In 2009 we had a sign on the office wall that simply read,
Burn the Boats!
It was our mantra as we embarked upon the biggest change we had ever made in our lives. We had decided to pack up our entire lives and move from Canada to England. We were no strangers to BIG change, but this one was a whopper.
Each and every week we talk to women who post-burnout are finding their new stride as they set their course for the future. Regardless of the reasons they have stumbled, relationship breakup, job loss, career change, or health challenges, they know that life is going to change sometimes to the point that it will be unrecognisable. They have decided to burn the boats!
Now, if you don’t know where that phrase came from, well when Cortes landed in Mexico in 1519 he and his men (sorry no women allowed back then) faced a fierce battle. As they set off up the hill Cortes ordered his aide back to the beach with a single command…Burn the boats! Sometimes there is no going back.
We will all reach a point in life at some time or another when we have to forge a new direction.
Maybe that time is now for you. Has the way you have been comfortably living now become so uncomfortable that it feels like life is suffocating you? Perhaps you have arrived at a point where everything that was once so familiar now seems strange. Sometimes it will be of your own making and sometimes you will be catapulted into change. Either way, you may want to burn the boats.
Of course, moving away from everything you know as ‘your life’ is difficult and scary, but as human beings we are meant to outgrow ourselves! We age, we mature, we change inside and out, and there is little we can do to avoid the process. Change is natural and it is going to happen with you or without you, so really, truly, you have no choice but to to move forward and through it.
What counts is how you approach big changes, handle the transition, and ultimately find your stride again.
There is no denying it there will be times when change is terrifying, exhausting, and even times when it brings despair. However, flip side…change also brings growth, renewal, joy, and excitement. And what about new adventures? We are all about new adventures.
Now with all the BIG changes we have made in our lives we have heard all the questions, like…
How do you stop worrying about what’s at the other end?
You don’t. You consider all your choices, make decisions, make more decisions, and ultimately realise that change means accepting the unknown, which in time will once again settle into the familiar.
Next question…
How do you handle the fear?
Easy, peasy, you don’! You just wade into it and confront it. When I was a kid at the beach and the tide was miles out, I couldn’t wait to get out to that farthest sandbar to explore! That meant having to wade through many tidal pools full of scary seaweed and who knows what else! So I had to make a choice, stay afraid and never feel the exhilaration of reaching the sandbar with all of it’s treasures, or start wading. No contest, roll up those ‘pedal-pushers’ (capris for some of you) and plunge in.
Finally, we always get asked,
How do you keep going when you hit obstacles or things go wrong?
One foot in front of the other, what else? Keep the dream in sight and have faith. You have to believe in yourself and in your dream. And you have to be tenacious.
There is no avoiding it, in every person’s life there will come a time, or two or three, when everything will change no matter how much you may try to keep it all the same. If you choose out of fear you end up with a less than satisfactory result. If you choose out of a sense of adventure, belief, and faith you take your life in amazing directions. You may stumble but you will get there!
Obstacles or opportunities…you choose!
The BOQs would love to hear from you! Leave your wisdom and comments in the box below.