Enjoying The Tastes of The Good Life
This is a guest post by Bill White who is the founder of Succinct Research, a company dedicated to conducting quality research products for business clients and the non-academic public. His most recent book, Resume Writing for Scientists, explains the techniques recruiters use to create killer resumes that help place their clients. It’s an excellent resource for anyone that needs a job. Be sure to follow Bill on Twitter. To guest post on this blog email a post to kimanzi@talesofwork.com and I’ll review it.
I helped a friend of mine buy a 2002 BMW M5 yesterday. He lives in Idaho and came across someone selling the car where I live in Arizona. I was asked to check out the car and help him complete the transaction if the car checked out. So, I met up with the owner, looked the car over, and test drove it. The car is in pristine condition. It’s only had two owners, has barely over 100,000 miles (which is excellent for a 10-year-old car), and was kept in top condition. The price was right and I helped my friend complete the transaction.
For those of you that don’t know, an M5 is an AWESOME vehicle. This model was only available for 5 years and a little more than 20,000 were ever made. With a dual intake and exhaust, V8 engine, and 6-speed manual transmission, this car can easily crack 120 mph! The car handles and accelerates like a race car. It was all I could do to keep from racing through the city streets as I drove it to my house. Test driving it was amazing!
Driving that incredible car was just a taste of the life that many Americans live every day. Many of us call it “the good life.” That test drive taught me that we all get glimpses of the good life, everyday.
I felt like a superstar when I drove the M5. It made me realize why people buy sports cars, but this test drive also made me realize that I experience a little of the good life everyday. Some of these experiences revolve around possessions, but many are run-of-the-mill experiences in my life.
Here’s what I mean:
Family and friends are worth more than gold, I can’t place a monetary value on the support and camaraderie I get from my friends and family. Just like Kimanzi wrote a few weeks ago, a good support network is crucial. Those friends are also a taste of the good life that we frequently take for granted.
It’s not the quantity of friends you keep, but the quality. Be thankful for those few special people who make our lives worth living.
We all have luxuries, I don’t know many people who drive luxury cars like the M5, but I am well aware of the small luxuries I’m surrounded by every day. Sometimes I take them for granted until I realize that I am blessed.
I grew up in a poor family. We didn’t have much, but we still had tasty, home-cooked meals almost every night. My mother is an excellent cook and our dinners were better than most restaurants in our town. Although we didn’t have much money for food, my mom made every meal a banquet. This was just one luxury growing up that I’m grateful for.
We’ve all traveled a long, winding road, I’ve been friends with the M5’s new owner since we were in grade school. We weren’t the poorest kids in school, but we were far from the richest. In order to get to where we’re at now, we’ve both come a long way. He was only able to buy that car through a lot of toil, blood, sweat, and tears. Considering where he came from, he deserves a lot more than a sports car.
All of us have a history. We’ve all worked hard and deserve everything we have, and more. Take the time to reflect on your personal journey.
Don’t get jealous, get inspired, The man who sold the M5 was much more wealthy than myself or my friend. He was selling the car because he had a newer car and didn’t have room for the M5. While we settled the deal, the car seller’s wife shopped in the Dooney & Bourke, Prada, and Louis Vuitton stores at the mall where we met. Dropping a few thousand dollars in those stores was just something to pass the time for them.
It wasn’t their wealth that impressed me. I was impressed by their attitudes towards life. They had raised their kids and enjoyed watching me while I played with my 2-year-old son while we all waited for the money to transfer. They advised me on which mini-van I should buy. Understanding my newfound interest in luxury cars, they told me that every family goes through their mini-van stage before getting to the luxury cars.
To them, success was an inevitable outcome of hard work. It was clear throughout the conversation that neither of them was born rich. But they had become wealthy from their hard work and successful businesses. I was even more inspired to make my own efforts successful from this short meeting.
Visualize success and you will reach it, I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that I’d be sitting in a limited-edition luxury sedan, let alone drive one. But, somehow, that’s exactly where I found myself this weekend. For months, I’ve been using creative visualization techniques to put myself in the right place where success can find me (if you want to know more check out this Slideshare presentation I created on creative visualization for job seekers). Oftentimes, this process has worked in weird ways.
Somehow, I’ve been in contact with more inspiring and motivating people in the last few months than I have been in my entire life.
What I’ve learned is there’s an abundance of successful people out there that are more than willing to share their knowledge in order to help you. The surest path to success is through association with other successful people. All you have to do is start seeking them out. This all starts with a vision of the future. You have to envision exactly where you want to be, in vivid detail, and you will subconsciously start along that path. It’s crazy and it doesn’t happen without work (you still have to act on that vision for it to happen). Try it and you’ll be amazed at where you end up.
It’s crazy where my path has taken me in 2012. I went from working at a job I hated, to scrambling to find any job, to starting my own business, to driving luxury cars and chatting with millionaires. I spent that afternoon with a man who had been where I’m going. He gave me suggestions and advice on my own aspirations. I have his information and can contact him in the future if I want. Another great outcome is: I get to deliver the M5 to my friend next week! It’ll be a 1,000-mile drive in a car I never dreamed I’d get to drive. Pay attention to my Twitter feed and see how my trip from Arizona to Idaho went. What a life we all live. I love these tastes of the good life.
Each of us has tastes of the good life everyday. Join in the discussion and tell us about some of your blessings:
