Category: Thoughts

I have spoken on the record (and been called out in public) about wishing the circumstances of my life and employment would allow me to be ruder.

It’s not that I am a coarse person, but not worrying about people’s feelings and societal norms would selfishly allow me to get more done in less time.

Yes, I will also say on my death bed that I would have wish I would have worked more, but I’ll put my foot in my mouth over that one later.

But what happens thankfully enough to keep my more productive rudeness from taking over is the need to slow things down to a crawl because of my co-workers.

This week, everyone that worked on campus had to sign up to take a Covid-19 test before returning to work next week. A simple process: go to a website on a computer, fill out your info, wait for an email to confirm your appointment.

Only our cleaning crew don’t have daily access to a computer. No problem, we have spare laptops for train days we can set up.

And most of them aren’t good at navigating computers and typing. No problem, it’s slow because most staff is working remotely. I can help them fill it out.

And some don’t have email because they have no want or need for email. Okay, we can make up one for the occasion just to get this task done. No problem.

There were a few more and’s to deal with, and all of them were extremely doable at the moment. No real problem, other than me not being able to put on an air of impatience with people who were extremely patient with me as I helped them put in their paperwork.

On this Thanksgiving, despite the consistent suck that has been this year, I am thankful that I am not dealing with the extended suck from last year. And the year before that. And the year before that.

I am also extremely thankful, oddly enough, of the many time daily. I am reminded that my desire to be more of a jerk is not going to fly. While it does make getting stuff done a lot harder to accomplish, it keeps me humble and human. Two things that many people that are living in this moment are having hard times doing.

What are you thankful for today? Send me an email at jclevelandpayne@gmail.com and let me know.

I follow a lot of seemingly random channels on YouTube. Some of those channels showcase the business aspects of owning various types of real estate.

A video I just watched this morning showed one real estate owner made $40,000 in 15 minutes based on the ability to get two highly coveted rental properties occupied.

Only, he did not make that money in just 15 minutes. It only took him 15 minutes to close these particular deals, but he had to be in a position to make the deals.

The full lead time is unknown, but for the owner to rent the houses, he had to own the homes. They had to have been originally built, possibly rebuilt, and had the current owners’ renovations done to make them appealing to the current crop of customers.

This all took time and resources, some of which he detailed, most of which he did not (because it should be understood a house must exist in order to rent it out, otherwise, fraud).

The thing you call success is a trophy you receive for winning the end of the season contest. But to win, or even compete for the trophy, you’ve got to be drafted into the league, play some pre-season to get tuned up, outlast the field in the regular season to qualify, then run the table in the playoffs.

You must be in a position to make the big play and earn the big win. No one can take away what you earned, but you have got to be in the game to get that chance. And the steps necessary to get in the game, from a non-contenders point-of-view, can seem just as daunting.

Are you in the game and ready for your chance to make a big play? Email me at jclevelandpayne@gmail.com, and we can talk about strategy. 

We are a few days out in the United States from the day we set aside to be thankful (and eat way too much).

But you should set aside time every day to be grateful.

2020 has been an interesting year for those who must put forth extra effort to be grateful, like me. After a long string of years of too lean years, 2020 was set to be the year I would reap a bumper crop of blessings, which would justify my years of (mostly) faithful gratefulness.

Then came Covid-19, and everyone became extra miserable.

It is hard to be grateful for what you have when the people around you are not grateful for what they have.

 You are not off the hook.

Good one? Bad one? Let me know at jclevelandpayne@gmail.com.  

I’m having some trouble with the phrase, “Trust the process.”

I have always had trouble with the phrase, but ‘in this pocket reality we see as ‘2020,’ it seems like even worse advice to give someone struggling to make their way.

It is so typical of a phrase that it is near cliché and just about always seems like a cop-out answer.

Trusting the process means having faith that all the struggle and hard work to get to the finish line of whatever is worth it, even when everyone will admit that the process sucks and is way-to-often broken along the way.

I can tell you to trust the process even if I know the process sucks. This is because the suck is what you go through to learn from the process in real time and appreciate the journey through once you’ve progressed. 

My current problem is I don’t have the stomach to tell you to trust the process if I think the process is broken. Because ‘in this pocket reality we see as ‘2020,’ too many processes are broken and not being repaired on purpose.

Not to give excuses for my failure to progress past my current spot, but I have butted against too many brick walls of setbacks lately that are attached to scenarios where you finally slay the dragon to get the key to the next dungeon . . . and no one bothered to code the next dungeon. Even if they promised an even more epic battle at the end, there is no bridge to get there and no lumber for you to figure out how to build your old bridge.

But guess what I’m about you tell you?

Yes, you still have to trust the process.

You still have to go through every step of the process and advance as intended, despite how much it sucks and despite the process itself being broken in many places along the way.

Too tough of love for today? Email me at jclevelandpayne@gmail.com, and we can talk about it. 

Imagine if every day, moments after you wake up and get out of bed, you cash in a winning lottery scratch-off ticket for a fresh one.

And every day, you get another winning ticket.

Most days, you win just enough to buy a new ticket, which you can redeem the next day.

Some days, you win a bigger prize, also redeemable for more tickets. Those tickets aren’t a guaranteed win, and you don’t have to trade them in immediately. You can be strategic in your use or scratch them all in a fit of frustration and need for a big win.

They may be winners. They may be losers. They may have been winners that expired because you took too long to scratch and redeem them. You won’t know until those tickets get played.

The saving grace is that you will always win on at least one ticket, with the caveat, you must redeem immediately on the next day.

Well, this is your life. Seriously.

Every morning when you wake up and get out of bed, you have scratched off a lottery time worth a new day of life with new possibilities.

Some days, you get the chance for extra scratch-offs, which you can take a chance on now or later. They may pay off, or they may not. But if you wake up the next morning, you’re given a new ticket good for that day that I win, even if a minor one, of possibilities.

Like this metaphor? Let me know at jclevelandpayne@gmail.com.