Be Brave Not Safe

There are many tedious chores in life. Chores that must simply get done.

During our last camping trip of the summer, to Mooselookmeguntic Lake, Cindy and I began using the phrase: Psychological Win.

You see, after you’ve had several amazing days of camping, you ultimately have to pack everything up. When gazing upon your campsite, on the morning of departure, you observe gear strewn everywhere. The tent (which contains sleeping bags, pillows, blankets), the easy-up, tarps, chairs, coolers, fishing gear, cooking station and all the related supplies.

It can seem just a little daunting to get all of that packed up in such a way that it fits in the canoe so that you only have to make a SINGLE trip back to the mainland. That, without capsizing, which we can gladly say has not happened to us (yet?).

The reality is, however, the gear isn’t going to pack itself, so you must get to work.

I like to tackle things in a way that provides a sense of accomplishment (a psychological win). So, instead of making a little progress on a whole bunch of things, I like to get specific tasks done: completely!

As each task is done you actually feel that much closer to the goal. Just like placing the next piece in a puzzle.

I realize the above is a pretty trivial example. However, we have recently taken this (packing) to the next level.

Packing for a move, well, just plain sucks!

As mentioned in the prior post, we have lived in our current home for over 20 years. In that timeframe, raising 4 boys, we accumulated a ton of stuff. “Fortunately”, several years ago, we had a mold problem in our basement, resulting from a pipe break that occurred years before. Over time, the unnoticed, remaining moisture grew into a…situation. Since we had a great deal of “stuff” stored there, we had a choice: clean each item to remove any mold that may have accumulated or throw it out.

We made the easy decision: rent a dumpster and empty the basement – completely! During the process we had to turn off our emotions and just keep lugging stuff out of the house and tossing it. The PURGE was extremely beneficial. And, we don’t miss a THING, other than that antique clock given to us by my grandparents: Cindy will NOT let me forget that 🙂

Fast forward several years and somehow more stuff accumulated (sans the mold)…

Since we are downsizing, we had to get rid of more stuff to avoid packing it. We have done so by:

• Giving things to the boys (they made out like bandits)
• Making frequent trips to Goodwill
• Selling things on craiglist (which I LOVE doing 🙂 )
• Loading up our trash and recycle bins

Even with all of this purging, there is still a bunch of stuff that remains. Needed stuff that we will bring with us.

As we look around the house, today, much is packed. However, there is still much to do:

• Clean out that closet
• Pack the dishes
• Pack our clothing
• Tear down the bed
• Load the truck (tomorrow’s task)
• Etc., etc.

We simply look at each other and say: “What is the next psychological win you want to go for?”

It is really another way of saying: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

So, we are almost there (packed). So far, we have maintained our sanity by simply chipping away at things as we go for the next psychological win – another completed task. And, by remembering our destination 🙂

All the best!

Several days ago I received the following quote in my email.

One life. Just one. Why aren’t we running like we are on fire towards our wildest dreams?

This quote reinforces (for me) the reason why we are making the move that we are about to make.

You see, we have lived in our current home for over 20 years. We raised 4 awesome young men who have recently left the nest. It is now time to downsize. Not only downsize, but to begin the next stage of our life: lakeside living.

We have often said: “If only there was a lake behind our house we would stay put.” We love it here!

We are in a great location, surrounded by fantastic neighbors, trees, wildlife, friends in the community (church and otherwise), with access to everything needed to live a fulfilling life. This includes being about an hour away from the ocean, the mountains and the big city (Boston).

Yes, it is tough emotionally to leave the home we’ve lived in for over 1/3 of our lives and, more difficult still, the many people we’ve developed relationships with during that period of time.

But, did I mention, there is no lake at our doorstep 🙂

Living in a home on a large, crystal clear lake in Maine has been a major goal for many years. In fact, for a long period of time we had a picture of a lake home on our fridge indicating the year we were targeting to realize that goal: 2015.

Our new locale places us MUCH closer to our folks while remaining only a couple hours away from the boys (at least where they have presently chosen to live).

This move need not be the end of long-held and cherished relationships. We will continue to frequent the area to visit the boys as well as my clients, when I’m needed onsite to deliver Project Management services. In addition, we will be able to stay in touch online. And, finally, we hope to host visitors (family and long-time friends) who’d like to spend a day or two “at the lake.”

So, when I read the quote: “One Life. Just One. Why aren’t we running like we are on fire towards our wildest dreams?” I can respond with enthusiasm: “I am!“

You can too!

I recall a story told by Earl Nightingale, in the audio recording Lead The Field, in which an acquaintance of his learned that he and his wife lived in Monterey, California. The acquaintance said something to the effect of: “My, how fortunate you are to live in such a beautiful spot on our planet.” His response was: “Yes, we are fortunate. But we CHOSE to live there.“

Said another way, his arrival in Monterey, California did NOT happen by a freak accident. He and his wife decided where they wanted to live and then put in the time and effort (a.k.a. WORK) to achieve their goal. Luck had no part in it, unless you go with the more intelligent definition of the term luck. That is, the point at which preparedness meets opportunity!

Do you want to be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities available to you, to achieve your wildest goals and dreams? Listen to Lead The Field: over and over and over again! No joke. Just do it. You will be amazed at the insights gained and the accelerated progress you will make in life!

For us, it is now time to set the next major goal. Well, maybe we’ll wait until after we unpack 🙂

More to come!