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Dante St James

It’s not like you have anything better to do than to work on your own future.

May 15, 20253 min read

This week I had one of those consultations where everything starts off like a therapy session. A lovely, very accomplished woman in her early 50s, stuck at the intersection of no longer needing to raise children, no longer wanting to raise her boss's profits, and no longer content to just binge “Farmer Wants a Wife” every night while sipping her second wine and scrolling through photos of other people’s holidays.

She had been working in the same place since she left high school. Stable. Loyal. Respected. But now? Restless. Unfulfilled. And carrying a vague guilt for wanting more when she already had “enough.”

So I asked her to carve out just 30 minutes a day to explore her ideas. Not act on them. Just explore. Try. Scribble. Dream.

That’s when her face changed.

“How am I supposed to find 30 minutes?”

Her schedule was precise. Home by 4:45. Shower. Wine. Dinner. News. Reality TV. Meditation. Scroll. Sleep. Comfort, curated. Life, paused.

It hit me. When routine becomes a blanket, even the smallest breeze of change feels like a storm.

Your Day Is Packed. But Is It Doing Anything for You?

We build routines like we build walls. And we mistake full days for full lives.

I get it. In 2015, my life was gym, gym, and more gym. I looked great. But I was emotionally bankrupt. When everything collapsed in 2016, I realised the muscles weren’t going to save me.

And they didn't - especially after I got injured and lost those too.

Autopilot feels like safety. But it’s often just sedation.

The difference between the people who survive a life shake-up and the ones who thrive through it isn’t money, connections or even talent. It’s that some of us practise change.

My client didn’t need to quit her job. She just needed to make space in her life for the version of her that might do something more. She needed 30 minutes to light the pilot flame.

Why the “Goal” Isn’t a Million-Dollar Business (Yet)

It’s not about building an empire. It’s not even about launching something. It’s about proving to yourself that you can create instead of consume. That you can invest instead of distract.

The goal isn’t to disrupt everything overnight. It’s to step out of the hypnotic loop where each day looks the same as the one before it, and you’re constantly chasing comfort instead of creating meaning.

What comes out of those 30 minutes might be your first piece of content.

Your first client conversation.

Or even just your first decision to stop saying “someday.”

The first 30 minutes probably won't be anything significant... but your 14th 30-minutes could be a lot.

In fact, you'd be surprised just how much could come out of 30 minutes of truly focused work on something you love.

It’s Not Dramatic. It’s a Start.

We’ve glamorised transformation. As if you need a total breakdown to make a breakthrough.

I mean, even I have glamorised it in myself. Some of my biggest wins came no longer after my most heart-wrenching losses. But it doesn't have to be that dramatic all the time.

The most powerful change can often be the quietest. It’s not a mid-life crisis. It’s a mid-life choice.

The person you want to become is only ever 30 minutes a day away. You don’t need more time. You need better use of the time you already give away to things that don’t grow you.

And if you can’t find 30 minutes in a day? You probably need 60.

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Dante St James

Dante is the Director of Australian Digital Education & Retail Group and Founder of Clickstarter, Speakstarter and Dante St James Consulting.

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