Last night I had a date with my daughter, Gina. (Every other week, I take one of my kids out for a little one on one time.)
She came over to my apartment and put on her bathing suit. Being the intuitive guy that I am, I asked her if she wanted to go swimming. She said kind of sadly, “No because you won’t want to come in the pool.” She knows that I am not a big fan of the pool but this was her date so I surprised her by saying I would. And man, am I glad I did.
She laughed and giggled the entire time we were playing in the water. She was loving it and, because of her joy, I was loving it too. Stephen Covey explains it beautifully, and I’m paraphrasing, “You do things that you might not necessarily love to do but you do them because of the love you have for someone else.”
After the pool, we went out to dinner. She likes to go to this bar/restaurant and always sits next to me in the booth where we play tic tac toe (strange how I almost always lose) and hangman. I ask her if I should have a steak or a burger and she advises me to have the steak and that she’ll “eat all my french fries for me.”
As we are sharing a decadent chocolate desert, she tells me that she has made up a song and wants to sing it to me but is embarrassed to do so. I tell her that I would love to hear her song.
When we get back to my apartment, she sings me a song, with beautiful lyrics that blows my mind. I ask her if she really made it up and she assures me. she has This leads to a discussion of music, specifically rock and roll. (I LOVE music.)
She sees my John Lennon collection and asks me who he is. We talk about the Beatles and I show her their first album. (She tells me that George is “hot.” Good lord, she’s nine years old!) Gina can definitely tell what a Beatles song when she hears it (I have trained her right!). And we listen and dance together to some Beatles and then to a local Atlanta band, “The Brilliant Inventions.”
I drive her back home and we talk non-stop the entire time.
What a night to remember. Definitely one of my best dates ever.
So what does this have to do with business and making dee–nero? Absolutely everything.
You see, my friend, I have structured my business around the lifestyle I want to have. I can take time off when I want and basically do what I want to do, My business does not dictate my lifestyle my lifestyle dictates my business. I work not for money but for what money allows me to do. But the truth is, having more money would not have made my date with my daughter any better. It was perfect as it was.
Today, I have a date with both of my kids. Tomorrow, I get on a plane to visit the love of my life in LA for eight days. I carry my entire business with me, in the form of my laptop, on the plane. Fire it up when I get to LA and work as I stare out at the ocean.
Yes, I have been blessed and have been very fortunate. But I have also worked hard and took risks to create the lifestyle I now enjoy.
If this sounds appealing to you, soon I will be teaching you step by step how you can do it too. How you can turn your hobby or passion into the business of your dreams and live the lifestyle your truly desire.
Stay tuned and as always,
Kick butt, make mucho dee–nero!
Dave Dee
P.S. Your comments are always welcomed. I really do read them all.