How quickly things can change …
Late last year I was transforming my You Are What You Think & Say course into an online program. Ron (my husband) and I decided to get an appraisal on our home of 36 years. Real Estate sales were going ballistic. It was our chance to move from a very steep block. This change of plan could have derailed me. However, changing direction always depends how you look at things.
Our meeting with the agent on 29th November took us by surprise when she walked in and said, ‘Your house is ready to go on the market!’
Two days later she sent us a booklet of comparative sales in the area over the past three months. On reading it we decided to follow our gut. Everything about selling our home on a very steep block felt light and right.
In just six day we were able to de-personalise, style and have the house ready for photos to be listed online two days later. And three days hence the open inspections began!
Meanwhile, we continued to mulch the garden and right-size our belongings, adding rubbish to a skip and donating the useable surplus to charity.
Although our 12 to 15 hour days were exhausting, the mental feng shui was fantastic. As we relieved each area of any excess clutter, we felt better and better. Along the way, Ron and I commented often, ‘We’re so glad we’re not hoarders.’
It Depends How You Look at Things?
Since November, I’ve spent three months away from my desk. Not only have we moved house, but so have both our children and their partners. This meant three moves in just six weeks, all helping each other.
I realised the other day that the course that I’d like to have had out and about months ago, is finished but no one knows about it yet. When disappointment and admonishment could have overtaken me, I’ve reminded myself that there’s no room for the word should in my world. So, I don’t allow myself to say, ‘I should have the course out there.’ ‘I should have made time.’ ‘I should have people booking to do the program … ‘
Should is what we do to keep someone else happy or to heap unrealistic pressure on ourselves.
If I look at what has been achieved in the past three months, it’s nothing short of amazing! So I keep reminding myself, It depends how you look at things. When I do this, I take a calm, deep breath and relax.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up …
When mentoring people I won’t allow them to run themselves down. Rather, I encourage them to look at where they started to see if they’ve moved from that point. Without exception, they say, “Yes.”
If I ask myself to look at where I started and see if I’ve moved, the answer is, ‘Absolutely.’
In between all the de-cluttering, packing, moving and unpacking, I’ve finished creating the online course. I’ve got the course to my web designer and he’s added it to my website shopping cart.
And I’m really proud of what I’ve created and how it will be out there helping people to look differently at how they think about and speak to themselves.
Look for the Miracles …
Right now is one of the trickiest times any of us can remember for securing a rental property. People I’ve spoken to have been to dozens of rental inspections, without success. Shortly after selling, our daughter casually asked a friend if she knew anyone with a property for rent.
As it happened she’d had coffee several days prior with a friend looking for good tenants to whom she could rent privately. Hours later Ron and I were inside her lovely 1920’s cottage in an area near where we grew up. Two days later we were offered the cottage to rent! (That’s our little cottage in the photo above)
We believe that opportunities like this come to us because we expect good things to happen and live with an attitude of gratitude.
When our radar is tuned for good things, that’s what we attract. It doesn’t mean there won’t be bumps or detours along the way, but with the right mindset, we could view them as learnings. This changes the energy.
That’s what I’ve done with the absence from my desk. I’m looking at the past three months as a time of working towards a meaningful goal – selling our house at the right time. Even if it wasn’t in my diary for November 2021, the deviation from plan has been an exhilarating journey into the unknown and out the other side with an air of wonderment at how the puzzle slotted together.
Was spending all this time on packing and moving right in the midst of creating an online course my aim for 2021? ‘No.’ Was it good for my business progress? ‘No.’ Was it the right thing to do for our family? ‘Yes.’
Am I satisfied that changing the direction of where I was spending my time was a good thing to do? ‘Yes.’
I could continue to ask a zillion questions and the answer will always be, It depends how you look at things.
Where to from Here?
Now that we are feeling settled and have resumed our normal sleep patterns and daily walking program, I’m ready to book times to run Simplifying Aged Care and You Are What You Think & Say workshops. The time feels right.
I’m ready for my the new program to be out and about and I’m ready to book mentoring appointments with clients. I’m ready to hit Publish to get my course out to the world.
My mantra in life is Making Lives Easier.
It’s my aim that You are What You Think & Say will do just that for people around the world by helping them to look at things to see if what they think and say about themselves and others really serve them.
I decided to practise what I preach by cutting myself some slack for not being where I thought I’d be by early 2022 and being eternally thankful for all that has transpired in just three months! Feeling grateful.
That’s how I choose to look at things.