So this is a hard one for me. Whether it comes to my weight, my career, the right girl or anything else that takes hard work and more importantly time, I have a problem holding out for the great things.

Instead I want what I want, and oh ya, I want it now. We have all heard the saying nothing worth having comes easy. But whoever said that didn’t mention that while that may be true, it doesn’t change that in order to attain that you have to suffer through each second of each minute of each hour of each day of each month of each year.

Now I may be exaggerating to get a point across, but it’s hard. Ever been on a diet. The night before the first day after you have a had a good meal your like, “I can do this!” But come the first day, at some point the day starts to drag out, your stomach starts to cry out and your mind starts to hand you great excuses for quitting.

However, if you have the will power to push through and somehow, someway make it to the end, it changes everything. Suddenly, the gratification you get from perseverance becomes a hundred times more filling the eating that piece of pizza, skipping an opportunity to advance in your career, or going for the first girl or guy you see.

Instead of pizza making you happy for about 15 minutes, you wake up happy everyday because your in shape and with that comes confidence and self esteem. And instead of that short lived feeling that comes with an easy job, you get that sense of purpose when you have worked tirelessly and finally found yourself in the career of dreams.

Knowing that, It seems better to push for the long term instead of being stuck in the “instant” mindset in the hopes of reach an end much more rewarding then these instant rewards at the beginning.

I’ll end with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt:

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led diffcult lives and led them well.”

You know when this matters the most? When I have had a bad day. So many things in this world can bring you down. But nothing can’t overcome the laughter of child.

Which brings me to what I was thinking about today. We need to laugh more. We need to smile. We need to take five minutes out of our day and stand in the sun. We all have a lot going on in our lives. And a lot of it can bring us down. But we can’t let it.

But if you can’t seem to find something to laugh about, find a friend, a family member, or if you got it: a child. Trust me they can make you laugh till your stomach aches. It’s the best thing in the world.

One more time: Laugh people. Ok I’m done.

The thing was, I didn’t understand what it meant to be a grown up. All I saw was responsibility, bills, and a job. But I never saw the freedom that came with growing up. The ability to travel and see the world and the people in it. The gift of all new experiences outside of my comfort zone.

It took me a while to see it. But although I still miss the innocence of childhood, I am thankful for the life that came with growing up. I am thankful for the people, the lessons, the fun, and yes even the work that came with it. I get to experience love, passion for the gifts I have and I get to be moved by others hard work or creative projects. That is something that most kids skim over and completely miss.

Do I miss being a kid? Sure.

Would I want to stay a kid forever, knowing what I know now? No thanks. Each season of your life is important and its important to accept that.

I’ll check back with you when I move into the “growing old” phase. I might have a different answer by then.

I was about seven when a group of burglars broke into our house and vandalized it. While my family walked away from it without any one getting hurt, the next several years were filled with fear. I hated being in the dark and even more I hated when it was quiet. Too quiet.

But then I grew up got over some of my fears (keyword being some) and little by little I got to experience things I never knew were so soothing. One night when I had nothing to do, I walked into my apartment and sat on my couch in complete darkness and more importantly complete silence.

I was amazed at how it felt to just sit there. In the quiet, things become simple. In the quiet, all the chaos of your life is gone and you can work things out. You can see things from a distance and get some perspective.

If your trying to work something out and all the busyness of your life is clouding your ability to work it out, I suggest going home one night and just sitting in silence. You might find that your able to work it out and see beyond it.

So they did just that. Within a couple of weeks they had three fresh new hires. Here comes that hole they dug. When it came time for that check to come in………never did. The investor backed out at the last minute. Problem my friend was having is that all of these new hires are family men who need the money to support their families and he was having hard time with the idea of letting them go.

In the end all the top guys at the company decided to take a pay cut so that they could keep these guys on while finding another investor. But what it taught him was a lesson in restraint and making sure the money is there before spending some or really any of it.

I know I have found myself in that position before (not with a million dollars) and his story only reminded me once again that restraint is a key tool in living life, supporting a family, running a business or even a creative project and many other things.

Growing up, I was always forced to go outside and play. That was great when I was a little boy. But as with many in my generation, the onslaught of new video games in my early teens made us want to stay inside and glue ourselves to the screen. It became torture to have to pull me away from the latest game.

Fast forward to now. I along with many of you have so many things that keep us inside through out the day. I have a job that keeps me inside and when I get finished I just want to lay down on the couch and watch some TV.

Funny thing is, when I get outside and go on a hike or on a bike ride it changes everything. It restarts my system and it allows me to feel good again. It’s amazing what a little fresh air can do for you. They say a little time in the sun and a little exercise is a great reliever of stress.

Now things are starting to switch around. I have to force myself to go back inside when I have things I need to do because I would rather be out in the fresh air where I feel the best. I’m guessing this is also a lesson in balance too.

Either way, it’s nice to remember what it means to get outside and feel the breeze…

The thing with any big move though:  the awkward hellos that come with finding yourself in a new place with new people all around you. I remember fumbling over all my words when introducing myself to a class. I honestly just wanted to get past the beginning phase and get to the hang out phase, especially when it came to all the pretty girls around me.

