…we get up again, you’re never keep me down… (chumbawamba)

What Matters?

It’s about the journey, not just the destination, right?

Sort of.

The destination is after all, many times, the entire point of the journey.

We don’t take a plane to Maui, London, or Bali only to stay on the plane and fly home. Hopefully, you enjoyed the flight, to whatever extent a flight can be enjoyed. But a vacation is kinda all about the destination.

In working life, hopefully, you enjoy what you do for a living… there’s a bigger aim, isn’t there? Financial independence. Retirement. Living a life of luxury?

Few of us grind in 80-hour workweeks for 40 years and then say, hey… you know what… I’m gonna keep doing this for another 40.

Some do.

I might.

But few are so blind as to miss the point of the journey.

And here’s the thing about most journeys… they often suck for extended periods of time. Like on a plane, you may have to wait through hours of tedious, painfully boring, smooth cruising… nothing happening before WHAMO – some premium TURBULENCE – I always enjoy a bit of turbulence, it reminds us how little control we truly have over anything, and that we are ALIVE, turbulence can be exciting… or terrifying… because you’ve just been reminded that you are, in fact, alive.

I’d pay extra for guaranteed turbulence. The real wing-flexing kind, where you’re almost certain one of those things is gonna snap right off.

Why?

Because I sometimes need the reminder.

But I digress.

The point, my point, is hat sometimes the journey sucks. Or parts of it do anyways.

Last weekend I decided to do a large solo mountain bike ride on an unfamiliar mountain. A 40km loop tha’s lightly traveled, in an area I don’t know well. I did tell two people where I was going, and I did take my Garmin inReach.. so there’s that.

But the final segment, about 25km long. 25 1km increments – one for every BOC hike.. or so it feels… there was a moment.

Somewhere along KM 18, I got off the bike – not in the way I’d like (stopping first and then getting off). I instead opted to eject over the handlebars and have a moment of flight… on a skinny bridge about 20 feet above a rocky creek bed.

Turbulence.

Many things ached, a lot. But what option was there?

Yes, I had the Garmin, but nothing was broken.

Bruised, yes.

Sprained, yes.

But not broken or bleeding… too badly anyways.

So there was no option but to ride out.

Did I focus on KM 25? No.

Because I wasn’t even sure KM 25 was the actual end of the ride.

So am I focusing on Tuesday’s inflation report?

No.

Am I focusing on the Spring market of 2024?

No.

I am focusing on today.

On the final part of this ride, after getting rocked hard, I focused on the next step. The next KM. The KM 19 marker. I only needed to get there, to know I was making progress. To know I was still alive.

And once there, I would reset my focus to KM 20. And from there KM 21.

You get the idea. I knew I had a long ride, 7, 12, or maybe 17km to go. Longer than my ankle, knee, shoulder, and wrist wanted to go.

But what other option was there?

None.

And this is us, in this business, today. We cannot see the end, the recovery, because the forest of nonsense and challenges is too thick, the BOC storm clouds above us remain too dark. All we can see is the next segment marker. The day on the calendar.

Or week, month, or quarter – although I wouldn’t set my focus any further out. This part of the journey is not going to be easy. It will get tougher still. But if we focus on what we can control today. If we can set some basic short-term goals, and apply the standards to achieve those goals, then we will make it out of the woods.

So pick a number.

A Volume Number.

A number of mortgages funded.

A number of daily calls made.

Put a date next to it.

Work it backward, and then start doing just that…

Get back up, get in the game, and work it!

DW