Quit hoping and start planning.

I didn’t have time….

I ran out of time….

There just wasn’t time for that….

I couldn’t find the time….

How many of you said this for one thing or another in 2017?  How many of you missed out on experiences because you thought one of these statements were gospel?  I did.

I can apply one, a few, and sometimes all of these statements applying to something I didn’t do in 2017.  I missed out on a lot of things because of it. 

Things with my wife.  Things with my kids.  Things just for myself. 

I missed out on books that I should’ve read, and people I should’ve spent more time with.  I fell short on projects I should’ve tackled and places I should’ve visited. 

Because of this, I suffered.  My family suffered.  This blog definitely suffered.

What about you? 

I had a lot of blessings in 2017.  I got to make a cross country bike trip with my family, including my 83 year old father.  We rode from Oakland CA up the Pacific Coast Highway into Oregon to Seattle and then back across Washington State, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and home.  It was magnificent and will be the subject of a future blog. 

I also was conspicuously cognizant that one person who wasn’t on that ride was the driving force as to why the rest of us were, and that was my big brother Dan.  The day we got home, Dan went into the hospital never to return home.  Another topic of another blog as well.

It’s January 2018.  Now is the time to “get your budget straight”.  Set yourself some goals and start making plans to achieve those goals.  What do you want to do?  Where to you want to go?  What relationships do you want to strengthen and which ones have run their course? 

Don’t find yourself in December 2018 in the same predicament that I was.  I should’ve taken that ride.  I should’ve paid that visit.  I should’ve had that conversation.  I should’ve told that person I loved them one more time. 

You are your greatest cheerleader and you are also your greatest detractor.  Make a decision to see which “You” that you are going to listen to more.  “But that ‘detractor’ in me is also the voice of reason.  It knows what I can do and what I can’t do”…  Partially true, but often that detractor in your brain thinks in terms of “all or nothing”.  That’s where the planning comes in.  You know what your responsibilities are.  You know your work schedule and your financial obligations.  So, perhaps this isn’t the year to make a 4-Corners of the USA ride.  That month off work just isn’t feasible at this stage.  I get it.  For most people, it’s not.  But if not now, when?  What would it take to be able to make that ride?  Start writing down the answers and slowly you’ll start finding the path to get there. 

Set goals.  Make plans.  Work those plans.

Let me know how you did come December.

Ride Safe, and with Purpose.

SMB