I just gulped down a cup of tea. It’s been that kind of day – busy.

There’s been little mind shifts that have happened over the past month that have been extremely beneficial and the cause of my current state of busyness is due to the fact I’ve been replacing the phrase, “I’m living my dream” with, “I’m working.”

I used to use the phrase, “I’m living my dream” a lot to explain what I was doing because writing is my dream and I’m finally getting to live it. But the truth of the matter is, when I used that phrase it was almost a cop out because I kept treating my writing like a dream instead of what it’s supposed to be – my job.

When I first started to write, I was just coming off several years of bad corporate experiences. I hated the 9-5 grind, I hated pantsuits, I hated linear thinking. All I wanted to do was run away from anything that I thought work was and instead ran towards everything I thought was the opposite.

I called myself Girl at Play, I began to live out a dream, I didn’t worry so much about the business side and work side because the emphasis on personal growth and discovery was far more important. I was, literally, for the first time in my life experiencing freedom. I was getting to do what I wanted to do each and every day. I was happy, content, and on top of that I got to write. I was afraid if I threw in any term resembling “work” that I’d mess up everything I had just learned.

But by ignoring the term work, I did everything but work. I had forgotten that while living a dream is important, there’s this whole reality that I not only need to, but want to, work.

Realising that was a huge eye opener for me. I realised that there are so many creative things I love to do and want to do, but as “just a writer” I can’t do them. I remembered that when I registered the domain Girl at Play it was before I went out on my own to write. I bought it in hopes to one day run a creative business, I just used the domain for writing because that’s what came along first.

Now that I’ve got a greater understanding of who I am, what I want and where I’m going that I can tackle the work side without feeling like I’m suffocating or the need to wear pant suits. I’m finally ready to start that business I thought about over a year and a half ago.

Now, as a business, I can do more without feeling like I’m taking away from my writing because everything just enhances that anyway. I’ve really wanted to get into public speaking – talking at conventions, workshops, meetings anywhere. I held back on that before because I kept thinking, “I’m just a writer.” However, now as a business I can incorporate public speaking and my writing and I’ve already lined up several paying Public Speaking gigs. I also wanted to give and teach in workshops but again, held back. Not anymore.

Figuring out what I can do as a business has really helped me focus in terms of my marketing – I know who my target audience is, I know what I want to do and I know how to go and get it. And instead of taking away from my writing it has completely enhanced it and I’ve been writing more than I did when writing was all that I did. Because now when I get writers block I have other things to focus on, rather than beating myself trying to write up something just for the sake of it.

Shifting my vocabulary from “I’m busy” to “I’m working” as well as saying “I do a lot of creative services” rather than “I’m just a writer” has helped me get over some hidden hurdle I’ve had. I’m marketing myself and my company and my efforts are paying off. Business is busy – and starting to pay. And truly, I’m happier because I don’t feel the pressure to be just one thing because I’m not – I’m a whole bunch of creative things and now I get to do them under my business, Girl at Play.

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