Truth Bomb Tuesday: There’s one thing I want you to do this Christmas…
Try and flip Christmas on its head this year.
I remember chatting to a student a couple of Christmases ago. She had a long list of presents to get the family. She had things the kids wanted (roller blades) and things the kids needed (new school bags). She had something fun for the hubby, as well as some new socks for him too.
She had done a huge amount of mental work. She had spent a lot of time thinking about what everyone in her family wanted or needed.
“And what about yourself hun?” I said.
“Oh… Not sure. Maybe some new earrings?”
She didn’t have anything. Maybe her husband would pick up the slack and think into what she really needed. Some hubby’s are good like that. (And some aren’t! Pick up your game fellahs).
But at the end of the day she had done a huge amount of mental work figuring out what other people needed, and she had done almost no work figuring out what she needed herself.
And my bet is that this played out all year round.
It’s the classic thing about being a parent (and I really want to name the fathers here making sacrifices daily for their family.) But it’s the classic thing about being a parent. You spend all this time thinking about what other people need, that you just don’t end up with the time or space to figure out what you need.
But if you don’t know what you want, you’re rudderless in the river of life. You just end up going with the flow, and that takes you who knows where.
To create the life you want the first thing you have to do is figure out exactly what it is that you do want.
And to do that, you have to know yourself as well as your children.
And this is the tyranny of the 9-5 and all that story. So many of us are run so ragged that we become strangers to ourselves. We don’t even know what we like anymore. If you had a day off, what would you even do with it?
May as well keep working, because at least when you’re working it feels like you have control.
But if the tyranny of the 9-5 is not working for you, then the first step is to figure out what you want. Its to put your peg in the sand and set a course.
So my Christmas wish for you is that you carve out a bit of space to flip Christmas on its head.
Find half an hour or so to stop thinking about what others need, and give a bit of time to figuring out what you want.
What would be your perfect Christmas gift?
(And allow yourself to include experiences like sky-diving or a solo bush walk or whatever. Don’t limit it to things.)
But what would be your perfect Christmas gift? Take the time to feel into what it is that would make you happy.
Because this is where everything starts.
..
And that’s us for the year. A huge shout out to everyone who works with me and to everyone in the I Love Real Estate community.
You are all amazing!
Have a great break, and see you bright and early in the new year!
Best wishes!
DB.