“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”

-Milton Berle

Sometimes the doors of opportunities are there for you to find them, and other times you have to work for them. Typically, adventurous people have a never-ending list of opportunities of adventures they want to do, so trying to figure out the next one isn’t that much of a challenge. But what if you are new to the adventure game? Or what if you are going on a trip and need to find the local spots?  Well, read on to learn about how to fill up your adventure to-do list full of exciting and memorable experiences. 

What is an Adventure?
I use the word adventure very loosely here because I want it to mean whatever you want it to mean. For me, an adventure is usually some sort of outdoor physical activity or travelling. But swap out the word adventure for whatever you may be looking for in your life. If you are not sure what that is, then read our previous newsletter post here about figuring out what sets your soul on fire.

Once you know what sort of adventure you want, then you need to plan it out. I’m going to use some examples based on the adventures I partake in, specifically hiking, because, well, you write what you know. I’ll throw in ideas for how you can find your next adventure based on non-hiking activities though. 

Where to Find that Adventure:
When it comes to hiking and outdoor adventures these are my favorite ways to find my next one: 

• Good ol’ fashion book:
  • The online world is amazing but sometimes it has too much information and it can get overwhelming. So I go to the tried and true resource of a book. And I personally like a real book, not a virtual one, so that you can check it off as you complete the hikes and make notes for future reference.
  • When I moved to McCall six years ago the first thing I did was buy my beloved hiking book, The Hiker’s Guide to McCall & Cascade by Scott Marchant, pictured above. This book is so well loved I had to take it in to get it spiralbound because pages were falling out.
    • Nerd alert ;)- I even turned this beloved book into a spreadsheet and I’m not much of a spreadsheet person. I did this though so I could quickly find the right hike. Now I can search for hikes that will take five hours or less, or which hikes are the best in July, etc.
      • Want a copy of my spreadsheet? Click HERE. 
  • I will even buy the local guide book when I’m on a trip if I plan to do more than one or two hikes. I figure I’ll have it for the future if I come back and it goes towards a good cause.  
• Blog Posts
  • If you finish off your guide book and/or there isn’t one to begin with, try searching for blogs for your area/adventure. I stumbled upon two amazing online blogs full of detailed notes on so many hikes in my area. 
• Social Media
  • Search hashtags for your area or adventures or both. With this search you should find specific posts to learn from and/or accounts you can follow for more ideas.
    • Example hashtags I’ve used
      • #hikingmccall
      • #hikingidaho
      • #mccalloutdoors
      • #mccall
      • #visitmccall
• Strava
  • Wow! The world of Strava has enlightened me in the past two years. I always thought it was a tool to show off how fast you are at running or biking or whatever it may be. And yes, it is a tool to do that but now I LOVE Strava and pay money each year for it for two main reasons:
    • I can see what other people are doing in my area to know when trails are rideable/hikeable or skiable. And the Strava community is really helpful. I simply reach out to the person and ask them what trail conditions were like and most of the time they’re happy to help.
    • I learn new routes. So many people are out pushing the boundaries and exploring new areas. It inspires me to try new trails and explore mountain tops or backcountry lakes I never knew were accessible.
      1. I’ve also been on many type-two adventures this way and gotten in over my head (safely survived but oof it was a long day).
      2. With a paid Strava subscription you can download other people’s routes to then have when you’re out on that hike as a guide. 
• AllTrails
  • This has been my favorite go-to resource when travelling. It has so many great hikes and most importantly it has recent reviews from people who have done the hikes. So it lets me know the condition of the trails before getting out there, which is important because you may not know what time of year certain trails are accessible in new areas, or if there are closures, etc. 
• Facebook and/or Meet-Up Groups
  • Before I went to Yosemite I joined a few Facebook groups about hiking Yosemite and it helped me narrow down which were the best hikes to do on my limited time there. 
  • These various groups will have trail updates too that can help you with planning when to go. 
  • This is also a great way to meet other people to adventure with. 
• Call the Professionals
  • Local outdoor shops, the forest service, and even guiding services have been super helpful for my own planning. So don’t be afraid to reach out to the people that are professionals in your field of interest, I’m sure they are eager and happy to help! 

**Outdoor activities might not be your adventure but is there an app for the adventures you do love? If your adventure is trying a new home cooked meal each week, can you find a cool recipe app? If it’s remodeling homes, I guarantee there are apps for that! Just google it. 

Plan Out the Adventure: 
Once you find the adventure you then need to plan out how to make it happen! 

• Block out time to get out on these adventures! Choose your top five ones and then timeblock them into your calendar for the next six months to ensure they happen! I get 1/2 a day most weeks throughout the summer to tackle my hiking adventure checklist and I plan it out before summer arrives so I know which hikes I’m doing and when. 
• Micro-adventures to the win:
  • What’s a micro-adventure? It’s just what it sounds like, a mini adventure that you plug into an already hectic and busy schedule. Sound like you?!? 
  • **Disclaimer*** Exhaustion may follow micro-adventures!
    • You are already tired with your hectic schedule so how can you imagine adding more to it? Well, truth be told, you may become more tired after a micro adventure BUT I guarantee you’ll also be more fulfilled! You may go to bed later than planned, or have a granola bar for dinner instead of a home-cooked meal BUT you’ll have a smile on your face when your head hits the pillow with the fact you snuck in a rad experience on a Tuesday night. 
  • To make micro-adventures work you MUST have your bags packed and a plan ahead of time so when the time comes you just have to get out the door and get going! Every minute counts for micro-adventures. 🙂 
• Coordinate with WHO you want to adventure with!
  • Finding out where to go is key but so is finding out who to go with. So figure out your besties that you want to make these activities with and get on their calendar ASAP! 
• On vacation, it’s also important to plan out when you’ll take these adventures, especially if you are going on a trip with other people as they’ll be coming with their own agendas. But if it’s really important for you to get out on a specific hike or go to that cool class, restaurant, whatever it may be, make sure you have all the details before your trip so you can quickly share how much time you’ll need, when is the ideal time to make it happen, etc. 

What is YOUR Adventure?
The mountains call to me. But I would love to know what you have on your “bucket-list”. Is it hiking and biking like me? Or what fills your cup these days? I always love to know what my readers are into! So what are the five things you put on your summer to do list? Or your top activity for your family vacation this year? 

Also, if you ever want to chat about outdoor activities in the McCall area, please let me know! I’m always happy to be a resource for the best bike rides or most amazing hikes. 🙂 

I hope this Elevate Livin’ Life Newsletter has helped give ideas of where to find your next adventure so you can create your amazing adventure-to-do-list AND an amazing life worth living! 

“Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing.”

-Barry Finlay

It’s early morning and the only companions outside with you are the bald eagles flying overhead, the bounding deer up the hillside, and your trusty pup in the co-pilot seat of your car. The windows are down and the warm air is blowing through your hair while your car stereo busts out your favorite tunes. You find yourself giddy and nervous, eager and scared for the journey that lays ahead.

For today you have signed yourself up to climb a mountain and you know what awaits you will be challenging, but you think and hope it will be worth it. So here you go, on your way to put one foot in front of the other, over and over and over, hoping that you not only reach the top but along the way you become a better human as well. Now, whether that’s a real mountain or a metaphorical one for business or life, the lessons learned while climbing any type of mountain can be useful in all areas of your life. So read on to hear some valuable lessons about climbing mountains in life and business.  

The Climb
Before you can begin climbing your mountain, you must first find out what mountain to climb. This in itself is a huge challenge but well worth it in the end. So I encourage you to take some time to figure out what mountains you are wanting to climb in life and then take some time to figure out WHY you want to climb those mountains. You’ll need the Why on your journey up. And if you need help figuring out what mountains to climb or why to climb them, please reach out to me! From real mountains to life ones (business, cancer, relationships, etc.) I LOVE talking to people about this! 

Your Thoughts are not Real
You’ve thought about climbing this mountain (or starting this business) for a while now and the time is here. You wake up and are excited but nervous, eager but hesitant. Your brain is bouncing between the thoughts of all the cool things you’re about to experience to also being filled with doubt. Your mind is going to try to convince you to not go. Even if you do this all the time you’re still going to have some thoughts and feelings trying to convince you to stay home, it’s self preservation happening as the mind is protecting you from the challenges ahead. 

