Keep Your Coins

Today, your life is going to change. The change might be monumental or it could be minimal, but today will be different than yesterday and tomorrow will be different than today. How are you going to react to this change?

Maybe you will be scared of the change. Maybe you will run and hide and hope nothing really changes. Maybe you will do everything in your power to keep things exactly as they are. Maybe you like the way things are and even if your life isn't exciting or passionate, you are content. Maybe you will shirk from opportunity.

Maybe you will embrace the change that comes along. Hell, maybe you will encourage the change and cause your own changes to happen. Maybe you will realize life isn't meant to be played safe. Maybe you will take risks. Maybe you will try new things. Maybe you will run with whatever life hands you. Maybe you will be excited for something new.

No matter what you do, today is going to be different. Tomorrow will too. Each day to come will be different than the last. Since change is already going to happen, wouldn't it be great if we learned to embrace it? Wouldn't it be great if we could welcome it and work our asses off to actually change things for the better?

Well, what exactly are we waiting for?

Eyes To The Front

Every morning, we need to wake up, take a deep breath and start again. Learn from yesterday, but don't relive it. You have the ability to forgive yourself for the things you did in the past. There is no point in dwelling on them, move on. Each day is an opportunity to help create a new and better world, but we can't do it if we are constantly living in the past.

This life flies by quickly. I know I would rather live each day looking forward instead of thinking about what could have been or how I messed something up in the past. You can only look one way at a time...if you are looking back at what you have done, there is no way you can focus on the future. We can't change the past, but we do have some control over what is to come. Focus on what can be, not what was.

We need to extend these thoughts to the people around us, too. Don't hold grudges and remain angry for what someone did in the past. If you keep them in your life, forgive them and move on. Even if the person is no longer in your life because of what they did, forget about it. Dwelling on the past only stops you from pushing towards the future as much as you want.

Life is going to be difficult, but it is a little easier when you focus on what is to come, instead of what has happened. Each day is a fresh start...take a deep breath and keep pushing forward.

What If?

What if? I constantly catch myself thinking these two words. What if I had finished law school? What if I had a different job? What if I had more money? What if I lived somewhere else? What if I had done things differently in college? What if I had stuck with a past job? What if I hadn't bought this house? What if I had been offered the job in St. Thomas? What if I did more? What if, what if, what if? All of our "what if" questions fall in to two categories, things we can change and those we can not.

If you are thinking about the past and wondering what if, stop. You can't change the past and there is no reason to think about it. The decisions you made have led you to this point in life. As with everyone, there is good and there is bad. You will never know what would have happened if you took another path, so thinking about it is of little use. Yes, things might be better or they might be worse. You could have more money, but you would have missed out on meeting the people and doing the things you did on this path.

You may think life would have been better, but you just don't know. Any other path is no longer there. Yes, you can go back and do things you didn't do, but this would only start a new path, not pick up from where you left off. You may argue these are only daydreams and they don't matter, but many look back on these decisions with regret. The thoughts bring us down and keep us from focusing on the things we can still change. Think about all the good things that have happened since then and remember these wouldn't have happened in the same way on a different path.

The questions about things we can change are different. These can be good and they can lead us towards new dreams and goals. What if you had a different job? Would you be happier? Would you feel more fulfilled? What would you want to do? These questions can help lead us to make life-changing decisions and the answers can drastically change our path in life. These are the questions we should be asking ourselves every day. These are the important questions.

Too many of us spend all of our time thinking about what would have happened in the past and ignore the questions about the present. We think our life would have been better if (insert whatever your if is) and blame what we have now on that if. Instead of thinking about the better job if law school had been finished, focus on finding the job you want. If that means going back and finishing that degree, then do it. If that means taking a chance on something else, then do it. Too much of our time is spent thinking about what we have no control over instead of taking control and doing what needs to be done. We wish we had something different, but instead of actually doing something about it, we blame the decisions in the past. We take the easy way out, throw up our hands and say we have no control over it.

Stop doing this. If you wonder, wonder about something you have control over. Try something new. Find a new job. Sell the house and move to another state. Travel. Take a chance. Do what moves you. Find what you want and grab hold. Stop letting decisions you made in the past haunt you today. When you catch yourself thinking "what if", make damn sure you are wondering about something you can change. If you want to, change it. We have a finite amount of time to do everything we want to do, don't let anything stand in your way.

A New Day

This morning dawns a new day. What happened yesterday can not be changed and what comes tomorrow can not be known. Today is the only day you have to leave your mark on this world. Today is the only day you have to do what you need to do. Today is the only day that matters.

We spend so much time running around planning for tomorrow or dwelling on yesterday that we never really enjoy today or utilize it to our advantage. To a person, we need to slow down and enjoy the times we have. We can't change the past and we have little control over the future. The only thing we can control is what we do right now, with the time we have.

I am as guilty as anyone with this. My mind constantly reminds me of the stupid things I have done in the past (and there are a lot of them). I constantly think about the future and what I am going to be doing next week and next month and next year. I spend so much time thinking about these two things, I often miss out on the wonderful opportunities right now. I rush through my day and spend too little time taking in and enjoying the moment.

We are surrounded by beautiful settings and amazing people, if we just take a second to look. Breathe it in and enjoy this moment. Slow down and take things as they come. Stop worrying about the past and the future and allow yourself to be in the present. Continue to dream, but don't fret over what you need to do tomorrow...embrace what you can do today.

Each life is made up of a series of moments. These moments matter. We don't know which moment is going to be pivotal and we should treat every moment as if it could be. We can't connect the dots of our life looking forward...the path we take only becomes visible as we look back. A chance encounter or a missed connection or a dreaded meeting could very well lead to a new direction in life. Don't walk by the door of opportunity because you are worried about the past or fantasizing about the future.

Each morning dawns a new day and a new chance. Today is the most important day of your life. What are you going to do with it?

Today

Everything that has happened to this point doesn't really matter. The good and the bad is all in the past and there is nothing we can do to change or relive events. We have today. Today is where your focus should be. Today is when we make the decisions affecting tomorrow. Today is always the most important day.

We aren't tied to any of the decision we have made to this point. We can always change things, do things differently, follow a different path or anything else we want to do. We don't have to continue in the direction we are heading, if we don't want to. This is our only life and we should live it as such. We have a finite amount of time to accomplish everything we want to accomplish. Shouldn't we stop wasting each new today and start living?

Today, you are one step closer to death, but today is also the first day of the rest of your life. What are you going to do with it?

That's Just Not How It Works

That's just not how it works. This is a sentence I never want to hear again. Whatever the it is in this sentence, I always want to ask why.

Instead of telling me doing "it" a different way isn't how "it" works, tell me about how you tried to do "it" that way and what you learned when "it" didn't work. Otherwise, you are only telling me you are afraid to do "it" in a way that no one else does "it". This doesn't make the new way wrong; this makes you afraid to try something new. If your goal is to follow the leader, then by all means, do things exactly like everyone else.

We live in a time when we should be struggling to try new things. We should be spending our days dreaming of new ideas, experimenting and pushing the envelope. The world is constantly changing around us. More and more knowledge is at our fingertips. The way we do business is changing all the time. Instead of doing things the way they have always been done, isn't it about time we starting asking why? Isn't it about time we start coming up with new ideas and then, trying them?

If you don't, someone else will.

Business As We Know It

With so many advancements in technology, why are so many companies sticking to outdated business models?

With wireless, laptops, smart phones and tablets, we can work from anywhere. We no longer need to be present in a cubicle to get the work done. In fact, for many of us, getting out of the cubicle allows us to do more and better work. Why are companies stuck in the mindset that people need to be physically present to do the work?

In most companies, if you hire someone to do a full-time job and they are able to complete all the tasks in 30 hours a week, the employee is rewarded by getting more tasks added to their plate (tasks usually coming from someone who is not able to get their work done). Is this fair? If the employee wants more to do, then great. This is a win-win for everyone. There are a lot of people who will see this and then slow down on the work they do so they aren't given more and more. This doesn't benefit anyone.

We can talk about culture agreements and making the work environment fun and giving staff more privileges and the need for people to think and make decisions, but until we start treating employees as adults, none of it really matters. As employees, we are often stuck in the mindset that we come in at 9:00 and leave at 5:00 and other than those hours, we are free to do what we want. Yes, we may have some deadlines to meet and yes, we may work at other hours, but we have to be present between the hours of 9:00-5:00.

How would it change if people were actually allowed to figure out how to get everything done on their own time and in their own way? How much more could we accomplish and how many more ideas would come from staff who are fully engaged and enjoying their work (instead of just working for the weekend)? How much money would the company save if they weren't constantly tracking the hours and PTO of every employee in (or outside of) the building. How much more work would be accomplished if someone could work from home when they had a sick child or wanted to work from the beach on a long weekend?

We are stuck in a business model that may have worked 20 or 30 years ago, but isn't it time we started embracing a new way to do things? Sticking with something because it is the way it has always been done is a way to get left behind. I hear many people say they want to have a company where people are engaged, having fun and love their job. What happens if we started treating them like adults and stop running things with a factory mindset? Many companies continue to lose the best and the brightest because they don't fit in to the 9-5 crowd. They know they do their best work at night or early in the morning. Instead of being able to do their best work for the company, they start their own or find a place to go that will treat them like an individual and an adult.

The way we do business is going to change. Either you can help push the change, get the best and the brightest, make a difference and set the standard in your industry or you can continue to fall behind. It's your choice.

Things Will Work Out

Although we may not understand or even want to understand at the time, everything happens for a reason. Of course we won't be able to see it as it happens, but every occurrence in our life changes the path we are on. Life is going to be full of ups and downs, we just have to keep pushing forward no matter what.

It's easy to see this when we look back on our lives. You can see points in your life when something major happens and then see how it leads to things you did later or even how it has led you to the point you are at now. You can see how relationships that ended have led you to your current relationship or how upheavals at work have led you to your current job. At the time, things which seemed like the end of the world probably opened more doors for you to get to where you are.

Remember this, when things seem to be bleak or you just can't make sense of where you are in life. We will never know the future and we will never know how what we do today will change what we do tomorrow. We can't connect the dots, except when we look to the past. Just keep pushing and things will work out, maybe not today, but if you give it your all, things will work out in the long run.