Quitting to be a Truck Driver

Do you have some sort of "fall back on" career in your mind?  Have you ever thought to yourself or said to yourself that you were going to quit being a business builder and do _________________________ something else....   farmer?  Truck driver?  work in a factory?  Rancher?  Hunting Guide? (that was another one of mine)

My fall back is always that I'm going to quit my current job and be a truck driver.  For those who have driven a truck, I'm sure a lot of how I idealize the job won't be 100% accurate and you can totally reply and tell me the real truth. It is human nature to think that other people have it easier or better. I actually don't know if I'd want the responsibility of handling a truck and heavy load if it came down to it.

So... Truck driver for me is the dream...  it is the one that seems more simple and straight forward.  I love diesel engines and always have since I had my first job cutting my uncle's 10 acre lawn with his JDeere 45 HP diesel tractor.  I love the smell of diesel and my 2 yellow cans.  I loved my diesel F250 with a PowerStroke back in Colorado in my contracting days.

I love driving. I love crossing the plains of the US and I love West Virginia and the Rockies.  Driving a powerful truck with a lot of responsibility sounds rewarding.  Taking a 2 week trip with my son to Colorado this summer and driving 4600 miles was relaxing to be honest.

Do you have a "fall back" career or dream job that sounds more simple?  In my mind, truck driving is so focused on the goal... and it seems to me that truck drivers are probably more focused and have less "shiny object syndrome" on the job and off the job.

I just finished a great book by Po Bronson called "What Should I Do With My Life" (https://amzn.to/30Uo7Xp).

This book was great morning reading - one or 2 chapters each morning as part of my quiet and reflection time.  Reading stories of other people's journeys and their setbacks and successes is a favorite of mine.  This is partly why I love coaching - I love the human journey and I love helping others seeking for true significance and growth.

One of the chapters was about a man who quits his job as a corporate lawyer and starts to drive a truck.  It talks about how he loves the singularity of his mission and the fact that when he is at home he is so relaxed because he doesn't bring the job into his personal life.  

That sounds appealing.  

So 2 things he has...

1.) Focus on a single destination or goal while working and

2.) A free mind when he is at home.

I proudly told Kathy at the dinner table last night that I was going to become a truck driver and she scoffed.  She said I wouldn't be able to handle doing the same thing week after week (I do indeed get distracted easily) and that I'd probably hit so many things that I'd get fired... thanks for the encouragement sweetheart!

But... this got me to thinking...   How can I be more like the truck driver in my chosen profession of business/life coaching and building a mastermind...

How can I be focused each day for the hours that I am driving on one goal/mission?

How can I turn it off at night and shut down the mental processor?

How can I come home from the road and leave the road on the road? How can I keep clients and their challenges and vision out of my dreams?  

Should I keep them out of my dreams? Or...is that what makes me a good growth coach?

My favorite sales book of all time is "The Greatest Salesman in the World" by Og Mandino (https://amzn.to/34y0AfC). It is a book of mantras... a book to be read repeatedly until the mindsets sink in. It still has a lot of value for anyone in sales or for anyone building a company.

In the book Og says we should leave the home in the home and the marketplace in the marketplace.

This is great advice. There isn't a magic formula to do this either... I just need to be reminded.

Many of us are seeking balance...  it is mythical.... I think what we are really seeking is to drive hard and build a great business.... and then put it down and be content and grateful and present for ourselves and our friends and families and our hobbies... and then turn it on again and drive hard toward a goal when we choose to. This back and forth with complete focus and presence is actually what balance means to me.  

Well... actually I guess balance brings in the intentional proportioning of time and having goals in multiple areas of the Wheel of Life too. (https://www.dropbox.com/s/8rjhmdfre4hm1yz/18-Wheel-of-Life-Exercise.pdf?dl=0)  

Truck driving is just such a great metaphor for how we can live and build businesses. I get in the truck and I drive. Every day. Without delay. I'm on a schedule. I know where I'm going. I look at the route ahead when I get started so I have a general idea for the day's driving and I also use the GPS to make corrections.  

Then I get out of the truck and I'm home with my family.  

Or... I get out of the truck and I go to the arm wrestling competition like Sylvester Stallone in Over the Top - remember that one? - here is a Youtube video to remind you ... oh yeah.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FagmmO3WS18

At BBCamp - we work on Balance. The camp rhythm helps us to set the destination and see it clearly. Our 120-day process allows us to check the general plan for getting to the destination. Our Wheel of Life work helps us to know how much time we want to be in the truck and how much time we want to be at home.

Our camaraderie and connection are inspiring and we learn from each other and we are pushed by each other.  

Let me know if you want to talk about mastermind. Our business builders are working together to grow and we want you to be along for the ride.  

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." - Unknown origin

Have a good one. Let me know what your simpler more straight forward job would be. 

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