Have you ever been nervous before setting off on a trip that required you to be far away? What if I told you that distance had nothing to do with it?
The willingness to partake on an important trip is dependant on two things:
- How long it takes to get there.
- Is the way known?
The more time it takes for us to reach the destination and return home, the more vulnerable we feel if should the unforeseen put us in a tough spot.
“Will I have enough time to get back home and remedy before it’s too late?”
“What if I realize I forgot my phone when I get there?”
“ What if something happens to me while I’m abroad?”
This isn’t about distance. When we ask “how far away is work, the gym, or the Andromeda Galaxy, we don’t say “work is 8.4 miles away”. We say “it’s about a 15 minute-drive”. It’s about 9 hours to the beach from my house, not 2.537 million light-years. We even refer to distant stars based on how long it will take to get there. *Andromeda is about 2 million light-years away.
If a trip to the Andromeda galaxy for lunch was the same as our commute to work, we would be far less nervous about going. Forgot your phone? Don’t worry, we’ll come right back after lunch.
Now that time is out of the way…
“Is the way Known?”
AKA: “How likely is it that we get really, really lost?” If you asked me to go to deep space, I’d be really excited at the prospect… as I start backing away from you very slowly while maintaining eye-contact. I’d also be deathly afraid of all the things I don’t know much about. I don’t know how to use snap chat, let alone operate a space shuttle. What happens if we encounter an alien and I represent the entire human race when I teach him that raising a middle finger means “peace among worlds”?
But if you asked me to go with Buzz Aldrin, I would be less scared depending on how long our trip is. Buzz ain’t a spring chicken anymore. *Look at that, Variable number one is stealing our thunder.
But anyway, I’d feel better because Buzz has made the trip before. He knows which moons to take a left at and what alarms in the shuttle I can ignore, and which ones indicate a lengthy Facebook post from Jeff is about to be on his wall.
Travel has great benefits. You can meet interesting people, see different types of squirrels, do yoga on mountain tops, witness black holes beside you wallet suck an entire world out of existence…or just do the exact same thing you do at home in a different place.
Changing destinations is a lot like changing your body and health.
If dropping 20 lbs of fat took significantly less time, we would be more likely to do it. If we had a guide who knew the way, we would be more likely to make the journey. A coach is like the google maps of navigating your health and fitness.
We have the experience from a lot of trips with a lot of clients, and we call on the shared experience of our circle of other professionals who specialize. Not only can we solve fitness problems as they arise, but we can also plan a trip that will take much less time, and be the map at your fingertips.
Sometimes we want to learn by sitting at an intersection and wondering where to go before we guess the way. Other times, it’s nice to have a passenger to you say “Turn left here, it will get us there quicker.”
