As I am sure you have heard, Steve Jobs has passed away. I don’t normally get sentimental, but I’ve been literally driven to tears today. So, here I sit, watching Pirates of Silicon Valley, crafting this blog post.
Steve was a great man, and much of what he did during his lifetime has played a role in how I do my work. His passing brought up thoughts of another great man, my dad.
My dad is the same age as Mr. Jobs was. He introduced me to computers with the Macintosh Classic II that he brought home from work. He also introduced me to the internet, where the first site I visited was People.com, the second was not so work friendly (I was twelve).
But more than those things, my father has created me. Not just genetically, but my whole being. He taught me at a young age that the key to success was hard work, and not to expect things to be handed to me. Throughout my life I have pushed and fought to accomplish what I wanted. I’ve worked more 90 hours a week in hard labor in order to buy my first house before I was 20. I helped to start two companies within a year of finishing high school, one of which I sold my share and the other I am now sole-owner.
I feel like I have lost my way, I’ve set the cruse control for the last year to year-and-a-half. My dad would be pissed!
I can’t help but feel that I’ve been letting people down. I’ve let down my wife-to-be, my coworkers, myself, my company, and the whole point of this post… my dad.
So here is what I am going to do to resolve my lazy ways: I will make a pledge.
- I will be a great man.
- I will devote more time to my family.
- I will devote more time to myself.
- I will kick ass on a daily basis.
To know that I am successful with my pledge, I have set up these goals for the next year.
- To take my wife to Ireland on our one year anniversary.
- To get my weight back down to 185 lbs.
- To play at least 5 rounds of golf.
- To bring in $50,000 at MJ Media.
