"The fear of living a mediocre life made me do it." A revelation.
I just had to wipe tears out of my eyes. Now the tears are dripping off my chin..
This is it. THIS IS IT. I know without any shadow of a doubt what I want to do. What I'm going to do. WHAT I'M MEANT TO DO - as freaking cheezy as that sounds, I know it, I feel it, it's one of those moments so huge that it changes your life. And makes you cry. Which I never fetching do. Why the crap am I crying?!
I'm also so excited I want to hug my cat. Just a minute... I'm going to go find her and do just that... Mmmmm.. I reveled in her cuteness, her silky fur, her sweet scent, and then she lounged in my arms, purring, with her eyes closed (which she never does) instead of squirming and sauntering away (which she usually does).
I want to phone Sam and squeal in her ear. I want to call Ash and explode with amazement. I want to drive over to Jade's and bounce on the edge of her bed while I outline my every thought and emotion that's currently coursing through me. I want to wake up my snoring Dessert. I even want to phone my Mom. I want to email all the rest of my friends and shout it out to the world.
But since it's 2:04am, I'll settle for quietly typing a missive to myself by the orange glow of my salt lamp.
It’s been an interesting, beautiful journey so far this year. I took The Cookbook Project training program in January. I’ve been absorbing boatloads of information during the last 6 weeks of B-School. I’ve read a shocking number of business and life books in the past few months. I'm currently crushing The Desire Map.. The times in my life when I’ve felt this motivated have been few and far between. The more time and effort I put in, the more clearly I see my feet traveling down a path. It’s a pretty obvious path, I’m just not sure where I am, but I have no fear and very little worry or doubt. It’s refreshing.
I pursued acting. I toyed with nutrition. I’m currently teaching a cooking class. I taught English, I nannied, I traveled. And all of those things have brought me here.
(McKinnley, quit waxing so esoteric and get on with it.)
Right. My two main guiding forces that started sealing the deal on this journey were Simon Sinek and his WHY, and the quote I clipped out of a magazine years ago, which now resides in the middle of an art piece on my wall. “I had always yearned for the kind of greatness that is realized through authentic, lived experience. But what was it?” That short phrase encapsulates so much of who I am, how I think, and why I do what I do.
But how do I make a business out of it? Life Development. That was my first aha moment and the first term I started rolling around in my head and off my tongue.
Today. A post in the B-School private members only Facebook group. A woman writes, “I’m looking for an example of “Live life to the fullest, have fun and DO things” type books/blogs! I am getting stuck in a work all the time rut (I LOVE MY JOB) and really need to be having more adventures and creating more space for play and exploring in my week! …” I just about fell over. This is EXACTLY the type of person I’m looking for, the type of person and list of desires that I want to build my business around. Positive, busy, motivated, but still lacking something in their life. Adventure.
Adventure.
Who doesn’t want more adventure in their life??
Other people responded and talked about exploring the city they live in yet take for granted. Everyday adventures. Or everyweek anyway. About joining groups more for the friendship and connection than for whatever it is they’re doing together. About worklifebliss.com.au and 40 Things Before 40, and writing stories about every pool you ever swim in - 1000 Pools. Amazing.
French Kiss Life was also mentioned. Tonya Leigh. I looked it up, thinking it was a book I could order, but it’s not. It’s a website. And a lifestyle. It’s a woman who’s doing what it is I need and desperately want to do, and she’s doing it beautifully and extremely successfully. She calls it “Lifestyle Design.” Gorgeous.
The more I read, the faster my heart started to beat. I knew that I didn’t want to be a part of her program, it’s just not tailored for me, in fact I emailed the website to Sam because it’s tailored almost impeccably for her.. But I continued exploring through the site and it dawned on me that THIS WAS IT. This is the beginning of her About page:
“As a certified Master Coach, internationally-trained sommelier, and joie de vivre instigator for women of every age, I have a very simple credo: French Kiss Life. Cherish The World. And The Rest Will Follow.
I believe that life is a grand romance-full of fabulous food & wine, remarkable art, brilliant friends, and unforgettable conversations. A life of enchantment… possibilities… and love. It just needs to be discovered!
My life wasn’t always a thrilling adventure. However, I always craved adventure, inspiration and glamour - everything that makes life exquisite.”
She and I want the same things. And it’s blatantly obvious that we’re not the only ones. The difference being that she’s a few steps ahead of me in acquiring all those things, and because she wants them in a different way: She loves luxury, fashion, swanky hotels and exclusive dinners, I crave dirt roads to nowhere, cramming around a tiny wooden table with an indigenous family while sharing their meal, drum circles, and all things that are so very dirty hippy chic.
Tonya accepts 14 women per year and spends 9 months journeying with them. I figure there are a lot more than 14 people each year who are desperately craving this transformation, this experience, this life…..
