A couple of weekends ago, I attended the second Quitter conference in Nashville. It’s a conference given by Jon Acuff and it’s all about pursuing your dream job while working your day job. I went to the first conference in July of last year and loved it. His book, Quitter, along with the conference gave me practical ideas to work toward pursuing my dream. I walked away from the first conference energized and ready to work.

And then life happened and I got sucked dry.

When I saw the second conference advertised, I begged (okay, maybe I just casually asked, but inside I was pleading) Drew to let me go again. He joked, “What, you couldn’t get it all the first time?” I smiled and told him the main reason I wanted to return was to make connections with fellow dreamers and hopefully get some accountability. I work better when I know someone’s going to check up on me.

He consented, and even drove me up there. We stayed in a nice hotel and even got a fun weekend away out of it.

I didn’t think the conference could get much better, but it did. Instead of one day, it was a day and a half, and they squeezed a lot into that time. Here were some of the highlights for me:

• Dealing with fear: Fear is an indicator, like a metal detector. When it goes off, it means you’re doing something that matters.
• Your identity is not up for grabs with the decisions you make with your dream.
• Failing is okay, and even expected. If you’re doing something you’ve never done before, you’re not going to be great. Period. Fail, and fail gloriously!
• Murder perfectionism and enjoy the A-.
• Pursue your dream before you’re ready. Don’t wait to feel ready. You’ve got to start somewhere.
• Give yourself permission to be bad at something. Don’t peak on page one.
• Critic’s math: 1,000 compliments + 1 insult = 1 insult. Don’t obsess over that one and miss all the other good stuff happening.
• You need a plan. It needs to be flexible and it doesn’t need to be perfect.
• If you’re going to use morning time to work on your dream, that starts the night before. Get enough sleep, and plan what you’re going to work on ahead of time.
• Match the right energy level to the right activity. If you’re low energy, don’t try to do a high energy task. And, if you’re high energy, don’t waste it doing a low energy task.
• To fuel a dream with ideas, you need to imagine, capture, and execute.
• During imagine time, it’s time to generate ideas, not perfect them. Ask “later you” to be awesome. Ask “today you” to be productive.
• Rest and hard work go together. You need times to get empty and just chill. (Phew…)
• Don’t live a lottery ticket kind of life. Don’t be “rescued” by your dream.
• Be present. Don’t miss the joys in the here and now.

In addition to all the great content and ideas I walked away with, I connected with several people while there. I walked out with four women’s contact info and have been in touch with each of them. Just having someone that can relate to where you’re at is a huge help. PLUS, I ran into someone from my town. That was an unexpected blessing. We traded contact info and are meeting for coffee in a few weeks.

It was truly awesome to walk around that room and talk with so many different people, all with huge dreams and passions. One was hoping to start some sort of program that would help missionaries returning from the field to connect back into society. Another wanted to be a teacher. Another boldly proclaimed he wanted to be a magician.

For me, for now, I am continuing to write, blog, and work on my music. I have half a song completed, and I am working to finish it up. Although every day isn’t hugely productive, it feels good to take a few baby steps closer.