The Mind Is A Funny Thing

I’ve always been a perfectionist in certain ways. For instance typos drive me nuts. I’m always annoyed when I find them in other people’s work, but it’s even worse when I find them in my own. There’s a typo on page 89 of my book by the way, and it will always will be there mocking me. Imperfections in my possessions also drive me nuts. After the IPO at my previous employer changed our financial fortunes, my wife and I decided to splurge on just one thing. Throughout our relationship we’ve both always appreciated nice cars. So we decided to make a short list of all the cars we would buy if money wasn’t an issue. We eventually landed on a Porsche Taycan GTS and paid cash for it. Every time I’m behind the wheel I feel a strange mix of joy and anxiety. On the one hand it’s exhilarating to drive my dream car. On the other hand we spent more on that car than we did on our first house, and it would kill me if anything bad ever happened to it. It is the epitome of perfection and I’d like to keep it that way. I honestly may get more joy out of keeping it clean in my garage than driving it. But then one day it inevitably got its first scratch from some careless asshole in a parking lot, and… I felt an odd sense of relief. The same odd sense of relief I felt when I found that typo in my book. It’s hard to explain. It was like my mind suddenly went quiet, because I was no longer stressed out about maintaining the appearance of perfection. I suppose it wouldn’t be a bad thing to approach life in general this way. Perhaps imperfections exist as a comfortable reminder that life isn’t meant to be perfect. Maybe the lesson here is to stop chasing perfection and find joy in the mundane. Happiness is a choice and a direct reflection of how we perceive ourselves in the world. Unfortunately no amount of possessions will get you there without the right state of mind, not even a super expensive sports car 🙂 

In sales we live our lives in ninety day chunks. Every quarter close is like navigating a mine field. A misstep here or there and you can easily blow yourself up. Since I had previously put myself behind the eight ball financially, the stakes were always very high at every quarter end. I needed to deliver results in order to survive. This resulted in major stress and anxiety, like I was living in a pressure cooker. The aforementioned IPO resolved my financial stress, and also changed my mental approach. I now view the quarter end pressure as a privilege. It simply means I’m doing something that matters. I will continue to bust ass and do everything in my power to deliver results, but I won’t stress about the things I can’t control. I’ll roll through the twists and turns of every quarter end on an even keel, I won’t grip when I receive bad news on a deal, and I won’t over identify with my troops and adjust to their stress levels. I will keep calm, carry on, and let the chips fall where they may. A zen state of mind is also a choice and a direct reflection of how we perceive ourselves in the world.

Sometimes we just need to get out of our own way, and not get wrapped around the axle focusing on the wrong things. Happiness and zen are there for the taking if we can simply recalibrate our minds.