Over 20 years working on startups (mine and other peoples), automating marketing and operations. Multiple career holder. High school drop out, masters work in Physics. I write every week to help you grow and automate your startup.
On Tuesday, you have a choice.
Published about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Writing about startups, family and living your best life.
As an American living in Canada I'm seeing some bad sides of humanity - south of the border.
Some think we should just get used to it. Not me.
Thirty-six years ago, my mother was murdered in a random act of violence while grocery shopping in Poughkeepsie, NY.
You might say "life is unfair". It could seem unfair - if you went through something like this.
But "Fairness" frames the question of "why me and why not someone else?"
This is also known as envy. "We don't want to be worse off than others. We deserve what others have gotten". "Why do others have more than me?"
There are those in the world who will tell you that you deserve something. That others should suffer for you to be happy. That life is a zero sum game.
Would killing everyone else's mom make things better, right or even?
Bad things happen in life. You can be angry and that's natural.
Sometimes people push others down to feel good . Being told to blame others and "even the score" if anything in your life isn't perfect. Becoming an "enemy" based only having more, being happy, or being different.
Blaming others for any misfortune doesn't help you. It pushes you further away from being happy. It gives a weird satisfaction for a minute - until you realize you are still in the same place you were before. Often you choose more of the same.
I've recently been spending a lot of time on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn has a culture of pulling yourself up and lifting someone along with you. "Rugged Cooperation" is how we might think about it.
You come to LinkedIn to learn, improve who you are, and create something meaningful for yourself and those around you.
You come to LinkedIn to find a better life.
People on LinkedIn are measuring with their inner scorecard. You don't see a lot of posts blaming people for the misfortune of others. (Post-layoff Fortune500 CEOs notwithstanding).
There are many on LinkedIn who give out free advice. They sell you their time at a massive discount. Justin Welsh, Lara Acosta, & Dan Koe are people who post non-obvious content every day help you grow and improve your life. There are plenty of others out there who help you skip steps and reach your biggest goals faster, including me.
The real secret: everyone here has something to teach you and many of them share. Some of them are ahead you - you can learn from them. Some of them are lagging - you can teach them. Sharing your story is the knowledge that can change someone's life. And maybe change yours too.
You have the opportunity to figure out what makes you happy - what you love spending your time on - and jumping in with one or both feet.
On LinkedIn, we don't talk about fighting people or why racial/gender/origin based group "ruined your life". We post about fighting complacency, ignorance and our own fears. These are the real enemy - those parts of our psyche that challenge our inner scorecard and keeps us from our dreams.
I have three children who pay attention and emulate everything I say and do. How do I want them to grow up? Competitive? Sure. Responsible? Absolutely. Introspective? non-negotiable.
Some have said say I've had plenty of reason to hate others or be resentful. Others have straight up told me to hate specific "groups who did this to you" - as if that would somehow solve my problems.
We have a choice.
I chose not to live that way. I choose trying to be better and feeling good about it. I choose to make my life better. And help others along the way.
Thanks for reading.
Whenever you're ready, there are some ways I can help you:
If you are finding it difficult to make time to grow your business and spend your time the way you want, I can help you reach your biggest goals faster.
If you are running a company and need an extra set of eyes, ears and nose, I can help problem solve and get things moving.
If you are trying to start a company while managing a family, I can help with ways to move forward and deal with uncertainly.
I help Solopreneurs Scale Profitable Companies to 7 figures.
Over 20 years working on startups (mine and other peoples), automating marketing and operations. Multiple career holder. High school drop out, masters work in Physics. I write every week to help you grow and automate your startup.
