I’ve been told more than once that I’m heartless and lack sympathy. I’m not saying that I hear that a lot, and it has usually been said in moments of frustration by the other party. Frustration that was likely caused by me. Even so, It’s odd to hear this about yourself. I see myself as a caring person who’s pretty close to my own emotions. I always strive to be considerate to others, but I suppose there is a gigantic gap between polite and sympathetic.

"Variety” might be the word that best describes my career so far. A series of chasing multiple dreams at one time, each being a spoke in the wheel of a career.

I’m certainly not alone in having this personality, as many entrepreneurs keep their hands in several projects, from NBA stars to pop singers - I seem to share their distaste for holding only one core job.

In the late 1990s the home recording revolution was on full send. For some of us this wasn’t as exhilarating it was for others. We didn’t need a revolution to come and disturb what we had worked so hard to build.

But revolution will come. It always does.

Growing up in the 1970’s Snow Jobs were everywhere. My dad was getting snowed by the Chevy dealer. Nixon started the decade off with a beauty. Today it’s different. People are still deceiving other people, but now we call them scams or fake news. It doesn’t have the same flare or pizzazz.

What if your best skill is all the skills?

Collaborating doesn’t come naturally to me. It could be my introverted personality, or perhaps my years of working alone in the studio. It’s taken me some time, but I’ve discovered the power of leveraging the strengths and experiences of those around me. Just not always.

Making decisions like a cowboy is fun and simple. Shoot first and ask questions later. It’s the later that’s the problem. It’s easy to blaze your glory in the heat of the moment, and it looks great in a movie. But real life is much more complicated, and the costs of decisions can often be hidden.

As a kid I just wanted to live on the road going gig to gig in a tour bus. That would be the life. What I didn’t see coming was at some point it would become a grind like any other job. Along the way I came up with a new dream of being the tour bus driver. Captaining a cruise liner-on-wheels around the country. That would be the life.

I’m not one for appearances (though I’ve been accused of it). But I’m a big believer in the power of presentation. These two ideas run on the same highway, but each take you to totally different destinations.

Completing any large goal is like climbing a mountain - reaching the summit is incredibly gratifying. I felt that rush of gratification after building a classic electric BMW. That was until I realized that I hadn’t summited at all.

When most guys watch The Hangover, they probably stretch a little to identify themselves with the super cool Bradley Cooper. I can’t stretch that far.

Perhaps me lacking the sense to be casual and witty enhances my other senses. I’ve always been less concerned with fitting in anyway. You always remember the unique characters. Zach’s character is the one we all remember from The Hangover. I’ll take unique over static any day.

When I was young I wanted to be a rock star. Nothing special, just a rock star. I worked hard at it for years and eventually realized that dream. Or at least I think I did, as the dream was overly vague. When you’re 12 years old you aren’t worried about defining all the details of a dream. Would my rockstar life include private jets? Longevity? How about a roadie or two? Not only was my dream ill-defined, I didn’t understand the goals required to accomplish it.

Everyone knows about “Fake it till you Make it”. You might even know “Truth in Advance”. But those are both child’s play. In the real world there are consequences. Stretching the truth to help win an opportunity is like telling the “Truth on Credit”. Failing to succeed puts you in default. Default can ruin your whole day…

It’s pretty tough for me to stay in my own lane. This week I came dangerously close to publishing a post on an economic topic that I know nothing about. Luckily the guard rails caught me and I avoided that embarrassment.

I’ve got a buddy who packs fun into everything he does. More accurately: everything is so fun that I am not sure how anything actually gets done. I enjoy a good time, but when there’s a goal in front of me I struggle to keep the laughs rolling.

I’ve found that I’m not capable of creating anything truly brilliant. But the rigid aspiration to always attempt it has been the thing that’s driven me and any success that I’ve had.

Like many parents, when my kids were young I would lie between them at night and tell them a bedtime story. It was difficult to come up with a new story each night. Some stories were funny, others were adventurous. Some long, some short (which was never really allowed). There were a lot of “Choose Your Own Adventure” stories as well, which were some of my favorite. But of all the stories, Marble Alert! was the one they asked me to tell over and over.

…So in rediscovering this old blog, it reminded me of its purpose: Journaling. I have been told countless times the value of journaling for personal and professional growth. I have taken it up countless times over the decades. Just a few months ago I was cleaning out a closet and came across my last journal. Sure enough there were five or six entries, then hundreds of empty pages. Let’s face it, I am terrible at blogging or journaling with any consistency. For that matter, I may be terrible at it in a general sense.