MichelleIn order to reach the goal of Retirement at 60 and starting an RV Adventure, I had to establish a plan of action to reach those goals. One requirement was to build an emergency fund. To do that I rented my extra rooms (2) on AirBnB. The first year I did one room only, the second year I did both my spare rooms. This following post is from the second year when doing 2 rooms. At the time I was doing AirBnB, it was a very lucrative way to make extra money!
Mid-July 2018: Tolerance and Patience. For whatever reason, my experiences with AirBnB guests have been very mixed this year. Some folks are so conscientious while others are not. Some people’s personalities are so easy and others just AREN’T! Sometimes I take a disliking to someone purely because they have a negative outlook on life. I believe I used to be that way. I always expected the worst, was a pessimist, a perfectionist, and was negative especially in my thoughts. How much I’ve changed over the years (thanks to the help of my wonderful therapist). When I’m around negative people I can feel the life being sucked out of my pores. No matter how pleasant I try to be, or how I try to find a common ground, that person remains in their negative space. It’s like a big black hole trying to suck you in. But I stand resolutely rooted in my new sunshiny state of being. As much as I can anyway. I’m not saying that I am always Ms. Congeniality. I definitely have my bad days.
I see that these people are many things to me. They are a test of my strength. They are a reminder of how far I’ve come in my own life and way of thinking. They challenge me to be tolerant and understanding and patient. All of the things I have struggled with over the years. Being a perfectionist is especially hard, and also expecting everyone to have the same level of respect & conscientiousness that I ‘believe’ I show to others. I always try to live by the ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. I believe these people are a marker that I can compare myself to. If I meet someone who is super nice, and good, and respectful I try to determine what it is about them that makes them that way. Then I ask myself if I would like to have that quality. Similarly when I meet those negative or nasty people, I can ask myself whether I have any of those behaviors myself and do I want to get rid of them. I do still struggle with negative thoughts. That is something I must work on every day.
I try to remember that my goal as an AirBnB host is to give people the best experience that I can during their stay. I try to be happy, open, respectful. And I ‘hope’ that I will get that in return. It works… ‘sometimes’!
To embark on this new RV Life that I plan, I feel I need to ‘loosen up’ a lot more. I need to find a way to go with the flow more and not let the little things get to me. I will meet people all the time from all walks of life, with different beliefs and ways of being around people. Some may be very combative or nasty. Others may be open and warm. I was watching a YouTube video about some RVers that were confronted by Forest Rangers asking questions. The male RVer was pretty defensive with the rangers which made the situation worse. Staying calm and being respectful will work wonders in most situations. It’s all a matter of restraint. Now I am not always the best at keeping my temper under control. It all stems from that defensiveness that we can’t let go of. If I can let go of that, I can let go of the anger surrounding it. I am always saying how ‘Tolerance’ is crucial these days. How can we all get along if we aren’t accepting of other people, their beliefs, their ideas, their lifestyle. I don’t have to agree with it, just accept it. If it doesn’t affect me and my life why should I be intolerant? So tolerance is necessary (IMHO) and I need to work on my own tolerance level. Go with the Flow!
I’ve never really thought of myself as being very conservation conscious (even though I want to be) until doing the AirBnB business. It amazes me how much water, electricity, garbage, etc that people use and create. Obviously I’m only one person. But I find that I use way less electricity than most people. Partly because I don’t do laundry with warm or hot water unless necessary, don’t do laundry a lot because I use towels for a week at a time and use sheets for several weeks (or months? ha,ha) at a time. I wear my clothes several times before washing. I could be better about water conservation and have been trying to be better about that. But military showers suck. So I won’t do that unless I have to. I do some recycling but could be way better about that. I’m still better than a lot of people though. So in having others to compare myself to, I feel better about my level of conservation. Oh, but I do have a sprinkler system and water my lawn/gardens twice a week! 🙁
Creating & Reaching a Goal: Years ago I went to a life changing seminar given by Dr Alan Zimmerman. There were many parts to his seminar, but one that has so useful in my life is how to create an effective goal and how to reach it. Here is what he said, and this the method I used to achieve this goal.
6 INGREDIENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE GOAL
1. It must be specific. (Fuzzy goals get fuzzy results.)
2. It must be written down.
3. It must include a plan as to what you will do when.
4. It must have a specific time as to when it will be achieved.
5. You must think about reaching your goal every day. (Out of mind
is out of reach.)
6. You must be willing to pay the price of instant gratification now for
bigger and better results later.
