Increasing Your Quality of Life with Tech
Sometime last year, I was accidentally listening to the radio. They were talking about a huge job fair here in GA somewhere. Businesses from the airport were featured and the station was interviewing a few people about how things were going. One female complained that there were only fast food jobs there. The conversation went something like this:
If you won’t make sacrifices, you won’t reach your goals. Plain and simple.
Do you believe that there is a road to success?
Some hidden pathway that will take you directly to your lifetime goals?
I have heard this term used all the time. I believe I have even used it on this very blog. But, now that I think about it, it just can’t be true. A simple road implies that:
Now, I don’t know about you, but life is not simple and easy. Life requires hard work if you plan to get anything you desire. I have never known of anyone who found this road to success. So what gives?
You have to go through some stuff, to get to some stuff
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Didn’t you click a link or go through an RSS reader to get to this post?
The point is, you have to pave your own way. No one else can do it for you because no one else is you and no one else shares the same destination as you. Your individuality means that, not only is your destination different, but your path diverges as well.
So how can your road to success already exist?
The struggles you are going through now are like the vines and overgrowth of the jungle. Keep pressing on, cutting through and clearing your path. Huge unseen beasts growl in the distance and sometimes you feel like you just want to sit down and close your eyes. Maybe it will all just go away.
Many people stop and even turn back. You probably know some of them. They are getting nowhere fast and are quite unhappy about it. They are lost.
Smash through any obstacles you meet and eviscerate any low beast that comes near. Be persistent and don’t lose your determination. You have been given everything you need to succeed and, eventually, you break through into the Sunlight.
Me and my little brother play Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG’s). I try to be a good big bro whenever possible, so this is one of the ways we bond. We may be physically in two different places at times, even within the same house, but at least we can threaten to murder eachother almost face-to-face in the game.
Today I noticed a trend. We have gone through about 4 of these games within the past year and a half. My character in the game always ends up more powerful and well-rounded than his, even if he has had a head-start.
If you are into these types of games, you know that it takes a lot of time and effort in front of that computer to develop your character (unless you are willing to dump money into it). I’m not just “better” at the games than he is. I don’t even read the strategy guides and FAQ’s. I don’t spend any more time on the game than him.
So what makes the difference? Why do I come out ahead?
I realized that he will develop a character just so far before deciding he doesn’t like how it’s going to turn out. He should have been a Knight instead of a Sorcerer or he chose the wrong class once he leveled up, or he doesn’t like the haircut he picked. Whatever the case, he starts all over from scratch, or switches games entirely!
Now, keep in mind, we are talking about an online game, here. He’s obviously not hurting anything by flitting from game to game and constantly trying to play them from all different angles. But, how many of us do this in everyday life?
The issue here is, he is starting the game with no particular goals in mind. He is focusing on the things you do in the game. You kill stuff, you sell stuff, you buy stuff, you level up and get powerful. He isn’t thinking about what it’s all for. He is admiring the flora and fauna, not really thinking about the forest as a whole.
This is an awesome mindset to have if you are just playing a game for fun or if you actually happen to be meandering through a beautiful forest, but not when you are supposed to be accomplishing things in your life.
That looks ridiculous actually written down, doesn’t it? But this is how people go through life. They have vague ideas of what you’re supposed to do to be a “success,” but no clue as to what success really is for them.
It’s usually not a good idea to jump in the car and start driving before you’ve decided where you want to go, especially given the price of gas these days, but we do it with our lives all the time. Just like my brother does in his games: we grind and grind and take baby steps toward becoming slightly better than before, but to what end? You may be able to make enough money to cover wasted gas, but there is no replacing wasted time.
Well? Do You? Do you look at your feet to make sure they are going one in front of the other or do you look in front of you to see where you are going? If you watch your feet, you may want to check with your doctor to make sure you don’t have an inner-ear thing. For the rest of us, it will be to your benefit to pick a destination. Find out what your goals really are. Write them down.
Once you have figured out where you really want to go, you may find yourself drawn there almost automatically. Things begin to work themselves out with a lot less effort on your part. Kind of like when you decide to walk across a room or…through a forest.
How do you stay focused on your destination?