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Project L What I Think

40: If you don’t waste it, you’ll waist it

‘Finish your dinner or no dessert.’ I think I heard that every night as a kid growing up. It was supposed to be stick and carrot but I think it was stick and stick. I just didn’t need the calories being forced into me. Forced may be too strong; encouraged, perhaps.

Either way, it developed a poor relationship with food that dominated for the next 30 plus years. I’m not blaming those who raised me. I didn’t pop out of my mother with an instruction manual.

But the lesson I slowly learned that leaving food on the plate was not rude or insulting to those who slaved to prepare my meals. Or the burger flipper who couldn’t care less what happened to his product. Because excess calories only go one place; my waist.

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41: Fear will kill you before you die

Not the kind that’s real like being face to face with a big cat in a small cage. The kind of fear my mind creates with no real reason. The kind of fear that prevents positive forward action based on unhelpful thoughts. That kind of fear kills inspiration, creativity, motivation and desire. This realisation has propelled me further forward on all fronts in my life. Towards greater happiness.

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42: Every project will be three times harder, take three times longer and cost three times more than first expected

This piece of wisdom which I originally thought of as complete crap is actually very true. Uttered by a very successful property developer came my way during a regular WiP meeting many moons ago. It wasn’t until I started my own business did I realise how true these words were.

Appreciating this phrase at the outset of any large-scale project gives added perspective and prevents giving up when things start to get harder, cost more and take longer.

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43: If you can bend, you won’t break

The image first appeared here as the author’s artwork for a tattoo

Flexibility in both body and thought have become very important to me. Many old ways of thinking have not served me well. Trying to make life fit into these outdated doctrines is like putting a square peg in a round hole. Adapting to new ideas has proven to be far more useful than fighting against them.

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44: There’s plenty of money in the middle of the bell curve

I’ve explored* both ends of the bell curve and discovered too few customers on the right-hand side and too many competitors on the left-hand side. Most businesses, and people for that matter, exist within the middle of the bell curve. They feel safe there because they are. The outliers might tempt them now and again but until the majority of the sheep make a move, either way, the middle of the bell curve is their home. This market is massive and much easier to communicate with that either of the pointy ends.

*wasted a lot of time, energy and dollars.

The above bell curve originally appeared here

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45: Happy Wife = Happy Life

This lesson follows on from yesterday, which if I learnt earlier in life perhaps would have avoided all the misery and expense and misery and cost of ‘uncoupling’ with wife #1. But then, I wouldn’t have wife #2 and I would be sad. Also, keeping this wife happy is relatively easy. In fact, it’s really bloody easy because all I have to do is listen, support, encourage and not tell her what to do when she comes at me with a problem. I just get to sit back and be thought a hero. Unless it’s something like, “I’ve got a flat tyre” or “Why won’t my computer <insert random weirdness here?”. Easy-fucking-peasy.

Bringing cups of tea at the exact right moment also helps.

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46: Marry a MILF

Not everyone can or should do this but for me, it’s been the best thing ever.

 

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47: Beware of agents

Dodgy estate agent Anthony Brancatella pleads guilty to $2m swindle

Anyone who positions themselves between what you’re selling and the person wanting to buy then takes a fraction of the action from your end, without adding real value, is an asshole.

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48: If someone’s selling an idea, follow the money to the truth

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is in my experience. When presented with opportunities like this I simply follow the money and find out who is really going to benefit. Rarely is it I.

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49: There is no such thing as a shortcut in losing kilos or making dollars

This one is about having patience. My Buddha-daughter has ‘have patience’ tattooed on her wrist. It must be a DNA thing that she and I both need a constant reminder of the importance of this human trait.

I’ve tried shortcut diets and thought myself very clever at some of the money-making schemes I’ve concocted. The realisation; hard work and patience. Nothing else works for me.