Some of my thoughts on a recent morning climb of a real mountain (Kelly Mountain in Riggins) were: 

• I’m so excited!!!! I get to go hike with just my pup for a few hours, yay!! 
• Did I choose the right mountain to climb today? Is it going to be worth it and cool or should I just do the other one I did last year that I loved? No, I’m doing it and it will be fine and great. It will actually be awesome!
• This is going to hurt, but this will be a good hurt and worth it. Bring on the type two fun.  
• It’s going to be really hot today. There are snakes in this area. There have been a lot of ticks lately. Is the breakfast I eat every day going to sit right for this adventure? Maybe this is a bad idea. It’s Mother’s Day, I should be at home with my kids. I’m a bad mom. 
• No, Tony said I should go and get some me time. This will be good for me, I’ll be a better mom by doing this. I have a great podcast I can listen to and think about life and my business which is like me working, so it’s okay, I shouldn’t feel guilty because I’m being productive. 
• Will I have enough water, maybe I shouldn’t do the entire thing.  

And so on! All morning. Is this just my brain doing this or does your brain bounce back and forth like this during challenging times? Whether I’m flying solo on this one or not, I work through it by remembering: 

• You are not your thoughts.
• Just because you have those thoughts doesn’t make them REAL.
• Turn them off and start climbing. 

Just Keep Climbing
So you’ve pushed through the worry of doubt, the mind trying to convince you to stay home and you are on the trail. Yay!! It’s so exciting! A little scary, but you’re doing it. And then you come around the corner and look up and that’s when you see it, you see the mountain with your challenging journey ahead of you and you may think, holy crap, I have to climb that! 

At this exact moment on my hike in Riggins I was deep in thoughts about my current business. I’d had some challenging times recently and I was thinking about the road ahead of me and felt a little despair of how hard that road was going to be.  At that exact moment as my head was down and I was just climbing away, I realized the trail I was on disappeared. Great. Lovely. Then I looked up and saw Kelly Mountain, the mountain I had set out to climb and I thought to myself, “holy shit, this is the mountain I’m climbing today? It’s literally towering over me right now, like how is that even physically possible?” And to top it off, as I was trying to find the trail, I instead found some animal bones at my feet.  All I could do was laugh about the metaphor of the thoughts in my head of my business feeling in despair and the now new thoughts of despair for my current predicament of climbing this mountain.

Yes, I considered turning around and going to sit by the beach for a few hours. 🙂 

Instead, I took a moment, looked at my map, made a plan and put one foot in front of the other to just start climbing. 
Why?

• Because I knew it would be worth it in the end.
• I knew nothing great comes from comfort zones.
• I knew if I chose that beach over that mountain I would regret it and always wonder what if.
• I knew I would gain so much more by doing this hard path rather than the easy path.
• And I knew, this journey today will help me with my business journey tomorrow. This journey today will help me with my life journey in the future. Because here is the thing, climbing a mountain is hard, but so is being a business owner, or fighting cancer, or raising a newborn, or many, many, many other things you’ll be asked to do in life.  Each hard challenge you face head on will only help prepare you for the next hard obstacles ahead of you.  I promise you, from my own personal experience when I was fighting cancer, I called upon those hard mountains I climbed, those exhausting days in the gym, I thought of those and how I made it through that day, I can make it through this day. 

So, up we go. 

Ignoring the Boogyeman Fears
As I ascended up and up and up, with some occasional downs, here is a recollection of the thoughts of my mind, the boogeyman fears that were still trying to bring me back to comfort: 

• I’m doing it! Look how far I’ve come, oh wow, what a pretty flower. This is so great, see I’m so glad I didn’t turn around. 
• The trail is gone again. Am I even on the right trail? Is this even the right mountain to climb? 
• This is HARD. I saw other people up here once, how did they do it? They made it look so easy.
  • It was probably just as hard (or even harder) for those people before me. If you find yourself struggling to achieve  the top of your mountain, reach out to those before you as I bet they would happily share their lessons learned and experiences to help you climb your own similar mountain.
    • Before I started Elevate TC Services I talked to another TC who owned her own company and she changed my life. That 45 minutes she spent with me inspired and motivated me to have the courage to go start my own company. I bet others would like to help you along your journeys. 
    • If you are someone who is already at the top of your mountain, make sure to help those below you. 
• I’m going to do this, I’m pretty close now so there is no turning back!
  • Wait, now it’s really windy up here and even more sun exposed. Maybe I should turn back because what if my sunscreen wore off and I’m getting burned. My legs are throbbing too, maybe this is too much for me to do today. Oh crap, why does Ember (my dog) have blood on her, see this is just a sign this is not the right day to summit, time to turn around. 

**These were all boogeyman fears**. Yes, maybe they could be real concerns that are good reasons to turn around but when I stop to truly think about them (or inspect the bleeding dog who just had a gum bleeding) I came to realize it’s still my brain trying to convince me to go back to comfort and that I shouldn’t listen to it.  I share my inner dialogue with you as I hope it helps you realize even those climbing mountains daily are having doubts and struggles too! 

The Top Isn’t That Cool
Welp, we did it, we’re here. We’re at the top of Kelly Mountain and honestly, it’s not that cool. The view isn’t that great and there is no marker to indicate this is even really the top. Huh, was that even worth it? I sat down and had some M&Ms and thought about the journey up and the let-down at the top. Here’s the thing though, in that moment I was:

• Proud & Stoked & Relieved
  • It may not be that cool but I was damn proud of working through the boogeyman fears, the physical pain, and figuring out how to get here despite the challenges.
  • And even though it was a lame summit, I had some really amazing views on the way up and I’ll have even better ones on the way down. I’m stoked to have made it and what I gained along the way (inside the head mostly). 
  • And I’m relieved it’s over and I can head down now. I’m relieved I made it as this will help me next week when I journey on an even harder mountain to climb.    

Don’t Trip on the Way Down
It’s easy to think all the work is done now that you made it to the top, but honestly, that’s typically when the hardest work can come. You’re tired from the journey behind you and you still have another journey to get out. Also, it’s easy to let your guard down and there are still challenges that may trip you up on your way down (like on my hike when I had two rattlesnakes slithering across the trail, ran out of water in the hot sun, and lost the trail multiple times again).

But just like the journey to the top, it’s important to remember to just put one foot in front of the other. Just keep going because it will be worth it in the end!  As I sat in my car on the way home I felt bliss and euphoria for the journey behind me. It was a hard day, but a good day. 

So wherever you may be in your journey, whether that’s climbing a mountain at work, home, or a real physical mountain, I hope these lessons help you get there. I also hope you someday take the time to climb real mountains (even if it’s just your local hill), because I believe it will help you for any future mountain you have to climb in life!  

What is your favorite “mountain” you have climbed in life? 

“Volunteerism is the voice of the people put into action.  These actions shape and mold the present into a future of which we can all be proud.”

-Helen Dyer

Today is the first day of Idaho Gives, an event in Idaho centered around promoting the nonprofits and giving back to them during this time. So, I wanted to share what I’ve learned in the past year about giving back and how you can have a great impact too!  

Lessons from the Nonprofit World :
I recently joined the board for a nonprofit up here in McCall, Idaho called CIMBA (Central Idaho Mountain Bike Association). It’s a pretty rad nonprofit that does a lot of really great work, like building fun new trails (for all users), maintaining current trails, hosting community events, and so much more.

Here are some lessons I’ve learned from my time with CIMBA that I think everyone should know about nonprofits. 

• Time & Money are SO IMPORTANT!
  • I mean duh, isn’t time and money always important in most things in life? But these really are big items that make a nonprofit run. Money is needed for projects and events. Time from people is needed to run those projects and events.
    • It blew my mind how much money is needed for projects. Like hundreds of thousands of dollars to build one trail! Just one! I had no idea. You might be surprised to learn how much nonprofits you love spend on the work they are doing. 
    • It also blew my mind how much time it takes to do anything for the organization. There are so many moving parts from permitting, to planning, to marketing, to approvals, to so many other little things to make anything happen. 
• Asking for Help is HARD!
  • It’s really hard to just keep having to ask for help over and over and over again!! From spending the first few months of the year talking to local businesses about being sponsors, to encouraging people to become a member, to asking others to volunteer their time to work on the trails- I feel guilty and greedy! Is it just me? So, next time an organization asks for your help, just know, it’s probably uncomfortable and difficult for them to do so. But, without the help, then the organization wouldn’t function and achieve their goals. 
• An Amazing FUTURE!
  • Despite the lessons and challenges, I can see the fruits of the labor for those in the past and for us currently working in the nonprofit.  What CIMBA (and other organizations) have done in the past have made my life so much better. It’s easy to forget about the work that goes into a new trail when I’m out biking on them. But now I see what it takes and it makes me appreciate them even more, as well as offering my time and money towards it knowing it will be worth it in the end. Because as Dr. Seuss said: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” 

So, today, I urge you to think about what you love in your life and how you can give back. With Idaho Gives, it’s a time to focus on monetary donations, but if that isn’t something you can offer, then donate some time to nonprofits you care about! And if giving isn’t really your thing, that’s okay too but I encourage you to read on. 🙂 

Giving Ain’t Really Your Thing?
It’s okay if you aren’t a giver, yet (or ever), I wasn’t really one either. I am an extremely busy person, I like to do what I want to do, and I honestly don’t feel the sense of responsibility to give back. Yup, I said it. BUT, then I realized most givers weren’t necessarily givers before either. This may sound silly, but I just always assumed people who volunteered either had a ton of time and volunteering was their type of hobby or they just really found fulfillment in giving back. What I’m learning is that’s not always the case and some of the volunteers I’ve met are busier than me. So if they can do it, so can I. Not necessarily because I want to, but because I need to. 