Well this is no different. I’m starting this back up because I like to write. But even more, I like to write about the life that is going on around me. I like to stay open to the new lessons that others teach me (indirectly or not).  But starting up something new comes with that same beginning phase that I just want to get past.

So instead of dragging this out, I am going to just dig right into the life around me and the new things I see everyday. Here’s to hoping a couple of you will want to talk back to me.

Thanks.

I know for many things, I have done just that. But when I went on my trip last year there were certain things I really wanted to make an effort to change. Things such as listening more to others, communicating better, being less judgmental and leaving resentment behind.

When you make these changes, often times you notice that your changing but you feel as though no one else sees it and if you let it, it will cause you to slip up and fall back in to your old habits. I know many times I was tempted to do just that. But instead I continued to push ahead with these changes and this week, all that work finally payed off.

Not only did I happen to have a couple people tell me how good I am with my words, but they made sure to express how well I communicated with others in such a positive and encouraging way. After hearing these things, I was ecstatic to know that some people were realizing the changes I was making to be a better man. But on top of that, I was sitting with a newer friend who decided one night to say:

Zack you know what. I wanted to let you know that I am glad we became friends. You are someone who listens to others rather then talking all the time. You strive to be intelligent and you immerse yourself into to others lives all so you can get to know them better. I feel like you care for me and where I am going. I guess what I am trying to say is that you are a good friend who isnt swayed easily by others and who stands up and acts out what you believe. And I am glad to have you in my life.

When I heard him say this, I was blown away. While I had noticed the changes when the others said it, my friend really made me aware of just how much I am moving in the right direction in my life, both in my passions and in the way I live my life.

I guess what I am trying to tell you is that I am proof that sometimes you can change. You can wake up one morning and decide to be different and with a litle patience, perseverance and some time, you really can be better. So if your in the process of doing just that, hold strong to the changes and don’t falter because no one has told you they recognize it. In fact, to be honest, this month was the first time in a long time that I stopped wondering when someone was gonna notice and just went about living my life they way I wanted to. And look what happened.

If you want to change, change. And in time I promise you , others will see it and cherish the  friendship they have with you…

Thanks for Reading.

When I first started writing scripts, I felt the same way. It was all new and mysterious. I had to learn how to format it, how to be descriptive of actions rather then a moment and most importantly I had to learn how to tell a story. It has been a journey to write this story and I have enjoyed the joy of writing as well as the hardships of following the story to wherever it goes. What’s even crazier is to be done with a story I was so close to and spent a lot of time on and just  move on to the next one so easily. There’s no big finish line to cross. Just the acceptance that it is completed and the knowledge that it doesn’t stop with one story. You have to keep going, keep telling your stories. And believe me I have a lot of stories to tell.

What is nice however, is to move into a new phase that I am currently having to learn. That is, teaching myself all about how to find the right people to get my story into the right hands and move into a position where I can start to secure value for a talent I have. It’s a nice feeling to know that sometime soon, someone will find value in the talents I have and that’s why I am so excited to be apart of the process.

But when all is said and done: it’s about the story. I love writing stories more and more each day. Even better, I am starting to love reading other’s stories more and more as well. It’s rare to know what you love, but I do and I am thankful for it. And because I know the value in the loving what I do, I am  sure it’s only a matter of time before someone else does too…

Expect more posts soon…

Thanks for Reading.

This week adobe took another blow from the iconic technology company apple. That is they decided to not include the flash plugin on Apple’s newest product, the IPad. While shutting out the plugin is nothing new (The IPhone has never seen the likes of flash), It’s yet another sign that one of the most influential companies in the ever evolving mobile world will not accept the bare minimum that adobe has been putting up.

In fact, Jobs himself said:

They are lazy, Jobs says. They have all this potential to do interesting things but they just refuse to do it…Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy, he says. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash.

Read More: Wired.com

Most will see this as either a political decision or else the ever increasing restrictions that apple is placing on outside developers in order to keep a closed system in place that is well maintained, well run, and well the most profitable. Thing is, this isn’t very far off. In order for apple to be the best, everything they put out or anything connected with them needs to be the best.

I see this with a different perspective. This all says a lot less about apple and a lot more about Adobe. A company that is not willing to put more time into the development of their product for all platforms, is a company that doesn’t deserve to have there product on all platforms. Instead they need to evolve with the changes in the industry and produce a product that doesn’t crash at the first sign of stress.

Personally, this is a lesson in change and hard work. Too often when we achieve some success, we become stagnant in that place. We stick around that particular playing field believing it’s are best chance at continued success. In certain cases, if it produces the results were looking for long enough, we become entitled. We begin to expect that we deserve success and that it will keep coming to us.

It’s this very process that destroys most companies, most jobs, and most people. The epiphany that we have to change with an ever changing world often comes too late and were left to start all over. That means repeating the long days, the sleepless nights, and the tedious trial and error.

Success never comes easy in first place. Having to achieve it a second time simply because we don’t strive to be the best at what were doing each day, each month, and each year is an unnecessary use of our time and our efforts. Don’t get too caught up with your achievements until all there is, is a memory of them. Stay in the game, keep your focus and be the best at what you do, even if it means changing to do so.

Articles Related to this Post:

Adobe is Lazy: Apple’s Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs at Apple Town Hall Meeting