Camilla – Page 37

Taking that leap…

December 4, 2012 by Camilla

Sometimes you just have to go for it and figure it out later! That’s kind of what I’m doing with this blog and well, life in general. Slowly but surely this blog and website will become something awesome, but for now it will be small steps moving it forward. I have no particular order I will post things in. I probably should have a business plan written out, but seriously have you ever tried to write one? They are boring and serve no purpose in my opinion other than wasting time and paper. I don’t think that Steve Jobs ever had one. He just went for it. So did Richard Branson with Virgin. Both are a huge inspiration to me. Talk about living their lives the way they wanted and want.

Now I’m not a genius like them but just like Steve Jobs once said, “When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”

I may not be the next Mac Genius or create a master brand like Virgin but I can go for it and help others change their lives. After all, I’m one of those people that make up the world and can build something that other people can use or be inspired by. Of course that often requires taking that leap of faith. I did earlier this year when I decided to apply a ski instructor at one of our local resorts, Park City Mountain Resort. I got the job and I’m going to be a nervous wreck my first day of teaching despite all the great training I am receiving. All kind of doubts will occupy my thought pattern but isn’t that also how we grow? We get out of that comfort zone, do something different and that’s usually when we have the most rewarding experiences. I could have stayed in that safe hamster wheel and gone about my day but I decided to add something new to my life. There will be days when I’m going to wish I hadn’t like when I have a difficult group of kids or the weather is -20 and I’m freezing my buns off but in the end it will be worth it as I will expand my view on life and meet so many interesting people, not to mention help others learn how to ski and share a passion of mine. That’s what life is about…expand your views, learn something new, share what you learn, and experience what goes on outside your safe bubble. I certainly don’t have it all figured out, never will, so just take that leap of faith and go for it. If it turns out not to be what you thought it would be, at least you tried and you know that. Sometimes we just have to go there to know. I know I’m glad that Steve Jobs decided to just go for it as I’m sitting here writing this blog on my MacBook, while listening to my iPod…

And completely off subject…remember to enjoy the little things in life too, like a beautiful sunset while driving to work.

You are where you are, because you’ve been where you’ve been…

November 28, 2012 by Camilla

If I had only…how many times have we started a sentence that way? If I had only done it this way things would have been different. Yes, they could have been. It is hard as a human being to only think forward and not live in the past. Sometimes we wonder how things would have turned out if we had done just that one thing differently.

For me that “if only” started years after college, having a house, dogs and all the things that somehow end up in your life as an adult. I graduated college, got a good job, was promoted twice within a year and suddenly made more money than I had ever made. Yet, I was somehow broke all the time. If I only made more money I thought to myself. But hey, I am making more now than I did in college (thank goodness!) and I had more cash flow then. Well, the things we do that start seeping money away. Higher rent or mortgage, that nicer car that actually starts in the morning or just a car period, of course we need some furniture, eating out now actually involves being served by a waitress or waiter, and then those other bills like internet and power that no room mates are helping to pay anymore. Still, instead of realizing that all the bills were seeping away my money I just kept thinking I needed to make more money like so many of us keep thinking. So I did. And I was still broke. Not broke like in college broke but that savings account never seemed to stay in green very long. Years later I realized that I should have kept living by the college budget lifestyle and seeped my money into a savings account instead but excuses of “I should be able to afford all this” was blocking me from seeing the forest through the trees for too long. Along my journey in life I have come to realize that all of those mistakes were needed in order for me to be where I am today. I have learned from them. And today I am so much better off because of the various steps and stumbles I have come upon. Sure, it would have been nice if all those years of trial and error could be recovered with the wisdom I have today, but then isn’t that how life goes huh? So when you start saying “if I had only” or you are looking at something as a mistake or waste of your time tell yourself that you are where you are because you’ve been where you’ve been and look at those moments or mistakes as needed for you to be where you are today. Learn from them, leave them behind and move forward. If you are not where you want to be recognizing that is the first step to change. It’s not always easy and it’s always a process to move forward but as long as you do and you work towards that change that you want then that’s all that matters.

Happy travels forward!
Camilla

Hello world!

November 26, 2012 by Camilla

Hello world! That’s how WordPress starts every first blog and I guess that’s what this is. The scary yet exciting path to a blog and website for the world to see (and hopefully like). The idea for No More Hamster Wheel started a few years back. Originally I wanted two blogs, one about travel, adventure, my journey, interviews with people and why they choose the life they do, and the other was about financial freedom and sharing the knowledge I have accumulated throughout my own experience. I have always said I hate when I get stuck in the hamster wheel and life passes by too quickly. We all know those times when we wake up and wonder where the week went because it was filled with too much work and not enough play. It suddenly dawned on me as I was trying to come up with clever names that why don’t I call this No More Hamster Wheel and try to cover all topics, as no matter where we are in life, we all have a hamster wheel in our life we want to get out of. So here we are, getting off that hamster wheel, leaving it behind by getting this blog and website going.