HAS THE BUSINESS OF LIFE CONSUMED YOU?

I love being occupied!!

I mean if I’m not doing something it’s WEIRD!!

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my downtime but there’s no cruise control, it’s one way or the other.

100 mile an hour James

Or I’m watching a rerun season of Suits again James

I may seem steady in the moment, but I’m always finding some way to improve things or some way to push the limits. It’s become who I am...

...well as long as I can remember anyway.

It wasn't always like that, I used to be pretty lazy if I'm honest.

Never did anything extra, just sat on the couch and watched tele.

That was until I moved into the Melbourne CBD area.

My time in Melbourne turned me into a completely different person.

I mean that place is the definition of HUSTLE.

For those who have lived in Melbourne, you will know…

They say Sydney is worse but Melbourne is pretty electric.

If you aren’t beating the pavement then you’ll get left behind and if you get left behind,

you might as well find another career cause you’ll get swallowed up by someone else trying to get ahead of you.

It sounds tough because it is tough, but in all honesty, I absolutely loved it.

It's not every day there's a constant requirement to level up.

It's not every day you're demanded to think outside of the box just to stay ahead.

and it's not every day the people around you are pushing you to live better and be better every day.

I mean, I didn’t know too many people who had been in their job for longer than 18 months.

It wasn’t that they didn’t like their jobs, well some of them didn’t anyway

But it was because they were going for a promotion,

moving to another department to gain more experience for the next promotion

or moving to another company for more money.

Everyone around me was wanting to be better, wanting to improve and the vibe was infectious!

I always said to our crew,

surround yourself with people who make you better because it forces you to become better and if you’re not getting better,

you’re not achieving your full potential.

And at the end of the day, living your full potential is what it’s all about right?

So why would I give it all up to move back to NZ?

To be honest, I wasn't thinking like that at the time, I didn't realise how good I had it or how I thought I had it.

The main reason we moved back to New Zealand was to be around family and start our own.

At the time it seemed like a great idea, it seemed like it was what I wanted…

but I don’t think I processed it completely before we moved back and I definitely don’t think I took into account how much I’d have to change to make it work.

In theory, I thought that moving home would be exactly the same, I was just tacking a family onto the bow I was already tying

For a time there, I was trying to live two lives

One I was afraid to let go of and the other one I was afraid to step into.

I mean I was travelling back and forth almost once a month to Melbourne.

I know I had a business there but still but, if I had prepared properly, I probably didn’t need to go back that often.

I was in denial and at some point, something had to give.

That point was when we had our son.

That was the point in time I had to level up

but not to better anyone than anyone else or to beat anyone to the punch I was doing it because it was my responsibility and it’s the person I had to become for my family!

What I’m getting at today is, we all dream of the perfect life and what we would have if we were in it.

But we also understand that having that life requires sacrifices and some of us are either too naive to see it, or just don’t see them coming.

I was lucky, I was naive.

But if I wasn’t so clear on what I wanted to achieve and then go through what we went through to get to this point in my life, I wouldn’t be so grateful for everything I have now!

It’s the power of reflection and it’s something I advise us all to do from time to time.

We can get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of our day to day lives we often don’t sit down and look over how lucky we are to be where we are today!

The friends you find, the bonds you form, all a result of becoming the person you need to be or want to be.

Do we still want those things we wanted over 2 years ago?

100%, but I feel there was a bit of pruning and humbling that needed to be done in order to set us up on the path that’s in front of us now and I couldn't be more grateful for it!

Over the weekend, I’m challenging you to take a step back and look over your life and the choices that have brought you to where you are right now.

Would you change them?

Or is there something to learn from them?

The law of reflection is a powerful tool we don’t make use of enough.

We always have our eyes forward heading in the one direction

Take the time today to look for the things unseen in your past.

The dots that are there to be connected that help you understand the direction you’re heading in

I can almost guarantee...

...you’ll find some amazing things have happened to lead you to where you are today and the potential that tomorrow brings.

Enjoy your weekend, take care and may everyone be excited for what tomorrow holds for us all!!

Cheers

James