Hello everyone, this is Helen Huang @ Organizing, based in Beijing, China. In order to better learn and practice the YiXiaoNeng Time Management System, after finished publishing 100 Chinese articles, I decided to continue writing and publishing a daily English article in another 100 days based on the "YeWuBin Time Management 100 Episodes" audio program. Today is the 170th day.
Today's topic is: The Dream of Global Travel
Today, I'll continue talking about traveling. I will not only share my experience traveling around the world but more importantly the dream of traveling and the plan I used to achieve it. Finally, and most importantly, I will explain how you can achieve your own goal of traveling around the world.
I believe many people have this dream of traveling the world. Do you have this dream? Do you want to travel the world? I have asked my classes this same question countless times and almost all the hands went up. Therefore I think you, listeners in the Ximalaya community will also have this dream. My hope is that you will also make this a goal of yours and that I help you achieve it. My hope is to help you manage your time better and make the time to travel. What do you say? Are you ready to make this happen? If you do indeed have this dream, please respond with a comment to me below this audio file within Ximalaya. And I love to hear about it and I love to help you.
Today, I am going to share my global traveling plan.
In December of 2012, after giving a speech in Shanghai, I talked to a teacher in VIP lounge. At that time a different teacher, whose name I cannot remember, said to my friend that he was going to travel around the world during the 2013 Chinese Spring Festival. He explained to my friends that according to his plan it would take 15 days of continuous travel in airplanes and hotels to circle the Earth. So if you actually give yourself one month instead of 15 days, you'll have additioanl 15 days to relax and enjoy the time in each place. 15 days of travelling, 15 days of relaxation.
His words created a fervent desire in my heart to try this. I wish I had met with this man because I didn't know about how he would do this or if he ever actually did it. But the idea was firmly planted in my mind and the seed grew into a robust and powerful dream. At that time, my life was very chaotic with a lot of problems, difficult situations and stressful energy. However, this little global traveling seed had been planted, and over time it began to grow little by little.
As God said: As long as you want something, God will create a fresh path for you. There will always be sunshine and rain in your life to help your seed grow, but you just need to look for it. The dream of global travel motivated me to grow and improve Yixiaoneng so much better. It truly motivated me to do more than I would have done originally. This was the true power of the dream.
In the previous lesson, I shared the four reasons to travel. If you missed it, feel free to go back and listen to it. I think it will help you understand today's lesson too.
At first, the plan to travel the world was vague – simply an idea without form or structure. But over time, the dream gained structure through details. And all plans should start this way – at first the plan is vague and amorphous without shape, but then becoming more clear and more specific over time.
It's a kind of like driving. At first as we look down the road, the distance is unclear and vague, but as we drive farther and the end becomes closer and closer, it becomes more clear and we finally drive over the finish line.
It is also like climbing. As we stand before the mountain before we begin, we see the whole mountain from a distance from the top to the bottom. But as we climb up the mountain, we see the detailed twists and turns on the mountain itself. What once looked to be straight up and down is actually forward and around.
The same is true in life, whether it's a small task, a detailed plan or a vague dream. It's only through moving forward that the end and the goal becomes clearer and we must start somewhere.
My plan and goal to travel the world was no different. Today, I will share this picture with you.
First, I want you to know that I plan to spend my whole life traveling. For me, traveling is not just a one trip thing. I want to do it over and over and over again. The more I travel, the more I want to work harder, and the more it makes me realize that I have so much to learn and experience by visiting different places.
It was three years ago that I established this goal and I planned to achieve it within five years. That means I have two years remaining in my plan. My plan is to travel to the seven continents, over the five oceans and to place a flag in the north and south poles.
Each year, I travel twice and make enough time and also have addtional winter and summer vacation with my children and family. Each time I travel, I spend from two weeks to one month traveling. And each time, I visit several countries in one of continents.
In this way, I have achieved both breadth and depth in my travels. It's not just a goal to be in any place, I truly want to experience it. So you see, my global travel plan is both continuous and long term. It is not a one-time thing and it is not a short term thing.
The second thing to know is that it's important to have both breadth and depth and that you must switch back and forth between those two feelings. The switching feeling brings contrast and helps me absorb new insights.
For example, I might go to a vast open lands that helps me appreciate the beautiful natural landscape. Yet later I may go to a rich urban city that might not have natural beauty but will be filled with architecture and history that amazes the eye. This July, I planned to travel to Europe for a month and I planned to attend four locations – north, south, east and west Europe. Each has their own differences and special landmarks that I wished to see.
Traveling helps us to experience differences and this contrast brings new meaning to the experiences we have at home. It helps us understand our own lives better. It's really an amazing feeling when seeing something new and different triggers your thoughts. The feeling is addictive and it will make you want to see more – more culture, more landscape – over and over again. The feeling never tires.
Keep in mind, traveling and vacation aren't always the same thing. I think vacation is about getting some sun and resting in a city or a beach you like. Traveling is different. Traveling helps us to experience something different than what we are used to and helps us see the beauty of this world.
Most of us don't travel often enough or even at all. Most of us have the means to travel in only 2 to 3 decades of our life – this is the years in between our childhood and our old age. Think about that in a moment. And each of these years in the 2 to 3 decades of our life. We only travel every so often – so all in all most of us only travel 5 or 6 times in our lifetime.
This is why I designed my travel plan to be both deep and broad. I wanted to experience as much as I can while I still can. This is the time I truly want to spend traveling and I don't have too much of it, so I must plan carefully.
There are so many different places to go with mountains and oceans or deserts and cities ranging from poor to rich and throughout all four of the seasons. I yearn for these different feelings and experiences of walking through Europe or riding through Africa or boating through South America. It has brought me such amazing experiences over the past three years and will bring me many more over the next two.
Did you like my plan? Do you feel the seed of the travel dream in your mind now? Will you let it grow into a vast and powerful dream, or will you let it die? Would you like to improve your efficiency, gain time in your life and grow that see of world travel and experience a hundred lives in a hundred different countries? Dream and then let's make it a reality, together.
That's all sharing today. Thank you being with me together. Have a wonderful day!
