Tuckered out in Glacier National Park

I have a really big appetite for food, but even more so for life.

A day where I’m scheduled within minutes of my life is my idea of heaven. When I headed out on The Freedom Tour on February 2^nd this year, my eyes were wide, the road was open and the sky was big. My tummy was grumbling for some adventure and moderation simply wouldn’t do.

The Metrics of The Freedom Tour

Between February 2^nd and June 21^st I traveled 19,000 miles by car and another 11,000 miles by plane (plus 300 by boat.)  I visited 21 different states and provinces, slept in over 50 beds, taught 16 workshops, spoke to over 800 people, and attended 5 major conferences (SXSW, Summit Series, Reveal, Selling Your Soul, I Can Do It!, and the World Domination Summit.) I did this all while launching a new business partnership, ending another one, then ending the one I had just started, experimenting with being homeless, and falling in love.

After five months of going at this pace I felt full. The kind of full that makes you want to put on pants with an elastic waist band and talk about how you’re never going to eat again.

I landed in Maine at my childhood home in June feeling exhausted. I thought the summer would birth great creativity and production in the form of pages and pages of brilliant writing. I thought by this time I would have a sample chapter and outline for my first book.

But it turns out that when your eyes are bigger than your schedule, when your MO is to say yes to everything, and when you run your self more than a little ragged, what you need is sleep. And watching movies. And eating lunches that take three hours to finish And looking out at the ocean. And more sleep.

Promises, Promises, Promises

I sat with my dad over lunch the other day chatting about my blog. He’s one of my most dedicated readers, which simultaneously thrills and terrifies me. He told me that I need to be careful about what I promise to my readers because they (he) get disappointed when I don’t follow through on my promises.

Here are a few things I’ve promised over the past couple of months that I haven’t followed through on:

• Shooting daily videos (what was I thinking when I announced I was going to start doing that?!)
• A post of my pictures from the stunning drive up the Pacific Coast Highway from Laguna Beach, CA to Vancouver, BC (which was supposed to be for my dad)
• This post on “the most important question to ask yourself before embarking on any project” that I promised several weeks ago in this video (This one only half counts as not following through because I’m finally writing it. It’s just late.)
• Submitting a sample chapter and an outline of the book I’m currently gestating by the beginning of July (This one is still in process, just taking longer than I thought.)

I also have over 700 unread/unanswered emails in my inbox, some unreturned voicemails, and a few missed opportunities as a result.

Granted, I think my dad takes my promises on my blog more to heart than some of my other readers, but he brings up a really important point.

What are you promising that you’re not delivering on?

Our conversation made me pause. It made me feel sheepish. And it made me realize the single most important question to ask before embarking on any new project:

Is this sustainable?

When you’re birthing anything new there will be a period of time when you sometimes don’t shower until 6pm (if at all) and you eat takeout and don’t respond to emails. I get that AND I’m not making myself wrong for the way I’ve done The Freedom Tour up until this point.

In fact, one of my new favorite mantras is: “I am enough and I’m doing it right.”

Let that baby sink into your cells for a moment.

However, the way I started this whole adventure was completely unsustainable. I said yes to more than I could follow through on. I promised things I didn’t end up doing. I found myself way overextended. I got sick. I disappointed a few people (and thrilled some others.)

I’ve spent the past 6 weeks in Maine adoring life, adoring being in the house I was brought home to the day I was born, adoring being grounded, adoring not moving, and adoring a break.

It’s been goooooooood. It’s been beyond necessary.

The Freedom Tour 2.0

My man and I are packing up the Prius on Friday morning and heading out on the road again. We head West and will be in Scottsdale, AZ for September and October by way of Columbus, OH and Salt Lake City, UT.

The Freedom Tour continues but it is now The Freedom Tour 2.0. I now have a filtering question to ask myself when presented with any new opportunity so that I’m no longer giving a knee-jerk “yes!” I’m building in vacations. I’m being strategic about my workshops and speaking gigs. I’m standing for eight hours of sleep, no more than six hours a day in the car, meditation, and greens.

Whatever you’re cooking up right now, ask yourself: Is this sustainable?

If your answer is “no” but you’ve got an end point in mind, rock on. If there’s no end point, get one on the calendar. You can only go at full capacity for so long.

Creativity and production of great work is not a steady stream. It comes in fits and starts. Sometimes its fueled by an all-nighter. Sometimes it’s fueled by a double feature. Let your art flow the way it wants to flow. Just be sure to factor your promises, your health, your sanity, and your soul into the equation.

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The Freedom Tour is hitting the road again!

Come see me on Sunday, August 14^th!

Women & Wealth: The Truth About Money That No One Has Ever Told You

6:00 – 7:30pm

The Reiki Center, 1540 W. 5th Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43212

This event is free, but we have limited space. Please email rsvp@teamorthrup.com to reserve your seat.

Chris Guillebeau on Glimpse TV from Kate Moller on Vimeo.

I was in Maine. It was a beautiful September day and I was shopping in downtown Portland. I had recently made the decision to leave NYC and move to my home state. I was in Maine sniffing out real estate and telling my nearest and dearest the big news.

