I’m taking a departure today and writing about life. Please bear with me as this is every bit as important as any business lesson ever taught.

Normally I write about small business marketing, systems, finances, goal-setting, etc. but today I’m particularly inspired to write about life changes and the need to prepare. Allow me to explain.

This past January, my kids informed my wife and I that they are going to move out of our house.

They assured us their decision had nothing to do with the dictatorial rules that my wife and I have instilled upon them such as picking up after themselves, washing the dishes from time to time, vacuuming a couple of times a week when it’s their turn.. you know – stuff only evil dictators burden upon their subjects.

Remember when you first moved out? I did. I was 17 and knew I could take the world by storm. I joined the US Air Force right out of high school and I reported to Boot Camp exactly 2 weeks to the day after high school graduation.

I could not wait. Yeah, I wanted to party up the summer like the rest of my friends did after high school and get that one last summer of irrational exuberance out of the way before officially becoming an adult….but it didn’t work out that way. Unlike many of my friends, I grew up much faster than they did. Some of them, well into their 40′s now, are just now growing up. And some I doubt will ever grow up. I digress…

So my kids are moving out. The oldest is 21 and the youngest is 18. The oldest moved out once before but that only lasted a few months. He knows he has it made living at home, but he’s finally ready to become a man. His strengths have always been physical more than cerebral.

Make no mistake – he’s street smart but definitely a go-with-the-flow type of person. Never one to complain, he works hard when tasked to do so. Motivation, however, is something he has worked on his entire life. We all agree that living on his own is exactly what he needs.

Our youngest is 18 and definitely well beyond mature for her age. She’s ready to take the world by storm. She’s extremely goal-oriented and together they will share an apartment.

They’re due to move out on April 1st (is it coincidental that it’s also April Fool’s Day?) which is only 21 days from today.

Today we had that discussion.

Me: “Are you getting ready to move out?”

Them: “Yes, dad, we’re ready”

Me: (shocked) “You are? You don’t have your car insurance moved over yet, you haven’t picked out an apartment yet, you have not purchased any furniture, you haven’t applied for utilities yet…yadda yadda. And you have 21 days left.”

Them: (looking a bit shocked, even though we’ve had this conversation several times before – I guess the time sneaks up on all of us) “:sigh: We’ll get ‘er done”

It probably goes without saying that “We’ll get ‘er done” to a mature businessman means something very different than it does to a young adult.

To me, “get ‘er done” can only happen after planning. It’s not hard to do – write down what needs to be done, and execute the plan. Piece of cake, right?

But to my young adults “get ‘er done” means: “fly by the seat of my pants as far as possible before I’m forced to make a plan – and then I’ll fight the plan every step of the way because flying by the seat of my pants is the easier way. Hey my friends do it all the time.”

I helped them today, yet I do not think they fully understand or appreciate what I did for them. I’m sure somewhere down the road my 15 minutes of typing at Microsoft Word by creating a Move Out Prep. Checklist will pay dividends. At least I hope so. Perhaps one day their kids will face the same pie-in-the-sky visions with no reality of the “boring” preparation required of a successful life.

Being the giver that I am, please feel free to use this Move Out Prep Checklist for your own loved-ones and friends.

And while you’re having a chuckle at my expense, please wish our kids, wife and I luck as the nest might just be empty forever this time. (engaging in bittersweet finger-crossing)

Move Out Prep Checklist (.PDF)

Scott
The Big Banana of Business
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