It's been almost two months since my last blog post. I've been wanting to write for about two weeks now but I've seen so busy with work that every time I sit down to do a blog entry about something, I get about halfway through then work calls so I get distracted and then sit down to resume and I can't get my mind back into what I was writing. Guess I need to try to make some time either before or after work, much as I'm doing now. I decided that for this post I'm going to just shoot from the hip and put down an update of what's been going on with my life and whatever falls out of my brain as I talk about it. Strap yourself in, you've been warned.
So earlier this year I had talked about my six week bout with suicidal depression. If you want all the details on that, just go back a few posts and you'll see what I'm talking about. Since then I've actually been doing so much better. I had intended to go see a shrink about the problem but I was still searching for one and, again, the work thing was making it harder to not only find one but to make the time to see one. Fortunately, I was able to pull myself out of my funk with a little inspiration.
A guy that I work with and who I share a number of life philosophies with told me about a book he was reading called Rich Dad, Poor Dad. He said that the author gave you a new perspective on how you looked at your money, your job, and your life in general. Ultimately the book was about investing money and since I liked what it sounded like I downloaded the sample for the Nook. I liked what I saw, I bought the full version and finished it in two days.
I'm not going to go into the details of this book. I will say that if you're looking for technical advice on money and investing, this isn't the best book for it. But it is a book that completely changed my viewpoint and actually inspired me to get off my ass and start doing something about my life. It told me things about how I was spending my money and what I was doing with my life, things that I had heard before from other people, but this helped to remind and reinforce those ideas that I had forgotten in my depression. I realized how crazy I must have been only a few months before when I had worked my ass off to get out of debt only to find myself depressed because after all that work it seemed nothing had changed and I didn't know what to do about it.
I realized after reading this book that what I was missing was a plan. My plan for the last several years was simply "Get out of debt." After I was out of debt, there was nothing after that. I hadn't planned for the next step because I was so focused on the first one. I had forgotten what I had learned from so many people over the last two years but this book reminded me of those lessons. It also reminded me of the one thing that you have to be doing in your life no matter who you are or what you want.
Plan for the endgame.
When those words went through my brain, like magic things started falling into place. It was staggering how clear everything in my world became. Above all else in life you have to have a plan for the endgame. Whatever end you're trying to achieve, if you're not planning up to the very end of it, you'll never get there or you'll struggle and stumble the entire way. The plan will change with time. The steps I have to take will change with every success or every failure I experience. But I know now that as long as I keep making my plans and following them, as long as I stay on top of what I've laid out for myself, that I can push ahead and that nothing will stop me.
I probably still need to see a psychiatrist. I know that my brain isn't quite right and that there are some things that positive thinking alone won't fix. But the most amazing thing about following this past for the last month is that I no longer hate my job. Well, I don't hate it as much as I did. I see it as a means to an end, I know how to use it now, and I know that I don't have to be stuck here forever. I've been working a lot lately but rather then make me angry or resentful, I'm just tired. I could definitely use a few days off. But I always think about the money I'm making and my plan for that money. It isn't just stuff to pay the bills anymore. It's the see I'm going to grow into an empire for myself. It starts here and if I have to work my ass off now to be able to enjoy my life later, so be it. I'll take all their money and I'll walk out of there knowing that I don't need them, I'm just using them.
Never forget to plan for the endgame. You have to be responsible for your own destiny and you have to make a plan. Even if your plan is as simple as "Live my dream" then do it and find a way to go after it. Don't say things like "I can't do this because" or "It won't work because". When you say those things, you've already lost or settled for less than what you want.
And if you aren't working your nuts off to get everything you want, to TAKE everything you want, you're just wasting everyone's time.
