Do You Deserve a Life of Excellent Adventures?
Published July 9, 2010 | 
Doris appears like a perfect politician’s wife. She’s lovely, tall and dresses well. In her 50s, her blue eyes still sparkle. My perception of Doris shifted when at my Excellent Adventure get-together at Starbucks this week, she whispered, “The biggest obstacle is deciding I deserve to live an excellent adventure.”
You could’ve knocked me over with a feather.
Our American work ethic is about working hard. Then, in your 60s you retire. The world has changed. It’s not unusual for people to work in their 70s now. We work harder, more hours and take less vacation time just to keep our heads above water.
The largest growth of jobs the last decade is not in the Fortune 1000 but in small business. Larger still, is growth in the “start your own business” sector.
We get caught up in maintaining the trappings of success. It’s pounded into our heads. Life should look a certain way. It’s not enough to be presentable and polite. Now we must have “a personal brand.” We miss out on living our excellent adventure because we’re too busy paying for everything.
The new “American Dream” is to live our passion – which can include a lot of financial ups and downs. However, we’re still supposed to maintain all the outer trappings. It also includes the latest iPad, smartphone and other gadgets. Maintaining that “look” or “brand” costs us the freedom to live our Excellent Adventure. We are trapped by our stuff and the expectation that we must keep buying more, even newer stuff.
Doris and her husband own a home in Las Vegas and another in New Mexico. Everything about them screams success. Inside, they both want something different. With their current lifestyle they can’t afford it. So, Doris wonders if she deserves it. I believe she does. If she and her husband are willing to make changes they’ll get there faster.
Consider the possibilities: trade down from a home with a $2,000 monthly mortgage and buy a condo with an $800 mortgage. That’s $1,200 per month in independence. Trade in the fancy SUV for more modest wheels and you free up money spent on payments, insurance and gasoline. Follow the rule you don’t buy something new unless you replace something old. You instantly have more money to live your excellent adventure and less clutter to organize. Life becomes streamlined.
You can live more authentically which truly is your personal brand.
Posted in Adjusting to Change, Excellent Adventure | 
adventure, American Dream, change, deserve, happiness, passion, success2 Responses to Do You Deserve a Life of Excellent Adventures?
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Dedicated to every 40+ person still kickin' it. If you have dreams and adventures you refuse to abandon - follow me on the journey. Life is one big adventure! Make yours excellent.
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I followed you over from Jonathon Aslay’s thread on Facebook. You mentioned that you blogged and so I thought it might be fun to read what you write. I’m glad I visited. So many of the personal success coaches talk about dreaming big, which is okay, except that it translates to living big. In most cases, far too big (read expensive) and unrealistically for me as a single mother of four children, one of which is in college. While I do own my own home and I do have a secure career that earns me a decent income, I am also recovering from post-divorce financial fallout. I found myself breathing a sigh of relief as I read your post. After all, it is tough to bite the bullet and drive around that ’91 Toyota Corolla wagon with the oxidizing paint job because it is reliable, runs well and is paid for, when your friends are driving their new BMW’s. Your post reassured me that I’m on the right track. Sometimes, staying put and plodding away at the right stuff, to gain the increased freedom so that you can improve that excellent adventure is a necessary step on the path.
Thanks for taking the time to click on over from FB and read my humble thoughts. I’ve been a marketing mentor for a decade now and as a result I can see the good and the bad that marketing does. It makes us want a whole lotta stuff. The good is that’s part of why America has the most vibrant economy on the planet. The bad is that it makes us want a whole lotta stuff.
A few years ago I was a management consultant at the Consumer Electronic Show here in Vegas. It’s a massive show that brings 150,000 visitors to Vegas and brings in millions of dollars in tourist revenue. Anyway, during the show I had to walk up and down the corridors of the massive convention center. As I looked at the displays there were big scenes of people in near ecstasy because they were playing with the latest gadget or gizmo. Our pervasive marketing lulls people into believing that more “toys” from the latest cell phone to the jazziest car will bring them happiness.
It won’t. It’s just instant gratification. Good for you for sticking to your guns.
So, what’s you’re excellent adventure?