I have a confession. I am fascinated by many of the Alaska reality programs such as Life Below Zero (Sue Aiken is my favorite), The Last Alaskans and Alaska the Last Frontier. To be clear, I don’t personally hunt for my food, I have never been camping in my life (I don’t count sleeping in a tent in my backyard once with my son as camping) and I really like the comforts of hot running water. Life in the Alaskan wilderness is not a lifestyle that I yearn for. However, I am hooked on following the lives of these rugged individuals and their families as they opt for a subsistent lifestyle made up of fishing, hunting and gathering what they need.

Recently I was watching some reruns (because watching them once isn't enough!) of Alaska the Last Frontier in which Jane Kilcher (another favorite) struggled to gather enough food to feed her family for the lean, dark, cold days of winter. Her husband had suffered a serious injury putting the pressure on her to take the lead in securing the resources the family needs. She wakes with this thought on her mind every morning and goes to bed every night replaying what efforts she made that day. She realizes the solution to her situation is to get a Moose during the annual hunting season. This resource will provide them with enough protein to feed her family for 6-months. For her the Moose is security. It’s a sense of accomplishment. It's wealth. It's comfort. It’s money in the bank.  It’s a sense of ease. It’s the difference between venturing out in the cold in search of food or staying home playing music.

After thinking about it a few minutes I realized that even in my modern-day life, complete with all the amenities I could want, I too was in pursuit of a Moose. 

So I ask you, what’s your Moose?

We all have a Moose. It’s the goal, objective, or accomplishment that we are stalking. It’s the thing that we think about when we go to bed at night and when we wake up in the morning. It’s the thing that once we achieve provides us with a sense of purpose, a sense of success, a sense of fulfillment.

Our Moose is also not a guarantee. For Jane Kilcher, to increase her chance of getting a Moose requires that she plan carefully, get the tools she needs to accomplish the goal, and ask for help from a knowledgeable guide. These are steps we can apply to our own Moose:

1. Plan – Clearly identify your Moose, including why it’s important to you and what benefits it will bring you. Identify the potential risks and plan how you will mitigate them.
2. Gather Tools – Gather the information and resources that will support your efforts. This includes leveraging education, training, processes and technology to create a smooth path forward.
3. Get a Guide – Don’t go it alone. Quests such as this are more fun when you have others along with you on the journey; they keep you motivated, act as sounding boards and offer another point of view.

So what are you waiting for. Go get your Moose!