The Big Snooze?
Day one as a self-employed entrepreneur. I enjoyed a restful night sleep, and popped out of bed when my alarm went off at six. My plan for a productive “first day” would begin with a 45 minute spin sesh, followed by checking the boxes of my to-do lists I’d been making over the past several months over a healthy, homemade salad. I got myself dressed, checked my email, and pushed the automatic start on my car. It was cold outside, and I guess I didn’t press hard enough, and the car didn’t start. I grabbed a jacket so I could brave the cold car seat, and went out to start the car like a normal person.
Nothing.
The battery was dead. I looked around and there was no one in sight to help me. There was no chance I’d get to the gym for my class. Yet, I bucked up and sat down at the kitchen table and got to work, bright and early. A friend helped me jump my car mid-day, but then it died again. Long story short, another jump attempt, a Lyft ride, a bike ride, and a trip to Auto Zone later, I have a new battery that I installed myself, and a car that actually runs.
Last night I wrote out my goals for 2018. I know I’m starting a business, and that’s obviously a goal, but one must balance one’s goals across several facets of one’s life, so I wrote three:
Mind my budgets
Prioritize my health
Open the doors to my shop.
Half way through day one, and I’d already backtracked on two-thirds of my life goals: I missed the gym and dropped $175 of unplanned cash. And, did the work I’d done actually move me any closer to opening my doors?
Why am I telling you this mini sob story? Because as this was happening, I had a flashback to a book I read recently. I could see the sentiment on the page…something about the universe being out to get you as soon as you put your mind to a big goal or life change. When I got home, I grabbed You are a Badass, by Jen Sincero, off my shelf and started to flip through. I have an odd combination of complete short term memory loss mixed with photographic memory, and within 2 flips of the book I found the page where Jen introduces “The Big Snooze” or “BS.” Her premise is when you finally try to be the better version of yourself and make big life changes, the Big Snooze throws its best at you to knock you back to your old ways. She encourages her readers to take this as a sign that you’re “ridding yourself of your BS and moving in the right direction.” In other words, make the choice that you’re going to see the silver lining and work even harder.
I could see this as a failing of my life goals, or I could enjoy the gratitude these experiences brought me:
I have an amazing community of friends that jump at the chance to help each other.
I have a 9 year old car that experienced it’s very first problem today. And that problem was fixable!
I experienced the generosity and genuine caring of a total stranger at Auto Zone who helped me like I was a dear friend or close relative.
I struggled back and forth between my deep seated belief in lady power and the desire for a nice gentleman to stop and offer to replace my battery for me. Lady power won, and I successfully replaced a car battery for the first time!
As someone who works for me, I was able to have complete time flexibility to work as needed around the inconvenience of my car troubles.
What a perfect lesson for my first day. It’s going to be a bumpy ride, but I’ll work harder, be thankful for what I have, and try again tomorrow.