Get Out Over Your Skis
Here we are, about as close to the bottom of the planet as you can get. Isla Martillo, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina with some new friends.
When my family & I decided to unplug from our lives last year and create our South American journey, it was a massive undertaking. And we didn't save up beforehand to be able to pay for the whole thing, we didn't create a scripted itinerary, and we didn't even fully know how it was all going to come together.
Most of the people I spoke with along the way, and especially those back home in the US, asked a single, unifying question:
“How are you doing this??”
My answer?
“I don’t know."
And that right there is the key to transformation.
Throughout our planning & travels, through every high and low, we believed in and remained deeply committed to the vision we’d created. More importantly? We trusted ourselves and each other, and had faith that whatever might happen we’d have the ability to adapt, adjust, and skillfully respond, come what may.
And that was how we pulled this thing off.
In skiing, this is called being "out over your skis" -- leaning a little bit beyond your comfort zone without fully knowing how everything is going to come together (but trusting your skills, instincts, and that things WILL come together). Stretching into this slightly risky territory drives your attention to the present moment, enlivens your senses, and flips the switch for deeper creativity and adaptability IRL.
If you want to transform yourself or your life into something new & different, you must take a little risk (little = not overwhelming) and stop trying to Excel-spreadsheet your way forward through life. Aiming at something big through logic and precise, comfortable planning frames your thinking through the lens of the things you already know, cost/benefit analyses, and decision-making models that are familiar to you (and part of where you are vs. where you may get to someday).
From that framework, conservatism – the commitment to traditional values & ideas with opposition to change or innovation – typically wins out.
Nothing new happens.
Transformation, by definition, is never safe. To transform an aspect of your life requires you to break out of what’s known, predictable, and most likely, comfortable.
The transformational way forward is not through the mind and logic. It's through vision, risk-taking, and stepping into the Unknown.
Unhappy with your career and want to create a path forward in life that's meaningful?
Want to go on an international retreat but aren't 100% sure if the timing or cost fits your budget?
Frustrated with chronic pain and considering a mindfulness-based approach vs. sticking with the idea that something's wrong with your body?😉
Want to unplug from the grind and live internationally for a year?
Do you even just want to take on a new activity or movement practice but think you're too old for that?
Any of these examples represent places of transformative potential where the things you already know won't completely serve you or create anything different. Where waiting until things are "just right" or going with what's comfortable or safe will result in the same old, same old.
(And P.S. I've done each of them...if I can do it, you can do it!)
So, take the leap.
Get out over your skis a bit and trust that you'll be able to adapt and respond along the way.🎿
You're smart, you're experienced, and there are people out there who can and want to help you succeed.
You got this!