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Do I wish I could press the reset button on anything in my life?
I have often wanted to press “pause” but the opportunity to reset?
Hit reset.
Start over.
Start a new chapter.
You bet!
In my mind, pressing the reset button is asking myself who I want to be when I grow up, then look at what needs to stop, start and continue so I can make my way. Sometimes it’s a health reset – eat better, get some exercise. Sometimes it’s a spiritual reset – get back to basics, back to Mother Earth, back to that place of peace.
And sometimes it’s a professional reset and that’s where I am now. I left the travel industry for about ten years but did a life reset in 2016. I hated being a marketer in healthcare, dreaded going to work each day and regretted the decision to leave the industry I love. Now that I’ve been back for five years, rather than just business travelers, I’d like to be working with those who are looking to be travelers, not tourists. I want to work with those who want to immerse themselves in the local culture, to explore the less traveled areas, to learn and experience new things, to make making meaningful, lasting changes in their lives whether big or small, leaving them enriched and rejuvenated at a deeper level. I would like to work by appointment, rather than sitting at a desk all day hoping the phone will ring.
Our industry has been decimated by COVID-19 and many travel advisors are taking on second jobs to supplement their incomes and pass the time. If I were to do a cold reboot instead of just pressing reset, I’d make the change to writing first, travel advisor second. I am fortunate that my role in travel allows me to be creative by designing brochures and marketing pieces, putting together proposals and maintaining our social media efforts.
With business so slow, there is plenty of time to write so it would be easy to make that reset, so why not? Easy answer: fear and finances.
Financially, I cannot afford to leave my sole income to for a venture in which I have no idea I can succeed. I need a paycheck. Sustainable travel is a new niche, so new that most people don’t even know what it is, so there’s no track record of profitability. Staying in corporate travel is safer. As for writing, well….. what is it they say? Don’t quit your day job? Again, no track record of earning or earning potential.
Then there’s fear. Fear is powerful and paralyzing, sowing constant seeds of doubt. What if I fail? What if I look foolish? What if no one likes me or my writing? What if I’m deluding myself that I have any talent at all? Once upon a time few would call themselves photographers, but along came cell phones and editing software and suddenly everyone is a pro, eye for art or not. It’s the same thing with writers. Back in the day it was an adjective few would use, but with the advent of personal computers, anyone with a keyboard calls themselves an author, especially someone with celebrity status writing children’s books. Who am I, a mere mortal, to compete?
I’ve heard that faith and fear are the very same thing, believing in something you can’t see.
Maybe it’s time to choose faith?