What I wasn’t saying out loud, or really admitting to myself, is that the closer I got to moving back to Maine, the more depressed and contracted I felt. My friend Bindu Wiles sent me a text that Chris Guillebeau, author of The Art of Non-Conformity, was in Portland that night doing a book signing and gathering during his 63-stop unconventional book tour. I happened to be a block away from the event so, always a faithful follower of synchronicity, I went.

What I expected was to meet a cool blogger and author who I followed on Twitter. What I got was way bigger than that. I loved what Chris had to say about pursuing big dreams simply for the sake of themselves. I loved what he had to say about being a non-conformist as a way of making the world a better place. He spoke to my unconventional-self.

I read his book on the plane back to NYC with tears in my eyes. I realized that my plan to move to Maine, find a lobsterman to marry, get myself outfitted with a white picket fence, and get settled already was exactly the opposite of what I truly desired.

And so that night over dinner at Employees Only with my dear friend Danielle, The Freedom Tour was hatched. Inspired by Chris’ audacious goal of traveling to every country in the world by his thirty-fifth birthday, I decided to get rid of my stuff, buy a Prius, and go on an indefinite road trip to explore freedom.

I recently had the pleasure of spending several days with Chris in Austin, TX at SXSW in a little house I rented for the interactive, film, and music festival that brings innovative, unconventional, creative types from all over the world to mix, mingle, and inspire for a week.

The biggest risk of really getting to know people you admire from afar either through their writing or other creative work is that they’ll disappoint you in person. I’m grateful to say that Chris exceeded my wildest expectations as a real person and I’m thrilled to report that not only is he brilliant, innovative, as unconventional as advertised, and very funny, he’s also a perfect gentleman.

Chris and I took a moment on the front stoop to chat about what to pack on an adventure, how he defines nonconformity, what the most annoying question he’s ever been asked is, and what he’s most afraid of.

Enjoy this episode of Glimpse TV!

Do you have a big, audacious goal? What is it? Chris and I would love to hear about it!

How do you define nonconformity? Do you practice it? If so, how?

Leave a comment. We want to hear from you.

Today marked the first leg of The Freedom Tour that I’ve done on my own. I drove 441 miles from Boulder, CO to Amarillo, TX. It felt so good to look at so much sky and open space. It’s so much easier to see possibilities for ourselves when there’s so much open space to look at.

Besides stepping in the mud in my new boots during a spontaneous road side photo shoot with myself and getting a $400 speeding ticket (which I am setting the intention will make a big difference in some person’s life in rural Colorado and blessing and releasing), it was a spectacular day. I ended up connecting with a friend who I had no idea lived in Amarillo through Facebook (Mark Zuckerberg deserves every penny of his company’s bazillion dollar valuation) and am now tucked cozily away in her Texas castle.

Since I spent most of the day alone and in silence (there was very little cell coverage so my usual tactic of filling driving time with yakking on the phone was a no-go) I was inspired to chat with you on video as I drove.

Watch the video to find out how you can prevent financial disaster by coming to see me on The Freedom Tour.

Anyone want to host Women & Wealth in their city? What’s your definition of freedom? Any good road trip stories or talking your way out of speeding ticket stories? Leave a comment!

Also, check out my NEW TOUR PAGE where you can see all the places I’ve been and all the places I’m going (so far)!

Women & Wealth – Dallas, Texas

A Live Seminar Where you will…

~ Learn the truth about money and cash flow that no one ever told you ~
~ Uncover the most common myths about women and money-and bust them! ~
~ Delve into today’s financial realities and discover how you can be an exception to the statistics ~
~ Find out how to create optimal wealth and health simultaneously ~

Thursday, March 10, 2011
7:00 pm

Priya Yoga
6337 Prospect Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75214

Space is limited
RSVP to donettemorris@gmail.com

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Women & Wealth – Austin, Texas

with Kate Northrup Moller and Dr. Deb Kern

A Live Seminar Where you will…

~ Learn the truth about money and cash flow that no one ever told you ~
~ Uncover the most common myths about women and money-and bust them! ~
~ Delve into today’s financial realities and discover how you can be an exception to the statistics ~
~ Find out how to create optimal wealth and health simultaneously ~

Tuesday March 22, 2011
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Book People
603 Lamar Blvd (3^rd floor)
Austin, Texas

Space is limited
RSVP here or call 512.771.1149

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Women & Wealth – Denver, Colorado

A Live Seminar Where you will…

~ Learn the truth about money and cash flow that no one ever told you ~
~ Uncover the most common myths about women and money-and bust them! ~
~ Delve into today’s financial realities and discover how you can be an exception to the statistics ~
~ Find out how to create optimal wealth and health simultaneously ~

Wednesday April 5th, 2011
6:45pm Doors Open
7:00 – 8:30pm Seminar

Izakaya Den Restaurant
1518 South Pearl Street
Denver, CO 80210

Space is limited
RSVP to elizabeth@dreamitalia.com
or call 303.504.6151

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Women & Wealth – West Palm Beach, FL