The Only Thing Worse Than Being Blind

"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."

-Helen Keller

In the fall of 2016, Allison and I - married barely a year - visited Jackson, Wyoming, for the first time. Having just returned from 8 months in New Zealand, we were broke, looking for a new start and a new place to land. The next step was me returning to be a special ed. teacher. We needed money, and that was the path of least resistance. I could teach anywhere. And on that trip, we thought, "Why not Jackson Hole?!" Why not? There are 6.5 million reasons why not. $6.5 million. That's the average price of a single family home in Jackson, Wyoming. I'd make good money (for a teacher) working there - about $75k to start. But even with that decent teacher's salary, we just wouldn't be able to afford living in Jackson full time. We settled in Cheyenne, Wyoming, instead.

Never fully content in Cheyenne, we took our first trip to Telluride, Colorado, in the fall of 2019. By this point, we were having some success in real estate and began to envision life beyond Cheyenne. We wanted to land in a small, beautiful mountain town, with walkability, trails nearby, and great winter and summer activities. And if you've never made a visit to southwest Colorado, Telluride fits that description perfectly. We made it a goal to be in Telluride full time within two years - the end of 2021. We didn't make it. For a number of reasons, moving to Telluride would not work out, but we continued looking for that perfect mountain town for us. This year - in 2023 - we moved to the perfect mountain town for us right now. Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

It Starts with a Vision

Those experiences in mountain towns were the catalyst. We didn't make it to Jackson or Telluride, but it caused us to begin dreaming. And that's how most good things happen, isn't it? With a dream. A vision. I am, by nature, a dreamer. I'm always thinking about where I could go, what I could build, what I could experience. But I've never written down any of my hopes and dreams. They've always been internal. I wonder how much of my life's vision I've simply forgotten about? I'm changing that now, and I'm inviting you to do the same. Inspired by Simon Sinek's It Starts with Why and Cameron Herold's Vivid Vision, I'm in the process of creating a 3 year vision for myself that will take effect on January 1, 2024.

What's your vision for your life over the next three years?

I released a podcast episode that explains this idea in a little more detail. Listen to that here. I also created a worksheet to help you brainstorm what your 3 year vision is in all aspects of your life - Finances, Business, Health + Fitness, Lifestyle + Leisure, and Relationships. Access that document here. When you're done, post it somewhere. Frame it. Read it regularly. Do whatever you have to in order to keep it front of mind. Of course, there will be a lot of hard work to do. But it starts with a vision.

I'd love to hear from you. What's your vision? What are your wildest dreams?

Dream big.

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