My friends often joke about my lifestyle, and say that I’m ALWAYS traveling, and that they’re jealous of all the trips I go on. But the truth is, I believe this is possible for anyone if it’s what you want! (Trust me, I know it’s not for everyone.)
There’s really no secret to what I’ve created, in fact, I LOVE teaching people how to have more freedom in their lives.
I want to outline for you what I call my FREEDOM SCHEDULE and how I have crafted my life to have the flexibility that allows me to travel pretty much every month of the year.
Here’s what it looks like:
Let’s say that each month of the year has 4 weeks…. I’ve built my coaching practice in such a way that I see my clients twice a month, the 1st and 3rd weeks of each month. The second week of the month is time for me to work ON my business (rather than IN it), do networking, host live workshops, and work on any other cool projects of the moment, like The Adventurous Entrepreneur series or my virtual group program I created (let me know if you want info!) The 4th week of the month is my ME time! I NEVER see clients that week, and it frees me up to travel, have a staycation, or focus on personal projects outside of my business.
To give you a sense of the amount of travel I do, 2014 so far has looked like this:
A week in Mexico, 3 weeks in Portland, OR for conferences and to see friends, 2 weeks in Vermont to see family, 2 weeks in San Diego for business meetups and seeing friends, a month in Bali, 10 days off the grid at Burning Man…
Right now I’m in Thailand for a 5 week trip! Soon after I get home I’ll be headed back down to San Diego to see friends and attend an event that my business coach is putting on.
I know this may sound like a lot, but it’s totally doable if you know how to set yourself up for success. Because I always know when I’m going to have free time, it’s easy to plan around. And when I’m going to be gone for an extended period of time, I have alternative ways for my clients to get in touch with me. We take advantage of skype, google voice, and other apps that allow us to communicate, and I use an online scheduler to calendar our sessions at times when we’ll both be available, which allows me to cope with any time zone issues. My clients know and celebrate that I travel frequently, and most of them aspire to do the same- this is what drew them to me in the first place. The people that work with me crave more freedom in their lives, and work with me so that I can show them how it’s possible.
I can’t tell you how good it feels to NEVER have to ask permission for any of the trips I take. When I knew my grandmother was sick, I bought a ticket without having to consult with anyone. I did what I knew was right in my heart without having to negotiate with a boss. My heart also often longs for tropical beaches, so I visit them multiple times a year. And I love taking advantage of conferences and networking opportunities, so I go to as many of them as I want to.
When you build a business around what you love, you can also create a life you love. I’ll be talking more about that soon. If you’re self-employed, you can start to create the lifestyle I’ve outlined above. Feel free to give me a shout if you’re getting stuck. You can TOTALLY do this!!