Tag: happiness

Monday is your friend

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I’m typing this on  a Sunday evening. I’ve had various times in my life when I used to hate Sunday, not due to its own features and benefits, but because it was the pre-amble to Monday. Mondayitus.  The dread for Monday was so deep and worrisome that it ruined the day before it which is was a free day. And what is more ironic is that I even liked Thursday more than I liked Friday, because Friday was too close to Monday. It is strange indeed how our minds can work. Sometimes it is worth listening to the strange.

Tonight, I went for a jog and I was genuinely excited about the week ahead and couldn’t even wait for Monday to get some of my projects underway. We are doing another world first for Tomcar Australia which will be global news. I’m attending the FML this Wednesday night to help jumpstart the maker movement in my fair city Melbourne. I’m working on a few Hackathons for some big corporates. I’m doing a new talk on the ‘future of work’, which I will deliver at the co-work in the lane way for the Hub Melbourne. Working on a new technology related property  development. Shipping the Super Awesome thing & person from Romania. Working on my new book and might even be launching my new startup by the end of the week. I can’t wait.

I’ve decided that Monday is our best friend. There is nothing more telling in life than how we feel about it. Monday knows all. It is about time we started listening to our internal mental Monday sermon and tried and create a Monday that Monday actually appreciates. I ignored Monday for a while, but now I’m listening to it again and it is helping me smile.

As far as I can tell our Mondays are the ultimate arbiter of happiness.

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We only have one

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

There is no career, only life.

If we think of our life and career as separate entities, we’ve  got things terribly wrong. They are inextricably linked. If we want to be happy, we need to make sure what we spend our days doing is how we want our life to be.

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The most important startup

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I am incredibly happy with the following things:

– My relationship with my family (immediate and wider family)

– The state of my health. I fit and well enough to enjoy, people life and exercise.

– Where I live. Yarraville, Melbourne, Australia. In fact so much so that I evangelize it.

– My house. A beautiful little renovated Edwardian, not big but it’s just right for me and my wife.

– The state of my country Australia. It allows us to practice any religion / or not and live a free life with opportunity.

– How I invest my spare time. I like surfing, gym and mountain bike riding.

– The fact that I am continuing a vocation of learning.  Both in life and academically in my areas of interest.

– The work I do. Running rentoid.com teaching at Melbourne University and writing this blog.

If any of these parts of your life aren’t right. If we are not quite happy with them, no less totally unhappy with them. Then this is the most important startup we can focus on. The start required to change it. Start today.

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Broken car = broken life

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

The title of this post is a philosophy I have. People often disagree siting financial hardship, opportunity, income, age… you name it. They can argue all they like but it is true. People who look after themselves, have pride and a solid work ethic have nice cars. Not necessarily expensive cars, but cars which are washed regularly, are tidy inside, and don’t have any obvious dings or fractures which are to be fixed.

Keeping a clean car doesn’t really cost any money, just a little bit of time and effort. In fact it usually saves people money, just like servicing a car does. Sure, cars get smashed, need repairs and are generally a necessary expense and not an asset. But like all things, delays in making it right will have a compound effect. Dints which aren’t fixed get rusty. Unserviced cars break down more often.  Trying to save money letting your car go, just costs money in the long run. People with unbroken lives know this. It also has an important impact on your own self worth and psyche. Not to mention other peoples opinions of you, rightly or wrongly.

Show me an adult with a broken car, and I’ll show you a person with a broken life. (students are the exception)

Below is a classic example. Both cars of similar style and age. The first is owned by a person with a broken life, the other with by a person with a great attitude.

Crappy car

Classic Car

Do the test for a week or two. Assess the people you know and the state of their vehicle. It tells a very clear story.

Startup blog says take pride in all you do and all you own and your life will be better.