Hiya
So let’s be clear, Keri and I do not have it all figured out.
Our business and marriage are by no means perfect.
We make mistakes, we have fights, our kids have tantrums in public.
We’ve got regrets like anybody else.
That said, I’d say we’ve lead a good life so far.
We’ve had some awesome adventures and we’re going to have some more.
At the moment I’m excited about where things are going.
That doesn’t seem to be the case for a lot of people.
Things seem to go wrong when we try to do it like everyone else.
So when we get asked “what’s your secret?”, I’ve never had a quick and insightful answer.
But I do ponder things for a long time when I get asked.
If I’m honest I think answer is what has saved our marriage and let us start a business without time money or even that much talent.
It all comes down to knowing our “WHY”
Let me explain.
When we ran our outdoor centre we had achieved a shared childhood dream.
Running the centre was challenging and wonderful for a while. In the end however, the daily reality of running a centre was not making us happy.
It didn’t feel right and we left the centre a few weeks before Charlie was born.
For years, that felt like the wrong decision.
When we left, we were beset with redundancies, debt and uncertainty.
Life became something we fitted between scraping together a living, doing whatever jobs were available.
It almost felt like punishment for not fully appreciating what we had with the outdoor centre.
Even though the centre had stopped making us happy, the harder life got the more rose tinted our time their became.
That old life, however, was no longer an option for us.
We had burned that bridge and, deep down, we knew there was a good reason why.
I know that a big part of leaving our centre was a desire to do something more with our lives.
We just didn’t know WHAT or HOW.
What was the secret?
I thought working with a bigger company for more money would give me the resources and mentorship I needed, maybe to change the world somehow!
In reality, it just took me further away from what was important to me.
You know now that our solution was alittlemoreoutdoor.com.
If you watched the workshops we shared with you, you’ve got a rough idea of HOW that works and what’s possible.
Freedom money blah blah etc
But do you know WHY it works?
Like our outdoor centre, we know our online business IS NOT the “be all and end all”.
Online businesses can make you a lot of money, and that’s exciting.
I don’t think that’s why we’re doing it, I don’t think that’s who were attracting either.
We’ve had freedom and money before, they are incredible resources.
But there are other ways to make money. I’m sure if you pile enough money and energy into anything it will eventually become profitable.
Alittlemoreoutdoor.com is a vehicle.
It’s a “WHAT” and “HOW” to allow us “WHERE” we want to go.
But, we don’t have a specific WHERE, that we want to get to.
If the outdoor centre taught us anything, simply building a life around a WHAT, HOW and WHERE will leave you feeling lost when you get there.
So Secret No#1 for a life you love is…wait for it…
Knowing “WHY”
Bare with me on this, it’s about to get touchy feely and weird but if you can grasp this it will change your life.
You’ve probably got a rough idea of WHERE are you trying to get to?
Financial freedom? Your own business? Traveling? Making the world better? maybe a house without noisy neighbours.
But do you know WHY?
WHY are those goals important?
it’s a tricky question right?
If you’ve spent some time with us and ALMO, you know WHERE we’re trying to get to.
We want a life that is focused on:
- Being there for the ones we love.
- Spending time outdoors.
- Being of value.
- Making the world a better place.
But who wouldn’t? They’re quite superficial platitudes.
Our secret is really knowing WHY we want these things:
- WHY do we want to spend time with loved ones?
- WHY do we want to be Outdoors?
- WHY do I need to feel of Value?
- WHY bother making the world a better place?
It’s not something to be put into words, it just FEELS right:
- I FEEL better with certain people.
- I FEEL better when I’m Outdoors,
- It FEELS right to be of Value.
- It FEELS right to try and make the world better.
- It FEELS wrong when I’m taken further away from these things.
I guess it’s a case of trusting our guts.
It’s easy to get caught up in all the things you’re supposed to be doing.
To do what other people tell you to do or expect of you.
to even set your sight on a specific goal.
Whenever I do that It never goes well.
How often do you take the time to REALLY question if it FEELS right?
Where do you really want to be and WHY?
It’s so easy to be happy on paper.
I always wanted to work in the outdoors.
I’ve done that with different jobs, but is that the be all and end all?
I don’t think it’s about just saying I work outdoors.
- It has to FEEL right.
- It FEELS right when I’m somewhere natural and new with my family.
- It FEELS right connecting with people who inspire me.
- It FEELS right helping people towards goals that they FEEL are right for them.
Knowing that, FEELING that, that is WHY I would risk everything to work towards it.
That’s how I know i’m living a good life.
Like the saying: “it’s about the journey, not the destination.”
