It’s funny how the universe or God, or whatever you feel is the driving force behind this whole experience, lines things up in life.
This past week my wife had to change her dental appointment. She had already canceled once, and so she asked me if I needed the slot. I did. I had been planning to schedule one for months, and just didn’t make it happen.
When I walked in I was met by the hygienist who would be cleaning my teeth. I’d never met her before, so we were engaging in some get to know you banter. She asked me what I did for a living. I asked her the same thing, which made her laugh.
When I told her I was an author, and that I traveled a lot speaking to audiences, she expressed how much she really wanted to travel. This is a dangerous admission around me.
After backpacking around the world in 2002, and many shorter, 4-6 week length backpacking adventures since, my life has been forever positively changed by getting out there and seeing the world. So when someone says they really want to do that, it’s hard to shut me up.
In between the scraping, water spraying, open wider, and the rest of the teeth cleaning process we managed to have a life conversation about what she really wanted. In other words, what did Rich and Happy look like for her.
Her answer was pretty straight forward. She wants freedom, and she wants to travel. It was also very clear that she was suffering from Mad How disease. “I’d go but I don’t know how to get started… How do you speak with people when you don’t know their language… How can a single woman travel alone…”
Those are all items worth figuring out, but you don’t do it by asking how. You look for someone who has already done it, and JUST ASK THEM.
We don’t need to figure all of life’s challenges out on our own. Just ask people who have done, seen, or experienced them already. They already know the answer.
In addition to Mad How disease, she was also incredibly unaware of the great big assets she had at her disposal. For those of you who already read the How to be Rich and Happy book, this is straight from the chapter “You have no but, you’ve got a great big asset.”
For example. She has almost no obligations holding her back. No debt, no kids, no husband or significant other. She does have a dog, but when I asked her, she said her mom would probably take her.
Your Mom! You have a mom close by? Even better. Now you have someone who can help out if any little things pop up during your trip. Yet another great big asset.
She also mentioned she owns a 4 bedroom house free and clear. Which she said she would have to wait to sell before she could go. Wait a minute. FREE AND CLEAR. Forget selling it. Rent it out. That right there will pay for your travels. Heck you will probably make money while you’re traveling. Why would you sell it?
She’s also in an amazing position with her job. As a hygienist, she has a skill that can plug and play. Dentists are always looking for good hygienists. Existing one’s move out of town, take leave because of kids… She could leave for six months to a year and pick right back up when she got back.
That is a huge asset.
So I gave her the whole low down on getting started, where to go, books to read, etc. And I could see she was getting excited not only with the idea of it all, but with the fact that this could be her reality.
As I was paying my bill, I told her to have an amazing trip and that I didn’t expect to see her the next time I came in because she would be out there traveling the world. And she replied…”I hope so.”
And there it was. The fears, the potential unknowns, the potentially overpowering realization that what she wanted could be hers…all brought to a head in one phrase.
I hope so.
I looked her in the eye and smiled. Then I told her a piece of the Rich and Happy formula that took me years to learn.
“It has nothing to do with hope, my friend. It’s about choice, and action.”
Her future is entirely in her hands. She is loaded with great big assets to help her realize the Rich and Happy life she wants. But all of that will be wasted if she fails to draw the proverbial line in the sand and say, “This is my future.” And then take the steps to make it true.
Hey John and Tim,
Thank you for that post. It is up to us. Entirely up to us!!
It’s so true. That moment when I realized my dreams were actually achievable I became paralyzed. It was unexpected. Thankfully from what I’ve learned from you and HTBRH – I know how to work through it.
It still happens to me, the trepidation just before a dream becomes a decision and then reality. But it’s a lot like skydiving. Once I make the decision, the time immediately after is just the closest to heaven I can imagine.
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness concerning all acts of initiative and creation.
There is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans; that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen events, meetings and material assistance which no one could have dreamed would have come their way.” – William H Murray