Finding drive and hitting goals is not easy

Early in life, in our American culture anyway, someone tells you that you have to work for a living, working sucks and there's nothing you can do about it. I think that's mostly a load of crap, but it sure isn't easy to get to that point.

While at Cedar Point yesterday, I sat there in awe that I was so relaxed and enjoyed just taking in the sights and sounds. If I had my wife with me and perhaps an adult beverage, it would've been perfect. It didn't take long for me to start wondering... what will it take to have the ultimate freedom to do what I want and still make a living? Ah yes, the American dream.

Truth be told, I'm lazy. However, I wouldn't go as far to say that I have a poor work ethic. The real problem comes with the fact that my drive and desire is directly proportional to my interest. So if I'm doing a job that I'm not that interested in, I don't put much work into it.

In sitting here and writing this, I've decided that there are specific goals I need to identify and figure out a roadmap to get to them. My goals follow:

• Make enough money that I can retire early, and in the short-term make enough money that Stephanie can concentrate entirely on getting her advanced degrees. That's what makes her happy, and a happy wife is a good wife (which in turn makes for a happy husband)!
• Work for myself. There's the biggest challenge. I've got all these things that I can do. Really cool things (or so I'm told), and I have absolutely no clue how to turn that into cash. Quitting the day job and going after them isn't an option because I can't trash the previous goal.
• Do something that interests me. This one is tied to the previous item. Naturally the point of working for yourself is to do something you like.

Some days it's hard to even think about stuff like this when you have a pretty good life. I've got a beautiful wife that loves me (and that's no small accomplishment), a functional car, a nice house, I get to dine out often... I really have absolutely no right to complain. In fact I often feel guilty for even entertaining such thoughts. But am I wrong to? I don't think so.

Maybe it isn't possible to be 100% happy about all of your life, but I sure as hell plan to try. I know that anything that isn't right is within my power to try (provided it isn't some natural phenomenon), and I miss the days when I believed that as a part of my very being. I must fight the temptation to let the world beat me down!