From Dimes to Dollars

Photo credit: Jonathan Lopez

by Ben Lopez

This past Sunday I was visiting my family and having a wonderful little afternoon spending time with them. That is until a tornado hit in the back yard, and the neighbour’s roof narrowly avoided destroying the side of the house as it blew off. Something tells me it’s not going to be a good week…

You may have noticed I haven’t been around much lately. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but I’m wading through some difficulties right now, the cleanup after the tornado the least of my troubles, and I need to square a few things away before getting back to business as usual.

Sometimes you don’t just get hit hard, but with many things at once, and it’s not easy to maintain your everyday routine. It turns your life upside-down. My lease was suddenly compromised recently due to circumstances beyond my control, and I’ve been forced to spend a good amount of time seeking property as the clock ticks down. I have resigned from both my Google News syndicated writing position that has since plateaued, as well as stepping down from my marketing director spot when I saw disaster on the horizon and took an early exit. And after taking a moment to check the status of my former company yesterday I’m glad I did, as they seem to be at a complete standstill.

I postponed my own startup to pursue these positions that I foresaw getting me ahead, but I’m now behind the curve. Hey, that’s why they’re called risks, because there’s a definite possibility you could lose, and in this case, I lost. But like Jason Calancanis frequently alludes to, crying about it will do nothing for you, it’s time to move on.

Kind of puts me back at square one, doesn’t it? In the weeks to come I will have to make a firm decision on how to proceed, and what projects to pursue next. I could feel sorry for myself, or I can look at the positive learning experience this was and give myself a pat on the back for taking the initiative to resign while there was, to the untrained eye, still potential on the surface. Sometimes you just need to cut your losses and move on when your gut tells you to. Maybe you’re in what you consider a good position, but you see trouble down the road; just remember that objects are closer than they appear.

But it may be for the best, there are plenty of new opportunities, and I have a whole list of Plan Bs. Think about how many hours are in the day, and the sheer mass of what can be accomplished if you’re truly dedicated and uncompromising in your work focus. Whatever lies ahead, one thing is for sure: From Dimes To Dollars is here to stay.

What difficulties have the D2D readers seen coming their way? Share what you’ve learned from overcoming them: you never know who may find encouragement in your words.