Today my family celebrated my grandfathers 79th birthday.
My grandfather is a dairy farmer. His name is John too. Ever since he was 20 he owned his own farm, ran it himself, had employees and hasn’t taken a day off. Every day he gets up at 4 in the morning and takes care of the hundreds of cows they have.
He is the hardest son of a bitch I’ve ever met. His skin is leather. He has more energy for work than I do. Thoroughbred farmer…
But he is not a businessman.
His farm is falling apart. His employees are unreliable. He isn’t making any money, and the farm is doing horribly.
And today, for his 79th birthday, he couldn’t even have his own birthday cake with his family, he was out working because he had no choice.
They are losing money, he is running out of time, and nobody wants to take it over.
And as sad as it is, everybody has a choice.
It’s his fault.
He had his entire life to plan ahead, to make changes, to look ahead at things and adjust, to pivot, to learn and adapt…but he didn’t, and that’s what happens.
Life doesn’t have to be so sad, with these bitter endings.
But you have to be flexible. You have to be hungry, willing to change, willing to try new things, willing to think outside of the box and updating your mind constantly.
So many people don’t step back and think ahead. They don’t visualize where they want to go. They just cruise on lazy autopilot until something bad happens and call it bad luck.
This is no way to live. If someone whips you in the back and makes you work every day for no real pay, it’s slavery. But it’s just fine when you do it to yourself?
Smart people are not actually all that much smarter than others. But wise people are wise a hundred times more than the average person. We all have relatively similar cognitive abilities. The separation is not how sharp we are, or how hard we work, but the quality of our decisions.
The difference between you working 5 hours a week to earn 200k a year and 100 hours a week only to lose money comes down to the quality of your decisions.
I am not that smart. I am not all that hardworking. But I pride myself in making GOOD decisions. Not even genius decisions. Just simple, good ones.
And maybe I’ve got it all wrong. Maybe he loves working and wants to be out there. But the look on my grandmothers face saying that grandpa won’t be able to eat with us and that they don’t know what’s going to happen with the farm…it was a sad time.
But remember you are running out of time. Life is brutal and doesn’t care that you wasted your years.
Make good decisions
Constantly reflect and ask yourself where you’re heading. Is it someplace good? What is your real plan to get there?
In what ways are you having a closed mind?
What habits have you fallen into that are going to keep you from getting better?
Do you grow and learn like a child, or deteriorate and continue on without changing like an old man?
Will you be free and happy with your entire life ahead of you still, or old and working on your 79th birthday?
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