High Wind Opportunities

The wind nearly blew off the door as we got into our car rental. The early morning chill of Iceland in November was hovering at about -5 C degrees / 23 F degrees. Thankfully we came prepared with down coats and sturdy gloves. “We have time to stop at the Blue Lagoon now,” I said. “Then we know we won’t miss it.”?

Iceland’s Blue Lagoon is world-renowned for its beautiful pale blue mineral waters. We were in Iceland for the Reykjavík Global Leadership Women’s Forum where I would accept an award on behalf of Days for Girls International , along with many others who champion for menstrual equity. We would have the gift of meeting, advocating with, and learning from many women world leaders. My schedule would be purposeful and demanding and I suspected it could fill the hours right up to departure—Better this now than a possible later.?

My husband Don gave me “the look”. You know, the one anyone would give when you propose going to outdoor hot springs when it’s not quite daylight and well below freezing outside. Sunrise is not until about 9:30 AM in the winter. “It’s probably not open,” he said with apparent relief. After a quick internet search, we discovered it was opening at 8 AM, just 30 minutes' wait. We decided to go for it.?

We leaned into the wind together and spent the next two hours in the most beautifully warm and soothing blue waters, bobbing beneath a freezing sky.?

When it comes to opportunities that you care about, sometimes now is the best choice even when the winds are howling.?

A friend, Sam Horn , just shared in her phenomenal newsletter that data shows that when people first move to Hawaii they visit the beach every few days. By the second year, they only visit once a month, and by the third only a few times a year. Yikes! She says, “I thought, that’s not going to be us.” She and her boys and their friends kept that commitment. Ask her to sign you up for her newsletter so you can read more about how even sharks did not deter them. [She didn't ask me to say that, I just seriously find her content inspiring and useful].

I live in a place with many gorgeous waterfalls surrounded by feathery ferns amidst tall pines. I would love to hike trails weekly. But it’s easy to wait until tomorrow. The waterfalls will still be there. But days add up to years while prioritizing the “high winds” of the daily urgent, some important and some unimportant tasks. As Stephen R Covey said, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities.”?

He also said, “Important activities have an outcome that leads to the achievement of your goals, whether these are professional or personal.”

You don’t have to quit your job or other ventures to choose to find joy in every facet of your life. You just need to choose to say yes to the things that leave you feeling your days are truly lived.

The world may be saying to pursue that once-in-a-lifetime today-only must-do’s but is that what your heart and mind are eager to say yes to?

Goals set without your real intent are side rails that waste our lives.?

In other words, is there too much sand in your backpack to put your heart’s callings in the space remaining? I know what Stephen would say. Pour out the sand. If you put the big rocks in first, there will be plenty of room for the sand to fill the cracks. But it doesn’t work the other way around.?

We can trust that the things our hearts call us to can and should have more place in our priorities. It’s time. And you’re the only one that can decide, really decide, that the time is now.?

What “beach” is waiting for you just behind your high winds? What if you decided that now is your time? You won’t regret it.?

#Leadership #PersonalGrowth #TimeManagement #GoalSetting #Priorities #Inspiration #EmbraceTheMoment #LifeLessons #StephenRCovey #HighWindOpportunities