Truth Bomb Tuesday: Boats are like life.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time messing about on boats in recent years. It’s one of my great joys in life.
Boats are a terrible financial investment. You may as well just pull together a massive pile of money and set fire to it.
But, I’m at a stage in my financial journey that I can afford to make bad financial decisions – if they bring me enough joy. And boats bring me a lot of joy.
Anyway, there’s three things that have occurred to me recently. Three lessons of the boat.
1. It’s easier to steer a moving boat than one that’s still.
I think you can get what this point is about. A boat sits heavy in the water. You can change the position of the rudder, but if the boat’s not under motor or under sail, nothing is going to change.
To change course, you need to be moving.
Life is like this. We sit heavy in our habits and our comforts. And we will often sit on our hands and do nothing, rather than do something we might find out later was wrong.
This is almost always a mistake. It is almost always better to do something – anything! – and get the boat moving.
It’s unlikely you’ll get it exactly right first go. It’s almost impossible. But once you’re moving – once you’re in the habit of action – it will be much easier to change course and end up where you want to go.
2. Steer from the back of the boat
Cars and boats are different. Cars steer from the front – from the front two wheels. Most boats steer from the back – think about an outboard motor on a basic tinny, and the way you change the angle of the propellor to change direction.
It’s a very different way of moving.
With a car, you’re always moving into new territory. With a boat, you first have to drive through where you are right now. You have to sit back and be more patient, moving through and with everything you have right now.
There’s no sudden changes. There’s no abandoning your current position and current trajectory. You have to work with it.
Have a feel into it. Feel what it’s like to be driving from the front of your life vs what its like to drive from the back.
It’s a subtle thing. But I think we all want to be steering from back in our deep selves.
3. The seas are always changing
When we sailed around Europe we became very tuned in with the weather. (It was actually one of the best things about it.)
Some days were great for sailing. Some days were terrible.
You could always fight the sea if you wanted to. You could go out on a bad day and just muscle through it.
But it was always better to wait for smooth seas. It was just so much nicer and easier.
And smooth seas were always just around the corner. (Yes, it was summer but let’s not get caught up on the details.)
You will have phases in your life where it’s just easier to get stuff done. And there will be phases where it will be harder.
You will want to make ‘steady’ progress, but it’s better to meet the seas where they’re at. Some days you will be quick. Some days you won’t’ move at all.
And that’s ok.
Don’t fight the seas!
Anyway, that’s it. Three things I’ve learnt on the boat.
I hope you get to a stage where you can enjoy messing about on boats on a regular basis. There’s nothing better.
DB.