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.
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.
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.
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.
Liberation.
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.
Awesome post! You’re right that a little thing like a change in scenery helps us slow down and think more clearly. 🙂
Love your mentality as always Kevin! When I used to drive to Palo Alto every day from San Jose (1-2 hour commute), I hated it so much… (but the money was good…) I would have to wake up at 6 in the morning just to beat most of the traffic and esp. when I was out late with my friends, I would always have to cut out short because I knew I needed my sleep. What I did was start listening to podcasts… Tim Ferris, This Week In Startups, Entrepreneur on Fire, or anything that interested me! Got my brain working and me pretty interested as I sat in traffic. Eventually I quit my job because the cubicle life was NOT for me.
The one thing that is bothering the shit out of me now… is lack of exercise. I’ve been through so many “diets” and workout plans and on the bright side, some were successful, but I always got back to my lazy ass routine with shitty ass excuses. I’m telling myself that this is going to be my year and it’s already day 5 and I “forgot” to start going to the gym. It’s pretty embarrassing, I know, I bought this pretty cool app called Habit List to help motivate me to reach my goals. I’m always trying, this is just a personal challenge I struggle with…
All the best,
Tam
Hey guys! So my traffic, my thing that bothers the shit out of me everyday, is all these people that are stopping me from achieving my goals. A good analogy is traffic (haha): a bunch of people stopping you from reaching your end destination. Whether it’s small things like physically blocking me, or things affecting my overall life, it pisses me off to the max. A big thing is people slowing me down in terms of my career path. Also, social standards and expectations often preventing me from being myself. Additionally, the old and common getting in my way at the gym (Better explained by Bart Kwan). In 2014, I focused on being patient, while developing a strong sense of confidence and independence. Distancing myself from as many negative people and vibes as possible has made me a much (cliche) better person. Either way, I am blocked my someone on a daily basis, and I’m always trying to turn these situations into better experiences. Peace!
Load up on Podcasts !
Yeah this post was so welcomed. Just thinking about that thing in my day that just get’s on my nerves. I can’t wait to catch up on some old posts!!
hmmm all when and dandy…i know we all possess that potential, but its so hard to break away from the norm. we take comfort in familiarity and a safety net of that “9-5” job that is inevitably holding us back from going higher. what kills me is that i know i have the potential but dont know where to start. they definitely dont teach us in school how to run a business or do start-up, keep our finances in check etc. i remember you guys spoke about it on jk news about how the rich have their children in prep schools that groom them to be business men/women yet the average “joe” 😉 will be lost in the system of ‘zombiopression’ ….DAMN. it would have been bad and not so bad if you never even thought of a brighter future, just accept your fate. but its the utmost worst when you KNOW better is out there and you have the potential to get it, its at your finger tips, and you’ll spend the rest of your life not getting it…reallllllll soul killer right there 🙁 *SIGH*
And I thought driving an hour and a half back and forth everyday to work was bad… I can’t complain now.