Daily Inspiration: Personal Motivation – “There’s no point to disappointment – so move on and move forward.”

“There’s no point to disappointment – so move on and move forward.” – Futurist Jim Carroll

My wife, who is of German descent, has a phrase that she will often use when I start using the ‘if’ statement. Such as “if only it hadn’t happened.” “If only it didn’t work out this way” “If only I could get a redo.”

“Wenn das Wörtchen wenn nicht wär, wär ich längst schon Millionär” she will respond, which roughly translates to “If the little word ‘if’ wasn’t there, then I’d be a millionaire.” 

If only. I’d be pretty rich right now based on the use of that statement. I was supposed to be in San Diego today, keynoting the Building Industry Association of Southern California’s annual conference on the topic of AI in construction.

I was really looking forward to it – not only the topic but also the fact that I’d be hanging backstage with this fellow, Metta World Peace, formerly Ron Artest, of the LA Lakers.

But sadly, I won’t be there, after testing positive for Covid on Monday – making my participation impossible. Disappointment runs deep, but I’m working hard to keep upbeat about the whole state of affairs.

If only.

My wife and I consider ourselves lucky, to be honest, We had avoided it for 3 1/2 years without ever catching it – I even had my blood tested during my last medical to see if historically I had ever caught it only to never notice. A good friend of mine told me Tuesday that I was literally the last human he knows who never had a least one instance of it.

If only.

We count ourselves lucky, actually – we saw our 30-year-old son off into his marriage just two weeks ago, and fortunately, the wedding plans weren’t wrecked by the bug. And in the grand scheme of things, as they say, it’s only an event that was canceled – it’s not the end of the world. And from a positive perspective, overall my role in the battle seems not too bad so far – fever, chills, raspy cough, stuffed sinuses – and a distinct lack of energy that comes and goes. It could be worse, goes the saying.

If only.

I’d spent time in the last few weeks doing a tremendous amount of up-to-date research on the topic of AI in construction and was prepared with many real, live examples of magical applications that would unfold onstage. The organization that brought me in put a wonderful amount of effort into promotion for my talk, knowing that this is a critical topic for everyone in the industry.

If only.

That’s where the whole process of attempting to manage my disappointment comes in. It’s always easy to let disappointment define your day, drive your actions, and determine your path – often not for the best. You can spend your time ruminating what might have been rather than what is, and waste a lot of time doing so.

And so I’m working hard to try to pack up my disappointment with this whole state of affairs and move on. I’m working hard to get a mindset of using it as an opportunity for going forward – in mid-November, I start a string of events in Boston, Palm Springs, and Hawaii, and know that I won’t be floored by this unfortunate circumstance at that time.

And overall, it’s just an event – I am blessed for my overall good health. There will be more keynotes, more opportunities, and more events that will be pursued.

And things could certainly be worse than they are.

But… if only.