I’ve turned 39 today.
I like to look back at the past year to see where I’ve come.
I didn’t put this together until right now, but I’ve done all 3 of my marathons when I was 38.
Road Runner Akron Marathon 09/25/2010
Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon 05/02/2010
Bank of America Chicago Marathon 10/11/2009
I did the Akron Half Marathon on September 26, 2009. That misses the year by 2 days. Plus it’s not a full marathon.
But that was the kind of year it was.
Looking back, it is all very clear to me now. But I didn’t know what I was doing at the time.
This was a total case of “work hard, play hard.”
My 38th year has been the hardest business year of my life.
I’ve never been more afraid. I’ve never had more sleepless nights. I’ve never pushed as hard on anything like the way I pushed on that business while I was 38.
It was a perfect storm of chaos. I made some big strategic errors with my business. And then of course there was that pesky Great Recession.
But, as with most intense experiences, I’m incredibly glad to have experienced it. I feel like a much more chiseled business person. I’m hardened. I’m much more realistic about what business is about and what it is for.
Looking back, I feel like I was running a social experiment before this past year. Today I feel like I’m running a business.
The year was filled with many things:
- A week long trip to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.
- Photographing the oil spill in Louisiana with Zoriah
- A week family vacation on Lake Erie
- A lot of speaking nationwide
- Moving to our new office
- Indy going to kindergarten
- Our friend Pat died
It was just all around intense.
What did I learn from the year?
- Will power is unbelievably effective
- I have yet to know my limits. I don’t think I’ve come anywhere close to touching them.
- I want to experience my limits. What are they?
- Great highs and great lows can come rapidly
- Fear is irrational most of the time in modern society.
- Fear was given to us for life and death situations. We have no right to be using it for most stressful situations we encounter in our daily lives.
- Running taught me that when fear and anxiety are gone the only thing left to fill the hole is joy, happiness and bliss.
- I can and will accomplish more than I have ever imagined… I just have to start imagining!
So, I think I feel a little like what that guy who cut his arm off with a dull knife to escape the chasm he fell in probably felt like.
“Year 38 was the best thing to ever happen to me.”
While I’m still socially liberal, I have a new, deeper appreciation of why free enterprise business people want to keep their money. They come by it hard. And whether you respect “greedy, selfish business money grubbers” doesn’t matter. Society needs them. All politicians know this. These people make jobs, make innovation. They give you the TV’s you watch, the iPhones you adore, the Nikes you wear with pride. They created your libraries. They give us the incredibly tasty, abundant food we devour as much as our stomachs can take.
I am making no case for lower taxes (in fact I have highly suggested higher taxes on this blog). But the vilification of the wealthy in the U.S.A of all places is irritating. Regulate oil, regulate banks and do anything you want with cheaters and abusers. Just don’t lump us all together.
There are people in the world that do the dirty things that make you safe, comfortable and happy. Until you start living in a cabin in the middle of the wilderness, you need and want what capitalists give you.
Thank a farmer. Thank a business owner. These people make your first-world lifestyle what it is today.
I don’t apologize any more for who I am (where I used to be embarrassed by certain parts of me).
In my business life, I am driven, ambitious and aggressive. I do it to make money. I do it because its exciting. I do it because it challenges me. I don’t do business to help the world or make it a better place. I do it for the conquest. That’s all.
Contributing to the world happens outside of my business. I believe in alternative energy. I am vehemently against middle east energy. I believe in local food. I believe in universal health care. I believe in the Salvation Army. I believe the national government is more than just for defense.
I’m for higher taxes. I’m for making spending cuts in Medicare, Social Security, Defense.
I am not Fox News. I am not MSNBC. I make my own rules. I make my own path.
I tell you all this because my 38th year made me not afraid any more. It made me define my world. It made me be proud of who I am.
We currently live in a culture in America where we are at war with ourselves. So you, undoubtedly, disagree with multiple things I’ve said here. And you are trying to decide if I’m with you or against you. Let me tell you this: If you are a U.S. Tea Party person I am with you. If you are a U.S. Libertarian I am with you. If you are a U.S. Michael Moore Liberal I am with you. If you are a U.S. centrist I am with you. I am for the U.S…. ALL OF IT! You are all great. You all go into making this country so vibrant, culturally diverse, innovative, risk taking, compassionate, aggressive. I love it all. I love the entire package of America. I love that other rich countries have longer life expectancy rates than us. I love that we don’t take August off. We are intense. Our national animal is an eagle for God’s sake. “Eagles are different from many other birds of prey mainly by their larger size, more powerful build, and heavier head and beak.”
I am not, nor will I ever be a politician. They can have that mess of a life. So, I can support all of us. Which is what our politicians should be working on. But of course they don’t. We only come together in massive tragedy.
And that’s the summation of 38. I don’t think 39 will stand much of a chance as being anywhere near as defining and intense. I’m cool with that. A year like 38 goes a long way. But hopefully 38 will help be my guide for 39 and beyond.