Last night over copious glasses of wine with a girlfriend, we began discussing books for her women’s study group. I remembered a book that changed my life, Captivating by Stasi Eldridge, and skipped upstairs to retrieve the book from the guest room bookshelf. As she opened the book to peer at the inside jacket, a few sheets of notes fluttered out. Hmmm….how cool is it to have insight to your thoughts from another era… As I gazed on the yellowed notes written in my handwriting fifteen years ago, I came across a question I asked myself: Have you traded efficiency for adventure? Wow. That’s a question I’ve been asking myself all morning.
Efficiency for Adventure. How often do we make this trade? Now I know that my occupation in the travel industry is all about adventure—about the exploration of faraway places—and that makes my heart so happy… But what about my day-to-day life? Do I trade the chance to grow and stretch myself for the need to just get shit done? Do I quash the creative for the efficient? Am I too task-oriented in this season of life?
As a high-level gold star collector, I find it hard to say no sometimes. I want people to be happy. There is this need to have a hand in aligning the stars for people to make them feel valued, seen, appreciated, and just to experience joy. Boosts of serotonin flow through my veins when it all comes together. But….am I trading the opportunity to invest into my core self for the need to be a task coordinator for everyone else?
On twitter this morning, I was bemoaning the tendency for me to eliminate writing from my day to day, weekly, or even monthly life. Why? I love writing. It hits my creative buttons. It feeds my soul. Words are like a warm cup of tea, a bright sparkling glass of champagne, a series of fireworks in the sky. I love words. But life gets in the way…. When I say that, what the heck does that mean? What part of “life” really gets in the way? What are those things in life that become the Mac Truck parked in front of my suburban driveway penning me in—keeping me from escaping from Casa Luko and all the To Do Lists there?? Is it my procrastination? I’m a very good procrastinator—girl scout badge worthy procrastinator (that is if I ever sent in the form to actually get said Procrastinator Badge)… Is that Mac Truck created from of my need to escape from the moment—mindlessly scrolling though Insta, Poshmark, Pinterest, and catching up on the sixth season of vintage Dallas? Why do those things take precedence over what really fills my soul? What gets in the way? What keeps me from reading those gripping novels, learning to draw, dancing in my living room by myself? Why do I take on more tasks to the detriment of everything else?
What part of life gets in the way?
Have I traded Efficiency for Adventure?
Am I living for the next task?
Dear hearts, choose adventure—the adventure for your soul. You deserve it. You are worth it. Your business is worth it. Your business is worth the attention to the big picture. Sometimes we get so involved in getting all our business tasks done that we forget about the need to cast vision and carry it to fruition. Vision is cast to the sidelines beckoning “put me in, coach!” We say we’ll get to it when we have time. When is it ever time? We are trading Peyton Manning for Joe the CPA and it’s the playoffs…..but we “need “to get those tasks done….we “need” to take more and more little tasks feeding the ever hungry To-Do monster…and we wonder why we don’t win. We look at others and wish we could be as creative as they are in business…we wish we could be the influencer…we have all these great ideas, but we don’t even try because there isn’t enough “time.”
In reality, we are trading efficiency for adventure.
Girl, don’t do it.
Next: Your Own Personal Board of Directors
Becky Lukovic is a travel industry veteran and a small business woman for thirty plus years. She offers small business mentoring and coaching packages and is available to speak in workshops, podcasts, and business events. You can see her packages here.
