LA traffic was sucking the life out of me. FML. I moved to California for an adventure… NOT to sit my ass in traffic. I blamed everything around me including people who got in car accidents, which made my normal two hour commute into three. Yep. LA traffic made me into an asshole.

Traffic to CVS 1

This would drive me fucking CRAZY.

What did blaming get me? Nothing. I was still stuck in traffic for 4 hours a day. Then it hit me.

Jay Abraham quote World

No one cares. It’s easy to bitch, blame, and complain… but at the end of the day, you’re responsible for your own success and happiness. 

Instead of taking responsibility for myself, I was just waiting for a new job to pop up, waiting for my friends to make plans, or just hoping LA traffic would just disappear. Not only was I turning into an asshole, but I was losing sight of my dreams. Fuck. I wasn’t happy anymore.

Playtime is over

I was done. No more settling for average. Playtime was over. Instead of thinking how bad I had it, I started thinking of how I could help the people around me. Next thing you know I was getting recognized… and eventually I got out of CVS.

Ralph's offer letter RH

Liberation.

So why do you care? Here’s one lesson that you can apply.

 

Choose your adventure
 
I realized that both LA traffic and my 4 hour commute weren’t going away anytime soon… especially with me being 120k deep in student loans. Although I couldn’t control LA traffic, I could control what I did during my commute. Instead of wanting to shoot myself in LA traffic, sometimes I’d take the coastal scenic route down Pacific Coast Highway. I noticed that changing the scenery helped chill me out. If I was feeling active, I decided to pursue my passion for martial arts instead of so I could develop my talents while waiting for traffic to die down. One time I found out one of my favorite authors, Chris Guillbeau, was in town so I decided to go to his book signing and meet him.

Instead of getting angry and prolonging this stress, I decided to find solutions and alternatives. All it took was for me to proactively find ways to make my situation better and I am much happier from that. Realizing that blaming things wasn’t going to help my situation was the best wake up call I’ve ever had. Although you can’t control every aspect of your life, make the most out of what you can control, and turn it into an adventure.

ACTION STEP
What is something that bothers the shit out of you… that ONE thing that you have to deal with daily? Instead of just saying “it is what it is”, how can we take this shitty situation and make it into an adventure or memorable life experience? Just think of ONE thing. Sitting in traffic was just ONE thing for me, but it completely ruined my day. If you can’t think of anything, feel free to shoot me an email and I’ll help you out.
Share this if you know someone going through a similar situation.
Email or comment below.

 

Kevin