Frustration has been a constant companion for the last couple of months.

I haven’t been impressed with the progress that I’ve been making on some of my goals. 

Today at work, during  a slow moment, I got the opportunity to take stock of where I was.

I’ve been slightly frustrated because progress toward my financial goals haven’t been achieved at the speed I would have liked. I’ve been frustrated because I haven’t been able to do everything I wanted to do when I wanted to do them.

I’ve been basically throwing mental temper tantrums for the last couple of weeks. This frustration has been compounded by the fact that I haven’t felt like I’ve been able to focus on and make progress in other area’s of my life. The last couple of days have been helpful in that they’ve been giving me insight into the real reason I’ve felt like I’m standing still.

It’s because I have.

And I should have been.

I’m an extremist. To be more specific I’m a goal extremist. I’m also very one-track minded. I’m not great at focusing at too many big goals at a time. This can lead to frustration when I’ve either (1) not reached the big goal I’ve set or (2) haven’t set appropriate mile markers to celebrate progress.

Due to this tendency I can sometimes get very cerebral and down on myself because I haven’t reached the goals I dreamed I would have yet. A remedy to this malady (that I often forget to use) is to take time to create perspective. I say create, because it takes effort. I have to retrospectively evaluate and appreciate the things I have accomplished and whether I’m on track.

So here I am, trying to be objective and gain some perspective:

• In the last six months,
  • Visited San Francisco to celebrate my brother’s birthday and be there for him during a time of need
  • Help pay for my sister to come to Vegas with us
  • Started the process to get approved for my next loan for the next real estate purchase..Just now getting to the point of having enough saved for the next RE purchase
  • Fixed a ton of stuff around the Rental
    • Replaced rental side kitchen with stainless steel appliances
    • Replaced Washer/dryer on Rental side
    • Replaced/repainted mailboxes (which a neighbor promptly ran into)
    • Fixed a mystery roof leak
    • Replaced siding on renter’s side
    • Fixed Backyard Fence
  • Spoke at my mentor’s retirement party – told him thank you (important to me)
  • Enjoyed some activities just for me: Moonlight ride, Ran the Peachtree, Went biking with Ryan/Juan
  • Traveled to New Orleans for 2 day food tour
  • Went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras
  • Spoke at Snpha (Gave great talk to an organization on campus)
  • Invested in my appearance/upgraded my wardrobe
  • Came to peace with driving my older car (~300k miles on her now!)
  • Discovered I’m a foodie and that my stomach is actually capable of amazing feats of storage.

Listing the events of the last six months has given me a new perspective on the time that just a couple of days ago I would have called “wasted time”. I’m realizing that this down time is actually been more meaningful than the days that are marked by successfully achieved goals.

This downtime has given me the space to enjoy life. To take a moment before diving headfirst into the next goal which is surely peeking its head around the proverbial corner.

If you are in a season where it seems like not much is happening, and your type-A personality is rebelling. I would recommend you lean back and enjoy it.

Life is short. Take a day off.

Fly or Fall

OFO