One-Way Ticket
A little while ago, I booked a one-way ticket, packed a suitcase and left. I did not know if I was going for a week, a month, a year, or a lifetime.
Once I landed, I started to feel out this new place. Not knowing how long I might be there for, I noticed an openness and curiosity for what I might discover during this experiment.
The experience was energizing for me. Within days, I found myself making new friends, getting invited into people’s homes, enjoying delicious meals with company, finding yoga classes and teachers I connected with, meditation groups, kirtans, nature trails and hikes, and much much more. It was my version of Disneyland, with so much that I have learned to love in life around me instantly.
On top of this, I chose to have fun with my team by keeping my new location a secret. We made a game out of it to see who could figure out where in the world I was first. Admittedly, I covered my digital tracks well and did not make it easy for them. 4 weeks in is when someone finally figured it out. The real experiment behind this game though was to test our Work From Anywhere philosophy, and for me to lead by example. I continued to run a global business, without skipping a beat, from my undisclosed location. Clients of course loved hearing about this experiment, it made for a great icebreaker at the start of my many Zoom calls.
And very recently, I booked another one-way ticket, packed my suitcase and left again. My adventure continues.
The one-way ticket practice is one that I now realize I have had with me my entire life. From my parents immigrating to Canada when my mom was eight months pregnant on a one-way ticket, to leaving home for university, to as an adult going to New York on a one-way ticket and last year leaving New York on what became a one-way ticket to Toronto. This practice continues, and likely always will.
The philosophy of One-Way Ticket is more important and interesting to me though.
One-Way Ticket represents a commitment and investment to whatever it is that I am engaged with. It is an “all-in” mindset, where I am choosing to emotionally be present. There is no looking back, no comparison to the past, no safety net of hitting undo or rewind. By letting go of what was, I make the space for what might be.
There is so much in life that asks for a One-Way Ticket mindset.
Starting and running a business is a One-Way Ticket. Committing the resources of the business to a specific direction, entering partnerships with strategic clients or choosing to hire someone are all forms of a One-Way Ticket.
Building a meditation practice, starting a new role professionally, choosing to learn a language, playing a sport and more all work best when approached with the One-Way Ticket mindset.
These examples, and much much more in life, all work better when one jumps into the deep end versus only dipping a toe in the water.
It is natural to feel fear about ‘what if I do not like it?’, which is the reason I do not commit to something mentally and emotionally. The easier said than done antidote to this fear is to make another decision, in response to the original decision, if it turns out that it no longer works.
Put differently, a One-Way Ticket is followed by another One-Way Ticket. There is no scarcity of opportunities, experiences, people and places to apply a One-Way Ticket mindset to. There is an abundance of One-Way Tickets available to me, always. Knowing this is what allows me to be fully committed to whatever it is that I am doing at this moment.
When I reflect on my most recent adventure, in my version of Disneyland, I realize now that if I had seen it simply as a trip, then I would not have invested emotionally to the degree that I did. As a result, I would not have had close to the experience that I did.
How much I receive from an experience, opportunity, person or place is proportional to how much I give of myself to it. The question changes from ‘what do I want?’ to ‘what I am willing to give?’.
This is the One-Way Ticket mindset that I continue to be inspired by to move through life with.
