About yesterday’s daily…

And the moral of the story is…

When I started writing yesterday’s daily, I had two things in mind:

1. Reminding myself that our character is defined by what we do when no one’s looking, and our success is determined by what we do when no one’s told us to do it.
2. And showing others who might be struggling with motivation that it happens to the best of us at times.

We are constantly learning new things. Sometimes we learn things that make us question why we’re doing what we’ve been doing. If we knew then what we know now, right?

Sometimes I struggle a bit with saying what I want to say the way I want to say it.

My point was that sometimes it’s like, “Whoa. I know what I need/want to do now—but I’ve got to clean up this mess before I can do it. Man, that’s gonna take forever.”

Reality bites sometimes. It can take the wind out of your sails if you let it.

Shit. I’m still struggling.

Anyway, I wanted to remind myself that work-life parallel/harmony aside, sometimes you have to deal with the stuff that isn’t unicorns and rainbows and get to work. And I wanted to encourage anyone out there struggling with similar frustration by showing that even someone like me, all crazy on-fire about things, runs into it too.

Does that make sense?

And boom went the dynamite. Words of understanding and encouragement—on Facebook of all places.

Kristopher said,

There is some confusion here with “happiness” and “what marketing + corporations tell you is happiness”.

It’s almost scary how effective marketing can be—especially after growing up swimming in it everywhere you’ve turned your entire life. You could absolutely not give a shit about the Joneses and STILL want that P100D Tesla.

Powerful distinction made here. Thank you, Kris.

Andy said,

I’d argue that you should not stop chasing happiness. Just because it’s hard to catch doesn’t mean it’s not worth pursuing.

I find myself struggling at times, too. Life’s complicated, but it’s certainly not without joy.

Find what makes you happy and keep at it.

Put that way, I totally agree.

There’s probably another distinction to be made, here. And I’m not sure how I feel about what I wrote regarding happiness yesterday—but I feel like I want to stand by the idea happiness will come to you and eat out of your hand if you’re content with what you’ve got and where you are.

Chase happiness, sure, but not at the cost of important things you know you need to address that don’t make you happy. Cleaning out the garage doesn’t make you happy—but a clean garage does.

Michael said,

Life will always be tough at times. If it wasn’t we wouldn’t know what happiness is. I struggle with this a lot, especially as I have gotten older and life is more “real”.

I have found that certain people can’t stop. When they do it tears them apart. I am like this. When I sit idle I get anxious, like really anxious. I start thinking about how I should do more, I need to get further ahead, we need more retirement, that CEL just popped up, etc.. As I said it will eat me alive if I let it.

How to I deal with it? Do something really difficult. Something you’ve never done before. I look back at starting my business and working at the shop. That time was the most happy, the most driven, the most focused I have ever been and it was when my back was against the wall.

The challenge of learning something new occupies my mind and keeps it from straying down the wrong path. As you learn, you grow and that growth is what makes you happy. That growth is what takes a meh and changes it to [FUNK] YEAH.

Nail on the head. #imminentbreakthrough

It’s super easy to get caught up in our own thoughts—good or bad. I’m all about the pattern breaks. Sometimes all it takes is trying something new or different or adjacent to turn a stale challenge into fresh insights.

I gave some thought to an old book idea I’ve had kicking around for a few years. Maybe, if I can reverse engineer a couple things that blocked me in the past, I can start writing it later this year.

I took a step back and spent some time researching how to connect WordPress (our website) to Discourse (our coming soon forum). Turns out it’s possible, meaning TGPA members who sign up on the site can automatically get access to the forum (and we can publish special, members only content on the site).

And just like that, I shake the negative fog from my mind and see the goodness I needed.

For the record? These are the sort of conversations we’re looking to have in the forum. Just legit gearheads speaking up, keeping it real, and helping each other stay on track.

Oh! And two of these cats are in the Super Issue. The third was invited, but was kinda busy organizing a stage rally. (Door’s still open, Kris.) 😉

A simple metaphor?

It’s like losing weight or being a bodybuilder. You can’t get there overnight. You have to show up everyday and follow-through on your dream. It’s hard at first, and the results can be small, but over time, they compound. It gets easier the more you do it.

We gotta find happiness in the grind, in the hustle, in doing the work we know moves the needle.

That’s what friends are for.

Like Watsky said,

But if yer blockin’ me I will soon defeat you.
I will build a bridge above you, or I’ll tunnel underneath you.
I will eat you and excrete you and I’ll feed you to the flowers.
If I need to I’ll go through you and absorb your funking powers.
I put in hour after hour let’s be crystal clear
I’m gonna get there if it takes a day or fifty years.

And the moral of the story is…