Once in a Lifetime

When the world took a bit of a pause as we tried to understand what COVID was going to do in 2020 travel was halted as a result. Jill and I have loved to travel well before we had to take a small hiatus, but that hiatus has helped me realize how much I truly enjoy experiencing new places and discovering how incredible this world truly is.

We were fortunate enough to have qualified for a leadership trip to Hawaii this last week with ZYIA Active. We had been to Hawaii one other time, but that was years ago, and we were visiting family, so it was a little different vibe. This time we were going to explore and take in everything the island of Kauai had to offer. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

We faced our fears and took a helicopter tour of the island that included stopping at the Jurassic Park Waterfall. The sight was so stunning and remote that it earned a premier appearance in the major motion picture, and it did not disappoint. We took a sailing tour that included snorkeling at one of the many reefs that surround the island. We did some of the most picturesque hikes that I have ever been on. The challenge of the hike paled in comparison to the views that we were rewarded with. We were thousands of feet above sea level and looked down at the very helicopters that we were in just days earlier. Like I said we were taking it all in and appreciating the one in a lifetime moment.

It was about halfway into our trip that my perspective and amazement of this experience was put in check. As we attended the welcome social with the entire group from ZYIA Active that was in attendance for the event, the President of the company addressed the crowd and changed everything for me. As we watched him with the ocean in the background and the mountains behind us he thanked us for being here and acknowledged the work it took to earn the trip. Then he challenged everyone to look at this as not a once in a lifetime experience, but instead something that we do at least twice a year.

You see, ZYIA Active allows its representatives to earn two different trips to various locations every year. So quite literally, this trip that I was viewing as one in a lifetime was anything but. As I reflected more on those words, I think they had a greater impact than Zach Bradley could have ever imagined. His words do not only apply to the opportunities provided within the company that he helped start, but also in all our lives.

We far too often look at opportunities, or the blessings that we are provided as overly external. The opportunity to go to Hawaii was no doubt a fantastic thing for us, but I was placing it on this pedestal that made if feel unreachable unless everything lined us just right and the stars aligned. While there was a lunar eclipse while we were on the island, that is about the only astronomical coincidence that was in play. The work that we have put in and the time and effort in our business was what brought us to Hawaii, not some type of divine intervention.

Look, I am beyond grateful for what I have been blessed with and what our business has given our family. The people that we have met along the way and the lives impacted have been incredibly fulfilling and more than I could have ever asked for. But understand that it is the actions taken that lead to the results and blessings you see. This leads me to the idea that something is once in a lifetime. This is simply not the case at all.

If you want something, you must be willing to go after it. If you look at a situation and think to yourself “I wish” you are really saying that you want something without putting any work into it. I wish I could go on a trip to Hawaii, really means that you want to go but not willing to put in the work. Instead, if you approach it as a goal, something that you will undoubtedly achieve, you will not limit yourself to what you are simply comfortable with to achieve that goal. You will be willing to reach outside of your comfort zone to make sure this goal becomes a reality.

There is very little in this world that is once in a lifetime. If you want something bad enough, you can always find a way. If I want to go back to Hawaii, I will find a way to make it happen, but that will be up to me to do and not some other external condition outside of my control. I challenge you to take ownership of what you view as possible. Even the person that wins the millions of dollars playing the lottery still had to take the action of buying the winning ticket. What is the action that you are putting into place today to make what you want possible?