The Smallest House on the Best Block

If you’ve ever wondered, “Is it too late for me to...” the answer’s NO and The Uplifters will prove it to you. This space is for purpose-driven women who want to do big, brave things in the second half of their lives.

My grandpa, Papa, grew up on a farm during the Great Depression, and perhaps because his family had food while so many others starved, he always believed real estate was the only sound investment. His doctrine:

“Buy the smallest house on the best block.”

I was thinking of him last week as I interviewed Wendy Richardson, who has started over more times than most people do in three lifetimes. She has been a pregnant college student at 19 whose professor told her girls like her never finish their degree, navigated two divorces, two stretches of homelessness, and an immigration process that collapsed twice. Now, at 67, she’s rebuilding again. She just published her second book, and she’s launching a real estate coaching business.

Every time she started over, she did what my Papa preached by putting herself in places she wanted to be, but didn’t quite feel at home in.

I’ve found myself saying some version of his mantra over and over again to clients lately, who are stretching their beliefs in what they’re capable of, walking into rooms they aren’t sure they belong in, and doing things nobody has given them permission to do.

Our instinct is almost always to look for the room where we’re already the most capable person and where risks are lower that somebody is going to see us fumble.

The smallest house on the best block means putting ourselves in rooms where we are surrounded by people who are further along than we are.

There’s research behind this. Economists tracking young workers found that a 20% increase in the quality of the coworkers around a young worker led to a 3.7% rise in earnings five years later, and those gains held for at least a decade, even after the worker changed jobs. Being around people who are more skilled or experienced than we are changes our expectations of ourselves.

This is exactly what we Uplifters do for each other.

At our monthly Lift and Be Lifted Zooms, we stretch each other and help figure out the hard parts. Join us by becoming a paid subscriber.

At our annual retreat, we challenge ourselves to say what we really, really want, not just what we think we’re capable of, and then figure out the steps to make that big thing a reality.

Kristy, who’s been twice, put it better than I can: “I will never not attend this retreat. Everything I put on my vision board and the plans I make there changed the entire year for my business and my life. Instead of spending the first six months trying to figure out my priorities, I launch into the year refreshed and ready to go.”

Our next one is December 4 to 6. Red Bird House, Bethel, NY. We have just three spots left.

Details and booking →

Let’s go do some risky, brave things this week!
Aransas

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