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We
were recently featured on Good
Morning America
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Living (or Leaving)
the “DISTINCTIVE”
Lifestyle
by Christine Durst
& Michael Haaren
In a world of longer
commutes and workweeks, and “time-starved parents and
parent-starved children,” we may often wonder what’s prompting us to
live the
way we do, and how we can get ourselves and our families back on the
right
track.
Indeed, after some
thought on the trade-offs – pollution, hyper-materialism
(and the debt that goes with it), the waves of transitory people ebbing
and
flowing around us and our children – you might well decide that the
"distinctive suburban way of life" everyone is chasing is actually
what we here have come to call the DISTINCTIVE way of life: Dual Income Striving to Impress
Neighbors
and Co-workers, yet Tormented by Increasing Vexation
and Emptiness.
The question is, what
can we do about it?
Though meaningful
change never comes easy, the good news is
there are many steps we can take to avoid or reroute ourselves off the
DISTINCTIVE path. One is an exercise we often use in our virtual-career
trainings and included in our book, The
2-Second Commute. It’s called,
“Creating a Family Vision Statement.”
Your “Family Vision
Statement”
What’s a “Family
Vision Statement,” you may ask? It’s just a
summary of your core goals as a family, in paragraph form.
Here’s how you do it:
- Make a “date” with
your spouse or significant other to
sit down and talk about your goals as a couple and family. (To make it
more
enticing, call it a “brainstorming session” – because it is!)
- Be sure to cover the
values you want to foster in your home and in your
children, what makes you proud of your family, and what you dislike
about your
family’s lifestyle now.
- The aim is to write a
brief, concise “proclamation” of the principles and
goals of your family – a “mantra,” if you will.
To give you an idea,
here are two Family Vision Statements we’ve borrowed from The
2-Second Commute:
- “We envision our
family healthy and debt-free with a home of our own,
well-educated children, and money for a comfortable retirement.”
- “To create a life of
balance in which family is given the time it
deserves; work is given the time it requires; children are given the
opportunities they merit, the wings to fly and the roots to stay
steady; our
bodies are given health for longevity and joyfulness; and love is given
without
limitation.”
(Your own Statement
may be shorter or longer, but length isn’t important.
The key is to come up with a “North Star” that everyone can see.)
When it’s done, post
copies on conspicuous places around your home, and
remind yourself to reflect on what it means, and the hopes and concerns
that
you and your spouse or partner voiced when you were crafting it. This
will help
you both stay on course.
Closing Your Values
Gaps
If you have trouble
coming up with a Family Vision Statement, or you want to
make the exercise even more productive, consider spending some time
“brainstorming” with your partner to identify your “values gaps,” and
thinking
about how you and your family can close them.
What are “values
gaps”? These are the gaps that lie between your core values as your current
lifestyle reflects or embodies
them, and how you’d like to be
living
them ideally.
We invite you to
explore the Rat Race Rebellion site, where you'll find resources and
information to help you and your family stop living the DISTINCTIVE
lifestyle, and
start living the life that’s right for you and yours.
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We've been featured
in:
See our "In the News" page for more.
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The 2-Second Commute
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Rat Race Factoids
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Work
From Home Scams
There
is a 42-to-1 scam ratio among "work from home" ads on the Internet, and
that is not counting the ones that arrive as spam in your inbox. [Read
our press release on this statistic.]
Average
Annual Vacation Days by Country:
United
States...........13
Japan...............25
Canada...............26
Great
Britain............28
Brazil..............34
Germany...............35
France................37
Italy.................42
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