Getting a Reset

We just got home a few hours ago from a fairly grueling trip back from LA. It certainly wasn’t the most grueling travel day I’ve ever had, but when you endure a 2-hour flight delay with two six-year-old boys, “misery” is an appropriate word to classify it. Nevertheless, it was a great trip. My talks went well, it was amazing to catch up with old friends, and we created some wonderful family memories.

All that being said, I’m toast. This trip took a lot out of me, and I’m stepping back into a lot of intensity. Lots of client e-mails to send, a large client project to engage in, people to catch up with, and a 4-day work trip in Texas next week to do some on-site client work.

This brings to the forefront the idea of getting a reset. If I’m being honest, I’m not great from a day-to-day perspective for getting breaks. Life often sweeps me away, bouncing from one thing to the next. Don’t get me wrong, these are all great things…..there’s just a lot of them. One of the best ways I know how to get some reprieve is to get what I call resets. These are periodic intentional acts that seem to provide me with a degree of rest, relaxation, clarity, and recharge. Here’s my list:

• Bike rides: For me, there’s nothing that clears the mind and gets the blood flowing like a good bike ride. I can sometimes find a way to sneak in a 10-mile ride during the week, but I absolutely love getting a 20-mile ride in on a nice Saturday afternoon.

• Massages: A few years ago, I decided to splurge with my personal spending money to get a membership for a monthly massage. I didn’t know how much I would enjoy it, but wow! This easily turns into one of the most anticipated days of my month.

• Sensory Depravation Chamber: Picture a large metal coffin, filled with 10 inches of 98-degree water, with 1,000 pounds of salt added to it, while also being completely light-proof and sound-proof. This makes for a surreal but amazingly relaxing experience. Your body floats on top of the water, but because of the temperature, you can’t tell where the water ends and your body begins. It’s one of the most unique experiences I’ve ever had……every time I do it. Some of the best ideas of my life have come from time spent in this chamber.

• Retreats: About once per quarter, I’ll get a hotel for a few nights where I’ll isolate myself from the world. Sometimes I go to a different metro and sometimes I’ll stay in my metro. I’ll experience some good meals, read books, write, sleep, brainstorm, and maybe even catch a movie at a theater. This is probably the best source of reset for me right now. I anticipate these getaways for months.

Well, that’s me….what about you? How do you find resets in your life? I’d love to learn some new ideas and find ways to keep getting better on my journey. Please hit reply to your e-mail or drop a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!

The Great Reset

15 years ago, my life was completely upended. As I walked into the office one morning, instead of walking to my desk, I was led into a conference room where all my colleagues were sitting. It was explained to us that our company was being shut down and everyone would be fired. In that moment, I watched my intentionally-created life dissolve before my eyes. I loved my job, my co-workers were like family, I was a newer homeowner, I found a wonderful church, and I had been engaged to Sarah for just a handful of days. Oh yeah, and I had a ton of debt. Normal debt. “Good” debt. Responsible debt. Affordable debt. Except now that I was facing possible unemployment, those debt payments didn’t seem so innocent and “good” anymore.

I was ultimately blessed with an opportunity to move to Iowa where I could continue my work…..and keep a paycheck. I didn’t want to move to Iowa, though. Remember my intentionally-created life? Awesome job, friends, house, church, and new fiancé from that city. Poof! Because of the position I had put myself in, I didn’t have a lot of options. After discussing all this with Sarah that night, we made the difficult decision to move to Iowa, humbly and gratefully accept the job, and start afresh. We called it our “great reset.”

Over the coming months and years, we would transform the way our life was structured, how we viewed and handled money, and of course, pay off a ton of debt. $236,000 over the course of 4.5 years as I painfully and proudly remember. Ouch! It wasn’t fun at the moment, but as I reflect back on it years later, it’s cool to think about how we used that singular terrible moment as an opportunity to reset our entire lives.

I was recently having lunch with a friend who is in a similar position. Fortunately for him, his life isn’t crumbling around him, though. Instead, he and his family are relocating to a different city. But he too is viewing this as an opportunity to reset. They sold their house, will be moving into a short-term housing situation, and hope to buy the house they want within the next few years. In the meantime, however, they are taking the opportunity to use their equity to pay off a bunch of debt, streamline their budget/cashflow, and build up positive momentum for the season ahead. They are using this relocation, and all the change that naturally comes from it, to reset their financial life.

These are golden opportunities that don’t present themselves often. For many, it can be hard to make financial progress. Budgets are tight, lifestyles have grown cushier, the debt feels heavy, some past decisions are hard to unwind, and the idea of making big shifts is scary. My encouragement to you is to take advantage of any opportunity you get to create your own reset. Gaining positive momentum in any given month can be challenging, so these resets can propel you years into the future if done well. My friend is happy and optimistic after just a few weeks of movement…..just wait until they get 6-12 months in! I have a feeling they will look back on this moment with gratitude and fondness. The point where everything changed!