: tech project management, social media, web editing, whatever.

John is someone who avoids all this contemplative, wishy washy, touchy feely stuff for himself, but oddly enough, he actually “gets” all of this (more than I do even!), and he has this uncanny, amazing way of zoning in to the the essence of everything. Seriously. When I told him about all these doubts creeping back, he reminded me that it’s normal to feel uneasy and uncertain, but he encouraged me to not give up. I’d left a comfortable, secure, and stable job for a reason, and we had planned for this opportunity. We had given up other things in order to create this freedom of choice for ourselves– this chance to take risks and to seek something different for our life together. And so I tried to let go of the guilt and of the feeling that I wasn’t worthy of this liberty and luxury. And then I took that 2-week travel sabbatical. 😉

So when I met the ladies for lunch, I was still a little skeptical. The coach hosted us at her amazing beach home on the coastal bluffs, and she shared with us her dream board from four years ago. I won’t go into her personal details, but long story short, back when she created her dream board, the transition or path from her life four years ago to the life depicted in her dream board was nearly unfathomable. And yet, four years later, she and her husband achieved that dream. The lesson is this: when you envision a dream for yourself, no matter how off-the-wall or impossible or imaginary it seems, when you remind yourself about the dream, somehow– consciously or subconsciously– your mind works to figure out a way to get you there.

Last week, I couldn’t see this process working for me, but I decided to just try to be more open. You see, one of my dreams is to live on a nice ranch with horses and dogs. I want to have a flexible work arrangement, where I work (often remotely) with people I respect, people who are also my dear friends, and we use technology to get shit done smartly and efficiently. On the side, I want to write and blog– like professionally. Oh and I want to be a rockstar– figuratively.

So I had left that luncheon feeling open to new possibilities. Then, a few days later, I returned to the ranch for my horseback riding lessons. My instructor asked why I had been away for so long. I explained that I had left my job. And then, he said he wanted me to help him with marketing/web work to grow the business. Whaaa?? So it’s early yet. We are to discuss the details, but the point is, wow. This is an opportunity to integrate things I love to do: horseback riding, project management, communications, problem solving, and web. Is the universe responding to my positive thoughts and my new state of openness?? Kinda weird, right?

Now that I’m all renewed and refreshed following my travel sabbatical, I’m getting back down to business. Right now, my plan is to formally apply for work by the end of November. In the meantime, I’m continuing with info interviews to narrow down my areas of interest and compile an employer target list. I’m kinda toying with a few ideas:

* communications work for a foundation
* project management for a start up
* my own web consulting biz
* communications/web work for ranches or horse-related businesses and orgs

I had a really helpful meeting last week with a lady who does communications work at the Hewlett Foundation. The Foundation funds a ton of projects in the areas of environment, education, women’s health, and performing arts (all my big causes!) She really enjoys the work and loves the culture, so I’m going to explore this further by talking with some other peeps at other foundations in the area.

In the personal growth arena, I’m trying to incorporate some new daily habits: I have been hot tubbing and  meditating every morning for the last 10 days. I’m hoping that one of these days the meditation will just click, and I’ll feel the magic. Also, I’ve been continuing with my cooking. That’s actually going surprisingly well. I’m even seeing a difference in my kitchen and seasoning skills, and my friends say my beef strogonaff is the best they’ve eaten!

Oh, and I started a new course on Coursera: Intro to Marketing by some profs at UPenn. I am learning SO much. I cannot say enough about Coursera: after suffering years of learning burnout from school and formal education, learning is fun again.