Hat Boat Tree Plane

On the heels of a conference full of amazing people and another full week of good camaraderie and another full week of kicking around Portland’s finest coffee shops, it was time to get going.

It was time for the catalyst of all this. The keystone, if you will, to the trip.

No Price For Experience

The lesson here is very short, but very important:

You cannot put a price on an experience.

When faced with an opportunity to do something new and unique, we tend to try comparing the time the experience will take with that cost of the experience.

In this case, the time was two days. The cost was astronomical in terms of gas and lodging – forget everything else I did on the way here. Cost / time analysis on spending a couple days touring Oregon and Northern California? Abysmal.

Experience of doing that touring with THE Steve Errey? There simply is no price.

Chaging Our Paradigm

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. – A. Einstein

I know what you’re thinking: “That ridiculous string of inside jokes was worth giving up a couple thousand dollars and spending a couple thousand more?

The simple answer: no.

They just don’t belong in the same equation. Steve road-trip sounded like a great idea! Did I make it happen? Yes. Did I trade something more important to make it happen? No.

The mentality of trading dollars for time comes from a day-job mentality. Trade x amount of time to your employer for y amount of dollars in return. Trade z amount of dollars for…

For what?

Someone else’s view of a “good life?”

If you’ve just started your business or still in the planning, true success comes from a shift in the perspective of how much more important your time is than your money.

Hat, boat, tree, plane, my friends. Hat, boat, tree, plane.