Satisfaction

“You’ve gotta wake up with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction”

I used to read that quote as inspiration to keep my hustle alive. In my 20’s, I thought that a hard hustle was the only way to becoming successful. As I creep up on my 40’s, I see things a little bit differently.

Somebody once shared a video with me that showed a memification (add that to the dictionary) of most motivational speakers; a man excitedly shouting into the camera all of the things you needed to do to become successful.

“You want to be successful? You better get 3 hours of sleep. No, 2 hours of sleep. No, 1 hour of sleep! You’ve gotta take ice plunges and make yourself suffer. Oh, and you’ve gotta get a monkey. Yep, you gotta get a monkey!”

All of these things are as ridiculous in practice as they sound. That was the point of the video. Do you know how hard it is to rehome a monkey?

This morning, I didn’t wake up with determination. Rather, I woke up at 4:30am and fell back asleep before crawling out of bed at 9:30; the latest I’ve slept in for the last few years. It was a struggle to get out of bed, and I could have fallen back asleep for another week; something I pondered before making it to the ‘coffee corner’ in the kitchen.

One thing I’ve learned over the past year is the impact that feelings can have on your day. Like your five senses, emotions serve as a filter for how you perceive and show up for each day. Unlike your five senses, emotions can be a cornicopia from day to day, and shouldn’t be trusted as gauge for your performance or output.

Said differently, there are days where I feel incredible; on top of the world and ready to kick ass. Other days, I feel like the weight of my life is bearing down on me with unspeakable force. Most of the time, those days happen when I’m away from Atlas – something that’s to be expected when you’re away from the human being you love most on this plane[t] – while consciously knowing that things aren’t supposed to be the way they are.

I fully expected the day to be a dud of a day. However, as soon as I made it to my desk, I got a phone call from a collegue that asked me if I could pull a favor for him and build out a project he was scoping out for a new opportunity. It was just what I needed to get the wheels turning in my mind. 90 minutes later, the project was done and shipped off. 15 mintes later, he confirmed the new client wanted to kick off our work, which resulted in a new retainer. No monkey required.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting a lot on the journey my life has been. I’ve had a tremendous amount of experiences, learning opportunities and people that have invested into me. All of these things have helped formulate me into the man that I am today; a Dad, business owner, subject-matter expert, published author, friend and responsible human being.

Over the years, I’ve met a lot of people that enjoy tooting their own horn with pride. I’ve realized that I can’t do the same; rather, I understand the shaping, development and work that others have poured into me to create the person I am. For that, I’m eternally grateful and hope that I represent these individuals well as I push forward from day to day.

I think about these people a lot as I navigate each day. People like Sister J come to mind often, because it felt like our time was cut far too short before she died and I often wonder what it would be like to have one more talk on the bench with her.

The beautiful thing about life is that everybody leaves their mark on you. Some of these marks are scars, while others leave their mark in a way that makes your life innately better than it was before you met them.