4:46 a.m., Wayne Luther Thompson Turned 79, Searching for Daily Meaning

"Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying." 

— Studs Terkel

4:46 a.m., I slept like a rock, but my body and mind are on Eastern Time while I sit in a Mountain Time Zone. Time for me to get busy!

I want to announce I’m sitting on my new purple bean bag writing chair at the Denver condo. This one matches the ones at the mountain house, although a little smaller. My dark rich coffee is to my right, and the rest of the housemates are still getting their “Z’s.”

We’re wrapping up our best year in company history; we had three new team members join us, we’re poised for another growth year in 2019. After 22 years in the insurance business, I think we have some things figured out. But it’s not time to stop, we’ve got to keep pushing the market is ripe for a firm our size.

So how did you do, did you hit your goals, your marks, are you a stronger company today than one year ago? Do you have momentum going into the new year or are you at an inflection point where you need to re-calibrate policies and procedures?

I’ve met with my sales team, well all but two and we are now working to finalize our 2019 projections and budget. Our back office team is solid and should allow us to grow without adding another service team member in 2019.

It looks like our economy is slowing, we have been preparing for this, we’ve been putting cash back in the bank, we can weather a storm of some size, we’ve been making hay, but we have been putting a lot of hay in the barn. As an owner of a business I’ve been cash poor, and it’s not a fun place to operate. When my partner and I put our businesses together, we decided on an amount of money to put aside and then work to hit that number. 

Today, I’ll head to the mountains and have breakfast with a good friend and fellow entrepreneur. He’s got big plans, and I can’t wait to hear about his vision for next year. 

I’ll swing by the mountain home after breakfast to check on things and then return down the mountain for a few afternoon meetings. The weather in Denver was 60 degrees and sunny yesterday and this week looks to be similar. 

Last week in Indiana, my bones were frozen. It’s nice to get back to some warmth and sun, although we will hang out in Indiana for Christmas.

My father celebrated his 79th birthday. He’s my hero; he’s an amazing man that made me who I am, and I don’t give he or my mom much credit. But I know he reads my stuff daily so Dad “thank you for always being there for me, thank you for teaching me right vs. wrong, and being an example to strive.” 

It’s funny when I was a kid, and someone turned 79; they were almost a goner, now, looking at my parents almost turning 80, they are both in great shape, although Dad is starting to struggle to put on his shoes. As he said yesterday morning “it sucks to get old!”.  I’m lucky and blessed to have my parents still around, and we are going to do Christmas with them this year.  

As a reminder, I write for me and not you. I hope I can give you a little bit of inspiration or remind you what is important, but these words allow me to look back in time. Occasionally, I’ll pick up one of my books, read a blog and transport myself back to a time when life was different, maybe a little simpler, but not near as exciting as the life we live today.

I encourage you to write your thoughts. Start a journal and when you have enough content, allow me to help you publish a book. I’ve helped many folks so far, and my mission is to help anyone and everyone I know to publish a book. If I can do it, you can do it, and it’s a nice gift for friends, family, and clients.

Happy Monday! It’s the best damn day of the week! A day to reset, start over, and accomplish everything on your task list. But first, write down your task list. As you accomplish things, mark them off, life is full of little accomplishments that lead to a satisfying day of pushing yourself and your world to a better-happier place.

You got this!

"Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying." 

— Studs Terkel