Putting Things in Perspective: Feeding Gratitude
It has been a really rough last couple years for the world. 2020-2022=global wake up calls.
So much has happened, a global pandemic, incompetent government response & a frankly more authoritarian one. A crazy media hysteria, bad economic policy/ high inflation capped off by the awful Russian invasion of Ukraine. So many shocks to the system. Literally and figuratively.
What I came to realize was that so many things that bothered me or I spent so much time on really did not matter. What really matters? Personal health both mental & physical, family, friends, followed by personal sovereignty & financial freedom.
I take nothing for granted these days. Or try to at least.
However crap you think your life is, there are so many others who have it way worse. No matter how expensive the gas is, or how much the food costs at the grocery store, at least you can buy some. At least you have a roof over your head. You don’t have an invader bombing your home or family like in Ukraine, or you don’t have to flee with nothing but that which you can fit in your suitcase. Or even flee separately from your family because the men have to stay and fight for your country. Seriously, how lucky (and frankly spoiled) are we in America or Western Europe when in comparison to this?
According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as defined in Wikipedia:
“Maslow's hierarchy of needs is used to study how humans intrinsically partake in behavioral motivation. Maslow used the terms "physiological", "safety", "belonging and love", "social needs" or "esteem", and "self-actualization" to describe the pattern through which human motivations generally move. This means that in order for motivation to arise at the next stage, each stage must be satisfied within the individual themselves.”
With so many shocks to the system, you start to get a new perspective on what is really important. You practice gratitude. And you soon realize, it’s the simple things that truly make someone happy.
For me: It’s Buying and reading a book. Eating good food. Spending time with my daughter. Traveling to a new or old city. Meeting friends. Having a meeting or call with one of my many portfolio companies to talk through problems or issues. Helping & mentoring at the various startup accelerators programs across the world. Being able to help people. Nothing makes me happier or more fulfilled.
The key point of having the freedom to spend the time with who I want to, not who I need to.
But you need to change your frame of mind. To do that, channeling Tony Robbins, change your language. “I get to” versus “I need to.” You reprogram your brain just like you can do to software.
You have to take action. No matter how small. And it certainly helps to have a larger mission in life beyond yourself.
My goal to positively impact 10 Million people in the world is even clearer than before. And I add that in light of the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, I believe and know that Ukraine will eventually win. It will be sovereign & free as the people there are strong. When that happens, I will be there to invest and help them rebuild the country. In fact, I am spending my time now helping & donating my money and time to supporting Ukrainian refugees & Ukraine’s defense effort. It feels really trivial but I have to believe every little bit helps.
In the meantime, please support the following charities & non-profits helping Ukraine in this dark time:
Borderlands Project (full disclosure, I am on the board of this non-profit): https://borderlands.com.ua/homepage_en
International Rescue Committee: https://www.rescue.org
World Central Kitchen: https://wck.org
Nova Ukraine: https://novaukraine.org
So net net: the cure for getting through all the tragedy and bad news in the world is having a larger mission and taking those steps toward it, however small it is.