Last month’s newsletter was True Lies. In the spirit of the ‘play on movie titles’ I 
UPused last year, instead of the year of True Lies, I wrote that this will be my year of New Tries… but after yesterday’s Hot Air Balloon ride (yes, I did it!) I have renamed it “The Year of True Highs!”
Waking up at 3:30am, driving 90 minutes to meet a small group of complete strangers in a McDonalds parking lot and trusting them with my life to take me in a van to a field where I climbed into a small basket powered by a balloon with no real system for steering, and the navigational system consisted of letting a helium balloon go and watching what direction the wind takes it is just plain…..FUN!!!
I KNOW I’m going to LOVE this year of adventure! I hope you’ll join me by taking some of your own adventures and sharing them on the Greenlight Coach Facebook Page. It will be inspiring to me as well as the community. If you haven’t LIKED the page yet, please do. By joining the community you learn more about how to improve your own practices for your page or a future page you may realize you need, you get daily career questions answered, and you grow your contacts.
Learn from my adventure, in today’s article UP…
UP What Are You Waiting For In Your Career?
By Jessica Sitomer
78-year-old Carl Fredricksen ties thousands of balloons to his home to lift-UP for an adventure of an unfulfilled life long dream- visiting South Africa. Unfortunately, it took the grief of losing his wife and the threat of being pushed out of his home to force him into action.
What are you waiting for? Do you have unfulfilled career aspirations that you aren’t fully going for due to fear, embarrassment, or lack of knowing what to do? You can keep making excuses, and you’ll find yourself like Carl- 78 and looking back with regret!
OR you can start truly living TODAY! One great way to expand your career comfort zone is to expand your “life” comfort zone. What’s my reasoning behind this? Because you have no attachments to life adventures so you are more likely to do them. If I gave you a choice between a career adventure (crashing a movie premiere and asking the director to be your mentor) or a life adventure (do something you’ve never done before; hot air ballooning, paddle boarding, volunteer at a camp for underprivileged kids), which would you more likely do?
The secret is, when you push yourself in life, you are not only expanding your comfort zone, you’re also building your confidence, which naturally helps your career pursuits.
Here are 5 lessons I learned from my hot air balloon ride that can help your career:
1. Fear is in the eye of the beholder. Yes, I could have allowed myself to worry about all of the things that could potentially go wrong on my flight and not signed up. I could have made myself a nervous wreck the whole flight since I don’t like heights. INSTEAD, I decided I wanted to take the trip, I imagined the outcome I wanted from the time I took off until the moment I landed, and decided that’s how my trip would go. Therefore, I didn’t worry. I also decided that the moment I stepped into that basket, the journey was out of my hands so I had a choice: I could be nervous the whole time and miss out on a magical experience, OR I could be in the moment and enjoy every second of this peaceful adventure. I chose the later. It’s the same for your career worries and fears: Enjoy the journey, and imagine the outcome you want and focus on that and only that.
2. Dream Fulfillment Takes Patience. My trip was rescheduled twice. Was I disappointed? I could have been, but that would have been wasted energy. I knew I was going to go on my adventure, so I was patient. When the weather conditions were safe and perfect for flight, my dream to go in a hot air balloon was fulfilled. Are you being patient with your dream? Or are you allowing yourself to wallow in disappointment and frustration?
3. Put Yourself Out There To Meet Likeminded People. Going on this adventure alone gave me the push to meet new people who had similar adventurous spirits. Ever notice in an elevator, you can be standing next to another human being and you don’t say a word to each other? To me that is so weird! It’s a person not a plant. Why wouldn’t you at least greet each other? In a hot air balloon, strangers become instant friends. When you push yourself in your career to go do something with likeminded people (like volunteering) you immediately have a common ground for building a relationship.
4. Stand Out From The Crowd. Upon landing, after helping the other 3 passengers out of the basket, the pilot asked me to stay in and gave me instructions to help him “roll the basket.” Later as we all helped to pack up the balloon, I heard him say, “Of course Jessica would find the heaviest section to lift.” Whenever you go the extra mile and stand out from the crowd, people take notice. Incorporate this into your career. What can you do to go the extra mile for someone?
5. It’s Over Before You Know It. After 3 months of planning, my adventure is over. Yes, they’ll be more (at least 1/month this year) but the point is, don’t get stuck in a mundane pattern. Constantly give yourself projects and adventures to look forward to so you don’t get the “After Christmas Blues” (a phrase coined by Greenlight Mentor, Actress Diane Farr when referring to the let down you feel after a job comes to an end). If you are spending your days in pretty much the same way, every day, it’s time for a new strategy!
You’ve heard it before “life is short”. I’ve been hearing the theme “No Excuses” popping up in television shows, Facebook posts, and in the gym. There is no better time than the start of a new year to decide to live your life differently! Add some adventure into your life and not only will you be more fulfilled, you will discover the rewards will seep into your career as well.
And Action!
1. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being TOTALLY Mundane and 10 being COMPLETELY Fulfilling, how would you rate your life right now?
2. If you are anything less than an 8 decide to shake things up with a little adventure! Commit to doing something adventurous in February by posting your adventure on my FB wall for everyone to see! You will create new relationships in the community and have accountability. https://www.facebook.com/TheGreenlightCoach
Carl’s adventure did not go the way he planned, it went better than he ever could have planned it. Why? Because his mindset wasn’t in a positive place when he made his plan. The adventure changed his outlook on life. Change your outlook on life and you will soar up, up and away!
