I (almost) was a trucker

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I bet you didn’t know I was (almost) a trucker! Right?! It’s true though!

Ever since I was a little girl and first saw one of those huge American trucks in the movie ‘Duel’ I dreamed of being able to drive one.

Now why am I telling you this?

Well…..

Read on below or watch the video I did on this very subject.

ARVE

When I decided I would one day be living and working among the Austrian Alps, it was clear I needed to figure out how I was going to pay the bills. Guiding mountain hikes alone wasn’t going to do it.

(Back then I hadn’t yet discovered my calling as the Live Your Own Life Coach!)

Even though I knew I didn’t want to continue my career in Facility Management, it was a field in which I had almost 20 years of experience. I figured I might as well put it to good use.

So I built a small business taking care of other people’s properties. They rent their properties out and I make sure guests are met, properties cleaned and repairs done.

Since most of that work is done over the weekend, it gave me time during the week to do what I moved to Austria for in the first place: work as a mountain hiking guide.

Holiday property management is a highly seasonal business with a pretty significant income dip in the off-seasons. I was also building it up from scratch.

Suffice it to say that working as a guide and a property manager during those first years in Austria wasn’t paying all my bills.

Over time I’ve therefore had other jobs as well: taxi driver and ski instructor.

They made it possible for me to keep working towards my ultimate goal:

Building a successful coaching practice of which mountain hiking and connection with nature are an integral part.

(But what about that bit about being almost a trucker, you’re wondering? I’m getting to that. I promise!)

The point I’m trying to make is: there are many roads leading towards the life you dream of.

While you’re building it you may have to do things you don’t particularly love (in my case property management and taxi driving).

You may even discover things you love too (for me it’s ski instructing), besides that dream career you’re building.

You may even have to do work you hate and embrace the suck of that. (You can read more about embracing the suck HERE.)

If that’s what you need to do to pay the bills while you’re working towards the life you want for yourself, then so be it.

There is no shame in that! As a matter of fact, that’s the very kind of drive that makes it more likely you will succeed.

As always….

Go dare greatly

Photo: A so called ‘big rig’ barrelling down the highway

P.S. At 45 I took the licence tests for truck, truck and trailer as well as bus/coach. Getting my truck and bus driving licences was a backup plan. I figured there will always be a need for truck and bus drivers. At the same time I was fulfilling a lifelong dream! And yes, driving these vehicles is every bit of fun as I imagined it to be when I was a little girl.