Weekly little adventures (W14): WiFinance.ca

For the past year and a half, I was just content doing what I was doing. I was content because I had the freedom to choose my schedule to a certain point, I like to be creative and help my clients and decide the way I want to work, and I felt valued.

However, it's difficult to delegate the work that I'm doing because it's mostly consulting work, and to train someone for it would take years. I've always advertised myself as Elaine, and clients want to work with me because it's me. Even though I had freedom day to day, I didn't have enough freedom to go on vacations for extended periods of time. Sure, I can work less if I wanted, but clients still need me and I like to provide a good service and be there for them. I'm proud but exhausted. I feel there is something I can do differently.

Exactly 7 weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to change. I wanted to grow. I wanted to be able to work from anywhere in the world, and I wanted to be able to delegate some work. I decided to try cloud accounting, and to grow that part of my business. In the past several weeks, I took all the necessary steps to build the foundation, from finding a good name, building the website, filed all papers for incorporation, set up payroll, got certified on different platforms, etc. Now, I'm finally ready to work on growth. I'm just excited to see where all of this will go.

Weekly little adventures (W13): Climbing harder

Climbing has been a passion of mine for over a year. When I first started, I was pretty self-conscious and never went alone. I wish I had a private gym so that nobody could see me climb. Now even though I got much better, I'm still a bit self-conscious. I avoid trying harder stuff above my limit, and failing repeatedly on the same problem.

Sometimes, when I see people working on the same problem all evening and falling at the same place for the 50th time...I kind of laugh and admire at the same time, and for the very same reason. Persistence looks silly until it pays off.

Very often, I would just move on and try something else and that also means that improvement have been much slower in the past several months. Very often crux moves require your body to learn a new movement and trying one time isn't enough. That being said, I've decided to not give up on a problem unless I've tried it at least 10 times.

Weekly little adventures (W12): Discomfort and rejection

Acknowledging discomfort is crucial for growth. In the past years, I've grown accustomed to uncomfortable emotions. There are many things we want in life, but the question is what kind of pain would you accept and how much are you willing to suffer. These are the questions that determine how far one can go, and more so than intelligence.

If there are people who never gets rejected, it is not because they are perfect, it is because they are not trying hard enough and they are living too far inside their comfort zone.

This week, I tried something. I suspected it was a long shot, but I'd rather fail than regret not trying.

Never be afraid to try, because every no brings you closer to a yes. You never get to where you are unless you appreciate pain, discomfort and rejection.Very often, it leads the way to new opportunities...and I know that it is proof that I'm living life to the fullest.

Weekly little adventures (W11): Unplug

Two years ago, I went kayaking on the saint-Lawrence river and discovered a really nice camping where you can pitch your tent on a platform on the rocks. It's really hard to book this place, especially on weekends. This year, I absolutely wanted to experience this place so I booked 5 months in advance.

I brought tons of food, snacks, drinks, papers and a pen. I won't be doing hiking, I won't be exploring, I won't have fear of missing out. My goal was to just do nothing, to not plan ahead, and to just be. I wanted to know what it was like to be disconnected from social media, internet, work and not talk to anybody, whether it was in person or by text. I'm not sure if I'll be able to not talk to anybody, since I need to at least go get ice at the store and I will run into people and it's not polite to not say hi, especially in the country. But I will definitely try to disconnect.

My first day was quite scary. I drove 7 hours to get there and I was pretty excited until I realized how windy it was by the shore. I had a hard time setting my tent up.  I managed to do it after an hour and I put all the heavy stuff inside my tent so it won't fly away. I had the most exposed spot as it was closest to the water.  I must admit I was on social media talking to my mom and friends, sending pictures and sharing my fear and excitement. The night was so windy and rainy that it woke me up. I was afraid that my tent could not stand since I had a lightweight tent that I got for backpacking. Luckily, I made it through the first night in one piece.

The following 2 days were sunny and calm with a bit of wind but the weather was pleasant. I spent my days watching whales and observing marine life. I saw mostly minke, rorquals, belugas, porpoise. I thought I saw an orca but it was probably something else. I think whales are my favorite animals, they are so majestic and mysterious.

In the evenings, I would just build a fire and stare at the sky for hours, just wondering what's beyond. I could hear the whales once in a while and to think these giants are swimming by so close is a fantastic feeling, it makes me feel so small and insignificant.

I had to turn on my cellphone once to look for the nearest store to get ice, and noticed a voicemail. It was my client and I did text back. I couldn't resist checking my e-mails at the same time. I'm not so proud of myself. I also googled stupid things like, where to put ice in a cooler, and what kind of whales I'm seeing. It's amazing how close they get sometimes. Other than that, I was mostly disconnected.

I got bored at times of course, but it's part of the adventure to see how I could entertain myself without social media and internet. What I love about camping is that when it's cold, you're cold, when it's hot, you're hot. The sounds of nature wake you up, you hear the whales in the morning and the birds singing, etc. Keeping clean isn't so convenient...just the way humans used to live. Humans used to take risks and live in danger. Now we're just machines without emotions. It doesn't matter that we're sad, as long as the economy runs. We build houses and cities that isolates us from nature. I think it's important to remember a time we did not even exist yet, and maybe we'll understand ourselves better, and not just what society wants.

I had less stuff to write about than I thought. I guess I'm just unbothered. I'm here, with the whales and that's all that matters. People must think it's weird for a girl to camp alone, but who cares! It's really a magical part of the world here.