only difference

i wrote a little bit about this in a previous post but honestly i feel pretty strongly about it and wanted to write about it again.

it’s so so so easy to compare ourselves to other people. and it’s not always in a “oh i bet i would look better in that shirt.” alot of times it’s looking at people and going – “how the hell did they get that and how the hell do i get that.”

when you see people get up and change their lives, it can be hard to watch. you can genuinely excited for them and their lives, but there is also some jealously there. there is some judgement there. and at the end of the day what it really is – is “why does this person get to do that and i don’t”

and i want to know why. why is our first reaction (read: my first reaction previously) to smile on the outside and then cringe on the inside?

i’m a very firm believer that everyone has the same opportunities. some people have it easier, yes. some people have it a lot easier, yes. it depends on where you were born, what your parents do, what schools you go too, what language you speak, (incredibly unfortunately) what color your skin is. which is bullshit by the way.

but everyone has the same opportunities. the possibilities and opportunities that present themselves with the internet are endless, and i stand behind that.

i’m a normal guy, i swear. i did all the “right” things. i went to school. i went to college, i took on debt. my parents got divorced. i got married. i got a job working 9-5 in a cubicle. we had debt when we got married, we saved and paid it off. i bought a house. for years i drove an old $3000 car that i originally borrowed money to be able to buy.

i worked hard. i wanted to give my wife the life she deserved. i had a great job. i got a promotion. i moved away from all my family and all my friends that i had ever known to pittsburgh and then i travelled 3-5 days a week doing sales for my new job.

don’t get me wrong, i didn’t have a hard life. but i also didn’t have an easy life, i didn’t have a silver spoon in my mouth when i was born, my parents don’t come from money and didn’t have a ton growing up. there were plenty of things i wanted that i didn’t get. but there were very few things i ever needed that i didn’t have.

and honestly, it’s really easy to compare lives right now. to some people, i had the easiest life in the world. to some people i had a lot more issues in my life then they ever could possibly have. but i’m normal. i’m not special. what i had was people who loved me. and i’m forever grateful for that.

and now that i’ve helped to start a few businesses, and helping to grow those businesses, i’m not any different. i haven’t changed. sure i have some things i didn’t have before. but i’m telling you anyone can have and get material things. i really do believe that. but it isn’t about the material things. it’s about having influence and power to change the world. one person at a time.

there was a point in my life where i wanted to kill myself. it was the summer in between my freshman and sophomore years in college. i was gonna do it. and then i got a text message from a friend, and literally all it said was, “hey, haven’t talked to you in a while, i hope you’re doing okay. i love you and i miss you.”

it saved my life. no joke, no cliche, no exaggeration, that text message is why i’m still alive. and the people around me are the reason why i’m at where i’m at in my life.

i don’t want to look at someone and say “well they have that but i won’t ever have it.”

i want to look at someone and say “if they can have it/do it, i can too.”

that simple yet different perspective literally changes everything.

now looking at someone else changes from jealousy and comparison to motivation and drive.

i’m a normal person. mark cuban is a normal person. he isn’t better than me, smarter than me, or anything else.

the only difference between me and mark cuban – is hard work and time.

that’s it.

and when i started to understand that, everything changed. now all of a sudden every decision changed. every thought process changed. how i treated people changed. i no longer have to operate from a perspective of “well i hope one day i get a good job, work fro 40 years, make decent money, can give my wife just a little taste of all the world, and then retire and live out my days trying to save to buy my grandkids something”

now i operate from the perspective of if i want it, go get it. if i want to help someone, go and work and earn whatever you need to earn to go and help them. if it’s on this world, i can have it. just takes work and time.

i’m gonna go get it. whatever it is. you can too. if mark cuban can do it, so can i. if i can d it, so can you.

there is no difference between me and you except for the fact that is – i know what i want, and i’m not going to settle for anything else.