Halftime - 6/20/19

We are a little more than halfway through 2019. The good news is there is another half just waiting for you to conquer. 

Was the first half everything you thought it would be? Hopefully, yes. Probably not. Many of us go into a new year with optimism, a fresh attitude, and high expectations. But halfway through, we’ve surely encountered some bumps along the way. Some bumps have even lasted months. The deal that didn’t come through, the project that got delayed, the gains are taking longer than planned. Whatever the goal, there were interruptions. 

That’s life. 

And if that wasn’t enough, we are constantly bombarded with images and stories from social media of people who have achieved what we think we want, visited places where we think we want to go to, and are with people we think we want to be with.

How have we handled it?

When it comes to envy and jealousy, one must remember that there are people envious and jealous of us. That is why I love the practice of gratitude. Rather than focusing on the things we don’t have, it allows us to remember the immense treasures we already possess and how far we’ve already come. Social media is a platform that encourages the complete opposite of that. If not curated from time to time, social media can easily distort the reality and perspectives of one’s accomplishments and self-worth every single time we consume, which for most of us is every day. This mindset nips any action before it even has a chance of succeeding. Not only is it a time killer, it can also be a motivation killer. It is literally called a feed for a reason.

What do you want to feed yourself with?

Recently I’ve gone into my social media and decluttered anything that no longer motivates me, makes me better, or isn’t a hobby. Sure there are grey areas of overlap, but doing this even once a year will help get rid of the mindset/time killers and help one refocus. Just like a home builds clutter over time, so do our decade old digital accounts. With the advent of Instagram soon breaking ten years, I assure you there are things we follow that are no longer relevant from the time we followed them.

But I digress. How do we regain our focus and motivation?

Let's take a moment this week to go back to the locker room in your mind and reassess the strategies we’ve been doing thus far. Are you happy? What needs to change? What needs to be retried? What adjustments will you make? Are you following the plan? Does the plan need to change?

Halftime was created so that both teams would experience field advantages and disadvantages at equal times. This could be attributed to not only weather, such as sun direction and wind, but also field conditions. It also gave audiences a break for food, toilet, and some lighthearted entertainment. Maybe it's a time to step back and have some fun. If you’ve encountered such disadvantages, don’t give up, as the winds could change in your favor soon. Forgive me if I sound too much like a horoscope, but I encourage you to embrace halftime in all of these definitions before we dive into the latter part of the year. 

As I grow in my entrepreneurial journey, one superpower I've realized that is often underestimated and also most understood is patience. We work and work and work. Meanwhile we see the new cars, new homes, new babies and other life achievements well deserved by friends and family. While the last few years have had their financial and relationship difficulties, I constantly remind myself that this is the life I chose and that my time will come. The larger part of my life (no commute, working remotely, and a highly flexible time schedule) currently fulfills me. While money is super tight, my health and happiness are at unprecedented levels, in the larger scheme of things.

The money will come. 

Fuck yeah, it’s Friday!

"Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It's not about winning. It's about you and your relationship with yourself, your family and your friends. Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could. There wasn’t one more thing you could've done. Can you live in that moment as best you can, with clear eyes, and love in your heart, with joy in your heart? If you can do that gentleman - you're perfect!"

-Coach Gary Gaines

Friday Night Lights (2004)