I have so much work to do, and I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!!!
This is it. THIS IS IT. I know without any shadow of a doubt what I want to do. What I'm going to do. WHAT I'M MEANT TO DO - as freaking cheezy as that sounds, I know it, I feel it, it's one of those moments so huge that it changes your life. And makes you cry. Which I never fetching do. Why the crap am I crying?!
I'm also so excited I want to hug my cat. Just a minute... I'm going to go find her and do just that... Mmmmm.. I reveled in her cuteness, her silky fur, her sweet scent, and then she lounged in my arms, purring, with her eyes closed (which she never does) instead of squirming and sauntering away (which she usually does).
I want to phone Sam and squeal in her ear. I want to call Ash and explode with amazement. I want to drive over to Jade's and bounce on the edge of her bed while I outline my every thought and emotion that's currently coursing through me. I want to wake up my snoring Dessert. I even want to phone my Mom. I want to email all the rest of my friends and shout it out to the world.
But since it's 2:04am, I'll settle for quietly typing a missive to myself by the orange glow of my salt lamp.
It’s been an interesting, beautiful journey so far this year. I took The Cookbook Project training program in January. I’ve been absorbing boatloads of information during the last 6 weeks of B-School. I’ve read a shocking number of business and life books in the past few months. I'm currently crushing The Desire Map.. The times in my life when I’ve felt this motivated have been few and far between. The more time and effort I put in, the more clearly I see my feet traveling down a path. It’s a pretty obvious path, I’m just not sure where I am, but I have no fear and very little worry or doubt. It’s refreshing.
I pursued acting. I toyed with nutrition. I’m currently teaching a cooking class. I taught English, I nannied, I traveled. And all of those things have brought me here.
(McKinnley, quit waxing so esoteric and get on with it.)
Right. My two main guiding forces that started sealing the deal on this journey were Simon Sinek and his WHY, and the quote I clipped out of a magazine years ago, which now resides in the middle of an art piece on my wall. “I had always yearned for the kind of greatness that is realized through authentic, lived experience. But what was it?” That short phrase encapsulates so much of who I am, how I think, and why I do what I do.
But how do I make a business out of it? Life Development. That was my first aha moment and the first term I started rolling around in my head and off my tongue.
Today. A post in the B-School private members only Facebook group. A woman writes, “I’m looking for an example of “Live life to the fullest, have fun and DO things” type books/blogs! I am getting stuck in a work all the time rut (I LOVE MY JOB) and really need to be having more adventures and creating more space for play and exploring in my week! …” I just about fell over. This is EXACTLY the type of person I’m looking for, the type of person and list of desires that I want to build my business around. Positive, busy, motivated, but still lacking something in their life. Adventure.
Adventure.
Who doesn’t want more adventure in their life??
Other people responded and talked about exploring the city they live in yet take for granted. Everyday adventures. Or everyweek anyway. About joining groups more for the friendship and connection than for whatever it is they’re doing together. About worklifebliss.com.au and 40 Things Before 40, and writing stories about every pool you ever swim in - 1000 Pools. Amazing.
French Kiss Life was also mentioned. Tonya Leigh. I looked it up, thinking it was a book I could order, but it’s not. It’s a website. And a lifestyle. It’s a woman who’s doing what it is I need and desperately want to do, and she’s doing it beautifully and extremely successfully. She calls it “Lifestyle Design.” Gorgeous.
The more I read, the faster my heart started to beat. I knew that I didn’t want to be a part of her program, it’s just not tailored for me, in fact I emailed the website to Sam because it’s tailored almost impeccably for her.. But I continued exploring through the site and it dawned on me that THIS WAS IT. This is the beginning of her About page:
“As a certified Master Coach, internationally-trained sommelier, and joie de vivre instigator for women of every age, I have a very simple credo: French Kiss Life. Cherish The World. And The Rest Will Follow.
I believe that life is a grand romance-full of fabulous food & wine, remarkable art, brilliant friends, and unforgettable conversations. A life of enchantment… possibilities… and love. It just needs to be discovered!
My life wasn’t always a thrilling adventure. However, I always craved adventure, inspiration and glamour - everything that makes life exquisite.”
She and I want the same things. And it’s blatantly obvious that we’re not the only ones. The difference being that she’s a few steps ahead of me in acquiring all those things, and because she wants them in a different way: She loves luxury, fashion, swanky hotels and exclusive dinners, I crave dirt roads to nowhere, cramming around a tiny wooden table with an indigenous family while sharing their meal, drum circles, and all things that are so very dirty hippy chic.
Tonya accepts 14 women per year and spends 9 months journeying with them. I figure there are a lot more than 14 people each year who are desperately craving this transformation, this experience, this life…..
I have so much work to do, and I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!!!