One of the many things I’ve learned from being self-employed is that one bad egg is all that’s needed to throw a wrench in a productive day. When I refer to ‘bad egg’ I mean a client that’s difficult to deal with. Oftentimes, these are the clients who have paid the least, while expecting the most. I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with a few of these clients in the past few years. And I’ve begun to learn that the important lesson to be gained from these delightful individuals is patience, humility, and simply learning to assess future clients better for the next time.
This morning, I woke up with determination that I’d accomplish everything on my to-do list. And, thus far, I’ve come quite close to succeeding; nice assurance that it will be completed prior to sleep tonight.
However, that’s not what I want to talk about. I prefer to keep a strict disconnect between work-related items and personal blogs. You aren’t your job, Palahniuk reminds us.
Looking at my life, I recently wondered what happened to the ol’ spark of energy I used to have for new projects, work, etc. In the past, I was able to pull long stretches of working long hours, without needing much sleep, food, or external motivation. Initially, I thought that I had lost the enthusiasim of entrepreneurship. Instead, I’ve come to realize that I have quiet calm in knowing that I am on path to meeting my goals, and that long stretches of self-induced suffering will not get me any closer, any faster. In fact, I’m much happier living at a a healthy pace, as it’s enabled me to see the forest for the trees. Even if I am not driving a Lamborghini at the age of 23 years old, I can say that I’m perfectly happy and content with the course my life has taken, the direction it is going, and the man that I am becoming.
What really sparked this revelation was recently seeing a Rolls Royce pull up to a diner where I was eating. It’s a $450,000 car at a cheap diner. Classy. However, I mentally put myself in the seat of the passengers and realized very little would change from my present circumstances. Don’t get me wrong – I fully plan to have expensive cars in my life. However, I can say that the idea of being covered in a $450,000 ego is not my idea of living.
Steroid-filled muscles on a bodybuilding stage are some of the most dysfunctional muscles in existence.
Plastic surgery will only make you look a little less closer to the death you are soon approaching.
This is Aaron Plaat speaking.
Recently, I’ve been asked, several times, what I want to accomplish with my life. In my head, I have a very clear understanding of what that goal is going to look like. And I feel confident in knowing that I’m taking strong strides towards accomplishing it. And that, my friend, is all I need to know.
There are a lot of people in the world who put on false pretenses about who they are, what they stand for, or the type of person they are. However, there is nothing so beautiful as the soul of a person when it is apparent. I’ve met many people who have puffed their lives up to a level they feel others are unworthy to even look at. It’s the people who are the most worthy of respect, admiration, and fan worship that often are denied this acknowledgement. Coming in contact with a soul like this puts everything into perspective. Instantly, you see exactly what it is that you’ve been waiting, longing, and wishing for. It exists, friend. It is…beautiful.
My good friend, Todd Appelbaum, once told me “As long as you can look in the mirror at the end of the night and know you are happy with the man you see, you are doing well.” in reference to ethics, morality, and personal integrity. I’m beginning to understand what he meant.
Having been without the close contact of several of my mentors, I begin to realize just how much I’ve missed speaking with them over long discussions, quality cups of coffee, and the rare opportunity to take in information/wisdom from those who have lived lives worthy of excellence. My hat is off to these people, who have lived such remarkable lives that I can only hope to model mine after: Scott R. Osborne, Nathan Pingel, Todd Appelbaum, David Juve, Kevin Hart, and my own father, Willem Plaat.
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