The Journey…

Now in My 40’s It’s Time to Set Up New Chapters of this Adventure & Learn from the Past!

2020 has been a challenging year in both good and bad ways for many. I am not immune to the obstacles, ups, downs, and other in-betweens this year has posed. I use to think we had all had these dreams/goals and if we worked hard we would reach them. This can be true but in many cases life happens and makes you course correct many times putting you on a very different path than you envisioned.

I will say that this year I have been lucky to be in a business that has done well to date (unlike many industries). Like anything else however, that could change in a heartbeat so I’m always planning accordingly. I attended my first UPW (Tony Robbins event), was able to get away with my family for some much needed rest when many couldn’t travel, we all stayed healthy thus far and have not had some of the major challenges many of my fellow humans have had. By all means I have a lot to be grateful for in all areas of life.

So why is that not enough? Why at this point in my life do I tend to still feel like something is missing — that fulfillment isn’t there? I’m not ready to stop by any means as I know if we’re not growing we’re dying, but I’m at a point that I feel I’ve put off for years with the someday syndrome — that someday I’ll get to it.

Well I am starting to feel the pressure that if someday doesn’t become NOW, it will never happen. Have you ever felt like you’ve been stuck in the same spot for years? What I see in front of me is a gap that I haven’t figured out how to close or cross (life is the dance of where we are and where we want to go). Problem is I have not gotten clear about closing that gap and have not come up with a strong enough reason why nor committed to making the leap (perhaps out of Fear and Self-Doubt). I’ve simply been comfortable and that seems to be a place where people die of quiet desperation.

So I (and possibly you) am at a point in my life (call it almost midlife) where I still constantly look back on my life and look at where I went wrong, what I did right, and what I would’ve done differently. I also look at where I currently am and what things I have to be grateful for. Then I look forward knowing that now that I’m in my 40’s I still have plenty of life to live, but the time is continuing to dwindle with each passing day. I find myself anxious at times that if I’m not living the fullest life, I’m wasting it away. That tends to allow fear to enter my brain and soul making me nervous that I’m going to have regrets.

A few years ago I started writing a book for my son. He’s now 15 and my goal is to share with him to answer the question of what would I tell my 18 year old self. I plan to give it to him for his graduation from high school with all my thoughts, lessons, nuggets of wisdom, etc. that may help him going forward (if he chooses to read it).

That is a work in progress, but I’ve boiled down many lessons into two major categories…

Mindset and Action. What we focus on, how we see things, the voices in our heads drive our actions. We must be clear in our outcomes of what we want and we must know why we want it. The action then follows and without action we stay stuck (maybe you know how that feels). I almost feel that I’ve been stuck for a decade. Wrong actions can put us back. Correct actions can set us up for life. This creates analysis of paralysis especially if we have strong associations with failures/lessons of the past (like my network marketing experience). Without the proper mindset to start and throughout the journey the action may not matter.

So where is this going to take me? What journey am I on at this moment? Those will be chapters written as we go. I am happy to share my past — I’ve done a lot in my 40+ years and where I plan to go for that if it can help just one person, that would be awesome! Life is an adventure of challenges and everything in between. It can lift you up and kick you down. All in all it is a true journey we all must go on and where we’ll end up we don’t always know.

I am not sure if anyone will read this but I am going to share. Helping others or just being on the journey together is more fun than keeping it all in. I look forward to sharing my journey and learning yours as well.

Joe C.