You might not believe this but we really did need a vacation – seriously this year has been stressful and Hawaii is the right place to decompress. Back in July, our dear friends Mike and Martha invited us to spend another Thanksgiving with them on the big island at their condo in Keauhou. Believe it or not, we hemmed and hawed because we thought it was just to close to our big departure date in December. Then a moment of clarity descended… we will both be retired by then and time will be our biggest commodity so why would we worry about missing a self-imposed departure date.

Okay, friends, here is when I get a bit philosophical…If you’re not careful, you can find yourself stuck in life without even realizing it due to imaginary, self-imposed boundaries. The older we get, the easier it is to get set in our ways and subtly convince ourselves that we “can’t” do it. Life can become more scary as we age and hesitate to take on new challenges due to the perceived risks involved.

For Wally and I, this new phase of our life we are gearing up for is our way of breaking out of the self-imposed life style that we created. Don’t get me wrong, we worked really hard to create a lifestyle that we truly enjoyed but it become clear to us once we stepped back, that we were ready to do something different. It makes me a little crazy when people say…aren’t you lucky, because I truly believe luck is not what shapes your fate – it’s the choices you make and for us a large dose of hard work too.

I think at this point you have realized this post is not all glorious pictures of Hawaii so I will throw you a few bones!

The Mai-Tai was great, I won’t lie to you but here some advice I think is worth considering “If Your Dream Doesn’t Scare You, It Isn’t Big Enough”.

Breaking through self-imposed limits begins with defining what scares you the most, and deliberately choosing a challenge that addresses your fears. Remember, there is no one and nothing holding you back but yourself!

Without choosing and accomplishing new challenges, there can be no personal or professional growth.

What will your next challenge be?