Glad To Be Back At The Lake. Its a week from Christmas day and I am finally back at the lake. Since November 30, I have driven for 2,600 miles and flown another 1,700. I have spent a total of four days here. While that might not sound too difficult to some of you travelers, I found it somewhat draining. I am glad to finally be back at my place of refuge. The weather is warm and the water is beautiful..........Now if I could just find an efficient way to deal with all the leaves that keep falling.
I Have Had a Lot of Time to Think Lately. Sitting in a vehicle at 75 miles per hour going down Interstate 10 or waiting at an airport gives you a lot of time to think and reflect. One of the needs that seems to be prevalent among older adults is that of reflecting on the past and trying to make sense out of what it all has meant. Having spent the past 30 years in entrepreneural pursuits, I often wonder about how I could have been more successful. I know, it doesn't reallly matter at this point but maybe I could develop a bit of insight to pass on to my clients who are still in the game. One thing I feel sure about at this point is that we need to be careful who we envy and choose to emulate. One notable example is a local financal planner who had a very high profile. He lived in a high end neighborhood, had his own airplane, and once told me that his clients were all winners, and as such, wanted their advisor to be a winner also. While I found him arrogant and not very likeable, I envied his succes and assumed that he must be doing very well for his clients as well as himself to be so successful. As of this writing he is serving a 100 year sentence for bilking over 10 million dollars from those clients who placed their trust in him. His recent appeal of that severe sentence has been rejected. Lucky I didn't emulate him.
There Have Been Others. When I first started a mortgage company in 1985, I met an ex banker who had been a multimillionaire and chairman of a large bank holding company. A crisis in the banking business caused him to lose millions for himself and his banking clients and he even spent a few months in prison as a result. Still, he was one of the most driven business people I ever met. He started his own mortgage company which always seemed to do better than mine. A few years ago, he sold the company for a reported 18 million. You can imagine how much I envied him, although I will admit I found him arrogant and not very likeable. He didn't quit when he sold his business. He stayed in the game and continued to chase bigger and bigger deals. This week end when I was in Denver, I learned that he took his own life a month ago. We never know what demons chase those successful people we envy. Lucky I didn't emulate him.
We Need To Be Careful. Based on these examples, it would be a mistake to conclude that we didn't attain our success goals because we chose not to be arrogant and unlikeable. Still, it is a strange coincidence that two of the people who's business success I envied the most ultimately turned out to be failures at life. As I look out the window at the tall, glossy-green magnolia trees and the bright red holly berries, I am reminded of all the things I have to be thankful for. Perhaps I could have been more successful at business but I might not have been able to spend as much time with the grandkids or sitting outside in these beautiful woods.
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