Blog Posts

For this post I wanted to talk about the cliff and jumping off it…

No not base jumping, and not parachuting (if that’s your thing all the more power to you, I don’t think I would jump out of a perfectly good plane); I’m talking about taking that risk, taking that chance in your life.

In the last couple of years, I have been asking myself why I am still working at the job I am. Maybe you have been too…

The last couple of years, Pre-Covid, Covid, Post-Covid, have shined a light on a lot of things. We have seen the steady 9 – 5 workplace job transform into 9 – 5 remote, and now into this quasi we need you to go back to the office, come back to the office part time/hybrid, or fully remote (only reason companies want us back in the office is to justify the multi-million dollar rental agreements, we all know that).

Also, during that time, perhaps, we’ve picked up a new hobby or jumped off the preverbal cliff and left the 9 – 5 and started our own business.

During the pandemic I started picking up the hobby of woodworking. I built Jess (the love of my life) a new desk, a garden workbench, raised garden bed on wheels, and a trellis; and her mother, a computer desk. I feel really good doing that type of physical work. So, the question I keep asking myself, what’s keeping me from doing this full time?

Whats keeping me from jumping? Whats keeping you from jumping?

Is it responsibilities??? In my opinion before you take any kind of jump you need to take a look at your life and whats going on. Do you have a family to support? Do you have responsibilities that need to be met? If so, maybe leaving your job that pays you on a regular basis isn’t the way to go…..YET…

Perhaps try starting out part time. Make a challenge for yourself. Can you make income equal to, if not more than your full time job with your side hustle? Can you make it steady on a regular basis? If so, perhaps then you can take that jump.

I, myself, keep looking over the edge knowing I should jump, but have always kept pulling away. I don’t have a family to support and no real financial responsibilities at this moment. So, the question still is why not? Why haven’t I took that jump? If you’re in a similar situation, why haven’t you?

Fear!!!!! Perhaps

Fear of the jump, fear of falling, fear of failing.

In school we’re taught that failing = bad.

Bad grades, or a failed test usually meant punishment. Maybe your parents got angry because you failed that exam, maybe you didn’t get into that certain school because your grades weren’t good enough, maybe you had to retake a class because you failed it (that would be me and calculus II [3 times]). Whatever the case may be… Failure has always been associated with bad and punishment.

Failure also has a way of disappointing people. I don’t know about others, but I used to be and partially still am a people pleaser. Being a people pleaser means you feel bad when you disappoint people, so you bend over backwards not to. More often than not, to our own harm. Maybe its a people thing to feel bad when we disappoint loved ones. But our dreams aren’t their dreams. We try our best to communicate them, but only we can truly understand the dreams we have.

But heres the thing. Going back to the cliff reference. When you jump off any cliff you do indeed fall, theres that thing called gravity, but you can also soar!

If you look at the failures as learning experiences, not as what we’ve been taught as being bad, then you can approach things differently.

Thomas Edison said:

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Going by that, you WILL find ways that will work.

Maybe you don’t jump right away, make it a part-time hustle, and make that goal of making more income in your side hustle and then jump. Maybe you’re that kind of person that has no problem and just goes YOLO and jumps without a plan at all and sees what happens.

To round it all out I’ll finish up this post with this thought to convey.

If you stand at that cliff you will forever be at that level. Not going up or down. If you take that jump. You might fall, a little, or a lot; but you can also soar! Soar higher than you would ever be standing on that cliff.

I hope you found this post useful. If you know anyone who this could help. Please share this on!

What goes into a blog post? Helpful, industry-specific content that: 1) gives readers a useful takeaway, and 2) shows you’re an industry expert.

Figured I’d keep the hint statement for the first blog post as a way of getting started.

Its April 16, A day after my birthday.

I took away from yesterday that a change needed to be made in my life. For far too long I’ve been feeling stuck. Maybe you have been feeling the same way as well. It has been feeling like the goal posts have just kept moving further and further back. What once seemed reachable gets further out of reach.

Not to make a sob story out of things but I felt it was time to start my leave of the matrix.

To start, like Neo, it was time to unplug.

To be real it isn’t easy. Getting off of social media in any way is no joke if you’re someone who likes to scroll and consume content endlessly. What you say will only be 5-10 minutes turns into a 4 hour doom scroll session, and you wonder where the day went. I am sitting here writing this post and working on this site instead of scrolling the Gram.

To be fair to social media, IF used properly it is a very powerful tool. You can find like minded individuals, build a community, start a business and market yourself, the possibilities are truly endless. Notice I highlighted 1 particular word….IF

I don’t know about the majority; but I always end up scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling. Consuming posts, and living vicariously through others. And in doing so there is a depression that sinks in as well. A depression from in-action, and a depression from comparing. I don’t know if its a default setting of people, but I also get into that habit of comparing. Comparing myself to others and what others have or are.

Comparing yourself to anyone other than yourself is a bad habit that doesn’t help. Perhaps you were raised on a comparison basis; to a sibling, or another family member. Your brother or sister got an A+, you got a B maybe a C; your cousin is on their 3rd house, you can’t even afford to move out, etc… Basically, Person X > You.

Sound familiar?

Is it right? No, no its not. You’re not Person X, and Person X isn’t you. They are not in your situation, and you are not in theirs. And like Henry Cavill said in an interview of giving 5 lessons he learned from someone, the last one, life isn’t fair.

The only person you should be comparing yourself to is well… yourself……

What an idea! Right!?! Changing that little comparison

You ><=You.

Only person you have any right to compare yourself to is yourself (or maybe a clone of yourself if you had the exact same circumstances, but we aren’t getting into scifi what-if’s here).

When you compare yourself to yourself then you also see a level of progress and dare I say accountability to yourself….

You can finally start marking YOUR progress. You can say I did good today, or hold yourself accountable in those times when you say, I could’ve done better here.

To pull all this together, day after my birthday I’m working on everything written above.

Taking a break from social media

Not comparing myself to anyone other than myself

Working on projects and having action.

I hope you found this post helpful for yourself. If you know anyone who would benefit from this please share it on.