Some life at 28

I’ve now been on this earth a good, solid 28 years, which gives me a good 10 years of real adventure. I’ve seen a lot and experienced quite a bit in a relatively short amount of time. There’s still a ton more ahead and I look forward to it, but so far I’ve sold myself on a few a philosophies and beliefs that have served me well. (In no particular order)

Read the label faster than they do. I’ve known Big G for a long time now and that could very well be the most true and knowledgeable thing he’s every said. I’m not sure if it’s a G original or not, but I really don’t care.

Talk like you mean it. It doesn’t matter if you know what you’re talking about or not, if you say it like you mean it then they’ll believe it. Just don’t start believing it yourself until you know. If anything, this should buy you some time until you do know it. Of course, if you’re called out and you’re wrong, you need to submit to the fact that you don’t know it.

When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all. A great quote from Futurama and one I’d consider for my tombstone. People just expect things and take a lot for granted. Your place in that formula doesn’t have to be noticed for what you do to be important. Just take solace in the fact that if you were removed everything would come crumbling down.

You are more important than your work. We all have jobs that keep our bellies filled, our cars running, and roofs over our heads. A job is important, but not more important than you are. You take precedence over you job. If you don’t take care of yourself you can’t do your job (or anything) well. Take your vacations, use your personal days, and when you’re sick, stay home!
You only need enough to not worry. I enjoy money. I do, regardless what some people might think. You need money to get by in this world, but you only need enough to wake up every morning and go through every day without having to worry about money. Any more than that is a bonus and you should take it, but it isn’t necessary.

If you have a boss, make them work. Bosses, managers, supervisors…they are there so serve YOU, not the other way around. They might have more decision-making power than you, but as your manager their job is to provide you with all the resources you need. These resources includes tools, people, time…all that…only put the blame on yourself if you really deserve. Chances are you don’t.

Know you’re good, but don’t have an ego. We’re all good at something and it’s not bad or egotistical to know it and stand by it. You’ve probably been doing the same thing for a while now…that makes you an expert and professional (especially if you are paid for it). That needs to be respected, both by your peers/co-workers and by yourself.

Talk to people. Casual conversation is the single most powerful ability in the world. If you can talk to people beyond their expectations of your intent, you’ll get far. Turning a planned 15-minute meeting into a 2-hour happy conversation is a good thing. You’ll learn a lot and gain an ally. The trick is knowing when to do this and when not.

You don’t have to be doing something all the time. Spending some time by yourself or only with the one person that matters to you is a good thing. You don’t have to be out somewhere or with a herd of people at every free moment you have. If you feel you need to, then you need to find out what you’re running away from and not facing. And sometimes it’s best to just do nothing…and don’t you dare feel bad about it.

Have a vice. And I don’t necessarily mean a “bad” vice, like drinking or drugs. Any thing that is frivolous is a vice in my book. If you buy a new paperback every week or a lottery ticket every Thursday, that’s a vice. Me? I buy Hot Wheels cars.

Know some history. Find a topic you enjoy and learn about it. Get some books from the library and learn the history of it so you can be an expert of something totally unimportant.

Measure twice, cut once. This is an old saying but one I try to apply to most everything, even when it comes to doing something simple like laundry…plan it out. If you get all your ducks in a row up front, the march to the pond will be painless.

Don’t worry about what you can’t control. Lord knows we all have enough stress in our daily lives from things we can control and change. Don’t add to that worrying over something that is entirely out of your hands and will happen one way or the other regardless what you do. What will happen will happen…get a result before you start worrying.

Well…that’s a pretty good list for now. Enjoy your life…you deserve it.