When crazy events happen in your life, do you ever wonder if maybe the universe creates a little chaos every now and then so you will learn an important lesson?
It seems like that happens to me all the time 🙂
All my well-laid plans go out the window and the messages I’m supposed to receive hit me over the head.
Can you relate?
Last month I traveled to Dallas with Missy for training at the corporate office. I was very excited to meet our new support team, tie up the loose ends of our transition and get off to a fast start in 2017.
I’ve made this kind of trip for training before and it’s usually the same thing. Fly in. Rent a car. Sit through training. Blah blah blah.
Come home. Open wine…but I digress 🙂 But this was different – in a good way!
I must have needed to get a few messages for the coming year, so life stirred up the pot.
2017 Lesson #1 – Be Flexible
It’s no secret that I like things neat and organized. My schedule, my home, my office, my plans…I’m a planner and I believe that’s a core strength which contributes to my success.
But sometimes I need to be more flexible and enjoy what life gives me even when it’s unplanned.
This trip was a good example of why…
I was up at 3 am to make it to the airport for a 6 am flight. There’s barely enough coffee in the world for this type of schedule! We were late, it was interesting then the flight was early- huh? Yea.
But the funny thing was, the change of plans and stress of changed flights, wrong directions and freezing actually turned into a great bonding experience with my team. We spend so much time working that we sometimes forget to laugh and have a little fun, and the travel diversions were just the thing we needed for a little laughing and girl time.
2017 Lesson #2 – Make Room for the New
Our messed up travel plans meant we arrived late at the office for training. But there was so much incredible information being shared that we all decided to stay another day.
No problem, right?
Except that none of us packed for an overnight trip.
Oh and we all have kids at home so it was time to call in the Dads for overnight duty.
After phone calls, it was off to Target for jammies and other essentials (yes we are girls!). 2 Uber rides apparently the long way around …50 minutes broken up twice when it was supposed to take 14 minutes total!!!
Oh and we forgot jackets and it turned to freezing COLD over night! Yes we were in newly purchased Target flip flops and NO Jackets! LOL.The good news was that Star Wars and Wonder Woman jammies were on sale and we straight up rocked the sale rack at Target!
Oh and we were so overloaded from fatigue and training that we bought the wrong phone chargers too – so if we didn’t return your phone calls it was because our phones were dead!
Luckily, many of the folks from our corporate office tagged along and helped us get what we needed: loaned a charger, gave us some jackets, gave us a ride, etc. It turned into a fun night even if we were a little tired. We received so much great new information and made several new friends – definitely an unexpected but welcome twist!
2017 Lesson #3 – Commit to Learning and Growing
I’ve been doing mortgage loans for a long time and thought I knew what I was getting when we joined MFS. But I wasn’t prepared for the amount of great information and new opportunities that unfolded over 2 days of training. It was great!
I needed to be reminded that I can always learn something new and to be open to new ideas and ways of doing things because the new way might just be better than the old one!
Getting 2017 Off to a Great Start
What started as a 1 day “in and out” obligation turned into a 2 day mini-retreat. The improved relationships, new friends, new programs and ideas have me TOTALLY pumped up for a great 2017!
I look forward to connecting with you as the new year gets started so I can share with you what I’ve learned and find out how we can help you hit YOUR goals for 2017.