Every year around my birthday, I think about where I was on previous birthdays. Not just the physical location, but also my place in life, including things like my mindset, my finances, and my thoughts about the future. This year, I think it’s safe to say that I’m overall in the best position I’ve ever been in life.
For most of my life, my mindset was negative. I’ve long considered my outlook to be optimistic but looking back I realize how much negativity I had underneath and around the optimism. I would argue at the drop of a hat over just about anything, I said a lot of things I later wished I could take back, and I was far more focused on perceived flaws in others than in my own shortcomings. Focusing on being present, recognizing when my ego is in control of me and grabbing the controls back from it, and learning a lot about how to better get along with people and rescript myself for positivity has done wonders for every area of my life. My interactions and relationships with others have dramatically improved, I do a lot more productive things that put me in increasingly better positions in life, a lot of my shortcomings that I thought would never go away have been significantly reduced, and I’m much better at shifting my thoughts from negative to positive when I start feeling overcome with negativity. That last point can take on many forms, such as refusing to repeatedly condemn myself for past mistakes, noticing progress I’ve made in some area, and in general just being kinder to myself and treating myself like someone I care about. While I’ve made a lot of positive changes in my life, I think the changes to my mindset have been the most important and had the most profound impact.
Last year, I was in a dead-end job I hated and that paid me terribly. I had picked up a second job the previous month and slowly got a feel for that. Rather than quit right away, I waited until I knew that I liked the other job well enough and would be able to do the work before deciding to leave my main job; even after I made the decision, I asked for minimum hours so I’d still have some extra money coming in and have more time to focus on other things. A few months after that, I gave my notice and prepared to leave. Amazingly, within a week of quitting my previous job, I got an opportunity for a lot more hours at my new job, which I gladly accepted. This job has enabled me to work in a much better environment and do work I like more than my previous job, as well as funded several amazing trips and other fun experiences I’ve had in the past year. Now I’m on the lookout for even better jobs to keep me moving forward while I work toward having multiple streams of income, including someday having my own business. My financial habits are better than they’ve ever been, which means my finances are also better than they’ve ever been. I’m much more careful to avoid needless spending, I save money every time I get paid, and I focus less on material things than any other time in my life I can remember.
This brings me to my thoughts about the future. With everything I’ve done, learned, and experienced over the past several years, I now have a much clearer picture of an amazing future for the world and how to bring it to life than I ever have before. Vague, amorphous ideas have taken shape and feel solid. Obstacles that once seemed insurmountable now appear trivial. My mind is no longer filled with dread thinking about problems that will likely never manifest. While I’ve read plenty of amazing books and articles and watched many videos that have changed my life for the better, I would not be in this amazing place in life right now if not for the people who have been encouraging, supportive, uplifting, and enjoyable to be around. One of my principals said this quote at my high school graduation that will never leave me:
“Your friends are like elevators. They will either take you up or they will bring you down.”
Surrounding myself with the right people has been instrumental in turning my life around and I am forever grateful to those who have been there and continue to be there for me. In closing, I will say that 2018 has been one of my favorite and best years and I strongly believe that there are many years ahead that will be even better.