Talk For Naught

You know, one of the main types of people I can’t stand is a shit-talker. These are the people that have a ton of dreams or goals they set, and it never gets accomplished. They simply talk and talk and talk about what they WANT to do or what they’re gonna do once they’ve reached their goals, but they never actually get anything done. Sound familiar? Yeah, I know.

Last weekend, I spent hours reading blogs from different people in between (sometimes during) Star Trek episodes. I call it Blogfest 2013, as I tend to do this once a year. I read about 70 blogs, and maybe 10 of them from beginning to end. A few blogs I had to read 7 or 8 years worth because they were pretty interesting. But I came across some blogs where the author just went on and on about what he/she is going to do once they make a ton of money. All talk and nothing to show for it. No direction or structure. Then I read my blog afterwards, almost all of it. I have to admit that I felt like a shit-talker. For two years and some change, I’ve talked and talked on this blog about how I'm gonna do this and that. 367 posts. I’ve gone through all my issues and have learned lesson after lesson after lesson. And look at where I am now: still working two jobs, and still owning two properties. The reality by comparison is… it was disturbing.

So I didn’t read this blog all of last week. I wasn’t depressed or anything, but I didn’t want to see what I considered useless words on this blog. I felt as though all my time writing on this blog, and the existence of this blog itself, was without purpose. This morning, however, I came to my senses. I’ve come to realize that, while I don’t have the property Charlie that would take me to that next level, I’m still trying. My frustration had to do more with impatience than with some weird notion of failure. However, while I may not be a failure, my current position in life is cutting it kinda close. I also noticed a big mistake I made in 2011. I wrote a post called The Phases, and I talked about what I considered to be the three phases of my learning process. I mistakenly wrote that Phase 3 (Property Acquisition and Management) began in 2011, but that’s not true. It's not a question of a timeline. Phase Three begins after I purchase property Charlie. So, by definition, I’m still in "Healing and Planning" Phase 2—learning from and paying for the mistakes of the past. For shame.

I know it doesn’t seem like it, but this post is not being written to de-motivate. Yes, I still don’t have property Charlie and I’m still in Phase 2. I can live with that for now. But I’d just like to remind myself that the clock is ticking, and going through yet another year without progress would be shameful. It's great to learn lessons and grow in experience, but there's gotta be more to show for it than what I have now. You know, I have so many things I want to write about—business future, business models, investment ideas, etc.—but I’m keeping it within for now. I’m not going to risk turning into one of those guys. Those who can’t do, teach. I’ve done that already. But there’s a variation of that saying: Those who can’t “do” need to shut the fuck up about what they don’t have until they actually do something. Otherwise, it’s just talking shit.

P.S.: 10 days. This is the longest time I’ve gone without reading or writing on this blog since I started active posting in 2011. I hope it doesn’t happen again, because it was a break of routine and I didn’t take it very well. It was a bit of a mind fuck. How did I compensate for all of last week without my precious blog? From Monday to Friday, I had 4 medium extra pepperoni pies, 6 vanilla Frenzies with extra Oreos and sprinkles, 3 Hibachi fried rice and beef, 3 Hibachi fried rice and chicken, 7 or 8 Wendy’s Junior Bacon cheeseburgers, 3 everything bagels with cream cheese, 2 steak and egg whites with corned beef hash, 16 slices of French toast, no gym, and dirty clothes until Friday morning. I didn’t realize just how huge this blog is in relation to my daily routine.