I have known for many years that in order for new beginnings to open up, endings must happen.\u00a0 Whether this is in personal or business life, this axiom is generally true.\u00a0 The problem with most people, including myself, is that we dislike and fear change and taking risks.<\/p>\n
There is a common saying that people should not burn bridges.\u00a0 The problem with that is that sometimes that is the only way to let go and ultimately move forward.\u00a0 Of course, there are upsides and downsides.\u00a0 One has to focus on the positives and upsides or the negatives and downsides can be overwhelming.<\/p>\n
I have had some practice on “burning bridges” and making endings and new beginnings.\u00a0 And I am happy to say, as a whole, my decisions have been pretty good.\u00a0 Short term, they were inconvenient and sometimes painful, but ultimately a greater good and opportunity opened.<\/p>\n
Without getting into specifics, there are some things happening in my life that are simultaneously ending and beginning.\u00a0 I am happy some of the circumstances and relationship are approaching their endings.\u00a0 It is a welcome relief.\u00a0 In fact, I have been looking for other things to end and leave behind.\u00a0 I want to “lighten the load”, if you will.<\/p>\n
The people I want to “keep” are people who have been “of service” to me.\u00a0 They are solid people who are honest and stick to commitments they keep.\u00a0 Their “flake factor” is very low.\u00a0 The others are simply “needy and takers”.\u00a0 In other words, they only come around when they need something.\u00a0 Or there are other people who are simply lazy, unmotivated, and basically stuck in a rut.\u00a0 They are in a situation of their own creation and like pigs in a pile, they continue to wallow in the mud.\u00a0 You offer and try to give a helping hand out of the mud but ultimately they want you to do all the work to lift them out.\u00a0 That won’t happen here.<\/p>\n
On the opposite end of the spectrum are people who are inspired, ambitious, go-getters, risk-takers, enlightened, and action-takers.\u00a0 I love and respect these types of people.\u00a0 And when these people run into each other, they tend to get along quite well.\u00a0 And the synergy they create is far greater than what the individuals can do.<\/p>\n
I am not waiting until 2009 to prepare for it.\u00a0 I am in process of “cleaning house” both literally and figuratively.\u00a0 I am paring down the people I associate and correspond with.\u00a0 I am leaving and abandoning those projects that don’t work anymore.\u00a0 The unhealthy, fearful, lazy, unambitious, immature, and losers are left behind.\u00a0 Life moves a lot faster when you stick with other winners.<\/p>\n
It feels really good to make the endings happen.\u00a0 It is amazing how quick, new people and opportunities open up.\u00a0 It is easy to fall into a rut especially when you have a lifestyle like mine.\u00a0 And so, I have to make a conscious effort to purge every so often.\u00a0 I have a great feeling that come the end of summer, most of the purging I have to do will be done which will open up the rest of 2009 for interesting and great new people and opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have known for many years that in order for new beginnings to open up, endings must happen.\u00a0 Whether this is in personal or business life, this axiom is generally true.\u00a0 The problem with most people, including myself, is that we dislike and fear change and taking risks. There is a common saying that people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-motivation-inspiration","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p927L-5m","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":325,"url":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?p=325","url_meta":{"origin":332,"position":0},"title":"My Review of Amazon’s Kindle eBook Reader","author":"Matthew Chan","date":"June 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Since coming back from the 2008 Book Expo America in Los Angeles, I have been wanting to write my review on Amazon's Kindle. My relationship with Amazon is multi-faceted.\u00a0 Like most book lover, my first relationship with Amazon is as a customer.\u00a0 In my opinion, Amazon has the best website\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/matthewchan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/amazon-kindle-150x101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":452,"url":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?p=452","url_meta":{"origin":332,"position":1},"title":"Comments on the Poverty Symposium","author":"Matthew Chan","date":"May 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Thursday, I attended the 2nd Annual Poverty Symposium organized by Enrichment Services Program Inc., a Georgia non-profit organization. It was interesting that I had received an invitation to this free event. It turns out that I received an invitation because of my prior attendance of last year's Jim Blanchard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Business Affairs"","block_context":{"text":"Business Affairs","link":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?cat=27"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54,"url":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?p=54","url_meta":{"origin":332,"position":2},"title":"Recommended Globalization Book: “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman","author":"Matthew Chan","date":"October 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Thomas Friedman is probably my favorite author when it comes to matters of business globalization. I first enjoyed his The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization written a few years back. His follow-up, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century is quite impressive and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Recommendations"","block_context":{"text":"Book Recommendations","link":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=mattchanblog-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0385499345","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":327,"url":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?p=327","url_meta":{"origin":332,"position":3},"title":"Launching “Incredible Discoveries Information Page”","author":"Matthew Chan","date":"June 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I want to keep this post as brief as possible because this announcement is not one I consider \"good news\" but it was necessary given the amount of inquiries and information I have been getting regarding the infomercial company, \"Incredible Discoveries\". As a brief recap, \"Incredible Discoveries\" came into my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Legal Affairs"","block_context":{"text":"Legal Affairs","link":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?cat=34"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55,"url":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?p=55","url_meta":{"origin":332,"position":4},"title":"Graciela Sholander’s AudioBook Review of “The TurnKey Investor’s ‘Subject To’ Mortgage Success Secrets”","author":"Matthew Chan","date":"October 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This audiobook review by Graciela Sholander was originally done in January 2006 and can be seen on Amazon.com. This concise introductory audio program provides the responsible property investor an overview of \"subject to\" mortgage transactions. If you've heard about \"subject to\" and wonder what it's about, and whether or not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio Programs"","block_context":{"text":"Audio Programs","link":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?cat=33"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88,"url":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?p=88","url_meta":{"origin":332,"position":5},"title":"Inspirational Movies “The Pursuit of Happyness” and “Freedom Writers”","author":"Matthew Chan","date":"January 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I typically do not write commentary on movies.\u00a0 While I do enjoy movies and have a respectable DVD collection, I do not usually go to movie theatres and critique movies. Recently, I had the occasion to see two very extraordinary movies.\u00a0 Unlike many movie critics, I don't actively look for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Motivation & Inspiration"","block_context":{"text":"Motivation & Inspiration","link":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/?cat=19"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewchan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}