I’m less than a month out from an epic adventure and I think it’s very true that there are obstacles in achieving goals. I’m a go-getter. A hustler. While I’ve been in tears many times this past month as the obstacles seem insurmountable, something inside me is incredibly driven to set out on this next adventure.
Sailing Adventure
I’m officially letting you know that my husband and I are off on a sailing adventure. We dreamed about this two years ago but we had no idea it would become a reality so soon. We thought we could never afford it. I felt chained to my job.
Obstacles in Achieving Goals: The Money Cycle.
Earn money. Survive. Adventure sporadically.
Be happy sporadically. Earn money. Survive…
Then I saw the ad:
“Crew wanted to sail to the Bahamas”
Sailing to the Bahamas
At first, only my husband was sailing to the Bahamas from Niagara (Canada). He would meet me in Mexico. After all, we had been planning to overwinter in Mexico since I fell in love with San Miguel de Allende last November.
Things were tough sometimes between us as I wasn’t sure I could drive to Mexico by myself with our two cats. Heck, until this past June, we hadn’t brought the cats on any road trips.
We officially retired on June 30th and I saw my dreams of going to Mexico fade away.
Need for Creative Self Expression is Killing Me
The need for creative self-expression is killing me. I’ve always found the workplace stifling. I’m not one to commit to nine to five or a regular schedule.
I did a line of functional art before I retired and am only beginning to find my niche market. One of my hopes was to do art in San Miguel de Allende. It’s such an art haven. When dreams of overwintering in Mexico began to fade away I felt my art dreams were also dying. Without creativity, I’m lost.
I also did not want to sail to the Bahamas. Or so I told myself. I wanted this to be my husband’s adventure. Plus I crewed on several yachts in my early twenties in Australia and said “Never again.”
But I think I was lying to myself.
I think that I have this incredible need for creative self-expression and until I started writing about my adventures, I was feeling empty. But I had no adventures to look forward to.
My last adventure – Solo Hiking the Presidential Traverse
Obstacles in Achieving Goals: You Are Your Biggest Obstacle
The obstacles in achieving goals are sometimes known, and sometimes not. I believe we are the biggest obstacle we face in achieving our goals.
I told my mind that I didn’t want to crew on the boat to the Bahamas. I told others. I was trying to convince myself that this was true.
I had been sailing with the crew through the weeks. I jumped at the chance to once again learn how to prepare the boat to leave the dock, how to set the main sail and, the genoa.
I love working hard. One of the first sails we did was in high winds. We rocked and we rolled as the waves splashed against the boat. Our stomachs turned. I craved to sit out on the bow so I could feel the force of adventure but it was unsafe.
A few weeks later as we arrived at the boat our captain gave us the bad news. Two of the crew were out. We were short for the trip.
I can do it!
I surprised myself. But I did not hesitate. I wanted to sail to the Bahamas. I wanted to live like a vagabond on a boat in the ocean. I wanted to face the force of Mother Nature when she was angry and when she was beautiful. Now I too was part of the crew.
Non-Stop Obstacles to Achieving Goals
Now the real obstacles to achieving goals would start to hit us like a storm.
We could afford for one of us to sail but not two. We had two cats and there was no way I was leaving them behind for several months. We have a house that needs maintenance. We now needed two expensive life jackets (and two mini ones for the cats). Where would we store our truck for four months? On top of everything I had taken a contract job and I despised it.
Slowly we started chipping away at the obstacles. I made a plan. But first, I needed to face up to one of the new guiding principles in my life:
NEVER CHASE THE MONEY
and
DO WHAT YOU LOVE
Money Mantra
I don’t think I’ve ever really understood the money mantra – do what you love and the money will follow. Shouldn’t we take every opportunity we find to earn money to make our dreams come true?
No. We shouldn’t take every opportunity we find to earn money to make our dreams come true.
That’s living for tomorrow. And we have to sacrifice our values to do that.
To be honest, I had a little help in learning to live by the money mantra (“Do what you love…”). The incredible stress of producing a major event after two years of not operating during the pandemic took an incredible toll on my health. And my marriage.
My husband and I talked this out and decided “Money is not worth it.”
I thought my body was fully recuperated but when I hit work stress points in 2023 my body was quick to let me know it wasn’t going through that again.
It’s super hard (at least for me), but I found that every time I turned down money, and stuck to my values, life got better. More opportunities appeared. I could tell you that the number of coincidences in my life has increased, but I think they’ve always been there. I just kept choosing the wrong path and missed them.
Have you read my collection of inspirational adventure quotes?
Determination is the Key to Success
While determination is the key to success, if we aren’t flexible, we will get stuck.
Ever since I committed to crewing on the boat to the Bahamas, I’ve put my head down and worked hard to make this happen. I have hit obstacle after obstacle in the process. And it’s made me nervous. I’ve sometimes had the thought that I should stay at home. It would certainly make things easier. But those thoughts are fleeting because it’s not what I want.
I make a plan, like renting out our house as an Airbnb and, then find I have to tweak our plan. I take an interior design contract only to have it fall through. I work around that contract to make it happen. We hit obstacle after obstacle trying to finish our renovations – this paint won’t adhere to that paint; a window film we have to replace is out of print; the floorboards we laid several years ago are separating; a tile in the bathroom needs replacing and on and on.
I made up this metaphor several years ago and it’s helping me to stay flexible right now as we encounter so many obstacles to make our next big dream come true:
Life is like the slots. If you play only one machine and lose your investment, you’re a fool. You have to keep going back and playing many machines until you hit one that is ready to spit out a jackpot.
And Now My Ship is Sailing
Yes, my ship is sailing. My next dream is about to happen. I’m off on a new adventure.
I’m scared and excited and ready to embrace whatever comes my way. I know there will be many obstacles on the trip. Sailing is hard work. And we’ll all be living in tight quarters. Heck, I’m even wondering if I’ll be able to keep up my bodybuilding or get enough protein in over the four months!
Whatever happens, I will remember the myriad of obstacles my husband and I faced to get on the water. And I do truly believe that as long as I keep my philosophies at the forefront of my mind, I will be ok. After all, life is very much about our perspective and how we deal with situations.
Read the “Part II” to our sailing adventure that has enacted a Plan B
What kind of mindset is needed to achieve peak performance?