Life and Work by Design Blog

How many times have you wondered what it would be like to have your own little business venture?  How often have you thought “I could do that…”?  How many ideas have you discarded because you decided they were silly or someone else told you they wouldn’t be viable?  

 If you aren’t already acquainted with Barbara Winter then you have missed some of the best inspiration for entrepreneurs out there.   And, as of yesterday, the new revised edition of her classic book, Making a Living without a Job is available everywhere.  

This new updated edition includes conversation about earning income in a chaotic economy, ways to use the internet and social networking to build a business, and how to leave your employee mindset behind.  I recommend buying this book to anyone who has ever given two minutes worth of day dream to doing something for themselves.  

Barbara has been my mentor and has more years than she would like me to tell of successfully marketing her own business without spending mega bucks.  Her philosophy is a marvelous combination of “keep it simple” and “just do it” that she shares with humor and contagious enthusiasm.      

You can order your copy today from my web-site bookstore (look in the career information category) or pick it up at your local book store.   

Well, it is now Friday of sailing lessons week and my class of 8 women will celebrate our success this week with a long sail on a much larger boat this afternoon.

After my fiasco on Monday (see previous post), I asked to spend the rest of the week on a larger boat where I could concentrate on learning the mechanics of rudder and sail and jib without the constant fear of capsizing. The staff accommodated me even though that is not how they normally teach this class.

Falling in the water was not the problem. It was the realization that I no longer have the agility or upper body strength to turn the boat back over and haul myself back aboard.  If there had been a videocam out there on Monday, I would win the America’s Funniest Videos contest hands down! Moral of the story - #1 start doing some strength training, and #2 don’t let the physical effects of aging stop you from doing what you want to do - find a way.

So after three days of tacking, reaching, beating and running (all different positions of the sail), I know that I can now rent a small craft at the lake at home and enjoy an afternoon of sailing and that was my goal.

The amazing thing about this class was to watch 8 women, most of whom had never sailed, master all the new skills they needed over the course of the week.  On Monday, we were all going every which way and I was not the only one to capsize.  On Tuesday, we were still pretty scattered and, due to a very cloudy, gusty day, some of the girls did not want to go back out when we gathered on Wednesday.

But the instructors were encouraging and firm and the weather turned lovely and all eight of us had a good fun day finally beginning to understand what we were supposed to do.  We pretty much stayed together and followed the course and returned to shore 2 hours later with smiles.

Yesterday, you could just feel that everyone felt much more confident and were determined to go out and get it right.  And it worked.  We all sailed in a group, followed the course and returned to the dock with no incidents.  It was a real moment of triumph! They all said that everything they had learned just clicked together in their brains at once.

The instructors said that they love watching this happen.  Every group, regardless of age or experience, goes through the same process. In the course of just 4 days they overcome fears and insecurities and push themselves beyond their previous limits to experience something new and thrilling.

My brother and sister-in-law are arriving on Monday for a few days and I can’t wait to go out with them.   He’s a long-time sailor and probably won’t notice, but I know that I’ll feel much more confident and sure  than I’ve ever been as his crew and maybe he’ll let me take over for a while.       Mission accomplished!

This is too good to pass up.   You know how I’m always encouraging all of you to step out of your rut to try something new or learn something different or just get out there and do something fun?  

Well, I’m going to set a good example this week by taking a refresher sailing class.  I’ve always sailed several times a year with family and friends, but I’m usually part of the crew and just follow directions.  

I want to learn how to sail myself and to understand the theory and practice.  It’s a five day class and yesterday was the first lesson.   Yes, I am the oldest in the class by about 20 years - 4 20-somethings and 3 40-somethings.  But, hey I can do this. After an hour or so of classroom explanations of boat parts and wind dynamics, we put on our life vests and proceeded to the dock.  For the first lesson we would each sail a Sunfish with the staff circling us in a power boat to help out or rescue if need be.   

Now, I sailed one of these tiny little boats when I was a youngster here and I remembered it as a real thrill.  There is no better way to learn the relationship of wind and sail - there is just one small sail and a rudder.  This was going to be fun!    

What I failed to realize is that I’ve grown a lot since I was twelve and in order to sail one of these little crafts, I would have to stay bent over most of the time in order to see where I was going without getting whacked in the head by the boom.  I also had forgotten the cantankerous winds on this lake and after a great 20 minute straight sail across the water, I attempted to tack back the other direction and promptly capsized when a puff came out of nowhere!  

The sail center staff arrived to help me turn it upright and I set off to try again.  I hate to admit that I ended up in the water a second time about 30 minutes later but I was laughing both times.  Capsizing is a valuable lesson in sailing.   I headed for the dock to end the first lesson very wet and very tired.  But, I’m going back today and I’ll get a bigger boat to play with.    Stay tuned….