Hearing the saying about how life is about the little things can often feel trite or even diminishing or demeaning when we are in the face of doing something big.  While I could never explain it, I’ve always had this sense that I was supposed to do something more in life, something really big—something that would impact a lot of people.  I NEVER intended for it to be ego because it wasn’t, but I know I had a tendency to put value on higher ticket experiences than other people did and it was because our experiences were different.  It took me a while to realize that even the things I’ve experienced pale in comparison to others (not that I’ve lived in the lap of luxury by any means).  But there are moments when we need to really understand the big picture and see how the little things mean so much more. How the little things really do make us fortunate.  Sometimes in those moments we don’t understand how fortunate we are, especially if we grow up thinking a certain way of life is normal or having a certain perception on how things are.  We all have different experiences so that gauge is different for all of us.    

I’m part of a beautifully inclusive team in the business I own and they recently had a conference out of state and they were staying at a hotel chain that, for many of them, was a new experience and something luxurious.  The more they spoke about it, the more I had a sense of not feeling the excitement they do.  I couldn’t put my finger on why I felt that way and it felt like an age thing because many of them are young—and they are truly young (some of them just turning 20).  It took me a minute to realize the issue: I’ve done all this before.  Part of me felt guilty because I truly don’t want to diminish their joy in this experience but I also don’t want to pretend that this is enough for me anymore.  At the same time I realize how fortunate I have been to have had these experiences before.  I’ve stayed at hotels like that since I was a kid.  The realization isn’t a matter of ego or being unimpressed so much as it’s that I need something more.  The crux of it is this: I’m at a different stage in my life.  Doesn’t mean I don’t have a lot to learn, but I also know there is more in this life—a different experience.  Additionally I have a family, a team I created on my own and many of these people don’t have that—life moves differently when you have that.   

If we are meant to dream big, we need to appreciate what we have and where we came from, that is always true.  But we can’t limit ourselves based on the limitations of others, and there are times it’s so challenging for me to work with a team because we are at different stages in life, different stages in this game.  And I know at some point we will have to meet in the middle because we have lessons to teach each other.  They don’t know what it’s like to have a family, to have a job that brings enough success to afford a house because they aren’t there yet.  I also don’t have the experience of throwing what I know aside and taking the risk to make a life for myself like they have—and that’s because of the golden handcuffs and the house and the family.  One experience isn’t better than the other, but they are different and we make different decisions because of them.  The team is varied with some starting with nothing, some with those golden handcuffs, some who run the whole show and some who are learning. The point is, being a team is taking all of that information and putting it together so we can learn from each other.  I need to learn the basics of the business and the confidence to run it while they need to understand there is something bigger out there.  I know what exists and I know what I want—now I just need to know how to do the work to get it for myself.  How cool to have those resources in each other.