It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone. As 2018 comes to an end, I have been reflecting on all the events that have transpired during this year. The year has given me tears of joy, tears of sadness, new opportunities, and once again, stretching my comfort zone. I’ve had to be the C.E.O, caregiver, peace-maker, property manager, cook, cleaner, teacher and more. If you are a mompreneur, you know what I’m talking about.
This Christmas season, I received card with a “newsletter” from a family member whom we didn’t get to see because they had moved a few months ago. I though it to be odd at first but then thought to myself, why not? This is a great way to keep others up to date and close at heart. With that being said, this is my 2018 newsletter to you…
About one year ago, my husband began working in a new area. He has the same job, just a new area. Although that normally would not be anything to write home about, in this case it is. You see, his new location is 2 hours and 15 minutes from home. Because of the extreme distance and travel time, the most efficient thing to do was to find temporary living quarters. So, for the next 5 months, that is what he did. Monday through Friday he went to work and came home on the weekends. That meant my daughter and I were on our own to get everything done at home.
This is nothing new for me. I’ve had this schedule more than a dozen times over the last 30 years.
Next, on our year of events, we began an intense and timely search for a new home. Most people decide on a location where they want to live and then search for the house or property. Well, by no surprise, we did things a little differently. We had a specific type of home / property we were looking for, without much consideration about the location. I have this belief that things happen for a reason and where ever we were to settle down, it would be a perfect fit.
We managed to manifest the property and home we had dreamed about for the last few years. As it turns out, we love our new location although it does come with a few things that we need to learn and figure out. Unfortunately, we did not eliminate the long distance drive to and from work. So, once again …
About the time we found our dream property, I was in the midst of preparing for a trip to Zurich, Switzerland. My connection with Transformation TV would bring me an opportunity to be part of a documentary film. There was so much to do to prepare for the filming and the travel. The end of March through mid April would be a time of massive multitasking. Packing up the home, preparing for the filming, working with clients, getting all of the travel documents and arrangements confirmed, and of course, the most important job, being attentive to my daughter,
The trip to Switzerland was amazing, breathe taking, confusing and nerve-racking. We landed in a country were we did not speak the language, nor did they cater to our English language. The car we rented did not have GPS and our cell phones did not work. We had been awake for 24 hours and it took every ounce of energy and effort to not blow up at one another or have an emotional break down. Thanks to the navigational skills of my amazing husband, we managed to find our hotel within just a few short hours. I don’t know what I would have done with out him.
On a side note, when you travel with your family to a foreign country for work, there are two things to consider; the time and energy necessary to be with your family and the time and energy to be present for work. In my case, they were polar opposite. If you have ever experienced something like this, you know how incredibly stressful it can be. It was imperative that I practice everything I’ve learned and knew about handling stress to make the trip not only success for the movie but a good experience for my family.
After an incredible week in Switzerland, we returned home to make the final preparations to move in 10 days.
Remember earlier, I mentioned a family member sent a newsletter for Christmas? They moved this year too. He talked about the stress and the mishaps along the way. I can certainly relate. I guess at least for them, they had two adults to get everything together, no children or large animals to worry about. We were converging two adults, two living areas, 2+ hours apart to move over 100 miles in a totally different location with child and large animals.
Have you ever moved? If you have, you understand the stress involved. Moving into a new area brings about new challenges. The first challenge is figuring out where to find food, gas and clothing. You know, just a few of those necessities. Next, if you have children, you need to figure out where she/they will be attending school. In my case, that was simple because she attends school from home. Now on the flip side, the bigger challenge for us is figuring out how to get her active in social settings again. Homeschooling is great on many levels, except I believe it’s imperative to have the child in a minimum of three social settings. Working from home is wonderful on many levels as well. However, when you move into a very rural area it can feel isolating and sometimes even depressing..
The area I moved from from was vey populated. As a matter a fact, there were approximately 60+ people, every day, moving into the area. This was the perfect scenario to help me grow my new business. I could always find some type of network group to join and there were also many local FB groups for the area too.
Moving to a very rural area had a huge impact on my business and my energy. The nearest town is over 15 miles away and only one business network group within 50 miles. Ugh, that is a 180 from last year.
Over the summer, I had every intention to create a new TV show for Transformation TV. Unfortunately, the internet speed would make it nearly impossible to follow through with that project. I was feeling overwhelmed, defeated and lonely. Life had been interrupted on a big scale. The dream home was coming with major challenges that we did not consider.
Fall has arrived and it was time to pull myself together. I had to find a way or make a way to forge ahead. I could have given up and given in to what looked like an impossible feat. How would I grow my business without having strong social connections? How could I help my child have a positive social life experience when she is home schooled and in a very rural area? How could I keep my marriage healthy with the continued long distance commute? And at the very least, managing a large parcel with multiple horses with just my daughter and myself?
This is where my skill set of turning lemons into lemonade comes into play. After investing a ton of time, energy and money into my personal development, I have mastered the skill of stepping outside my comfort zone.
So here is what I’ve learned and what I am doing to find a way or make a way to forge ahead.
First, the word impossible, is really Im Possible. Everything that I want and desire can be obtained.
To alleviate the business networking and socialization challenge, I methodically used my 3 visits with the one local meet-up group to introduce myself and my business. This has given me enough new contacts to start a new chapter for a Free network meet up group. This will help me develop new relationships, contacts and referral resources. After much research, my spouse has found a solution for the internet speed. I can now refocus my energy on the TV show as well as creating my new personal development programs (coming later this year) and of course, reconnect with all of you.
For my daughter, I reached out to local 4-H groups and have found two that offer programs she is interested in. We have also joined two local home school groups which meet regularly. I contacted multiple equestrian barns in the area. I have found a wonderful trainer to work with us here at our home. As a bonus, her daughter and my daughter have a lot in common and are working on nurturing a new friendship.
My husband an I talk many time a day. We talk about his job and challenges, my goals and my progress. Every time he is home, we make it a point to spend quality time together. It may not be ideal, but when two people are on the same page with the same goals, you can make any situation work.
So, you may be wondering why am I sharing my year in review with you? Well, honestly I’m hoping you can relate to some of the challenges. I know I’m not alone and neither are you. We all go through challenge and even incur major life interruptions. It’s not what happens to you, it’s what you decide to do with the situation and how you want to handle it.
As I’ve said before, at the end of your road, will you be saying I wish I had, or I’m glad I did?
Each and every day you have the option to choose how you want your life to turn out.
Going forward, in 2019, I promise to stay more connected with you, and to provide you with content to help you make choices that will enhance your life and ultimately design a life you love.
Be sure to grab your copy of Chaos to Clarity . If you are a Mompreneur, I’d love to invite you to join my FB group Million Dollar Mompreneur, Creating Finacial Success From Home. Last but not least, if you are looking to connect with some amazing teachers, practitioners, be sure to take advantage of personal development on demand at Transformation.tv
