It was a time of great tempest in my life. In hindsight, it was mostly self-inflicted, primarily through a series of poor choices and with no understanding of what living life with the long-term in mind meant.
Many wonderful things happened to me around that period. My now-wife & I decided to, and got married. I changed jobs and continents. I started seeing opportunities where others said none existed. I grabbed as many as I could, made more choices, and as the Richard Feynman quote I wrote out says, some days gave happiness, others experiences, some others lessons, and many memories.
These changes started with inspiration from Jim Rohn and Bob Proctor, two men I had never heard about until I heard their voices on a mp3. They were my constant companion in the car on my daily commute. I pondered on some of their ideas, immediately applied some, and downright rejected others. The idea of a life led by one’s own philosophy was captivating. I started questioning my own philosophies in different aspects of my life. Where I had no idea, I borrowed from those two gents in my car. I started reading more books, better books. I listened to better talks. I met more people and remained open a little longer to the conversations. I cut out several toxic relationships. I started thinking about money differently.
A decade or so later, and as another trip around the sun completes, I marvel at how listening to those voices, and the small changes in choices have compounded in my life. Of course, I’ve made many ridiculous and downright stupid choices too along the way. But those have not dampened, in my eyes at least, the effect of the compounding, better ones.
I’m truly grateful to the two people who shared that mp3 with me, and put me on a different trajectory.
A version of Jim Rohn’s talk is here