Have you ever been to Horsham?
It’s a small town in South West England about 40 minutes from London.
It’s ‘ok’. Has a town centre with the usual boring chain stores and is in the middle of nice countryside.
Most people growing up there plan on escaping in the future.
And 6 years ago that’s what we were planning. Our escape.
Not from Horsham, but from the norm.
I had just read the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. I was juiced up on the possibilities of a location independent, freedom business.
But, I had a job, we had a young child, not a lot of money in the bank and we were living with my parents in law…
(temporarily, we were moving back to NZ)
One sunny English afternoon Michelle and I sat in the garden while Max was having his nap and made our dreamline. This is part vision, part practical way to set out what you want your life and business to look like and the realistic finances to enable it.
We rolled it up and felt good that we had laid it out but in the back of our minds it didn’t feel real or possible.
The next thing I did was what any smart location independent entrepreneur would do.
I took a job.
hmmm
That’s not part of our script.
But running the marketing for a $100m per year online business after being inside a $800m per year one is a learning and growth opportunity of a lifetime.
The decision was the seed.
Michelle was offered lucrative contract work when we landed back in NZ. With my salary it would give us a great household income. Sensible decision right?
The dreamline said no.
We started the business. Michelle toiling away on a ‘desk’ between 2 saw horses doing content work. Me getting our first ‘proper’ client.
I left GrabOne and to most the path was set.
I would turn up at corporate offices get paid $1500-$2000 per day helping them with strategies that were unlikely to ever see the light of day and we would live a good life.
But the dreamline was sitting there whispering our names.
I remember having lunch with a fellow consultant and telling him I was going to leave the cushy consulting gig and start working with more small and medium businesses to claim more of my time back.
He smiled at me like I was 13 year old that still believed in Santa. “Good luck” he smirked.
I stopped time-for-money consulting.
They told me not to do that.
I took on one-to-one clients.
Then built a group program.
They told me not to do that.
I got really good at generating high value leads.
I started working with people who wanted the same.
They told me not to do that.
The dreamline told me to.
Last week we had the 3rd best sales week of the year and our clients racked up some huge wins. All while I was in a farm house in Northland that we didn’t even plan on being in a few days before.
Unless you have a clear vision of where you want to go its too difficult to take the first step.
All along the way people will tell you it’s impossible or dreaming or deluded.
But it’s yours. You own it.
You will fail repeatedly in the moment. But if you’re moving forward you cant fail overall.
Things will morph and change along the way. Things you thought you wanted turn out to be false. Things you discounted turn out to be significant.
You will look at the overnight successes (they weren’t) and be disheartened that you havent instantly transformed.
But understand this.
The value is in the journey.
The learning, the relationships, the skills, the experience, the hardship.
There is no destination.
As soon as you arrive there will be a new destination calling.
That’s how it works.
But start.
Lay it out. Dream big but stay anchored in a commercial reality.
It’s possible.
