We were invited out to dinner the other night. It was to the house of someone who was in the accounting game, but had retired some years ago. It was a lovely night – good food, good wine and good company. On the way home though it did get me thinking.
My perception was, and still is, that he was more successful than I was. His house was nicer and I know from discussions that they have more assets. Now while this person is older than me and retired, he had still made more of his career than what I have to this point. This started to get me a little depressed for a while. I sulked on this for about a day. Thoughts going through my head were as follows
- I have wasted my career
- I need to apologise for my family
- What the fuck am I doing?
But then, after a day, I realised that I had based my thoughts and my sulking on a 4 hour period where I had probably made a massive number of assumptions.
Whilst I am a long way from where I want to end up, I can also acknowledge that I have improved significantly over the last 12 months.
Is it a common thing to compare yourself to others. And it is absolutely the wrong thing to do. I believe that the smart thing to do is to take the success of others and turn it into motivation for yourself. Unless you are six foot down and dead in the ground – there is still the opportunity to be successful. Think of Colonel Sanders!!!
However success is only going to come to me if I identify my goals and dreams and lay out a plan of attack to ensure that I achieve these goals.
What are your dreams and goals? Are they just in your mind, as mine have been, just hoping that one day they will come true? Or have you written them down, with a game plan, and now busting your arse to achieve them?
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If you are not happy with where you are at the moment, take stock and change what you are doing so you are aligned with your goals.
Take life by the balls and don’t die wondering.
