It’s All Bullshit

When I was 20 I set a goal for myself to have a BMW by the time I was 25 years old.  Today I turned 26 and I don’t have a BMW.  I don’t at all look at this as a bad thing because my goals have changed.

I always “knew” material things didn’t matter but I never believed it.  After struggling in the real world for a couple years not “fitting in” I read the book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, and it changed my life forever.  Finally, I had proof of what I had been thinking all along.

Our world is great at putting us into classes separating us by our net worth.  At party’s, it’s who’s making the most money, who just bought what and where their next vacation will be.  The sooner you realize the truth about this the better.  It’s all bullshit.

Stuff doesn’t matter.

I’ll say it again, stuff doesn’t matter, money doesn’t matter, brand names don’t matter, how expensive of a vehicle you have doesn’t matter.  These are all things we “think” success is based on but the one thing they don’t tell you in business school is that happiness is not correlated with what the real world thinks is success.  The happiest people I know are not the wealthiest  but I do consider them to be the most successful.  All because they make other people’s lives better.

Money does not equate happiness.  Living a meaningful life does.

I know I can’t change how an entire world thinks about success but I can sure as hell try.  I believe success should be based on how many smiles you create in this world however you may go about it.  There are many ways everyday you can improve other peoples lives, and the best part is when you make someone else smile it is tremendously hard not to smile as well.

Find your happy place.

It’s not easy to find what you love to do.  It’s not easy to find your passion either but nothing bad ever came of trying.  I lucked out.  I found my in September of 2008.  I was down and out, no real job, heartbroken, mad at the world.  I didn’t know what to do and it dawned on me, why not try coaching volleyball.

Finding your calling is one of the most amazing experiences in the world.

Three years into coaching and I can’t get enough of it.  I just finished my first head coaching gig and was terribly sad it was over. My least favorite months in my year are the two Summer months I have off from coaching.  But I have a great feeling in my heart because I know I’ve made 10 kids lives just a wee bit better over the past 5 months.

Your goals may change.

I used to want to be a powerful executive, wait, no.  I used to just want to be filthy rich.  I thought it would make me happy.  I soon realized that money didn’t do much for me.  I had all the brand name clothes, the coolest new gadgets, always had beer at home but none of it actually made me happy deep down inside me.  I had to change my goals.

It worked.

I am ridiculously happy.  I love life.  And I try to remind myself all the time that “stuff” doesn’t really matter, people do, smiles do, and giving back is the easiest way to become successful.  I just wish our world would redefine success.

So go out there, spread love, help others, find out why you were put on this Earth.