Your job, now and for the rest of your life, is to heal your true nature and let it thrive.
-Martha Beck (Finding Your Way In A Wild New World)
Like many of my recent posts, this one is repurposed from my weekly newsletter.
Side note: If you like this post and would like to receive this kind of content via email, you can subscribe to my weekly newsletter here.
Theme 1: following a soul nudge
Theme 2: making stretch goals fun with turtle steps
I’ve had a Montana phone number for 22 years.
When I moved to the Chicago area in 2013 I kept it because, well, I envisioned moving back to the mountains someday.
Joshua Tree
But the other day, I swapped my Montana phone number out for a number in the Joshua Tree, California area.
Why?
Well, about a month ago (and after a couple of journeying meditations) I found myself being deeply called to Joshua Tree.
It’s where I met my future self. And it felt like a primordial home of sorts – THE place where my soul resided.
Now aside from a very short blip in the 90s, I’ve never had a desire to live in either Southern California or the desert, so this discovery intrigued me.
Why would I want to swap the forested Rocky Mountains for a desert littered with those weird and straggly AF Joshua “trees”?
[Side note: like, how can they actually be called trees?! I’m a tree hugger, and there ain’t no way I’m hugging those guys!]
Oh, and let’s not forget about the sweltering desert summer heat or lack of a gloriously vibrant fall season…
So absolutely everything about this whole Joshua Tree pull was perplexing to me…
But, I’ve learned long ago that…
A soul’s call rarely aligns with rational thought.
Complicating matters is that Bob – my wonderful partner of 5.5 years – lives in and loves Chicago (and large cities in general). The fact that I wasn’t feeling any sort of pull to trade my relationship for Joshua Tree added to the perplexity. Like, how could I possibly have both?!
I don’t think I said anything to Bob. And with the exception of making a single post to Facebook, I pretty much kept things to myself.
Maybe a day or two later, Bob mentioned to me that he could see Joshua Tree being part of his retirement plan. OMFG.
Now, Bob has never expressed to me any interest in living in this Southern Californian desert region, either. But he seemed serious, and within a day or two, we had a tentative plan that blew my mind; a plan that was spacious and gave me time to “do this right”.
It was now time to begin taking turtle steps towards my soul’s vision of home.
So, I updated my vision board. I ordered a planner with a Joshua Tree cover. I created some Pinterest boards for desert home and landscaping ideas. I ordered coffee beans from Joshua Tree Coffee – a super fun coffee shop Bob and I visited in 2022. And I changed my phone number.
These are constant reminders of my Joshua Tree vision, and the Pinterest boards have the added benefit of enhancing my commitment to paying off my consumer debt and building my savings. Like, I now have a vivid goal that I’m working towards, which is to build a home in the Joshua Tree area in six(ish) years.
I freaking love turtle steps because they make stretch goals less daunting and downright fun to work towards.
My next turtle steps will (1) involve planning a trip out there later this year or early next year to explore the area and get a better feel for which town feels most aligned, and (2) researching local businesses that I can begin supporting now. Because it’s so far out, my intention is to nurture a deeper connection with the area and to tighten up my savings plan.
Now, let’s circle back to you.
The two themes woven together in this post are:
- Following a soul nudge
- Making stretch goals fun with turtle steps
A few questions to ponder…
What is your soul (or future Self, higher Self, inner guide, gut, etc.) nudging you to do? If nothing comes up right now, I invite you to pay attention so that you’ll notice it when it does.
When you receive a soul nudge, what comes up for you? Will you honor it? Will you treat it like an irresponsible child? If you decide to honor it, what support might you need?
If your soul nudge feels impossibly large, how might you let go of the need to figure the whole thing out right now and simply begin by taking the tiniest of steps towards it? What might one or two turtle steps look like?
The thing about turtle steps is that they often build momentum off each other. And they make the impossible possible. At least that’s been my experience (and that of my clients!).
Wayfinding
These are some of the many things we do when we Wayfind. If you’re interested in exploring Wayfinder Coaching with me, click here to learn more or here to schedule a complimentary exploratory call.
That is all.
