“Yes, there are two paths you can go by, But in the long run, There's still time to change the road you're on.”
"If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it."
Good morning my friends, 5:57 a.m. on a glorious Sunday morning. I watched the sun come up, from my bed, it’s a gift to be able to watch the sun come up from where one sleeps. I’m not talking about the changing of the light; I’m talking about the actual sun peeking out from behind a mountain every morning.
My Queen and I have carved out a nice little weekend life for ourselves. We get up, do “chores” around the house. We run and get a bite to eat and buy more flowers. Come home, plant those flowers, sit on our deck, and chat about life before coming inside to finish our day off with a movie. It’s a simple day, but we need a simple day after our running and gunning weekdays.
I was never one to listen to others. Since I was a child, I have not given many notions as to what others said or thought about me. It’s allowed me to do things my way, and it turns out my way worked. It’s unconventional, it’s not standard, but it’s my way, and I had a sneaking suspicion it might work.
I am respectful of others. I will listen, I will follow instruction, but if I can see a way to improve a process, I’ll take a chance and do it differently. My lack of conformity got me in some trouble as a kid, early in my life I knew I was different, I took a few blows, but those blows only made me more determined to follow my life path, not the life path dictated by others.
I’m not afraid to take a chance, to push a boundary and I’ve made a few $100,000 mistakes. But I was able to make those mistakes and recover. I’m a big believer in the concept that cash is king before you get too aggressive, makes sure you have a little cash set aside to back up your silly notion. Not all paths end with a pot of gold, some end with a pile of shit.
I’ve always been a little creative, not in an artsy sort of way, but looking at life a little differently and pushing the boundaries as to what is possible. This uniqueness caught the eye of my Queen; she too is different, driven, and successful. We met 20 or so years ago, originally thought the other person was a dud, but over time found we had some similarities.
Living life as a creative is fun, but when you have a partner that shares your passion for being different life’s nobs turn to eleven.
I think as children, we are taught to listen to others, but early on, I began questioning the teachings of my elders. I wondered if there was only one way to accomplish a task or if there were multiple paths to the achievement of a goal. My personal experience is there is not just one way to a destination; there were several.
Most people take the highway; others take the side roads; some of us find a trail through a forest. Over time, paths have been cut that are not obvious, but they are there, trust me, I’ve walked many unmarked paths to arrive at my present location. As Robert said, “Yes, there are two paths you can go by, But in the long run, There's still time to change the road you're on.”
So happy Sunday morning to you and your family. I hope this message finds you well, and you can find meaning in these words. I’m not sure where these words evolve. I have a spring in my mind that daily kicks out words, ideas, and concepts that I am to share with folks like you. Not sharing causes my mind to be flooded; a flooded mind is of no use to me. I’ve got to get the messages out to prepare for tomorrows rush of ideas.
I have a gift, I have a few gifts, they are nontraditional gifts, but I think I have found a way to maximize my few talents. My skill set is very small, so I surround myself with others with different skills than I possess, and I get out of the way and let them do their job. I am the opposite of a micromanager, choosing macro management for our company.
I sent a friend our updated organizational chart, and he replied he was shocked at the thin layer of management we have for the size of our firm. I thought about that and realized that if you hired curious, amazing people, you don’t need a lot of management, most people truly want to do a great job and if you leave them to their own, smart, accomplished, and motivated people will work to help build a successful brand.
Again, this is our model; I’m not asking you to use our model but create your own. There are not two paths; there are many paths, pick one, adjust as you see the fallen tree, the occasional creek, the roadblock that can be cut and removed.
The spring in my mind is now but a trickle. It’s time for me to move on to my next task, the cleaning and reading of email, I’ll start the week with a clean inbox, it’s a little secret to my success.
Today, spend time with the ones you love. Appreciate everything, the sun, the flowers, the trees, and all fellow humans. I’ll spend a little time watching my family of chipmunks, chatting with them and trying to learn more about how to speak chipmunk. I’ve got the first word as “chip,” I think it means “more food, please.” They seem to listen to me when I speak, wondering what my sounds mean. Soon they will learn that every sound is nothing more than a message of love to them and every creature on this planet.
"If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it."