Motivation is an ever-escaping beast and if you wait on it, you will always be left wanting. Motivation follows ACTION and action takes DISCIPLINE. Motivation never comes first. In order for anyone to lift the weights or put in the time on disciplined action, there has to be a WHY. Why do you do what you do? All of it is hard! Simple tasks on their own can seem like not a big deal, but doing those tasks day in and day out at nauseam can bring the most motivated to their knees. Have you ever thought about what gets you out of bed everyday? Is it enough to keep you going through all the hard? 

My husband went to work for the East Boulder Mine in 2012. At that time, it was a HUGE blessing and it changed our lives and we were finally able to get some breathing room financially. For a kid from Livingston, Montana without a college education, the opportunity at a 6 figure income for my husband and our family was a really big deal and it is for a lot of young mining families. In fact, the mine can be a Pandora's box. A family can get really stuck there without the ability to make similar money at another, SAFER, job. That's just the thing, working 4 miles underground is dangerous. I didn't know how dangerous it was because my husband left out the important details of how bad and how often guys got hurt there. And the thing is, most those guys kept it quiet because there was penalty for disclosing it. Anyway, I will leave those details out of this email. After working there for 8 years with a terrible swing schedule, 4 days on, 4 days off, swinging from nights to days, I was finally able to join my husband for the Family Tour Day. They probably shouldn't have invited me. Without going to deep into that, I will just say it left me with tears streaming down my face, HUGE respect for what my husband did to provide for our family and a DETERMINATION TO GET HIM OUT OF THERE. Mortgage is what I do and that was how I would retire my husband from the mine. 

In February of 2020, my family and I went to Hawaii on vacation (interesting timing, I know) and my husband quit the mine. He's never been back. He works outside in the sunshine, rain and snow, tending his cows, irrigating, fixing equipment or putting up hay. He's never been happier. That has been my WHY. I will show up everyday and keep swinging for my clients and realtors so that my husband doesn't have to go into that deep, dark hole ever again and so that my son doesn't feel like he has to either. That's my motivation.

I believe we are here on this earth to work and to work hard. If you get the opportunity to put a carrot at the end of your stick, something to run at, a reason why, you are one of the lucky ones. It's very clear to me why I do what I do and, despite some of the harder days, I will never quit.

What's your WHY? I would love if you would email me to tell me. 

Happy Daylight Savings Time. It's the greatest birthday gift this cowgirl could ask for.