Plus, after being apart of CIMBA for seven months, I’ve already seen some personal benefits that I didn’t expect, which are: 

• Networking
  • Meet new people, meet powerful people, meet helpful people, just meet people that can help you in your day-to-day personal and professional lives. 
• Plan out the Future
  • If you join a mountain bike nonprofit like CIMBA, you are on the forefront of being involved on what next trails get built, what events to bring to town, what will make your biking world better. So what do you want to see in your future? 
• Learning
  • I’ve learned a lot of helpful tips and tricks from other people on the board. From biking specific things, to computer related stuff, to marketing techniques, and so much more. These are lessons that will help my personal and professional life! 
• Finding Purpose
  • You will feel fulfilled and have a purpose when you’re involved with a nonprofit! And this Forbes article HERE talks about the benefits of purpose! 

Hopefully this has inspired you to give back and if so, read on for ideas of how to give back (*hint, it doesn’t have to always be your time). 

Giving Your Money: 
Having people to help with their time is super important for most nonprofits, but so is money. So if you don’t want to donate your time, donating your money is really great too! And if it’s hard for you to just hand over your hard earned cash directly, here are some other ideas of ways to donate financially to organizations: 

• Challenge Accepted:
  • I once heard a Realtor tell me that he wanted to build a habit of working out every day and he got another friend convinced to do it as well. They wanted to have some money on the line as motivation so they each wrote five checks out to their favorite organizations and they agreed that if one of them didn’t show up the other one was supposed to mail their check out. I thought that was a great idea all around! Then I laughed when I learned they changed it to have the checks go to organizations they hated. Which nothing motivated him more to get to those early morning gym sessions than knowing his money was going to something he didn’t believe in.  So, are there areas you are making bets, or challenges with money on the line that you could put that money to good use? 
• Streaking for a Cause:
  • In McCall a few amazing ladies created a fitness challenge that was for thirty days and if you missed a day you paid money to join back in. At the end of the event whatever money was raised was then spent on the people still involved to go to dinner and have drinks. They realized though that the money could be put to better use and decided to donate it. Years later, and after opening it up to the public, (and working their butts off to put the event on), they donate thousands of dollars yearly to local kids for college. How cool! So, are you apart of any groups like this that could raise a few dollars for a nonprofit? 
• Marketing Made Easy:
  • Lots of organizations have options to become a sponsor with your business. This is a great way to get your business marketed to the community and a way to give back as well! My company, Elevate TC Services is a proud sponsor of CIMBA and I get to rock this cool CIMBA Supporter sticker! 
• And of course there is the tax benefit when you donate money. 

Giving Your TIME: 
If you read the last Elevate Livin’ Life e-newsletter you know that I feel very strongly about the importance of protecting your time. So trust me, I get it when it comes to the difficulty of sacrificing your time on nonprofit work. But, something important to remember is this can be on your own terms!

• Maybe you can’t give up your Saturday to work on the local trails, but could you give up a few hours in the month to work on the computer or do other tasks behind the scenes?
  • Nonprofits usually need help writing grants, putting together marketing material, running errands and a boatload of other tasks that you could jump into on your own time and terms. 
• Or be an unknown trail angel!
  • Instead of formally being apart of the organization, just do your part on your own for work you know they do. Clear some trails while you’re out on your own ride…or whatever activity your organization you believe in does. 
• Perhaps you can’t directly donate your time but maybe you can indirectly?
  • Do you know a lot of people, and/or are you naturally a talker and social butterfly? Perhaps you can just share about the organizations you believe in to help them grow their awareness. OR share on social media their posts!

Just think about what you have to offer (time, money, or something else) and figure out how to offer it to organizations you believe in, which is your next step, figuring out which organizations! 

Finding Where to GIVE: 
Are you ready to donate some time or money? Well here are some steps to help you figure out where to direct those valuable offerings! 

1. Think about your favorite hobbies and passions.
2. Google “said hobby” with “nonprofit” in your city.
   1. If that doesn’t yield any results then go to your local store for said hobby and ask them if they know of any nonprofits or organizations that need help. 
   2. Or ask a friend you know involved in community service work that does similar hobbies. 
3. Once you find the organization, contact them to ask if they’re in need of any help. Or join the board meetings to learn and listen. Or go to their website to learn where to donate. 

The future you, the future children, the future everything thanks you for your donations!! 🙂 

Idaho Gives:
I hope this e-newsletter has sparked your mind with ideas of where you can be a helping hand in the future or even today, especially as Idaho Gives is taking place. A few dollars can go a long way! And if you want to donate to the organization I love, CIMBA, click HERE (no pressure!!).

I’d love to know what organizations you are apart of?!

Or if this e-newsletter encourages you to join one, I’d love to know this too!! Especially if you are in McCall, you like biking, and you want to help out CIMBA. too. 😉 

“In order to HAVE focus we need to escape TO focus.”

– Greg McKeown

If you want an amazing life. A life by design. A life worth living. A life you are stoked on. Then you must build this life out. But that takes TIME and FOCUS. So, are you taking the time to focus? And then taking the time to build it? 

---

First You Need TIME:

You can either spend your time, or you can invest your time! I vote for invest your time into building out a life that really means something to you! To do this though, you first need to find some time to be able to focus. So when thinking about time, remember: 

• Everyone has the same amount of time in their day. The most successful people you know and/or see have the same amount of time as you do. So saying something like “I just don’t have time for that” is false, because you do have the time, you just end up using your time elsewhere. Which, this is okay, unless where you are focusing your time isn’t getting you to your dreams.
  • So if you are feeling like you don’t have enough time to focus on building out your life you have designed in your mind, then next I encourage you to track how you are spending your time throughout your day.
    • Is there anywhere you can cut out activities that aren’t being productive?
      • There have been times in my life where every night I sit and watch TV and that’s okay. But when I look back I think to myself, dang I could have been so much more productive if I worked on “x” instead of sitting there and watching TV.
        • Then again, there are days that I know I need to just shut it off. Turn off my brain, my mind, my computer, not do anymore physical activity, and just zone out. So TV is great for that! I probably don’t need that every night (and if I do, then perhaps I need to reevaluate how I’m spending my days). 
      • I used to scroll through social media every night before bed and I didn’t even realize how fast the minutes went by and the next thing I know, I’m way past the time I wanted to be asleep to get my full eight hours of sleep. Now I try to force myself to not even open a social media app when I’m in bed and instead pick up my book. 
      • I also used to wake up and browse Facebook and Instagram first thing in the morning. Yet again, I realized I was wasting 10-20 minutes of valuable and productive time (I’m most productive and fired up in the morning). So I now try to get up and immediately get out of bed. 
    • When are you most productive? If it’s the morning…perhaps waking up earlier is going to give you that time you are needing. It’s amazing how much you can get done from 5:30-7:30 AM. That being said, I always recommend getting the right amount of sleep so if you do this, then make sure you go to bed earlier. I know that might be hard but if you aren’t as productive at night then perhaps it will be okay?? 🙂
      • And turn off all distractions (emails, phone calls, alerts) during this time to be super focused and productive. 
  • Think about your priorities and do those first thing! 
• If you don’t protect your time, someone else will take it up (your boss, your spouse, your kids, your parents, your unconscious mind stuck in habits of wasting time). 
• Lastly, after a few google searches of how to find more time in your life here are my favorite tips:
  • Handle Things Once- if you open an email, handle it immediately rather than saving it for later to deal with. 
  • Make Good Use of Waiting Time- at the doctors office waiting for 30 minutes? Well, bring along a task you can handle while you are there. 
  • Chores- perhaps your time is better spent NOT doing the house cleaning or laundry. Pay someone else to do that. 
  • Systematizing Your Life- Just ask me more about how to do this if it interests you as we have a lot of this in our life! 
  • Exercise- Keep the exercise but have it dialed in and planned before you show up so it’s efficient. Ask me today for my favorite workouts! 
  • Be Decisive – Rather than spending an hour to find a cheaper airfare, give yourself 15 minutes and be okay with spending a little more knowing you just saved yourself 45 minutes. I need to remind myself of this as I’m always searching for the best deal and this actually backfires a lot! 
  • Efficiency- Do the dishes while you make those calls to the tax guy, tag team with another parent for pickup/drop-off for sports or school, when cooking, make a double batch and freeze it for another night! 
  • Set a Timer- For nonproductive activities or other time sucks. Did you know on your smartphones you can set timers to clock you out of social media? If you don’t want to enable that, then use an old fashion watch or phone timer to go off sixty minutes after you sit down to watch your favorite show so you don’t get sucked into the next episode. 
  • Learn to Say No. Eek this one is hard for me! But when you say yes to one thing you are saying no to another, so always think what a yes today might mean a no for tomorrow.  

