I'll show them...

When I feel aggrieved, when I have been let down by somebody, when somebody doubts my ability, I find myself thinking, 'I'll show them. One day they will be envious, wish they had never doubted me. I'm going to do something amazing.'

Three thoughts come to my mind soon after this:

1) By the time I do get to wherever I am going, they are probably not going to care or even know who I am

2) By the time I get to where I am going, I am not going to care or know who they are

3) If I start doing things just to prove people wrong, I am in all likelihood going to start working on things that are not quite right for me

So I let those who doubt me, give up on me, move on from me do so as their decision. It has no bearing on me and what I am doing. What I am doing comes from a place within, and I do it to meet a deep desire from that place; to bring into the world that thing which only I can bring; to experience that moment of bliss that only comes when I know I have followed my path.

Expectations short and long

People usually overestimate what they can do in the short-term, and underestimate what they can do in the long term -- Chris Judd

In terms of key lessons learnt, this was right up there with those I learnt last year: that daily, incremental action will have a much bigger impact than what I expect. Conversely, big one-off benefits will have much less of long-term impact than I will expect.

It is unlikely that I will change my life by the end of the week. But by the end of next year, I may have a business that is earning me a livelihood, a podcast that has an audience in the thousands, and be in the best physical, mental and emotional shape of my life.

Or I could have something else completely.