The "unknown tax" you’re probably paying

I realize we're all in tax mode, so this isn't the type of tax you're probably thinking about right now. But it's a tax nonetheless.

In life, when we decide to say 'yes' to something, there's almost always some unknown "extra" connected to it that we don't know realize we're also saying yes to.

I might say yes to something and initially think, "Yeah, I can totally do that on Saturday!"

But later on, the realizations creep in...

"Oh, that means that now I have to prepare this in advance" or

"Now I need time in the morning to do X since I'll be doing Y in the afternoon."

Or once you get there, there are extra costs or other things that go along with it, that you didn't know would be involved.

That's the unknown tax.

(⬇️ Btw, watch instead of reading, or read on below.)

With everything in life, there's an exchange. There are things that come along (i.e. unknown taxes) that we didn't know about when we first made the decision.

So it got me thinking: Where am I paying unknown taxes? Is my energy being taxed by something that I said yes to?

Coming into this year, I said yes to a bunch more one-to-many events. We've got so many cool events and workshops this year.

I was like, "This is amazing! It's going to be awesome! We're going to get out in front of a lot of people and share things that will make a difference in their lives!"

Which is still true...AND...

Then I got to thinking (oof) what else that meant: More travel. More Pre-Gaming and Post-Gaming. More "4 Things in 48 hours" that have to happen after each event. (Scroll down to the bottom of the transcript for more about those topics.)

Did I think about all that when I was busy saying yes to all these things? Nope.

But here's the thing: We never really know the true tax until we do it.

So there's a little reminder in case you're also feeling the 'oof' of something taking more energy, more time, more struggle, than you expected.

That's life. We say yes to things, (or on the flip side, we say no to things), and there's a tax involved. Regardless.

The cool thing is, if we're willing to notice that and hold it loosely—NOT have judgment about it—then now we know what we didn't know!

• So NO: "Why didn't you think about that? What were you thinking?"
• Instead it's: "Oh, look! I noticed this is requiring more."

And then we know what to take into account when we're ready to do it again.

So I hope you're loosely holding some of the unknown taxes you've been paying!

Don't be in judgment about decisions you've made. Instead, take note and know you can make different plans (or a different decision) next time.

I would love to hear about some of the unknown taxes you're paying.

Love doing life with you,

Dawn