Then You Need to FOCUS:

Once you can find some more time in your life, then next step is to block out and use that extra time to go focus! Focus on what? Well read on to find out! 

• I never realized how important this really is but in the past few years I’ve had a lot more solo hikes and trail runs (because my main adventure buddy, my husband, is at home watching kiddos while I adventure). I miss him and other friends on these days but lately I’ve realized how these solo times have forced me to escape it all and given me time to focus on my life. I’m able to think about how I can improve my business, to think about the goals I want to achieve in my life, to think, well, just about everything!  There are so many thoughts I’ve had during these moments that I never even realized because I never had the space to get there in my mind. 
• So once you’ve created some more time, then respect it! Even if that time comes and you think, I don’t have much to think about today, I encourage you to not let it get filled up with other tasks. Just go for a walk during that time and keep the podcasts off, keep the phone on mute, and just walk and think. The fresh air, outdoors, and an endless trail creates this amazing atmosphere that just gets my mind going and I discover all these subconscious thoughts and goals I never realized I had! So just go BE in that space and see what happens. 

Then You will DREAM: 

I hope that as you are taking the time to focus you will then start to dream. And this, this is the ticket! This is the money spot. This is when the magic starts to happen. As you are focusing on what you want in your life I hope your life starts to unfold into a brilliant wonderful world of opportunities. If so, then I encourage you to document all these exciting thoughts! If you are at home, then grab our beloved Dream book and start adding to it!  Or if you are like me and you are out on a walk then use this tip- send yourself an email that you can voice to text (so you can just talk and think) and you can add it to your dream book later! 

We hope the creative juices just start flowing now that you have created this space to think and brainstorm but if they haven’t, here are some questions to help get your brain cranking: 

• Analyze these areas of your life and think which ones could be improved, changed, set goals for, etc. (List is pulled from the amazing book, The Dream Manager).
  • Physical
  • Emotional
  • Intellectual
  • Spiritual
  • Psychological
  • Material
  • Professional
  • Financial
  • Creative
  • Adventure
  • Legacy
  • Character
• What inspires you?
• What are you proud of?
• What would make you proud to accomplish this year? In 5 years? In your life?
• What Instagram accounts do you follow?
• What are you an expert in? 

Then You Take Action:

Once you find the time to focus, and then you get to focus on what’s important, you’ll most likely be fired up with not only goals but actions steps to take to achieve those goals.  So now you need to build out your system and you need to do this soon before you lose that momentum!! So remember to do some of these steps to help: 

• Continue to time block for more focusing time, and more time to work on these action steps, especially if they’re not in alignment with activities you already do. What I mean is, let’s say you’ve always wanted to write a children’s book but you are a chemist. Well, you now need to time block out some space for you to work on writing the children’s book and it has to be outside of your work time.
  • Sometimes it’s just as simple as using that time to write. Other times you need to spend time researching and learning and masterminding.
    • If you want to write a book, you might need to read other children’s books, talk to authors about their steps in getting published, set up your workspace to be able to write (are you a pencil and paper writer or a computer typer), etc. 
• Like we talked about in the last enewsletter, make sure you are reviewing your progress of reaching your goals. 

And also remember this, sometimes it’s not always about taking action. Sometimes there is beauty in just dreaming and having that passion fired up inside of you. So don’t always feel the pressure to take action if the timing isn’t now, or even ever. Instead, just dream and think and write it out, and someday, maybe, it will become a reality, and if not, that’s okay too because dreaming is sometimes just as important. 🙂 

You and The World Needs This:
You most likely are a busy person. You most likely have other people, jobs, activities that need your attention. So the idea of taking more time away from them may be hard and feel impossible. But here’s the thing, if you are living the best version of yourself then all those other things will benefit! So stop with any guilt and figure out what YOU need. Figure out WHY you need it. Then have a pow wow with all those people in your life to talk about why this is important, what you need, and how it will affect them (the good and the bad). 

The world needs more people living passionate amazing lives. So go get out there and find the TIME to FOCUS on what you need to make your life the best life ever. 

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.”

-Margaret J. Wheatley

Wow! We are a quarter of the way through the year, can you believe it? There is only nine more months to achieve everything you want this year. Are you on track?? 

Importance of Reviewing Quarterly:
We think it’s super important to take some time to review your LIFE for quarter one. If you aren’t looking at your progress for your personal and professional life, then how will you know if you are on track? And if you don’t know if you are on track, how will you know if you need to adjust your actions to then get you back on track or keep you on track? 

So, we highly recommend you find a little time (I know, that’s hard to do!) to timeblock out 60-90 minutes in the next few days to analyze how quarter one went for you. 

Reviewing Your Life:
Go grab that dream book we always talk about and start writing some answers to the questions below: 

• Think about any goals you set for yourself for this year. If they were measurable goals, are you tracking the measures? If so, are you on track? 
• Or if you didn’t have measurable outcomes, then just take some time to think about the past few months.
  • What sort of emotions have you been feeling lately? If there were a lot of frazzled/chaotic feelings, do you need to change some systems in your life to be less stressed? 
  • Are there relationships that are feeling strained lately that you need to make time for? 
  • How is your own health and fitness?
  • Are your spending money more than you realize and have a big trip, event, something to save for? 
  • Ask yourself, what is important to you today, this week, this month and analyze if it needs extra care in any way? 
• **Tip** Sometimes it helps me to look back at my photos of the past few months to remind myself of how I felt, what I did, etc.
• **Another Tip** My amazing coach told me when I do my monthly numbers to make a little spot to document how I felt that month. It is really nice to look back each quarter and realize how I was feeling at those times.

Other Questions to Get the Brain Thinking: 

• What did I accomplish in the past three months?
• What did I start but not finish?
• What did I not start that I intended to?
• What happened that didn’t go well?
• What happened that went AMAZING?
• Overall, how do I feel about the past three months?

Reviewing Your Business:
Hey you! Before you skip past this section because you are thinking, “well I’m not a business owner”, stop. Just because you might not be a business owner doesn’t mean you shouldn’t review your professional life. And even if you are retired and you supposedly done with a professional life, still listen up. 

Growth Is Important: 

• Even if you don’t own your own business it’s still important to think about your professional life and if it’s on track for what your goals are. You might not have specific goals that come to mind and that’s okay, but you should take some time to see if where you are at today is getting you closer to your someday big picture goal.
  • Is that, retirement at a certain age?
  • Is that, reaching a specific level of achievement in your industry? 
  • What about going back to school to learn something new? Have you wanted to do something like that? 
• Even if you are retired and never intend to work again, you can still asses if where you are at right now and where your life is headed is still the right trajectory for you. What I mean is, if you continue doing the steps you are doing now, will you be happy in one year? Five years? Or will you get bored and stuck in a rut you can’t get out of?
  • Whatever your answer is, just make sure you are thinking about it and not just surviving each day. 
  • You are never too old to start something new!
    • Stan Lee didn’t write his first comic until he was nearly 40. Martha Stewart didn’t start her cooking/homemaking empire until she started a catering business in her 40s. Vera Wang entered the fashion industry in her 40s. Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first “Little House on the Prairie” book at age 65!
    • What have you always thought about doing and never made time for it?
      • What small step could you take today towards that thing? 

All About those Stats: 
I did not get a business degree or ever take a statistics class in college yet, I still believe in the importance of reviewing your numbers in your business. I actually track our weekly numbers at Elevate so that we can stay ahead of any dips in business before it gets too late. So what do you need to track in your business? Some ideas of what we track: 

• Weekly Pending Sales 
• Weekly & Monthly Closed Sales 
• Terminations
• Projections for the current month and the next month 
• Social Media stats and E-newsletter subscribers (thanks for following along!!) 
• General stats in our industry  
• Time spent prospecting 
• New Business 

Quarter 2 and 3 Preview:
SUMMERRRRRR is coming!!!!! And you don’t want to miss it!! Whether that means your busy season at work, your dedicated family time with the kiddos at home, your favorite season to hit the mountains, or just the time you want to spend sipping margaritas on the beach, start thinking about what you want the next two quarters to look like!  

