It’s All about Me. Yikes!

Today is all about me – all my triumphs, successes, mistakes, and failures.

Ugh.

And don’t forget all the flattering pictures.

It’s the fanny pack that sells it.

So, this is how this is going to go. I’m going to say something about an event that I wrote about – quite possibly embarrassing – with a little summary. Then I’ll give you a link to re-live my embarrassing foibles. 

Like that time I said “foibles”.

All about Evan

First, let’s start with my kids. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you’ll know that I’ve struggled to be a good father to my youngest son, Evan. He’s had his challenges, as have I. Finding the best way to improve our relationship and his outlook has been tough, but there are three times that stand out the most to me.

First, there was the time that we had a confrontation where he was ready for a fight, and I decided it was better to let him know how much he was loved. It turned out in an unexpected way.

Then there was the time Evan was taking his first big bike ride, fell, and was ready to give up on it all together. I decided it was the perfect time to swear at him. Before you think me a monster, you will want to read the story. It’s not what you think, and it’s exactly what he needed.

Finally, there was the time I told him I wasn’t proud of him. Yep… I sound like a real a-hole now, but that’s the job of a writer: to pique your interest, just like I piqued his when I said it to him. It’s what I said next that mattered most. 

So far, this being all about me really makes me look bad. Maybe it’s just me. Let’s take a look at some other stories and see how it goes.

All about Those who Like to Be Anonymous

I haven’t talked much about Tristan here. He’s a great guy who loves to learn. At the same time, he would appreciate relative anonymity, so I’ve mostly honored that.

There is one time I wrote something that came to me once that felt very much like Tristan – straight and to the point. The title? This Is a Post.

Cristi, my girlfriend, is pretty similar. She likes to stay in the background, but I have written about her a few times. This site is about sharing experiences that can help others, so she let me share her experience with some powerful techniques to create new habits (techniques we use at Zombie Goals) and when she employed an exercise technique I use often (it’s more about the motivation to exercise than the technique). 

She’s also written a fantastic guest post on the Safety of Ships (it’s a metaphor… we sold our yacht to buy an island), and she’s the person who most helps me deal with the things that get me down. 

It’s why I dedicated my third book to her. Other than the dedication the book is all about me, mostly because it’s about depression and she’s as upbeat as someone can be, but also because I’m completely self involved. Damn, that was an impressive sentence.

All about Joseph

Joseph, my oldest and I, have had a lot of fun together. We’ve played guitar and bass together, and even played a game as a two-headed ogre for which we even bought shirts.

In fact, we became the inspiration for a character I created for our company’s aforementioned new self-improvement site, Zombie Goals:

All my kids have done some pretty cool things from coding robotics, website, and de-encrypters to building 3D models, creating amazing graphics, and building games. Encouraging their creativity has been one of the most important things I’ve done as a parent, and since this is all about me, I think that’s rather impressive. Amazing in fact. I’m incredible!

Okay, I’m really just trying to undo what’s about to come.

All about Mistakes

If you want to see me at my worst, just pick a day. Ugh. I’ve got several.

There was the time I made a fool of myself on the Internet, because… I don’t know… I was bored, maybe?

Then there was the time I thought my iPad was messed up because of an update, but ended up being a really bone-headed user error.

Then there was the very painful time I basically blew up my life with bad choices. As painful as it was, it taught me how we often make life more painful for others with our prejudices.

And don’t forget about this:

Or the time I thought this was amazing technology:

But life isn’t all mistakes. There are successes.

All about Success

I have taken my mistakes and made successes. I have found ways to improve my life by incorporating small habit changes over time, to great success, even saving the world (you know… kind of)!

I’ve struggled with depression, but still found ways to improve myself and my life despite it.

And I’ve created a company that helps bring families and friends together with exciting scavenger hunts anyone can put together and helps anyone build strong habits as easily as lifting a pen or opening an app.

I say this is all about me, but I’ve always been the type of person who wants to learn from what I observe. If I succeeded, how did I do it and how can other people learn from it? If I failed, what did I do and how can other people avoid it?

So, this is really all about you. The things I share, I hope inspire you to find successes, learn from mistakes, and build positive outlooks, habits, and relationships. I hope you make today more exciting than yesterday, and I hope you realize that the best way to make life better for you is to make it better for others.

After all, it’s all about all of us.