I’m Always Right

I always think I’m right.

Whatever the situation, whoever I’m talking to….they’re wrong…I’m right. Doesn’t matter if it’s my wife, my accountant, my team at work or even a complete stranger who I’m conversing with. I’m right.…or at least I thought so, until recently.

I’m older, a little less testosterone floating around ….and a little doubt has crept into my mindset.

I’ve even been having sleepless nights thinking …perhaps I’ve been wrong all along….???

Aaarrrgggghhhhhh…self-doubt, nothing guaranteed to slow the decision making process quicker than a little worrying….

In my life, I’ve always been the guy that knows what he wants and goes out and gets it. I knew that ‘design and build’ was a good way to get projects built the way I wanted them built…. so I set up a design and build practice.

I saw a market for invasive weed management …so I set up Japanese Knotweed Solutions Ltd.

There wasn’t a decent trade body for companies dealing with invasive species …so I set up INNSA (Invasive Non Native Specialist Association).

You get the drift.

  

But …of late …a little doubt has crept in.

I’ve always thought I was the cleverest in our family, quick to make decisions, decisive, direct, powerful ….

My brother, on the other hand, has always been a thinker.

He will worry a topic to death with research and comparisons and bargaining for best prices ….he got himself so wound up looking into buying a new mountain bike – that by the time he’d made his decision …they’d stopped making them anymore.

His conversion to an electric car was so traumatic for him that he required therapy for weeks to release all the pent up anxiety.

And yet, Dave has managed to retire with a very healthy bank balance and time on his hands …whilst I…am still working and having to do cashflow every week….

So, who’s the smart one now eh, Mike …Dave wins in the race for early retirement.

Dave has always been the more cautious brother, more thoughtful, more – in it for the long haul. I’ve always been more reactive and spontaneous. Dave has always worked with others and worked as part of a team – I’ve always been out on my own, being creative and doing something slightly different.

I’m beginning to feel that maybe I’ve done everything the hard way and made a rod for my own back.

Maybe if I’d listened to a few other people – maybe, just maybe, I’d have retired by now ….

Soooo – next time somebody makes a suggestion – I’m going to stop, absorb and take on board what they’re saying.

I might even listen.

Mike C