• Based on some of your answers from your review of quarter one, is there anything you can start doing (or stop doing) to get you back on track (or stay on track) for your professional and personal goals?
• What is ONE THING  you can accomplish in the next three months that would impact your life in a meaningful way?
• What are three words that describe your next quarter?
• Overall how are you feeling about the next quarter?
• Should you start tracking any numbers, feelings, etc. on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis? 

Take Action, NOW:

• Once you have reviewed and thought about what you should be doing then, start getting to work, now!
  • If you’re ahead, how is your mindset and team (if applicable) doing? Watch for burnout! I’ve had times that I’ve had my head down and I was just grinding and didn’t realize how hard our team was working and the need for some additional leverage.
    • Think about how you and those around you are doing. Is your family missing and needing you while you’re out training for that marathon? It doesn’t mean stop, it just means shift things slightly. 
  • If you’re behind, what do you need to do now to ensure you get ahead for quarter two and bring you back to being on track?
  • If quarter one was awful and you are thinking there is no way you can get back on track to hit your goals for the year, that’s okay! You may not be able to lose the fifty pounds you wanted this year, but twenty is better than nothing, right? Business may have been slow, but you can still work hard now to have an amazing quarter three and four! 

So get to work!! Oh, and don’t forget to timeblock each month or quarter to continue to review how things are going. 🙂

“If you don’t like where you are, move. You are not a tree.”

– Jim Rohn

Do you love where you live? Do you even think about whether you love where you live or do you just go on living there? Well STOP! Stop now, and think about where you live and is it bringing you happiness on a regular basis? 

Where You Live Matters:
The past two places that I have lived, Carbondale, Colorado and McCall, Idaho (current residence), I have truly loved where I live. Many times a week I find myself thinking, “I love where I live” or “I’m so lucky to live here!” Do you find yourself saying that? If not, it’s okay, you still may love where you are living. But let’s take the time to think about this and find out if you do!!  

1. So go grab that dream book we always talk about and pull out the section about what sets your soul on fire.
   1. If you haven’t done that exercise to figure out what does set your soul on fire, then reference our past Elevate Livin’ Life e-newsletter HERE.
2. Now look at those activities and think to yourself, “is where I’m living right now, offering me opportunities to achieve these activities and goals”?
   1. Some examples- if you love late night dancing at cool new clubs- does your city offer you that? If you love museum and art gallery hopping- does your town offer that? 
   2. For me personally, I lived in Boise most of my life and although I still love that city, it wasn’t the right place for us. It worked, but we didn’t take advantage of a lot of what Boise has to offer (food, music, sports, culture, etc.) and instead we sacrificed what was more important to us (ski access, mountain trails, mountain people, etc.)
3. If you find yourself thinking your town doesn’t offer what you want and need, then that brings me to the next important point: 

You are Not a Tree, so MOVE:
Like Jim Rohn said, you are not a tree, so if you’re not happy with where you live, then move. Like seriously, it’s not that hard!! Okay, well it can be hard, especially if you’ve lived in the same house for a long time, but it’s not impossible! Some important points to remember about the idea of moving: 

• Leaving is Hard:
  • It’s scary, but exciting too! 
  • You can always move back! 
  • Talk to people you know that have moved away and ask them their thoughts. 
• Leaving your Friends:
  • Yes, this one is hard. I still miss my Colorado friends. But you know what? We now just meet up on our family trips together and those have become extra special because of this. 
  • Good friends are irreplaceable, and I truly mean that. But you can make more friends. If you missed the last Elevate Livin’ Life e-newsletter it talks all about how to make new friends, so if you do move, save that one for when you get to your new town.
• Leaving your Family:
  • I once saw a funny meme that said “The only parenting hack is to live near grandparents.” And this is soooo true! We moved back to Idaho to be closer to grandparents (even though they’re still two hours away). And it’s been so good for us and for the kids. But I have a handful of momma friends that don’t have grandparents around and they make it work. They maybe have to pay a little extra for babysitters or ask the mom squad to kid swap more often, but they make it work.
  • Even if you don’t have kids or if your kids are older, it is hard to live away from family, especially if you then spend all your vacation time to just come back to visit them. But perhaps you just get them to come visit you in your cool new place?! 
  • My kids love their cousins. And we love our siblings and parents. But I no longer feel the need to live around the corner from them because I’ve realized on a day-to-day basis my kids have their own friends and hobbies from their family. And now, we have this special time that when they do visit they really get quality focused play time with each other. In addition to this, we have had each of my nephews come stay a few days with us which has been so special and wouldn’t have happened if we lived in the same town. 
• Leaving your Work:
  • If you love your job then this might be hard for you if you have to quit, but before you go down the road of thinking the only option is to quit and find a new job, instead ask yourself if there is any chance you can work from home?
    • Before we moved to Colorado I was devasted thinking I’d have to quit my job because I loved my boss and the company so much. I scheduled a meeting with them all prepared to quit and was SHOCKED when they said they loved me and wanted to figure out how to make it work so that I could work remotely! I never imagined this was an option. So talk to your employer and you might be surprised. You can also check out some great books about working remotely that will help you figure out if it’s an option. Two of my favorites are:  Remote and The Four Hour Workweek. 
  • If you can’t keep the same job though, then you’ll need some time to ponder if it’s more important to stay with a job you love, or live in a place you love. Let me know what you decide. 🙂 

Is It Moving Time?:
So….is it time to move??! If not then yay!! Keep loving where you live and see the bottom section of this newsletter for ways to fall even more in love with your town. Otherwise, if you’re feeling that itch that someplace else might be better, than you now need to ask yourself the most exciting and important question of: WHERE???  Here’s some tips on how to help you figure out where to go: 

1. We got to this point because you analyzed what sets your soul on fire. So now, go google that shit. 😉
   • Hey museum lover, google “towns with amazing museums”, hey outdoor peeps “best outdoor towns to live in”, you get the idea so get to googling. 
   • Take the time to read and read and read about these recommended towns. 
2. Once you narrow your ideas list down then start learning about your favorite contenders!
   1. Social Media:
      1. Start following these pages on social media:
         1. City’s page
         2. Businesses that you would frequent
         3. Organization or clubs you’d join 
         4. Search the hashtag for that town, county, area and follow people that use that hashtag a lot 
         5. Facebook Groups for that area
            1. From social ones, to the classified pages, follow them all! 
         6. Chamber of Commerce
            1. In addition to following them, call them to ask where you could learn more about their town and what it’s like to live there. Also request any travel brochures/info they have. 
      2. Call ME!!!
         1. I’ve lived a lot of places and I might know of your area of interest and/or know someone there. In addition to this I can connect you with Realtors in your future town! 
3. Road trip time!!
   1. Create a road trip of all the towns and start visiting them.
      1. Tip- leave room for time spent in other towns you don’t have on your list. We found Carbondale because we went to Steamboat Springs to visit friends and do an interview. Then we did a 4 day Colorado trip and accidentally drove through Carbondale. As we came into the town (from the South) I saw in my rearview mirror Mt. Sopris (see picture above) and my mind was blown. I was hooked, like instantly. It was a feeling and an emotion flowing through my mind and body and I was instantly in love. I made my husband stop by a PT clinic and introduce himself to the owner who said they weren’t hiring at that time but she’d keep his info. Well three months later they called and said they had an opening and we moved one month after that. So leave yourself open for other opportunities! 
4. Still can’t decide?? Or fighting about it with your significant other? Then use a weighted analysis to help take the emotions out of it.
   1. What’s a weighted analysis? Well my super nerdy, but super cool, detail-oriented dad made a handy spreadsheet on this exact scenario- how to decide objectively on choosing one location over another. If you want this spreadsheet then shoot me an email and I’ll happily share it! 🙂 
5. Once decided, then go do it! Before you chicken out! Or before other people convince you to not go, which does happen!

Don’t Follow Your Heart:
Wait, what? Aren’t we supposed to follow our heart? Well yes, usually, but sometimes you don’t know what you love or don’t love and it’s good to experience other areas. And even if you do know what you love, I think it’s healthy and good to experience other places that are not your usual cup of tea, for a short amount of time at least!

