Making Life Transitions Naturally

Have you ever felt that strong urge where you knew it was time to make some major change or changes in your life? Were you clear about the change or wondering just how to pull it off?

My own pattern seems to have revolved around some major change (a move, travel, huge new project) every ten years.

Years ago, after being divorced, I took a “Mid Career Sabbatical” where I decided to get off the ongoing busy life treadmill and take part of the money from the sale of our home to travel extensively for four months spending much of that time in Africa. This money was originally designated for furnishing my new home, but instead I decided it should be used to furnish my “Inner Home”.

It was about ten years later when I moved to the Silicon Valley area the beginning of 2000, ready for a life “makeover”. Just as I settled in, my editor asked me to revise “The Budget Kit” for a new third edition. At first I thought it was pointless to revise a print book, especially as I slowly started to be immersed in the super high tech world around me. Everything seemed to be shifting to software or electronic products of some kind and I wasn’t sure about the future life of a basic money management workbook with worksheets.

But since the editor insisted, I followed through. Over the years, as The Budget Kit moved into its 6th edition, as well as electronic versions, and continued to sell in all versions, I realized how wrong I was! I also realized living in that unique area was like living in a bubble in terms of life perspective when compared to the rest of the country.

Right before submitting that final manuscript, a very intuitive friend said the book was not yet complete. She told me I needed to share my story of how I recently made a major emotional and geographical shift in my life. This friend also stressed it was important that I share my personal journey with my readers. At first the private side of me resisted. Then the side of me that always wants to uplift, encourage and instill hope and confidence came through.

Later, in the Prologue of the newly revised “Budget Kit”, I described the experience as moving from “Sleepy Hollow (Albuquerque, NM) to the “Epicenter of the Galaxy” (Silicon Valley).

The response to that edition in the beginning of the twenty-first century was amazing and reminded me to pay attention to those intuitive urges.

I probably should not have been surprised when ten years later (again!) after going through the exciting tech and real estate booms and terrifying crashes and financial meltdowns, I found myself moving back to Albuquerque. Interestingly “Sleepy Hollow” was looking a lot more appealing! Plus, I still had a huge circle of friends and professional contacts to continue my work.

Eventually I was feeling it was time to add some new energy and perspective to my work with money.

Even though I’d been in the personal finance industry for decades with my products, coaching, and training, and loved the work I was doing, I could feel the need for some shift in my professional life.

I wanted to bring in more aspects of the interesting world around us in terms of nature and sustainability. And once again a very special friend suggested I share my journey. And again, the private side of me got nervous about sharing that private inner world publicly.

The shift started some years ago when I read a fantastic article in “Intelligent Optimist” magazine about Biomimicry (bio inspired design) and how “nature never wastes anything”. That was one of those times I wished I was in my twenties and could go back to school for a new career.

You see, most of my life my core passion has been around the concept of sustainability and eliminating waste (whether money, time, energy, resources, things, human potential). It actually did make sense for me to gradually move into the area of personal finance, since I’ve always wanted to help people reduce the waste and loss of money.

But more specifically, the true excitement was learning about businesses with a focus on re-use or repurposing of existing resources. For years my favorite publications had been “Fast Company”, “Inc Magazine”, “Intelligent Optimist” and the local business journal publications – all excellent treadmill reading for me. I’ve loved hearing stories of companies that found ways to repurpose – whether using worm poop (TerraCycle), mushrooms (Ecovative), cheese byproducts on icy Wisconsin highways, or upcycling trash into classical instruments.

The challenge was how to blend that passion for repurposing and eliminating waste, with my life’s work in personal finance.

For many years I’ve learned to appreciate those ongoing subtle messages around us, whether from nature, license plates, or timely articles. So, it came as no surprise that year when I just happened to hear composer Peter Buffett (Warren Buffett’s son) speak about his search for finding his own “Sound”. I had to wonder, what was MY true “Sound” and how could I find it?

Biomimicry is about “what can nature teach us?” So, I thought, why not blend my personal finance career with my passion for nature, and start writing stories? That became the start of my new blog series on “What Can Nature Teach Us About Money”. Learn more on the first blog article “What do Warren Buffett, Koalas and Sound have in Common?”

Writing those stories each month (blending three unique stories and tying those to our personal household finances) was a total delight. It was also a great way to test the waters in search of my sound and once again dealing with change.

The more I was opening up to an expanded perspective on finances and tuning into nature (whether trusting your own inner guidance, following natural rhythms of your life or appreciating natural beauty around you) the more excited I was to learn how many people were resonating with the perspective. The articles, research and discussions with many businesses was a very satisfying adventure.

No matter how it’s done, change will always be challenging. I still remember many challenging jobs I had in the Silicon Valley area that took some major adjusting to something totally new. Yet, after a while I did find my own way (and sound) in those jobs and experienced some major successful breakthroughs. I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences.
Are you feeling the need for change in your life, your finances these days?

Making change doesn’t always mean totally letting go of one thing to change to something new, since there are many options for change. You can count on me to continue to guide you, be your Sherpa, provide simple and effective resources or hold your hand through your own financial situations.

Whether you are a budding new adult, professional young family, divorcing or pre-retirement couple know that I’m here to continue to support you. I love bringing the essence of my “sound” (that variety of lifetime experiences, knowledge, compassion and insight) to my work.

And remember…you just never know where a new exciting path will take you.
Where am I now? It’s well over ten years and I’m still in Albuquerque experiencing life in a not so sleepy hollow NM anymore. We’re catching up to the rest of the world. In case you wondered, once again, close to the ten year mark my new husband, Steve, and I purchased a new home and moved I once read “every once in a while it helps to have a ‘Latitude Adjustment’ ”. Whether that’s in city, region, or country you live in. Isn’t that the truth!

To read the full story of the Silicon Valley move, life in the Valley, transitions and relating those experiences to financial tips, see the “Prologue”.