December was a motley success. You can have anything you want in life, but you can’t have everything. I wanted to start my new job, get a new apartment, and fly home. I flew home because seeing my family was a priority. I got a new apartment, because I wanted to settle in Lansing. My job took a back seat. I’m happy with the way things turned out, but still upset that I can’t have everything I want.
I wanted to get skilled at my new job. It “sucks to suck” as they say. I take pride in my work, so it’s painful to make so many mistakes. It wasn’t a priority, so it didn’t happen. I’m lucky that I have such a luxurious life that I have time to get better (and I can’t really get fired or demoted).
I moved into my own apartment. It’s a little studio that is still too big for me. I could live in the closet and be fine. At one point I decided to move to New Hampshire in December. Things happened, I’m still in Lansing. The new plan is to move in the summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if that plan changed too. I live a luxurious life. Everything I own fits in my car. I have a job that lets me work all over the country. I’m not married to Michigan. The sky’s the limit. It’s terrifying to imagine, but anything could happen. It’s quite the ride. I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am.
- Books
- Artimis, by Andy Weir
- The Ultimate Gift, by Jim Stovall
- Sales Bible, by Jeffrey Gitomer
- Movies
- Anastasia
- Dumb and Dumber
- Schindler’s List
- Aquaman
- Blog posts published = 3
- Gym
- 0. It just wasn’t a priority. I had hotter potatoes to juggle.
- Diet
- Abysmal. I can really see the effects too. I was ok to coast for a month, but now I’ve stalled and I’m heading into a nose dive.
- I flew to Tucson for an extended winter break to see family.
Professional goal
- Sell $5,000 of life insurance
- I sold $3,000. I made two sales in the first week of the month. I got cocky. I got complacent. I underestimated how hard December would be to sell in.
- Chaos theory 101. If all you see are the outputs, don’t be surprised that you can’t predict the next output. I got a job on a cruise ship instead of a job at another start up, then I got a job selling life insurance instead of starting my own business, then I settled in Michigan instead of New Hampshire. Who knows what happens next?
- Shots on goal. If at first you don’t succeed, just try 1,000 more times. We fail because we miss the first 100 shots in a row. Your average score will improve over time. Just give it time.
- Don’t fail for lack of trying. One of the stupidest reasons I can think of for failure is a lack of trying. I can tell you from personal experience that there are 1,000 ways to screw up. Don’t fail until you’ve screwed up. There is a remote possibility that you’ll succeed through sheer luck.
- Put lots of fish in the sea. If you only have one chance, it’s highly likely that you’ll get performance anxiety and “choke” under pressure. If you have 1,000 chances, missing half isn’t a big deal. It’s better to have 10 interviews lined up than just one. Go to 25 tournaments. Give 50 speeches.
- Things happen. Roll with the punches.
- Taxes. I’m going to have them done early.
- I’ll start editing my novel
- I’m going to read a gargantuan amount of self help books/ audio books. I got a library card and am once again blown away by the treasure trove of free information.
- Expect a Year in Review post in January.