Just got back from our inaugural trip with our new tent trialer.

It was quite the adventure.

I had forgotten how much work there was when you go camping with a 7 month old!

Also … having been a tent camper for over 30 years … I need to work on changing those established routines … so that things run a little more smoother ;).

Here’s a few pics from the event.

The first part of my plan is to focus on my family.

Without a solid home foundation … it is very difficult to succeed.

You need a base of operations that will support you through the tough times and to celebrate the successes along the way.

My plan for family is to be the best father and husband that I can be.

If there was a contest for being family man of the century … my goal is to receive this award when I die.

A few of the goals within this part of the plan are …

• Purchase a tent trailer to spend time camping this summer
• Teach my oldest daughter how to ride her bike
• Build monthly daddy and daughter days in my schedule
• Once my youngest transfers to the bottle … build date nights in our schedule

My wife likes it when I focus on house stuff … so in addition I plan to …

• Fix-up the garden / yard (our grass needs some care and feeding this year)
• Fix-up a few things around the house (why do houses leak so much?)
  
• Finish the basement (not much of a handy man so I plan to contract this out)

This area of focus also includes extended family and friends … so I plan to put monthly family and friend nights … as well as a monthly guy’s night … into the schedule.

Picked up a new toy today.

The Nikon D50 SLR is an amazing camera.

It came highly recommended from a number of people and once I tried it I fell in love.

The ease of use … the quality of the pictures.

It’s overkill for use on just web shots … but if you want to capture quality pictures … this is a great camera.

You can actually see the fuzz on my daughters head!

Doesn’t show up well in these thumbnails … You’ll have to take my word for it.

I will be using it to capture cool shots along my journey.

These things never happen at an ideal time.

You see … we (my wonderful wife and I) have just give birth (mostly my wife) to our beautiful second daughter (we just celebrated her 3 month on this planet last week).

My wife left here day job over 6 years ago to stay home with our first daughter (also very beautiful) who will be turning 8 in April.

So here we are … my wife and I and our two kids … with me wanting to leave a safe and secure corporate job (an 18 year career) … to chase my dream and follow my passion.

If I was on my own … if I was the only one impacted … I would have made the leap years ago … but when you have responsibilities … when other people are relying on you … it’s not that easy.

I told myself that it was more safe and secure to stay within my existing job.

However … is it really more safe and secure?

What I’ve come to realize is that … when you work for a corporation … it is no more safe and secure then working on your own.

You see … the concept of a safe and secure job … is an illusion.

I’ve seen too many lay off’s … too many job eliminations … to continue believing in the fantasy.

Now … don’t get me wrong … you can make a nice living working for a corporation … I did it for 18 years.

To survive in a corporation you need to understand one key thing … don’t count on having your current job forever.

You see … at any moment … the political landscape may change.

Even if you have a great relationship with your current boss … or your boss’s boss … it doesn’t matter.

Someone three, four or five levels up (in really large corporations) may decide that your division will be sold off … or … merged with another division … or … spun off as a separate company … or … outsourced … or … I hope you get the point.

I’ve also come to realize that these things never happen at an ideal time … and if you wait for the ideal time to follow your dream … you will be waiting a really long time.

That’s because … there is no such thing as the ideal time.

Or … (I like this one better) … the ideal time is now.

The only reason that I’m able to do this … is that I started down this path over 4 years ago … when I felt safe and secure.

So I encourage you to do that same thing now … when it’s safe … begin developing your plan … start building the relationships … learning the skills you will need … so that you will be prepared when it happens to you.

And trust me … if you are working for a corporation … at some point in your career … it will happen to you.

And it won’t be at the ideal time.