Zoom with a Purpose: My WFH Story
I received lots of feedback on my Considering a permanent WFH lifestyle? Read this FIRST! post. In light of the comments, here’s my story after having lived through Covid Hell for the last year.
As a result of the pandemic, my husband and I thought about what was important to us at this stage of our lives. Our youngest recently graduated from college and landed a job so, reassuringly, both of our girls are now independent young adults. We loved living in New York and raising our family there, and it provided great career and education options. Not to mention all of the wonderful friendships we’ve developed there! It has been an incredible 20 years, but our priorities have shifted. We want to live our best life. We are committed to a healthy lifestyle, reducing stress, and we want to be closer to our extended families. We are both lifelong learners and want to stay intellectually engaged. Plus, as an executive coach, I meet with my clients via zoom, and I can work from anywhere, as long as I can make the time zone work.
Initially, we had much to ponder.
We started with our list of must-haves:
1) In or near a metro area
2) Close to family
3) Access to a range of activities
4) Excellent weather (NYC, I love you, but the snow sludge? Not so much!)
We’d lived through too many harsh winters, and being active is important to us. Our careers and girls’ education are no longer our top priority; Instead, we focus on being engaged in and excited by life’s experiences.
We took the plunge — put our house in New York on the market, and purchased a small home in Florida. We don’t waste time when we make a decision, and love an adventure. Did I mention that the new house is on the historic register and needs LOTS of work? We see it as just one more exciting chapter!
The good news is that we’ve not had a bad weather day in over two weeks, we walk and bike daily, we are four blocks from a major museum, a block from the water, and — best of all — in less than a week, we met the majority of our new neighbors. We feel connected to the community already and confident that we made the right move. Ultimately, loving your environment and the people you surround yourself with gives you a significant leg up on loving life. Our house in New York hasn’t sold yet, and we have not secured a contractor for the Florida house yet, but those are just the next challenges on the horizon.
No stress, no second-guessing, and no shitty winters. WFH works for me.
If you enjoy reading my KimMartinTheCoach blogs, follow me on LinkedIn, Medium, or subscribe to my newsletter on my website at kimmartinthecoach.com!
