Listen to 'feeling thoughts,' and follow your dreams

About a month ago I made a change and stopped doing something I loved. After six months as a part-time radio host for AM 820 in Salt Lake City, I felt I needed to spend more time with my family and what was already on my plate. Frankly, it didn't make sense to leave something successful, contributing and seemingly tailor-made for my life. But what I call "feeling thoughts" kept coming, with no message in my Alpha-bits other than to do it differently, to let go and make room for what was to come. With no promise or guarantee of what that would be, it was simply a leap of faith.

I share this with you because at the start of a fresh new year, I'm sure many of you are having feeling thoughts, too. Are you sensing a change on the horizon? Are you tired of the day-to-day, as if your personal purpose is going unfulfilled and you are simply making the doughnuts? Life is too short to ignore the signals. You have 12 sparkling new months ahead, and it's up to you whether to make them full and fabulous or just go back on the couch with another bag of chocolate chips and cheap soda.

Making this decision was excruciating, but in putting my foot on that unknown brick road it took me to a new place, one that I call the "free fall/limbo/what-did-I-just-do-but-I-feel-completely-peaceful" stage. I don't rush this because it leads to the "snow globe" stage, which is where your feelings and thoughts are shaken deliriously and repeatedly, then settle out and finally reveal sure truths — or the little souvenir snowman. In my recent experience, "sure" feelings told me where I needed to go next (though it still didn't make sense). Unbelievably, just over a week later I received an unusual phone call that transformed those sure feelings into reality.

All of these stages take courage, but what's the alternative? Back to the comfort zone? Life is too short to play it safe with your dreams. Taking one step leads to a door that opens up a field that brings us to the promised land, so to speak. Don't worry about the ifs and the fears; we all have them and they feel absolutely real: fear of humiliation, age, ineptitude, hurting a loved one, utter failure or even unparalleled success, to name a few.

But, ironically, the only way to succeed is through the process of overcoming a fear. Ignoring fear as it pulsates in the corner only heightens the fear when it could become a dazzling strength. We have a choice. We can use our values, set priorities and keep what matters most. Whether it's accomplishing a goal or achieving a dream, I have used my priorities of family, relationships, religious beliefs and personal values to guide and stay my course, and so far so good.