You Changed the Left Front Last Week - Now for the Right Side
The Front Tire on the Right Hand Side is "Relationships"
Your interactions with others, (or the lack of it) can really determine direction. Think about it as being linked through the front axle of your car to the TIME Wheel. (Covered last week).
TIME-------RELATIONSHIPS. IN FACT, ALL FOUR OF THESE TIRES ARE INTERLINKED. IT IS LIKE AN ALWAYS ON 4WD SYSTEM. Similarly, it resembles the sensitivity of a mobile over a baby's crib. If you jiggle one of the hovering objects, they all jiggle. Can you feel this?
Turning to the picture, there is a distinct impression that the driver is not in total control. Perhaps they are learning, as a new driver would be doing. The reason this is so apt an analogy for "retirement" is that NO ONE KNOWS exactly what the map looks like in their own experience of this time in their life. The road ahead is foggy, and they are learning to drive an unfamiliar car. The non-financial road signs are unfamiliar - is this a foreign country?
Relationships - what kind?
Well that's the point isn't it? You have control of what kind they are by where you invest your time. Where will you go today? Who will you see? Why? One - on - one? Big group?
Are you always in your comfort zone with these people, or is there a challenge in the contact? Are you going solo or with a companion?
Control of this is such an important area of life that it is hard to overstate it. However, as you think about it, for our purposes here, you can just envision your answers to a couple of the questions above and ask yourself: how do the RELATIONSHIP/TIRE and the TIME/TIRE interact in the situations you have constructed? You should be able to "see" why these are the tires on the front of the car, and why the way through the fog could be a bit clearer.
"The windshield is a lot bigger than the rear view mirror for a reason" - Anonymous
Now What?
How are you going to look at your self in a consistent way, using the TIME WHEEL and the RELATIONSHIP WHEEL together?
Pick only one relationship control habit to modify, and do it early in the day. From your efforts last week you should have some simple guides, ones that could become habits because you are finding out what IS important to you and acting accordingly.
But you need some further thought provoking on relationships in general and perhaps your own individual situation. You will get these from your own friends (if you don't change friends). Books can be your best friends that don't change. There is a reason that year after year the Dale Carnegie book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" keeps selling. It was originally written in the 1920's. Libraries still carry it. It is full of ideas for you.
(I receive no kickbacks IRNK)
For something a bit different around the idea of close, one on one, intimate relationships, I offer you a website and book you likely never heard of. It challenges you in very different ways. Here is the link directly to the book: Love in the Present Tense, by authors Morrie and Arleah Shechtman......
Should you care to explore, you may want to look through the entire website for ways to rearrange your relationships for the better in many other venues. (IRNK)
It could help our relationship if you sent a brief email or comment to me at the site below!
Next week we'll examine the back wheels of your car. They provide a lot of power to keep us moving forward: HEALTH and RESOURCES. Keep them from going flat and you likely will have:
Happy Days Ahead
Joe Grant, MBA
Certified Retirement Coach
Contact me for a Free 45 minute Consultation at https://yourvantagepoints.com
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