Alittlemoreoutdoor.com didn’t feel right when it made money (admittedly it was exciting and a relief, it did help).
It started to make money when it FELT RIGHT.
Maybe that’s because we we’re up for putting in the work, maybe it’s because people connected with us a little more authentically.
It FELT RIGHT when we were working towards what we loved in a way we enjoyed and felt proud of.
On paper we should have quit a little more outdoor ages ago. It didn’t make money for a year!
But, it FELT RIGHT.
When it’s hard and challenging and we get knocked back, we can pick ourselves up and find new solutions to get WHERE we are heading.
We enjoy the journey, appreciate arriving and start planning our next adventure with excitement and gratitude.
Knowing WHY doesn’t just give us the courage and persistence to take steps every day,
it makes those steps enjoyable and worth living for.
We recommend the training and other bits and bobs so you know HOW to build a life you want.
What FEELS RIGHT to me is helping you figure out what that is for you.
So, can I ask you:
- WHERE are you trying to go?
- WHY are you doing it?
- WHAT are you doing each day to get there?
- HOW are you trying to get there?
- Is it working?
- Are you enjoying it?
Once you can figure that out here’s bonus secret number 2.
I’m pretty sure this is why Alittlemoreoutdoor.com makes money and why Keri hasn’t left me despite us never really settling.
This is what makes knowing your WHY so valuable.
“CONNECTION”
Does that make sense?
Keri and I are very diffrent in the way we like to do things, But I think Keri and I’s marriage is so strong because we share such a strong WHY.
We connected over it.
We could have met anyone and talked about loving the outdoors and wanting to make the world a better place. I’ve met plenty of people who share those ideals.
But the reason Keri and I are together. The reason we’ve been able to keep taking hits and moving forward… It’s because when we really dig down past the superficial life goals and keep asking “WHY?”, We feel the same.
WHY do we keep looking for new challenges. WHY do we keep finding physical or metaphysical mountain peaks to summit together? WHY then go and find more to climb?
- We can’t always explain it. It FEELS right.
- We FEEL when life is just passing by, even when it’s easy.
- We can FEEL when life is moving in the right direction, even when it’s hard.
- We both FEEL it, even when we can’t justify it with words.
I believe “CONNECTION” is also the secret to ALMO’s modest success. It’s WHY people click our ads.
It’s WHY people trust us to try something outside their comfort zone.
“CONNECTION”.
I think by being open and honest we connect with like minded people.
We can help them because, I don’t know if you would call it speaking the same language but, when the intention and motivation are similar it’s a lot easier to share ideas and solutions.
You and I share something.
It might not have been written down in an email or webpage. It might not have been said in a video. But, if you’ve read this far, through my ramblings and thoughts, it’s because in some way you’ve resonated and connected with something.
YOU and I care about the same things and our reasons WHY, FEEL the same.
HOW our business works is by recommending training.
It’s not our own, we get a bit of commision for recommending it.
I genuinely think it’s important for you to learn to build the infrastructure to connect with people.
But it’s just that, it’s a tool. One method of many. The best we’ve found in a lifetime of trying all sorts.
WHY our business works is still a bit beyond me.
As far as I can see, if you’re clear on WHY something is important to you,
you can connect openly and honestly with people who feel the same.
If you’re genuinely striving towards that something, then what you have to offer those people you truly connect with can take many forms:
- experience,
- knowledge,
- products,
- ideas,
- questions,
- thoughts,
- resources.
It’s just a case of sharing different things and feeling what feels right.
What you enjoy and want to spend time doing.
I have every intention of sailing the atlantic, building a permaculture small holding and developing a new way to educate and inspire young people.
I know that I can make income from that now through alittlemoreoutdoor.com
Hopefully what we’ve shared with you so far has shown you HOW that makes money.
If you’re really going to spend your time doing something you love, you’re going to need to work at WHY.
You’re going to have to FEEL and KNOW it in your gut.
That takes trying new things, making mistakes.
When you’ve got a sense of WHY you can set a course for what FEELS right.
You can have the courage to try different WHATs or HOWs and have the resilience to try again if you fail.
And each time you set a course that’s a little more right for you.
If that, makes even remote sense,
If that FEELS right, then YOU are the reason I love doing this.
I hope it helps in some way.
Here for you
Nick
Explorer
Explore Share Inspire
P.S. Remember; It’s about finding something you’re going to enjoy building. Something that’s going to improve your life because you’re doing it. Not doing something because it might make you money.
Figure out WHY you’re living, connect with others who FEEL the same.
It’s easy to forget this simple truth.