“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”-Stephen Covey
For the better part of last week, I wore sunglasses everywhere. Inside, outside. I think I even had them on in bed for a little while. Long story short, at some point, a bug flew into my right eye while I was playing golf, and its wings lodged onto my cornea. It took a minor procedure to get the eye fixed and a few days to recover. But I’m back.
I can operate with sore arms and sore legs, a sore back and sore feet, but I have to have my vision.
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What are you working towards? Big picture. Grand scale. Why are you doing whatever it is you are doing? Do you know? Retire early? Beach house? First in your family to own a home? First to go to college? Ego? To truly help someone? Freedom?
My vision and imagination run wild, but my ideas are meaningless without the appropriate daily actions to get there. I’ve had 3.5 years of post-sleepwalking life to think about The Grand What and Why. The vision is pretty damn grand and it remains wide open for surprises, but it’s also not the point of this piece.
Action. How. What hourly and daily behaviors?
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If I’ve told you once I’ve told you 72 times that for a good portion of that 3.5 years, the answer to any question you would have asked me would have been “I don’t know.” It’s still the answer to a fair amount of questions, but the vision has been building, the imagination running rampant, and the patience getting stronger.
The impossible end result is somewhere between 3 and 72 years away, so I must control what I can control, forget the rest, and enjoy the abk journey.
As you may or may not know, I walked away from a six figure salary with great benefits and all sorts of perks roughly 17 months ago. Everything went to zero. Clean slate. Fresh start. Deep breath. There were some savings, but not indefinite savings. The clock was ticking immediately. If you thought I felt no pressure, you are nuts. I just kept telling myself, if you give in to the pressure, you’re getting further away from the vision.
So I started observing, listening, and researching. Everything was new. What could be built and how could it be built so that I was interested and engaged with life instead of bored, frustrated, and trapped?
Let’s start with anything but khakis. My intent is that it will always be free. Free stories. Free ideas. Free encouragement. I owe the universe a lot, and this is how I give back. I do hope it will one day evolve into a real lifestyle design consulting company where I can one on one help someone that is serious about making a lifestyle change. But that’s a few years away. I have to get the experience first.
Next is real estate investment. I love real estate. I love the ability to create. I love the ability to invest and make money. I’ve had investments in rural areas, suburban areas, urban areas, and off college campuses. The latest house is currently being built along The Gulf of Mexico (two hurricanes coming this week?), and I’ve got my brain and eyeballs on New Orleans real estate also.
On the playing golf front, I’ve gone from a 14 handicap to a 0.5 handicap in 16 months. (When I get to 0.0, I’m getting a tattoo to commemorate the grind.) I want to get to a +5, and that may take 2-3 more years. Hell, I may never get there. My body may break down. But I’m going to try. Playing golf is actually one of the most important daily cogs in this wheel because I was put on this earth to play something. I may never make a dime from this, but that’s completely missing the point. I play essentially every day.
If I deem my golf story compelling enough, I will write a book. I’ve already started and have copious notes, but that’s way down the road. So for now? Well, I start working at Shell Landing Golf Club Monday. Entry level. Gotta start somewhere. Grinding is a huge part of the journey.
So what’s missing? Some interesting part-time remote gig with benefits would be nice. Self-insurance is absurdly expensive. So I’m looking. And looking. And looking. Everything is remote now, so it will come. A grand vision is just a big puzzle that requires a ton of imagination and grind and even more patience.
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“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”-Stephen Covey, again
I have no idea what your main thing is. What I do know is that most everything out there, while real, can be a distraction. Ego. Stubbornness. Self doubt. Ignorance. Headlines. Foolishness. Peer pressure. Resistance, both implicit and explicit, just because your main thing may not be the same as everyone else’s.
This journey has taken a ton of action. But equally as important, it has taken lots of ignoring noise and practicing patience. Fire drills are often not fire drills. I just keep telling myself, if you give in to the pressure, you’re getting further away from the vision.
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Have a great week.-Benj
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