I’ve had an incredible 2020, there is no getting around it.
On every metric – personal, financial, business, mental, family, health, happiness, everything has come together this year in a way I’ve never experienced before. I don’t claim perfection, everyone will have their challenges, but I do practice focusing on the positives and this year has been an incredible one for me.
That there is a pandemic going on, and world issues that are simmering, I think it’s more important than ever to demonstrate that that doesn’t need to consume you. I used to feel bad that I was doing well when not everyone else was. It was only through a conversation with my therapist that it became clear to me that people need hope. If there are people like me out there doing things, making things happen, achieving in spite of everything going on around them, then that gives people hope for themselves. We all need that.
My wife has been having a more difficult year, with back pain, other health issues (we’ve been hardcore isolating because of her increased risk of covid), and the loss of our 22 year-old cat which she is particularly heartbroken about. In our couples’ therapy sessions she’s admitted that she’s not looking for misery for company. Our family would be a whole lot worse off if we were both dealing with crap, and it’s better for everyone that I’m thriving even if she can’t say 2020 was anything than a terrible year for her.
This past week I achieved a particularly huge milestone. The last bits of my responsibility with my webinar business were ended with the decommission of the servers that ran my original software. I now remain a co-founder and 50% owner, with no position. After over 2 years of reinvestment and no money paid to me, I started receiving large monthly dividend payments.
The mythical achievement of “passive income”, in this case not just to survive, but thrive and be generous with.
Normally, for an achievement of this magnitude, one might want to celebrate it by indulging in buying something (I used to buy pinball machines to scratch that itch), or eating something, the pleasure of a fine meal.
I decided to challenge myself on this day to celebrate without buying something or eating something.
So then that became a real challenge: How DOES one celebrate without spending money or eating something?
I started by doing an activity that has worked for me in the past: I wrote a list. This list was titled “Why my passive income is well earned”.
I kept writing until I filled a Word page with bullet points.
Looking at the list, it’s clear to me that this achievement is clearly a result of a lifetime of choices, decisions, and risks I’ve taken. Sometimes extreme risk. I undertook an extreme risk 3 years ago with the decision to walk away from being part of something I created. I decided to focus on my mental health. By handing over control I was afraid I could lose everything, but I did it anyways.
And then I decided to just sit with the feeling of accomplishment. To feel proud of myself. I let the feelings overwhelm me that I did something truly awesome. This was not a fluke, luck or chance. This was a series of choices, decisions and risk I’ve taken. A lifetime of them.
This is a different and new feeling for me. I used to feel like a fake, that I fooled the world. Now I see in myself what everyone else sees in me. And that is a pretty amazing feeling.
Then I was filled with gratitude for the place I’m at. The possibilities that await me. What becomes possible from this place that I’m in? What impact can I make that I alone am capable of? I don’t know the answers to that, but I look forward to exploring it.
I think that was a much better way to celebrate than buying another thing. I’m grateful to have done it.
Next time you are celebrating an achievement of your own, how else might you celebrate it and really absorb how it was you that achieved it?
