It took me 40 Years to Realize What I'll tell you in 8 Minutes

what if I told you that thing you're chasing isn't really what you're looking for whether it's that promotion a raise the perfect body that's just a drop in the bucket to what you really need I spent the last 40 years of my life as an adult going through life figuring things out and I like to share those perspectives with you and I'd like to spend a few minutes with you letting you know what I've learned in the last 40 years Jim where did this come from well I'll tell you I was asked to give the

midyear graduation speech 40 years after I graduated high school where did the time go and it really got me thinking about life what I've accomplished what I've learned and let me start with this if I could go back and tell my 18-year-old self this I would tell him time is the most precious commodity you've got you can't get one single second back to play again live every single second like it matters because you're going to blink your eyes Jim and you're going to be 40 years removed from high school and that time's going to have

flown by like it was yesterday and one thing about time is you get to choose how you spend it how you live it who you spend it with and if you're spending it with people who don't value your time reconsider that because maybe they're not worth your time time is the most precious commodity it's the only one we can't make more of and it's going to continue to pass on whether you like it or not so Jim and folks out there choose your time wisely spend your time wisely make every second count in my adult

life I've had about eight or 10 different careers and I throw up the air quotes because none of them for more than a few years you see I spent 20 years bouncing around from stock broker to house painter to self-employed painting contractor to chemical salesman to cell phone salesman to project manager to remodeling contractor and now a teacher and in each and every one of those they were a vehicle to help me pay my bills to support my family and most most importantly teach me about life teach me that it doesn't matter what you do

who you are matters more your work ethic the kind of impression that you leave that's going to make a lasting impression on folks and it's going to help you succeed or in some cases fail and in those eight or 10 different jobs I had what I was really seeking was this thing called purpose purpose what am I alive for what am I here for what am I trying to do because deep down we all want a sense of purpose we all want to be fulfilled we want to belong we want to make a difference I

genuinely feel that most folks out there want to make a difference and if you've got a purpose and a reason to get up and do your thing life is a whole lot easier another thing I've learned is the process of achieving cannot be discounted I've trying to find purpose in so many things in so many different areas volunteering giving of my time helping people offering advice and I think deep down deep down what I was trying to do was fill something in here I was trying to help others because I heard a long time ago

that if you've got problems help other folks solve theirs and yours will seem rather small so I think what I did inadvertently was when I had challenges I would try to find other folks with challenges and help them solve theirs if nothing else had took my mind off my challenges for a short time put them a little bit further away if you will but ultimately what I was looking for was self-respect I wanted to be proud of myself I wanted to love myself I wanted to be happy with who I am so for 40 years

I've bounced from job to job I've given my time I've given my energy I've given my resources when in reality what I was looking for was always right here it was inside me I just had to discover it I had to tap into it and I had to be happy with who I was see I think we were all built to be part of the greater good see I genuinely believe that when you love yourself you can give that love to other people and you're not trying to look for something in return you're not not

trying to get a benefit from helping them solve their problems what you're trying to do is show them love and kindness and help them find their own self-respect and self love because as crazy as this world is out there right now as divided as it is I really believe that most of us love one another we care for one another and we believe in one another I don't like the divisive nature of everything and I can't solve it but I think if we all loved ourselves a little bit more and turn and in turn loved

each other this world would be a much better place that's just my two cents anyway so how do you sum up 40 years in a few minutes watch how you spend your time watch how you give of yourself most importantly love yourself because if you love yourself it makes it easier to love other people so I'd love it if you're still around to hit that subscribe button maybe drop me a comment about how you feel that would do me a solid and I greatly appreciate it if you're still here I greatly appreciate you I appreciate

every single one of you that's watching this so thanks for sticking around 40 years in a few minutes I cannot believe it