Can You Change Your Life in Less Than a Year?

You see people making big changes in their life and wonder if you can change your life in less than a year.

Maybe you think it takes much longer?

Even if it took someone else longer, can you change your life in less than a year?

Who are you, really?

How does someone with a Master of Science in Management and Leadership become a full-time writer?

How do you leave a field you have spent nearly 20 years in to “chase your dreams?”

Following this simple advice, “Change your mindset, change your life.” 

Everyone has a history that catalyzes this mindset change, but it almost starts with one question.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a writer.

I went through phases where I thought I would attend law or veterinary school.

In high school, while I was trying to decide what path to pursue in college, I was busy doing three things:

• reading every book that I could 
• writing poems and stories 
• dreaming of the book that I would write one day

Suddenly, four years came to a close.

It was time to fill out college applications and pick a major, and there it was: Journalism/Mass Communications.

I wanted to write fiction for fun, and be like Christiane Amanpour for work.

My work had been published a few times, and I felt such a sense of “rightness” when I checked that box. 

Life gets off track

But then… life happened.

I left my grandparent’s house to move to Montana and live with my mother (with whom I hadn’t lived since Kindergarten) in the witness protection program. 

One of the first things she said to me was, “They have an equestrian program here.”

An equestrian program…as in I could attend college and get a degree in HORSES.

I did not know what to do with an Equestrian degree, but I loved horses!

One of the potential careers was “equine magazine writer.”

I could always do that.

Six months after the move and starting college, my mother was killed in a car accident.

I couldn’t live in her house anymore and couldn’t afford rent.

So, I did the opposite of what any grief counselor will tell you.

I upended the hell out of my life. 

It started with dropping out of the equine program and (using the extra financial aid I had now) moving into the dorms.

They didn’t have a journalism program, so I decided on Political Science.

My boyfriend told me he was leaving school to return home a month later. 

I fought with my grandmother on the telephone that same day.

I spent three nights in the psych ward, and when I got out, I looked up my long-lost father in N.Y.

Days later, I took a bus across the country. 

Life seems to settle into a new normal

I found my footing within a few months and followed my boyfriend to Hawaii when he asked.

We got married the following year, and had a baby the year after.

I had worked in retail management but wanted to finish my four-year degree.

I went to school online and earned a B.S. in Business Administration.  

At work, I kept advancing into more complex leadership roles: store manager, restaurant management, and management at a non-profit.

I never felt like I was doing what I was meant to do, so maybe I needed more education.

Then I could teach or become a CEO someday.

After starting the Master’s program, I realized I didn’t love business and thought, “Danielle, who are you?”

Once you ask that question, don’t be afraid of the answer!

The day the answer came, my husband was out of town, and my abandonment issues had kicked in.

To top it off, I wasn’t feeling fulfilled at work.

One morning, I stumbled across an article about acedia, which felt like they had written it for me.

The author, Benjamin Sledge, speaks about the good and bad news of realizing you are suffering from acedia and not depression:

“So here’s the good news. Combating acedia has simple steps that can help you act and combat the feelings of indifference, self-hate, and apathy and keep you from spiraling further. The bad news is that it begins by taking part in little things that may seem repetitive but make a big difference.”

The inspiration to change your life can come from anywhere

When I saw this article, I felt inspired to take a walk and think.

For years, I had talked about writing a book about my life, and it was on my mind again.

I had even gone to a local writer’s group just a few days before, and I told one writer that I always struggle with how to start a book.

She had told me to write something else, and it would come. 

I got to the lake near my house and set off on my walk.

It was so pretty out I snapped a quick photo.

Imagine how the lake would look if you took a picture of it daily.

You could catch the same spot looking completely different.

It reminded me of life and how you could live each day the same way, but the seasons change.

At that moment, “A Year Around The Lake” was born.

My “something else book” would be about what could happen if you did a seemingly insignificant act repetitively every day for a year, and it would have pictures of the lake to accompany it.

You can change your life in less than a year by doing two things

You must embrace your failures and realize how valuable they are.

I went to the monthly writing group for four months, cataloging my thoughts about the lake journey.

For approximately 120 days, I took my walk around the lake, including in the middle of a thunderstorm and a blizzard.

I drug myself around the frozen lake at -4 degrees and felt so alive.

I was juggling this task with a full-time job and family, so I could only go early in the morning or late at night on most days.

And then we got hit with the mother of all Montana winters, and I failed.

The year around the lake turned into “that time I learned a lot about myself between October 2018 and February 2019.” 

“Life will only change when you become more committed to your dreams than you are to your comfort zone.” Billy Cox

I learned I needed to be a writer.

My confidence grew more than it had in a long time.

I realized this would take work and a maniacal focus.

I wasn’t sure I was ready and tried to fit back into my old life.

However, my old life felt like I was trying to force something that no longer fit.

It is like taking a door down to paint and leaving it outside too long before putting it back.

It’s the same door that always went there, it fits back on the hinges fine, but when you go to shut it… it catches and doesn’t close all the way. 

You can change your life in less than a year by defining success and leaving your comfort zone

Then came August 2019; I realized that writing had always been “it” for me.

Whether poems, stories, newspaper articles, blog posts, or even giant papers for a graduate degree, I needed it in my world.

My husband was out of town again on his yearly trip to visit his friends.

It was August 6, and I started “A Year Around The Lake” for the second time.

In September, I discovered Medium and started writing there, publishing my first article near the end of the month.

Medium paid its writers back then by the claps they received for their work.

I made $9 that month and cried like I had won the lottery because I was a paid writer. 

In December, I came across a Medium article about a freelance site called Upwork.

I got my first client, and the job was writing ‘quote articles.’

These were so much fun, and the client paid me well.

Suddenly, I was earning money writing.

I told my husband: Imagine if I could make enough money doing freelance writing one day that I could quit my job!

I didn’t realize that I had already started down the path and was well past day one.

The funny thing about these quote articles was that they were exactly what I needed.

These quotes involved topics like, following your dreams, success, failure, motivation, gratitude, and changing your mindset.

I read many quotes from famous, smart, and talented people.

I was on the path to changing my life in less a year and didn’t know it

And I took their advice.

It helped that my client is also one of the most motivational and inspiring people I have met.

I kept walking throughout winter, even finding a lake in Denver to walk around when I was there for my daughter’s dance trip. 

Come spring, I took a chance and sent my client a link to one of my Medium articles.

This led to a phone call and the opportunity to write genuine articles for his website while doubling my old rate.

I also got a few additional clients and kept self-publishing my work.

I failed a second time at this project

This time I walked around the lake for seven months every day.

Today, I still go, but not every day.

Ten months into my journey, I left my management job to pursue writing full-time. 

We all have the power to do this same thing and change our lives in as little as a year.

Ask yourself the tough questions, and don’t be afraid.

Embrace every failure along the way and use what you have learned.

Reevaluate what success looks like to you, and leave your comfort zone.

Find your lake and do one thing repetitively every day, and be prepared for what it teaches you.