During the course of my Corporate career, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a Career Coach who had me do a values definition exercise (as most good coaches do!), where I identified “Adventure” as one of my core values. Not the extreme kind of adventure, mind you — more the enjoy life kind of adventure. And I definitely honor this value of mine. I think it all started when I went to England and France with my French class for a month as a freshman in high school. It was my first time to Europe and my first time away from my family for longer than an overnight, knowing no one except my French teacher and the handful of classmates I was with. And what an adventure it was! Then I went to college far away from where I grew up and proceeded to move to 9 different cities as my career developed, not knowing the cities and usually not knowing anyone except co-workers.
Call it a fierce sense of independence or a strong sense of adventure but I wouldn’t trade any of it. The people I’ve met, the things I’ve learned, the places I’ve lived, the experiences I’ve had have all given me an amazingly rich life that I am very grateful for.
And now that I’ve embarked on the adventure of becoming an entrepreneur with my BeeWell speaking/training/coaching business, I find this core value of adventure to be a bit of a challenge. Because this adventure will only work if I say “no” to all of the other adventures that might come up – the vacations, the dinners, the happy hours, the hikes, the yoga retreats, the time with friends, etc. I have to devote practically ALL of my time and energy to this business in order for it to succeed. So I find myself having to choose…and I gotta be honest, I don’t much like having to make that choice. But then I wonder – does it have to be absolute? Can’t I have my cake and eat it too? It’s a VERY fine line and a delicate balance that I’m learning to navigate each and every day. I’m learning a lot about myself in this process. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Be Adventurous,
Betsy