Category: #2Cents

Today my bro Tam posted this image:

I appreciate all of the above.

1. Making peace with your past is something I’ve always struggled with. Being able to forgive myself for the bad things I have done. This strange feeling of guilt when I see someone else experience something I have in the past. You gotta let it go because it will effect you moving forward which only keeps you stuck in the past.
2. I can’t say I really care what other people think of me. At times, of course but generally I don’t have enough headspace to allow other people’s opinions bother me. I just do me.
3. Time – if it’s something big then a lot of time is needed. Granted, not everything heals but in the moment you may think it’s too big to heal until the right amount of time passes. Yet another thing I learnt the hard way.
4. If you react to things more often than you respond to things then your happiness will absolutely be controlled by other people. Think of all the times you have reacted to something someone said before you even thought about what or how they said it. Then realise it’s not as bad as you thought. That’s a common one that is easy to fix and not let it effect our happiness. Respond don’t react. On the whole we are in control of our thoughts and state of mind but we all slip up every now and again.
5. I definitely find myself doing this sometimes with no real reasoning to it except maybe envy because of how I may perceive someone’s life. I can honestly say I do judge people randomly but the thing that stands out to me about this rule is that I or we don’t know someone’s journey or what path they have chosen. We are all trying to find our own way.
6. I think a lot. Like a lot. I’m going to action this rule most of all. But I think the answers will come to you when you’re ready to accept them.
7. Smile – You don’t own all the problems in the world. That’s a great way to look at things. I always think – it could be worse and just move on.

 

Sound advice. Take note.

I could say this:

 

My son is definitely a source of motivation for me but I think deep down it’s really a combination of things – selfish things. Let me explain.

I think we all can draw motivation from friends, family and loved ones but when it really comes down to it the core of our motivation is often quite selfish. I believe I’m great. I believe that ever since I was a young boy I witnessed things happen around me and thought I was better than that, that I could learn from other people’s mistakes and be better than them – because of them. So I’m obligated to do something great in order to honour the people I learned from to which I am grateful.

But what gets me up early and keeps me awake late at night is the thought of differentiating myself from the dreamers, the what ifs and the procrastinators of the world. Because I’m better than that and that is what motivates me.

But yeah my son is hella motivating also 🙂

Today I signed up to take part in a Community Visitor Program for the elderly. After yesterday’s experience of offering help to someone who didn’t want it I felt like I had wasted my day.

I was not going to let that happen again but I wasn’t sure what to do then I remembered ‘Dre’ (the homeless guy I went to help) say that he frequents the Melbourne City Mission so I pulled up the website, had a look for ways I could help and BAM I’m signed up and awaiting the stage of the process. I already feel 10x better by simply sending an email.

Taking action is the most important step. Someone who is stuck or struggling is typically someone who is more engaged in their thoughts than actually taking action. You can send an email, make a call or take a step and your momentum will pick up again.

So that’s what I did today and in the matter of a few minutes I felt revived and excited again.

Today I made a definite decision to STOP chasing money and learn to accept the amount I currently earn and be grateful for it.

I’m not saying that I wouldn’t like more of it, I absolutely would – who wouldn’t?

I’m simply stating that I will no longer sacrifice time spent with my family and my purpose in order to make a few extra dollars. Something I’ve learned in the last 10 years of living in Australia is that making money to buy things is great but it’s not fulfilling.

” Blingin’ it up big time “

Just over a year ago I caught up with an old mate that was living the bachelor lifestyle. He has no dependants, is single and earns in excess of $200k per year. He travels frequently, drops more money on a night out than I do on my weekly expenses and is blingin’ it up BIG TIME. Sounds cool right?

A few weeks went by and I hadn’t heard from him as I was busy setting up my courier business and dedicated every moment I had to chasing my own money. Finally he called one day and said: “Hey, I just got back from another holiday, I had a great time and oh yeah … I’m quitting my job.”

” He just wasn’t happy “

Curious, I thought he must have another job lined up because why would you give up all that cash right? he said “nah, I’m moving overseas to train MMA every day for the next 6 months” and because he just wasn’t happy.

For all the money he made and the ‘things’ that it allowed him to do and acquire he simply wasn’t happy and that was that.

At first I was shocked but I understand that although things seem great from the ‘outside’ thinking certain people have got it all figured out you realise that we’re all just trying to find our way in life and I admire him for having the courage to let go to something more fulfilling.

He did this because he wanted to. Does it have to be any more technical than that? The fear of poverty is part of most people’s way of thinking, that feeling of ‘oh I can’t do that because I NEED money for this’. We let that fear dictate who we are allowed to be, constantly accumulating material things in the pursuit of happiness.

I’m really proud of my mate for his decision and when he returned he found better working conditions and seems happier for it.

Have you ever really looked at the things you own and noticed that you probably have more than enough already? That you maybe only use a third of the things you have and the rest are just taking up space. I have and that’s why I’ve made another decision to give my things away to people who can put them to better use. But that’s for another post.

 

 

 

 

One of the best things about being a dad is hearing my son say his name. I ask him nearly everyday just to hear his tiny little voice reply “my name ish Bookwin Conami ” (Brooklyn Komene). It gets me right in the feels like I’ve truly accomplished something by having a son to carry on my father’s name.

So I make the most of every moment I spend with him you see he’s only 4yrs old and I wasn’t really around during the first 10 months of his life. Not in the way you might think, let me explain.

I’ve been working on passion projects for the last 5-7 yrs which took up a lot of my time. I would spend countless hours in front of my computer learning, designing, breaking & fixing software to accomplish my goal of building a Facebook Like button for the shopping mall. (Read more about it here)

So while my son was in the most important stages of development I was typically in my home office coding stuff and although I was ‘physically’ there I wasn’t there for him emotionally (much) as my mind was always on other things and I kept telling myself I would not make any excuses for not doing my ‘work’.

What I wasn’t aware of back then, that I am now, is that I was so caught up in ‘what’ I was doing that I lost sight of ‘why’ I was doing it leading to much confusion and being mentally exhausted. I had no real direction and my mind was on other things instead of appreciating the time I spent with my son.

” everything I do, every day for the rest of my life “

But now things are different, this year I discovered my purpose which is to help people by sharing the knowledge I have accumulated. Learning this made things so much easier because I only do the tasks that are in line with my purpose resulting in less things to do and more time to focus on my family.

I am no longer concerned of where my focus should be because everything I do, every day for the rest of my life is my focus and that gives me peace of mind and faith that I am doing the right thing by everyone especially myself.