This is harder if you don’t have the flexibility to do short term stints but if you can, then it’s really cool to go somewhere completely different! After Colorado we had set plans to come to McCall but we had about seven months before that started so Tony took a travelling PT gig in the South. I’d never really been there and it was quite the experience to live there, but so good for us! The reasons being:

• I’m born and raised in Idaho and there isn’t a lot of diversity here, so for the first time in my life I was the minority in the small town we lived in, which was neat to experience.
• I missed the mountains but instead of adventuring into the woods every weekend we adventured into historical cities, the ocean, and a little bit of their woods. It was cool to learn and experience a different area.
• When we hit the Midwest I could just feel our little bubble pop. I looked around and realized, this is not Carbondale, CO anymore and we’ve been living in this little mountain town bubble. It was cool to experience it. 
• Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I enjoyed our time down there and we hope to someday take our kids to live short term in the South to also experience it but man, I was so excited to get back to the mountains when it was done. I still to this day remember when we pulled into a Whole Foods in Frisco, CO and I saw a random dude all decked out in muddy hiking gear with a beanie on and I almost hugged him. I had come home to my people and I sure had missed them. But being away made me really miss them! 

Fall in Love with Where You Currently Live!:
So, perhaps you just can’t pull off a move and/or you actually do feel like you’re in the right place? Well you can always work on loving where you live even more! So, let’s help you fall in love with your home by reading these ideas:

• I had a Colorado friend move to Boise when I was still in Colorado and it was so cool because she dove head first into discovering all the cool things to see and do in her new (my old) town! And watching her social media made me realize, there is so much I didn’t do there! So, pretend you are new to your town and start adventuring!
  • Create a list of what tourists would do when they visit and do that
  • Call your Chamber to get a calendar of events, brochures and flyers on your town, etc. 
  • Search hashtags for your town, county, etc. and start following people on social media that post with those hashtags 
  • History time
    • Books, stories, newspaper articles, museums, whatever it may be, get to know the history of your town and you may have a new appreciation for it.
  • AVOID your favorite places
    • Take one month to NOT go to your favorite coffee shop and instead check out others.
    • Take the next month to NOT go to your favorite restaurants. 
  • Set a challenge – let’s say your favorite food is a burger. Then make it a challenge to try every single burger in town over the summer. 
  • Get out of town for micro adventures
  • Start a new hobby that is popular in your area
    •  I knew McCall was the right place for us but I still struggled with winter. Well, this winter I dove deep into backcountry skiing and I’m now obsessed with winter again!! 

If You Move, Please Call Me!:

• Hey, if you didn’t know, I’m a licensed real estate agent. That being said, I actually don’t help people buy or sell. I do something even better though! My company, Elevate TC Services works with over 60 agents (admin support for their real estate transactions). So I have the honor of knowing some really great agents, and also some not so great agents. I would love to connect you with an agent to make sure you are in good hands! And if it’s in Idaho we’ll get to work together too, yay! 
• I have also had the privilege of networking with a lot of Realtors outside of Idaho too, so even if you’re moving to a state other than Idaho I’ll help make the connection.
• It makes a difference who you hire as a Realtor and a Lender. I’ve watched buyers lose their dream homes because of not having the right team in their corner so don’t let that be you. 

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

-Jim Rohn

In our last newsletter we discussed the importance of planning out your adventures and coordinating them with all your best buddies. But what if you don’t have any adventure buddies, yet? And if you do, are they the right buddies? Read on for ideas of how to make sure you have the right people in your corner and how to connect with more.

Who You Spend Your Time With MATTERS:
So if you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with, then it’s important to take stock of those you are surrounded with on a daily basis. 

David Goggins’ book, Never Finished discusses this idea in one of his chapters. Two of my favorite pointers were:

• Change Is Okay
  • Your high school bestie may always be in your life but they may not always be your bestie. And that’s okay! And sometimes that’s a good thing too. What I mean by this is, sometimes you can outgrow this person and your relationship with them could be holding you back to achieve your new goals. 
• Mom & Dad Aren’t Always Your Biggest Supporters
  • They love you. They want you to succeed and reach all your goals. But they care more for your survival and if you come to them with some big scary adventure you’re about to do, they might unconsciously (or consciously) talk you out of it. So be aware what their motives might be behind their advice. And sometimes you need those people around you that will push you to do those big scary things. There’s nothing wrong with what mom and pop are doing but just be aware of it! 

There are really interesting studies out there that talk about your peer group and the influence they have over your life. If you surround yourself with unhealthy individuals, you have a much higher chance to be unhealthy too. So take some time to think about your friends and family that make you be a better person. Focus on those relationships. The other ones, can you help them become a better version of themselves? If not, it doesn’t mean you should cut them out completely (although some say that’s okay to do) but perhaps just invest more of your time in the other healthier relationships. Figure out what YOU need.

Relationships MATTER:
There’s a new book based on an old and ongoing study from Harvard that discusses that “good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.” -Robert Waldinger. If you don’t have time to read the book then you can watch his successful TEDx talk HERE. Otherwise, my favorite takeaways from the study/talk are: 

• Social connections are what keep us happier AND healthier longer! 
• It’s not about the number of friends, but the quality of those close relationships that matter. 

So find the quality relationships, that support your lifestyle and goals and then make sure you are taking the time to maintain them!  It could cost you your health and/or happiness later in life if you don’t.

Now, how do you find quality relationships? Keep reading! 

Finding Your People:
My hubby and I have moved a lot in our adult life and I will say it’s not always easy making new friends. Over the years though here are some ways I’ve learned to connect with people: 

• Gyms
  • Truth be told it’s been a long time since I’ve been in a gym other than CrossFit so I’m not sure how it works making friends at other types of gyms, but I will say the majority of all my friends in the past 10 years have come from our CrossFit gym. It did take some time but when you suffer through workout after workout with people, you start to connect! And social events at the gym helped us meet even more people too! 
• Parenting Places
  • Library at StoryTime, Mommy & Me Preschool Class, Other Kiddo related activities and places. 
• Meet up Groups
  • Create an account HERE. 
  • Find the groups that interest you and get out there with those people! 
• Facebook Groups
  • There are FB groups for all different types of hobbies! So go find one in your area and start posting to meet up. Don’t be shy! And if there isn’t one that interests you, then it sounds like you need to create one. 🙂  Some of my favorites:
    • Valley County Ladies Social
    • Idaho Hiking & Backpacking and/or Idaho Hiking Community
    • Moms of McCall 
    • McCall Trail Running
• Strava
  • Find others doing the same outdoor activities as you and ask to meet up and do that! 
• Join a nonprofit
• Ask the Professionals
  • Whatever your hobby, you most likely have a store or expert you go to, so ask them! For example, if you like mountain biking, connect with the mountain biking clubs in your area and/or ask the bike shops if they know of group rides. 
• Take a Class or a Course
  • If you’re taking a class or course in an area of interest there is a good chance you’ll find similar people. I recently did an avalanche course and met some cool peeps I hope to ski again with someday. 

Get a Dog:
Okay, be careful here. Don’t just go get a dog because you’re lonely. Make sure you actually have the capacity to take care of it. My current pup, Ember, is my best bud but when we first got her, it was a LOT of work. I’m not talking the normal puppy work, I’m talking about intense training AND medical issues that I never could have foreseen.

So make sure your lifestyle allows for the work you have to put into with a dog. And if it does allow it, then oh my gosh it’s the best!! My best adventure people are either other mommas with hectic schedules or my husband, who if I’m out adventuring is usually at home watching the kiddos. So these days, my dog is my number one adventure buddy and I’m so grateful to have her every time I go out for long solo runs in the backcountry. 

• Need the science to back this up? google “do dogs make us happier” and there are loads of studies to back up the fact that pets help us physically and mentally. 🙂 

Business Owners-Find the RIGHT People:

This study linked HERE talks about how having friends at work is key to employee engagement and retention, job success, and business profitability. 

So if it’s important to have good friends at work, how do you go about doing that?

• Figure out what the culture of your business/team is first, then target to those individuals for your next hire. 
• When you narrow your applicants down, have your team do a group interview. 
• Do keep in mind though, that sometimes having a diverse team can be important as they’ll help you think in new ways and grow. 
• Go DEEP on references. Don’t just call the references a person provides, but ask that reference who else they know that you could talk to about this candidate. Then ask that next person. 

And not to put the pressure on but, having the right people in place at work can make or break your business. 

• One study showed that the average cost of a bad hiring decision is at least 30 percent of the individual’s first year expected earnings. 
• Hey Realtors, do you need leverage but hiring overwhelms you? We know a great resource that handles the hiring process for you and we’re happy to connect you with them!
  • Or you could always just hire us at Elevate TC Services. 🙂 

I’m so grateful to have FRIENDS and the RIGHT people on my team at Elevate. I genuinely want to hang out with Melissa and Danielle inside and outside of work as they’re amazing people. I feel so lucky to be in business with them every day! 

TeamKT:

I’m no relationship expert and I don’t have the perfect relationship but I do know this, having the right spouse or life partner in place is a huge contributor to your happiness. And like we talked above, make sure it’s someone that aligns with what your life goals are.

