Will it be an “I want” or an “I will” life?

This is a guest post from my friend Leisa LaDell, the woman who started it all by inspiring me to commit to myself and my dream of writing. Let her have her way with you while I enjoy my time away. And also? It’s Follow Friday and you should definitely follow her.

“Let’s be A-List bloggers together!”

Silence, a startled, sort of ‘deer in the headlights’ look from us both, and then….

“Um…ok, what the heck, let’s do it! We’re going to be A-List bloggers.”

That’s pretty much how the conversation between Sandi and I went one Sunday late in May when I was visiting for the weekend.

The audacity and power of “I will”

Given where we were starting (Sandi having no blog at all, and me with little more than a domain name, a couple timid posts, and a three-day workshop with Jonathan Fields under my belt) that simple declaration was, to say the least – a stretch.

It was an outrageous thing to say. A crazy, unrealistic thing to even hope for. It was what Pam Slim calls a “big, hairy, audacious, crazy-wild goal.” But more than a goal, it was a declaration.

It was an “I will” statement.

A statement of creation, with only our enthusiasm and our belief in stepping into what’s possible to back it up. But we said it anyway, and on we went.

Now, four short months later, crazy as it was, it’s easy to see the difference that “I will” statement has made.

In that time, Sandi has:

• Started her blog, including hiring a designer to give it a professional, welcoming look that’s a match for the quality of her posts
• Participated in two different 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenges
• Posted regularly 2-3 times per week in 4 months for more than 48 beautifully written and insightful posts
• Seen her readership and business grow noticeabley and consistently
• With a partner, developed and launched a great new product, The Juicy Life
• Started tweeting, gained 832 followers and just passed the 3,200 number tweet mark (she’s even recieved a few tweets from a handful of certified A-listers)
• Learned about herself, and made friends (or at least a decent working relationship) with her lizard brain

And just few evenings ago, she shared with me that she is consistently experiencing that ‘being in the flow’ state that comes from regularly expressing her authentic self in the world.

On a slower, more meandering, but no less committed path I have:

• Started posting more or less regularly to my blog
• Honed the vision, message and niche of my blog and business
• Received some generous and encouraging comments from people who weren’t already on my speed-dial list
• Committed to my first 31DBB challenge
• Started telling people with conviction ‘this is what I do’
• Indulged in a brief but agonizing no blogging side-trip sponsored by my lizard brain, and made my way back
• Dealt with some unwelcome jealousy that Sandi’s progress was moving faster than mine (this is a part of the list I would have preferred to leave out)
• Made peace with things the way they are, instead of fighting against how I think they “should” be
• Made friends with the real work of learning and doing what it takes to do the “side hustle” in building my own business, while working full-time – via Pam Slim
• Invested in some powerful tools to support me on my journey to become an A-Lister, including, Empire Builder, registered for WDS, and A-List blogger club
• Developed a slow but steadily growing confidence that no matter the daily ups and downs, I’m headed on the the right path

It could have gone the way of “I want”

Our conversation began in the world of wanting – talking about the dreams we had for our business and our lives. I want this. I want that. Wanting is an important starting point for exploring our dreams, but there’s a pitfall. Since the root of the word want means lack, to stay in wanting means getting stuck in never having.

I’ve lived that pitfall, and maybe you have too. For 10 years I wanted to become a leader of particular year-long workshop. For 10 years, I worked at it, I studied, I apprenticed with other leaders, I came up through the ranks, all the time talking about how I “wanted” to lead that workshop myself. During that same time, a dear friend of mine went from saying she wanted to lead the workshop to becoming one of the new, star leaders all in less than 3 years.

This startled and confused me. We had both been doing the same work, and were equally if differently qualified. My realization came when I saw that the only difference between her results and mine was that all the while I had been saying “I want to…” she had been saying “I’m going to…”

From I want to I will

So, will Sandi and I really be A-list bloggers? Who knows? Only time will tell. But, we started with an “I want…” conversation. We moved into an “I will…” conversation, and as Robert Frost so eloquently observed “that has made all the difference.”

What about you?

What have you been wanting?

Where are you willing to move from “I want” to “I will”?

Leisa LaDell is a woman having her way with words. She helps people and business do the same. She blogs about the creative, god-like power of words at Words Are Little Gods.