Major Life Change (Again)

In thinking and talking about this change we are about to embark on, I've
realised that this isn't the first for us. Although folks who know us know
we tend to operate in a constant state of change, both at work and at home.
At work, well, we do major change programmes and when the change is gone, we
move on. At home, different hotels during the week and different places on
the weekends. Holidays almost always in different places. The saying that
change is a constant rings true for us.

Comfort with different levels of change varies by individual. For me the
above is what I would consider constant, but low level change. In Six Sigma
terms it would be called common cause variation, a certain level of constant
variation which occurs within the system (of our lives). What we are about
to experience, I would call special cause variation or a significant,
unusual level of variation caused by a significant occurrance within the
system - we're about to toss our consistent, fairly predictable (albeit
constantly changing) lives up into the air. We've finished jobs, rented out
property and are moving to a sailboat - if that's not a major life change, I
don't know what is!

But, in thinking about this, it isn't the first time either one of us has
done this. In 1993, I started a home business, sold the house in Maine and
moved to Clearwater - all worldly goods in a U-Haul and no home lined up.
Left the States in 2002, with Jess (it was her idea, by the way) and moved
to England, not knowing a soul and all worldly goods in 18 2x2 cardboard
boxes - it was the best thing I ever did. Steve has had similar
experiences.

Changing my life (or lifestyle) in a major way has been incredibly positive
and that's why when people ask, "Are you excited?" and, "Are you nervous?" I
can answer both with a big YES! The nerves are mostly from worrying about
forgetting things (like my vitamins sitting on the counter up North (sigh)).
And it is exciting, because I know how great it can be.



And in this economy - bonkers!

Gloom and Doom or a Wake Up Opportunity to Assess What's Important

Have been watching the market bouncing around and the media's creation of an emotional frenzy over the past few weeks. There is definitely a lot that needs to be fixed over the next several years and people have made financial decisions that will need to be recovered from (both as businesses and individually), but since gloom and doom sells rather than leadership and 'here's what we can do about getting ourselves out of this', that's what the media focuses on. I read somewhere that we should be informed, but actually I don't want to be inundated with a constant minute by minute flow of how terrible it all is. I'll stay informed, but at this point I want to focus on the self-leadership (in the absence of any other) route and move forward.

For us, this is a wake-call, one which we've been hearing the gentle tones of for a couple of years. It's now a smack up side the head saying, 'Hey, pay attention!' If it is possible to step outside the frenzy, it is a clear time of reassessment - of what is important. It is an opportunity (all Pollyanna comments aside) to take a breath, step (or be pushed) off the produce / consume treadmill, turn off the autopilot for a while and think about what we want (as individuals) want rather than what businesses, government, advertisers want for us.

The treadmill and autopilot. I haven't been to a gym in a while, but did you ever notice that once you get on a treadmill it is almost impossible to get off? The only way to get off is to leap off (usually painful) or stop the machine. It's an interesting analogy for what's happening now. We get on the treadmill, start walking or running, turn on the autopilot (because being on a treadmill is really boring) and we can't get off - until the machine stops.

We've been making the 'planned leap' off the treadmill for the past two years knowing that it would create a significant change in our lives. Using the analogy above, what could be perceived as painful is the adjustment in income, radically different than before, but a planned leap is less painful than an unplanned one or being pushed. No matter which way one gets off the treadmill, once one does, you shut off the autopilot and begin to look around, to think, to become more creative.

Motivation for the leap. Every year since we've been married, Steve and I have an annual planning session where we sit down (often over a period of days) and identify the most important areas of our lives and what we want to accomplish in those areas in the coming year. There's usually about 8 consisting of our relationship, family, business, finance, etc. It is a focused and concerted effort both at the beginning and during the year to make sure that the things that are important to us make the agenda. If we didn't do it, then what others want for us (others who have no value or importance in our lives) get what they want and we don't. The key point here is that we've had to plan in our relationship, family and friends and fun things to do and actively project manage those activities to make sure they get done.

Stepping off the treadmill for a minute, do we want our relationships to be activities on a project plan? Do we want to have to fight and strive to make time (and energy) for an evening with friends? I can remember one year thinking that I had so much on workwise that I only had enough time to work on three of my 'important areas', relationship, family and work, and that friends wouldn't make the agenda. That was a wake-up call in itself, friends didn't make the agenda! Something needed to change.

If we only have a finite number of hours in this lifetime (just had a birthday and I'm counting!), do we want to spend them on a treadmill? Maybe this is a really good opportunity (setting the financial woes aside for just a few minutes) to assess, are we simply on the 'work till we're exhausted, collapse in front of the ads on TV, which send us to the mall to buy a 'treat', which we have to work until we're exhausted to pay for' treadmill? What portion of our lives are dedicated to that treadmill and is that what we really want?

For us the answers are no and we want a lot more than that! We've thought about this a lot and we want all those other areas of our life to have just as much (or more!) in them than the work area, we want family, friends and fun to be a core part of our lives, rather than activities on a plan or not even making that year's agenda. It's not often we get the opportunity to pause, step off the treadmill and think about what we really want.

The Decision is Made

Made the decision not to work for another year and have now set the date for departure - April 21st, 2008! The work option is not as enticing as going sailing - surprise, surprise. Having sorted this out, we can now begin planning all the myriad details and things WHICH MUST BE DONE before leaving. Good thing we've run multimillion pound programmes for a living, planning this is more complex!

We're settled on a set of core preparation categories - property, finance, skills and health, the year before we go (because this isn't all about tomorrow, we still have to enjoy today!), and boat prep. These categories include everything from mail and money logistics, provisioning the boat, what knowledge gaps do we have right down to how many pairs of socks we need to bring. All of the house stuff has to be automated and we have to manage mail / money with the same speed in which we would if we were at home. The boat has to be 'fit' and have an inventory which will enable us to deal with breakage / breakdowns.

Food is a biggy since Steve and I are serious foodies. The idea of eating tinned beans or nasty canned vegetables is NOT appealing. Therefore, we're practicing - learning to cook in the way we like with the foods that we can carry on a boat. Our freezer is small and at this point we don't know how reliable it will be so we won't be putting all our eggs in that particular basket. The big question becomes 'how do you cook gourmet food without access to fresh ingredients?' We've made a lot of progress in this area and have compiled a list of recipes which we are currently testing.

Figuring out what to do on a boat is another area we're thinking about. Since we've both been working full-time for 30 years, having jamb-packed, highly scheduled days is the norm. What happens when there isn't an hourly meeting every hour of every day? What do you do during the day when there is no work? Tough problem, right?! Thus far we've come up with fishing, writing a book, playing instruments, books, movies, music, games, swimming, snorkling and scuba diving. I suspect there will be a bit of socialising too!

Just over a year to go. I think we'll be very busy!