I’m so grateful that when I met my husband he pushed me to become a much better version of myself and he still does to this day. When we met, I was young and I liked comfort, I liked the “known”, I liked type 1 fun. All that is just fine and I still like those things. But he pushed me outside my comfort zones in many ways that I’m forever a better person because of it. He encouraged me to check out this thing called CrossFit. He pushed us to hike the NH 48 in 12 weeks. He pushed me to start my own TC business. He pushes me daily to become a better version of myself and I’m grateful I have him by my side to tackle life with. 

If that isn’t your spouse, and they are instead more of a comfort source, that’s okay too! Just go find those friends that push you and then come home to that partner to snuggle on the couch with. Both are very needed and important!

Lastly, I talk a lot about friends that push you to become better versions of yourself and most of the time for me, that means in a physical way (hiking, biking, CrossFit, skiing, etc.), but if that’s not your thing, that’s okay too! Just figure out what YOU want in life first, then find those friends that support those goals. 

“When you say ‘YES’ to others, make sure you are not saying ‘NO’ to yourself.”

-Paulo Coelho

Remember our Livin’ Life newsletter from November that talked about that super important February planning session? Well guess what friends, February is here! So, reach out to your closest friends and family members, the ones you want to be adventuring with this summer and put a night on the calendar to get together to start planning. 

Before you meet up with them though, there are some important steps for you to take, so read on to make sure to set up your 2023 with a plan to LIVE. 

Before Your Planning Session:

• Go grab that dream book we always talk about and get to work making a list!
  • If you didn’t do this back in November when we first mentioned it, then start making a list of all the things you want to accomplish the rest of this year in your personal life. Trips, hikes, bike rides, spa days, weekend getaways with the gals, camping trips, lunch dates, etc. Need some help with ideas? Click HERE to read our November newsletter that shared tips on how to get inspired to plan your best year yet. 

Keep In Mind:

• Like the quote above, it’s important to remember that whatever you say ‘yes’ to, you are saying ‘no’ to something else. I’m a YES person by default so I get the urge to always say yes, but sometimes you need to stop and think, “is this really how I want to use my time”? Be aware of this when you meet up with your family and friends to plan out your year. 

Solo Time:

• Last year was the first year that I actually time blocked out the hikes that I wanted to make sure happen. Usually I just made a list of hikes to do, but last year, I actually put them into the calendar and man, did I get in a lot of miles because of this simple act! The reasons being were:
  • It made it clear to my hubby he was on kiddo duty. 
  • During the slower winter months I did the legwork to figure out which hikes were best at what times of year (hello wildflowers), and how long they’d take me. So if I only had four hours I knew this hike was perfect for that, etc.
    • If you want a list of those hikes I’m happy to share, just shoot me an email!
  • Most importantly though, life gets busy and hectic, especially in the summer. But when I had something on the calendar I had this feeling of obligation to go and respect my date with myself. And despite feeling overwhelmed with life (from the messy house, to the work emails, to the weekend trip to pack for, etc.) I just listened to my calendar and headed out. It was always a much needed outing and everything else still got done, eventually!
    • You can watch this funny Instagram video I posted to see the optingoutside-runners-high you may get after a solo adventure :). Click HERE.

Making it Happen- The Gear:
You’ve planned out what you want to do and who you want to do it with. But now it’s time to think about what else you need to make your 2023 year a success. The gear, the sitters, the work coverage, etc. Some helpful tips on all of this: 

• Gear: 
  • Check with your City
    • Our McCall City has loaner gear, from cross country skis for kids, to snorkel equipment, so I bet your city does too! 
  • Ask friends for help
    • I have so much gear gathered over the years and I hold onto a lot of it even when I’m not using it anymore because we get a lot of visitors to McCall. These friends can’t always bring their own gear from home and/or they might not have it. I’ve even had other friends hit me up to borrow for their family and I LOVE seeing my old gear get used- so don’t hesitate to ask people you know if they have extra stuff you can borrow. 
  • If you have to buy stuff- watch the sales now! 
  • You can find used gear for inexpensive prices at your local used gear shop (McCall has the McCall Sports Exchange, Boise has Play it Again Sports) and also check out thrift stores!  . 
  • Check out the Sendy app
    • It’s basically Airbnb for outdoor equipment and I think it’s a brilliant option! It’s a newer app and they’re just getting members so it might take some time before there are a lot of rentals available, but it will be a good option once there are! 
• Work Coverage
  • As soon as you get adventures planned make sure you put the request in at work if you need time off, do it NOW! 
  • Remember REALTORS- you can always hire a TC company, like Elevate TC Services to cover your transactions while you’re on a mini adventure or on vacation. 😉 
• Babysitters 
  • If you’ve got young kiddos at home and you need care for them, then get to work on setting that up now so that won’t hold you back from your adventures. Anything from babysitters, to family, to mom swaps!
    • What’s a mom swap? A few of my fellow moms and I created a mom swap program. A simple spreadsheet with a point system that tracks who is watching others kiddos so there is no guilt that someone is watching kiddos more than someone else. Let me know if you want a copy of the spreadsheet template. 

Mindset to Remember:

• If you erase, you must replace.
  • I get it, things come up, but respect yourself enough to reschedule whatever you erase! 
• When you’re jam packing your schedule and trying to do it all just remember that it may be a little chaotic and crazy and your mind may be spinning. But at the end of the day, or end of the season, or end of the year, or even more dramatically the end of your life, I believe it’s better to be exhausted and fulfilled then rested and full of regrets. 

“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” 

-J.K. Rowling

It’s February y’all! Which means winter is almost over. For some I am sure that brings sadness and others I’m sure it’s making you do a little dance right now. Which one are you? For those that may struggle through winter, I’d love to share some info on how to find some light during these darker winter days. 

Chase the Sunshine:
Did you know Idaho has some really cool locations? And a lot of them are really great to visit during the winter time! Here are some of our favorites: 

• Riggins
  • Hike the Rapid River Trail (pic above) and/or drive the Salmon River Road.
    • **TIP**- I almost always see bighorn sheep there-
• Hells Canyon
  • Pittsburg Landing was insanely beautiful when I went last year for the first time.
• The Owyhee area
  • China Wall and Succor Creek are really cool. And it’s on my list to see Leslie Gulch this year. 
• If you just need SUN, then get above our darn Idaho inversions! Drive to one of our ski resorts and I bet you’ll find the sun.
  • *Tip**- Check the webcam on their website before going to make sure they are above the inversions. 

Lessons from a Toddler:
It’s true, it’s really true, there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear. My five year old daughter has been going to Roots Outdoor Preschool since she was 1. I have dropped her off in negative temps and she has survived for three hours outside just fine. But it’s taken a lot of work to dial in our system to achieve this and it’s all about the gear. Our favorite gear we use daily while living in McCall is: 

• Handwarmers
  • Electric ones are amazing to be friendly to the environment otherwise Costco sized boxes to the rescue. 
• Layers, layers, layers
  • Base layers, mid layers, vests and then the outerwear. If you want specifics on what we use, where we get it cheap or anything else then shoot us a message. 
• TWO pairs of gloves as the first one will probably get soaked. 
• Warm drinks
  • When we go adventure as a family we pack tea, coffee and/or hot cocoa to take on our outings. It’s amazing what one sip of something warm in the blizzarding outdoors will do. 
• Treats
  • Like the warm drinks mentioned above, a little bit of something yummy just warms the tummy. 

Embrace the Winter:
When I moved to McCall 6 years ago, I had fallen out of love with winter but I knew to make us last through the Valley County snowy months I needed to learn to embrace and love winter again. Here’s some tips that helped me that might help you!

• Learn something new
  • I picked up skate skiing and backcountry skiing.
    • **TIP**-Your library or City may have loaner gear to get you started. 
  • If you’re not up for learning a new hobby, then try a new recipe weekly or a new indoor activity (see ideas below). 
• Find a winter crew
  • With my new sports I found new friends to encourage and motivate me to get outside. 
• Find social media motivation
  • I found a few local people that post a lot of their winter adventures and just watching those clips each day made me want to get out there and do that too. 
• Find local areas to still get outside
  • My bestie has a “river loop” in her neighborhood that her HOA grooms in the winter and it’s perfect for us to do multiple times a week. It gets me, the kiddos, and the dogs outside.
    • **Tip**-sometimes snow is actually easier with kiddos as you can pull them in sleds or Thule chariots where you can’t always do that on singletrack dirt trails! I bought a “jetsled” off amazon and the kids love that for being pulled around through the flats.
  • Our McCall golf course plows the paths in the winter and even does fun Friday night tiki torch walks. 
  • Our City of McCall shovels and maintains an outdoor ice rink. 
  • Some areas are easier to access in the winter than summer- like Egg Rock in McCall. 
• Hot Springs Chasing
  • Compile a list of hot springs that are accessible in the winter and start checking them off. 

