It’s fascinating how swiftly things can change. I’ve barely been back on Elba when I realized I wanted to fly back to Mexico.
With my friend Tony, I’ve often delved into the distinction between “goal people” and “flow people.” I’ve always leaned towards setting goals and needing something to strive for. However, Tony and I discussed the concept of flow, where you embrace the journey, wherever it may lead. While I find it beneficial to have a sense of direction, I’ve learned not to define myself solely by my goals. Instead, I use them as guideposts, focusing more on the present moment and less on anxieties about the future. Regularly questioning my goals and reassessing my motivations behind them has been transformative.
underlying motivation
Behind every goal lies a desire for a certain feeling—whether it’s security, excitement, fulfillment, or success. By shifting my perspective and viewing goals as potential milestones on my journey, I’ve found it easier to embrace change, witness, and embrace the underlying emotion and feeling. I try to adapt my goals to work towards the desired outcome instead of fixating on the goal itself.
What has happened more and more regularly over the last couple of years is that I start a project or travel to a place with a certain idea in my mind and then stumble upon an opportunity and quickly decide to change plans to go for it. In hindsight, that has not always been the best option, especially not financially, but it has taken me to places that I would not have seen or experienced otherwise. Looking back at my youth and my twenties, I often did not manage to step up and fight for what I really wanted. I was not able to take the route less traveled and tried to meet expectations, at least to a certain point. In the end, I felt sorrow. I looked at others who were living their dream, who were more successful than me… whatever it was, I always came up with an idea of why I could not or should not have done it.
know what you want
When I realized that I do not want to leave this planet with “what if” thoughts, I started to ask myself what I really want. I had to find out, though, that I was not able to express what I really want, who I really want to be, or even how exactly I felt about that. When I started my coaching journey, I began to relearn how to express my feelings and emotions and discovered my desires behind set goals. By recognizing that, I was able to see opportunities where I did not before, and knowing what you want can be very liberating.
This is the reason why you will sometimes see me be extremely fascinated by a certain idea and then shift plans halfway through. Sometimes that might seem like giving up to others. But what it truly is, is an adjustment to meet the underlying desires. Those that let me thrive, and let my eyes shine.
travel the world
About 10 years ago, I remember having a conversation with Judy about the way I want to work. I said that I would like to travel the world, share my experiences, help other people reach for their own dreams, and somehow make my living with that. Currently, I do want to travel the world by boat, as slow as possible, and soak up experiences from the most different places and people and take my time doing that. I’ll take my coaching business with me, knowing that the better state I am in, the more inspiring I can be and the better questions I can ask. So I am on a good path, I guess.
back to mexico
After my return from Mexico, which was supposed to be a vacation and a visit to a friend, I knew that I wasn’t done yet. I wanted to continue the Mexico journey for longer and take more time. I knew I did not only want to be there on vacation but wanted to work from there for a while and especially share that journey with a special person. And yet, my mind was coming up with reasons why that is not possible, starting from the problem of taking Jango with me. Last week I discovered a big setback on my boat Santana, but I will write more about that in the next article. What it triggered was a change in plans, because I will need to do some major repairs before being able to sail again and all of a sudden all option were on the table. Knowing what you want and being able to express that can open doors that you did not even see before. On Saturday, I’ll be on my plane to Acapulco.
Take care my friend. All the best, Floh
P.s.: If you want to to receive my satellite information via Email when I am sailing, text me and I’ll include you.
