The Set of the Sail Will Determine Where You Arrive
“The same wind blows on us all. The economic wind, the social wind, the political wind. The same wind blows on everybody. The difference in where you arrive in one year, three years, five years, the difference in arrival is not the blowing of the wind but the set of the sail.” ~ Jim Rohn
Sometimes, when we see an opportunity to make a big change in our lives, it’s a matter of changing the set of your sail. A colleague in my business, changed the set of her sail to change her life and her family’s. She was a very successful, busy executive with a large media company, commuting 4 hours a day from home to her job. By the time her day ended, she had very little time to spend with her two young daughters and her husband.
She wanted to be more involved in her family’s lives, but didn’t know how she could make that happen. Missing one of her daughter’s first steps was when she realized, something needed to change. A friend introduced her to a new business she could do part time and begin supplementing her income and eventually replace her executive salary, allowing her to make the change she wanted. At first, she resisted. She was already too busy. But when she thought about her future and what she really wanted, she made the decision to partner with her friend and take control of her life.
Today, she works her new business around commuting to work, watching her daughters play sports, just blending it into her life.
We all want to make the most of our lives. Thinking you are too busy to find a better way, or just not being open minded to new opportunities won’t always get you where you want to go. You don’t want to let any of the moments slip away, lost forever while you were waiting on a train, or for the clock to chime six, or for an opportunity to find you down the road. Don’t kick yourself a year from now for missing out on an opportunity that is in front of you today.
What are you going to do this week that can get you started towards really living the life you want? This isn’t a rhetorical question. Seriously take the time right now and decide what’s the one thing you’ll do this week to get started.
Leave a comment below and declare it publicly. There is power in public declaration.