Find Indoor Places:
If you just can’t do winter, or you need only small doses then find some indoor places that can offer solace when you need to just get out of your house. For our small town of McCall, there’s not many options but what we have found is: 

• The library- Books, toys, games, and more. 
• Look at your City’s programs as they probably have indoor activities for you and/or kiddos 
• The pool
• Join a non-profit
  • I recently become a board member for CIMBA (Central Idaho Mountain Bike Association) and man, if you’re bored in the winter then go volunteer, as that keeps you busy! 
• Take a class
  • Have you always wanted to learn to cook or sew? Improve your finances? Look for local classes you can take. I just saw a really cool acrylic painting night via zoom on Facebook events. I highly recommend going to one rather than virtual as the social interactions in real life will be much better but if you can’t, doing something like this virtually will help! 
• Create a Checklist
  • When Covid hit I had two young kiddos at home and it was March and April in McCall, aka mud season. It was rough. I normally head to Boise that time of year to enjoy the dirt and green grass but obviously that wasn’t an option. So I created an ABC checklist. For 26 days we did an activity based on the letter for that day. So Day 1 was A and we made Airplanes (paper ones). Day 2 was B and we had a Balloon fight. And so on. Pinterest to the win on ideas for this! Just a simple checklist like this helped us get through the long muddy days.  
• Hibernate
  • I don’t recommend doing this the entire winter like the bears, but it is a great time to listen to your mind and body and relax by the fire, take a bath, read a book, etc.
  • Be careful though! I find myself reverting to the desire to stay inside and be comfy and cozy. It’s easier than dealing with all the layers and snow. It’s WARM, it’s lovely. And I do think a healthy dose of that is needed and perfect. But if I listen to my inner thoughts every time it tells me to stay inside then I find myself feeling pretty down and depressed. Winter is hard, I get it! I live in it for many months each year and I get so tired of all the layers you have to put on, all the extra planning, and I HATE HATE HATE to be cold. And truthfully, every single time I make plans to go outside in winter, my brain always tries to tell me why I should bail and stay inside. Every time.  But when I get myself out there I am ALWAYS grateful I didn’t listen to my mind trying to convince me to stay in the comfortable house.
• Planning Sessions
  • We’ll chat next newsletter about planning out your epic adventures for the remainder of the year. But if you’re feeling down and out right now, then pull out your calendar and your dream book with the list of places you want to go and start thinking about those future days with sunshine, tank tops, and ice cream! 
• Book a trip. Like now. Don’t think, go to google.com/flights and find a weekend flight to sunny California, Las Vegas, anywhere that’s close enough for a quick weekend trip and go find the sunshine. It’s amazing what one weekend in the heat and sunshine will do.
  • We try to take a yearly trip to Southern Utah for some sunshine and biking and that always helps me! 
• Find an Anti-winter crew?
  • Above I said to find a winter crew to adventure with, but perhaps you just need an anti-winter crew? Not a group that only complains about winter, but a group that supports each other by meeting weekly (indoors or outdoors) to connect and help get you through these darker days. 

Just Can’t Winter Anymore?:

• There is only 48 days left in winter, which for those in the Treasure Valley that really means way less since the sunshine and clear trails show up well before then…usually.
• On March 15th the sun will start setting at 7:51. Daylight!! 
• Maybe this will help- go create a calendar countdown, like one of those cute paper linked ones to give you a visual for when winter is over. 🙂 

What are some of your favorite tricks for dealing with winter? Or if you love winter, what’s your favorite activities and adventures this time of year? 

“Systems Run the Business and People Run the Systems.”

-Michael E. Gerber

In the Real Estate industry, winter is typically our slower season, and as demonstrated by the cute dog picture above, we highly recommend you take some time to recharge during these slower months. Hibernate, rest, relax, whatever you and your body, mind, soul need- do it. But once you have had some resting during these slower times, we recommend you improve your systems! And if you’re not in the Real Estate industry- we still have some great tips for personal systems, so read on!

But First…What’s a “System”??:

• What: Systems can be anything from an actual technology system you use at work, to every day life systems like your calendar. 
• Why: Systems are AMAZING! If you trust and use them they’ll help you be more efficient, consistent, and have less stress.
• Who: The people run the systems so make sure you have the right people in the right places. AND, make sure you have the right systems in place that the right people can follow them. This creates consistency in your work, which is KEY for referrals in the RE industry! 
• When: Don’t over systematize your life so much that you’re actually less efficient. So be aware of this when you are creating systems and stop to ask your self, “will this actually make me more efficient or better?” Also analyze what systems you had previously and if they’re still needed? 
• How: Create a list that throughout the year you can add to it of systems you need in your life and/or ones to rehaul if it’s broken. Then during these slower months use that list!
• Where: Where you use systems will ultimately be up to you but I try to analyze anywhere that I’m repeating the same actions and think how can I build it out to not have to repeat it entirely. 

Our Favorite Systems for Personal Life:

• A virtual checklist that I add tasks to that show up on the day they need to be done.
  • This is my bread and butter and how I run everything with work and life. It’s used for my business but I have personal checklists in there too to keep me on track.
  • For example it has monthly reminders on giving tick medicine to my fur babies, quarterly reminders to pay taxes, yearly reminders to cancel or renew subscriptions, birthday gift reminders, etc.
  • Mine is a Real Estate specific one that I’m happy to tell you about if you’re interested but it does cost money, so a free non RE related one I’ve used and loved is Basecamp. 
• My Dream Book
  • I’ve talked about this many times but it’s a system. And although I love virtual for various reasons, when it comes to big dreams and ideas there is nothing that beats the feel of the real book in your hands. The slowness of the ink scrawling on a page versus typing has the ability to create excitement as each word fills the pages. 
• Bags for Efficiency
  • Each season I create separate duffel bags for each activity. They’re all packed with snacks and the gear specific to that activity. Then when I’m on a limited amount of time I can run out the door with the bag and know I have everything I need.
    • Life goal: Own a rad van that has everything I would need! 
• A note taking app on my phone with these various notes:
  • Outdoor Crew:
    • I’m lucky enough to have a lot of friends into the same hobbies as me. When I am getting ready to go do one of those I look at my list to remind me which friends are into which sports. It gets confusing which one of my friends has classic cross country gear and which ones have skate gear. 🙂
  • Shopping List:
    • I add to it daily when I run out of food/house items or when I’m meal prepping each week. 
  • Favorite Recipes
    • This one is the best!!! I find myself making the same 10 recipes each week so I saved them into this note with the ingredients right there, so then when I’m at the store I can have it laid out what items I need. 
  • People I Meet
    • I suck at names. Like real bad. So when I meet someone new I try to immediately go put them in this note with details (spouses name, kids’ ages, job, etc.) so next time I am going to see them I can do a quick refresher. 
  • Gifts:
    • Somewhere to keep track of gift ideas for people. When you’re hanging out with someone and they mention things they need/want, go add it to this note and come Christmas time you’ll thank yourself! 
  • General To Do:
    • This is for non time sensitive stuff that gets put here rather than my virtual system. 
  • Entertainment:
    • Books, movies, and podcasts to someday read or watch. 
  • Trips:
    • As I’m planning a new trip I’ll create a new note and add things to it. From to do items to things to look into, etc. 
  • Foodie:
    • I hate going to the same restaurant and ordering something I don’t like. But I dislike even more going back to that restaurant and forgetting what I ordered and having the same bad meal twice. Oops! So now I make a list of foods I love or hate. 

What are some systems you live by? What systems are you lacking in life? We’d love to hear what is or isn’t working for you! And we hope this sparks ideas of how to build out systems in your life to give yourself more time, to focus on what’s important to you! 

Hey Realtors, This Sections for YOU!
Some Professional Systems to Win Your Day:

• Our virtual system mentioned above also has two super important key features:
  • Checklist Templates:
    • If you don’t have transaction checklist templates built out for your business yet, please reach out to us today to chat about this as it’s a huge time saver and it makes sure you aren’t dropping the ball anywhere in you transactions. 🙂 
  • Scripts:
    • Do you find yourself typing up some of the same emails each transaction? Well that’s a script that should be saved as an email template and then you can just plug in the appropriate info. We have worked hard to make our scripts not only efficient and informative, but personable too and you can build this out as well! 
• Do you know about Instanet Templates?
  • These are available for free and will save you so much time when putting together offers for buyers, listing docs for sellers, etc. If you don’t know about these reach out today and we’ll show you how to set them up! (Or you can pay us to set them up for you.:)). 
• We have even more systems that we’re happy to share- email us to request those OR you can follow our Facebook page (Click HERE) where we post weekly about great systems we have.